The Painter's

Forced to bond with a fluffle of rabbit shifters who care only for my ability to provide offspring, I've spent the last several months tucked away in a burrow. My matched wouldn't disrespect our elders by publicly rejecting me, but privately, they made their lack of feelings clear by refusing to bond with me. The only time they remembered we were paired, was when I went into heat and became fertile.

I am not supposed to exist—my parents murdered for their forbidden union. I’m a creature born of light and dark, of Heaven and Hell, and it's up to me to hold these fragile worlds together. And I’m back here, where I never thought I’d be, surrounded by devastatingly handsome males who’d give their lives for me. And all I want to do is go home, back to earth, but the balance has been threatened and I’m the only one who can set it right.

Very few in Aspen Lake expected that I, Calista Monroe, their most notorious wild child, would ever amount to anything besides being a model prisoner. So, imagine their surprise when I returned as the hospital’s newest ER doctor. Believe me, no one is more surprised than I am. I had vowed to never return, even if it was the last safe haven during the zombie apocalypse. But when my niece Quinn begged me to come home, I couldn’t say no. My plan is to stay out of trouble this time, and, above all, avoid Quinn’s uncle Tristan—the man I love to hate and the reason I left Aspen Lake.

My best friend roped me into baking for her stepson’s wedding. I had just moved into town and I couldn’t exactly turn that kind of money down. But getting drunk enough to sleep with that tall, dark blond wedding guest? That was all on me. I should have known he’d leave without a word or even a proper introduction. But that wasn’t the last I saw of him. Kiefer just turned out to be my brand-new neighbor.

Without her, I was better off. I knew it the second she walked away and realized how much happier I was. Knew it the day I interrupted her wedding reception to show her what she was missing and locked eyes with someone I hadn't seen in years. Those eyes. Her smile. Everything about her turned something around inside me that had been quiet for years.

My world consisted of a web of tangled lies. It was show room perfect, an illusion. One I wanted desperately to escape. Then, fate intervened and revealed something new.

Moving to LA was my dream since I was 13. By the time I was 20, I was sought out by some of the most beautiful people in the world to take their pictures. No one cared that I came from a hockey dynasty. Everything was perfect.

Sidney Crosby is ready to tell his story in his own words. As one of the greatest NHL players of all time, he reflects on his 2005-06 rookie season with the Pittsburgh Penguins. From a Canadian phenom dubbed “the next Gretzky” to an 18-year-old carrying the burden of a struggling franchise, he talks candidly about the intense pressure he was under, the surreal experience of lacing up alongside his childhood idol Mario Lemieux and the truth about his rivalry with Alex Ovechkin.