Ashes and Rose Petals

"How thoughtful."
"Bella." Ethan's tone shifted, taking on that warning edge I knew too well. "Faye is vulnerable right now. She's terrified you'll resent her, that this will divide the pack. The last thing she wants is for this baby to come between us."
"Then you shouldn't have done it." I met his eyes squarely, letting him see the ice in mine. "Go back to your son."
"For fuck's sake." He dragged a hand through his hair. "How many times—it was artificial insemination. They used my sperm, yes, but Faye and I never—"
Bella let out a cold snort. Such brazen lies. Her mate had an affair with his brother's partner, and his entire family helped force her out with nothing, all to make way for the mistress to take her rightful position. Poor fool—he thought she was just an unwanted adopted daughter, easy to dismiss and control. He never knew the computer genius he'd been searching for was his own Luna.
Since he'd tainted himself, Bella was done. She rejected him and reclaimed what was hers, rising to the top with help from Victor, who'd been secretly in love with her for years.
When Ethan tried winning her back: "You don't want our child growing up fatherless."
Bella smiled mockingly. "The child's father isn't you."

She is the only daughter of a notorious mafia boss, but she is forced by her father to marry a hateful bastard in a contract marriage. To avenge her father, she has a one-night stand with a charming man, but unexpectedly falls into the trap of another terrible man, who is her father's enemy and another mafia boss. His mission is to make her father disappear.
She regards him as her only salvation, but he regards her as a pawn for revenge. When two enemies dance on the sharp knife, what will be the final outcome?

Kaelani spent her life believing she was wolfless.
Cast out by her pack. Forgotten by the Lycans.
She lived among humans—quiet, invisible, tucked away in a town no one looked at twice.

But when her first heat comes without warning, everything changes.

Her body ignites. Her instincts scream. And something primal stirs beneath her skin—
summoning a big, bad Alpha who knows exactly how to quench her fire.

When he claims her, it’s ecstasy and ruin.

For the first time, she believes she’s been accepted.
Seen.
Chosen.

Until he leaves her the next morning—
like a secret never to be spoken.

But Kaelani is not what they thought.
Not wolfless. Not weak.
There is something ancient inside her. Something powerful. And it’s waking.

And when it does—
they’ll all remember the girl they tried to erase.

Especially him.

She’ll be the dream he keeps chasing… the one thing that ever made him feel alive.

Because secrets never stay buried.
And neither do dreams.

Falling for my boyfriend's Navy brother.

"What is wrong with me?

Why does being near him make my skin feel too tight, like I’m wearing a sweater two sizes too small?

It’s just newness, I tell myself firmly.

He’s my boyfirend’s brother.

This is Tyler’s family.

I’m not going to let one cold stare undo that.

**

As a ballet dancer, My life looks perfect—scholarship, starring role, sweet boyfriend Tyler. Until Tyler shows his true colors and his older brother, Asher, comes home.

Asher is a Navy veteran with battle scars and zero patience. He calls me "princess" like it's an insult. I can't stand him.

When My ankle injury forces her to recover at the family lake house, I‘m stuck with both brothers. What starts as mutual hatred slowly turns into something forbidden.

I'm falling for my boyfriend's brother.

**

I hate girls like her.

Entitled.

Delicate.

And still—

Still.

The image of her standing in the doorway, clutching her cardigan tighter around her narrow shoulders, trying to smile through the awkwardness, won’t leave me.

Neither does the memory of Tyler. Leaving her here without a second thought.

I shouldn’t care.

I don’t care.

It’s not my problem if Tyler’s an idiot.

It’s not my business if some spoiled little princess has to walk home in the dark.

I’m not here to rescue anyone.

Especially not her.

Especially not someone like her.

She’s not my problem.

And I’ll make damn sure she never becomes one.

But when my eyes fell on her lips, I wanted her to be mine.

One mistake centuries ago left Lemuel cursed by the Goddess Merlos and forced to wander the earth granting the wishes of those who touch him. Lemuel was looking at an eternity of loneliness until his unexpected soulmate plucked him right out of the sea.

Shocked to find he's been bound in more ways than one to Sebastian, the future King to the Kingdom of Atlesper, Lemuel resists Sebastian's advances at every turn, believing this may be one pairing Goddess Zarseti got wrong.

Lemuel will have to face his past in hopes of starting a new future, but an overly flirtatious King is the least of his worries when he learns Sebastian's parents are convinced that a conniving usurper disguised as a curvy blonde, is the future king's true soulmate.

A Queen Among Tides is the 5th book in the Queen Among Series/The Gods' Saga. This is an interconnected series. To see how it ends, I recommend reading the full series.

Books in the series order:
A Queen Among Alphas - Book 1
Bite-Size Luna - A Queen Among Alphas Prequel (available under book 1)
A Queen Among Snakes - Book 2
A Queen Among Blood - Book 3
A Queen Among Darkness - Book 4
Whole Again - A Queen Among Alpha's spin-off (available under book 1)
A Queen Among Tides - Book 5
Valor, Virtue, and Verve - Tides Prequel Spin-off (will be available under book 5)
A Queen Among Gods - Book 6
Runaway Empress - A Queen Among Snakes Prequel (will be available under book 2)
A Queen Among Tempests - Book 7
Dark Vocation - Darkness spin-off (will be available under book 4)
A Court of Arcane Souls Anthology (side character short stories exclusive to Ream)
Royal Shadow Series (Next Gen Coming Soon)

Elara, the daughter of Nikolas and Saphira, has been sheltered and protected throughout her life from dangers that came for her, but she doesn’t see it that way. Elara remembers feeling isolated and controlled, and now that she has turned 20 and is expected to begin training to succeed her parents, she feels more controlled than ever. Things worsen when she is told she will be taking a mate through the Matchmaker, who will be the face of the pack while she helps in the background. Feeling like she has no other choice, Elara decides to run away, where she meets Kaelan, the Alpha Werewolf from the forgotten pack. A bond begins to form, but Elara has not been truthful about who she is, and now she faces a difficult choice. Should she reveal her true identity and risk everything, or return home and figure out what happened to the parents she grew up hearing about?

Please note: this story contains strong language and mature scenes.

This is the second book in the series, but it can be read as a stand alone.
The first book is The Matchmaker.

Thank you and I hope you enjoy.

“Was she the one who sent you?” he growled “Did she pay you to whore yourself to me?”
“Please… Nick, wait.” He pulled out, thrusted back in. “How much? Twenty thousand? Fifty? Hundred?” With every question, he thrust harder and harder. My neurons are frying with the confusing feeling in my brain. Torn between pleasure, fear, and panic. I couldn't utter a single sentence to save my life.

His cold eyes pinned me in place while he plundered my body with deep thrusts, which only added to my confusion. My dumb body mistook the mixed signals, my pussy becoming even wetter than before.

“I hope she'd paid you well, because I'm going to fuck you all night long, hard,” he growled. “Sleep, then do it all over again. I want to feel you come for me, Andrea, want to feel you squeeze my cock, milking me.

Begging for me to give you the high only I can, I'm going to fucked you until I fuck all my wife's money's worth, I want you to remember how hard I took you while you're meeting her.” I sobbed, moaned, and tried to scramble out under him.

“No, please…Nick, let….let me explain.” Nick abruptly pulled out. His eyes were cold but hooded.


Andrea was sent to take down billionaire magnate Nicklaus Montgomery.
Her mission was simple: get close, seduce him, find the proof, and disappear. Instead Andrea finds herself exposed—cornered into signing a contract that binds her to Nicklaus's side as his lover. Now she’s living in his world of wealth, danger, and secrets… and the deeper she falls into his bed, the harder it becomes to remember what side she's on.

Vivienne has always felt small. At home, she’s trapped in pain she can’t escape. At school, she hides in the shadows, counting the days until she can finally be free. But one choice shatters everything, leaving her broken and more alone than ever.

Then there’s Rafael. Dark. Untouchable. The boy everyone talks about but no one really knows. He should be the last person Vivienne gets close to, yet she can’t look away. He pulls her in with a kind of danger that feels both terrifying and safe, like he sees the parts of her no one else can.

But Rafael carries secrets—secrets that could destroy them both. And the closer Vivienne gets, the harder it is to tell if he’s her way out… or the reason she never escapes.

Being the middle Child ignored and neglected, rejected by family and injured, She receives her wolf early and realizes she is a new type of hybrid but doesn't know how to control her power, she leaves her pack with her best friend and grandmother to go to her grandfather's clan to learn what she is and how to handle her power and then with her fated mate, her best friend and her fated mate little brother and grandmother start their own pack.

He left her on the streets. His brother-in-law picked her up… and made her his wife.
On the day her ex, Mark, married the wealthy socialite Bella, Elena was thrown out with nothing but the clothes on her back—humiliated, broken, and utterly alone.
Until Eric Thompson appeared.
Bella’s older brother. Mark’s powerful brother-in-law. And the most feared Alpha in the city.
He offered her a hand when no one else would. Then, he offered her a deal:
A marriage in name only. A shield against her past. A chance to rebuild.
Elena accepted, expecting a cold arrangement between strangers. But behind closed doors, Eric’s carefully guarded control unraveled—and so did hers. Their chemistry was explosive, their nights intense, and the lines between business and pleasure blurred beyond recognition.
He was the one man she could never have… and the only one she couldn’t resist.
But when Mark realizes what he truly lost, and Bella discovers the secret behind her brother’s bride, Elena must decide:
Is this just a contract?
Or is this the love she was always meant to fight for?

"Tell me to stop, and I will," he murmured against my ear. "But if you don't..."
He didn't finish. He didn't need to.
I didn't tell him to stop.
Instead, my fingers curled into his shirt, clutching the fabric as though it was my only anchor. Something in him snapped—something he had been holding back for too long. His mouth found mine in a kiss that wasn't tender, but hungry, desperate.
I gasped into him, his hand sliding up to cup my jaw, holding me as if afraid I might vanish.
"You drive me insane," he breathed against my mouth, his lips trailing to my throat. "I can't lose you, Ella. Not you."
My head fell back, a soft sound escaping me as his fingers memorized my waist. My anger melted beneath his desperation.
"James..." I whispered, more plea than protest.
His hand caught mine, fingers threading together tightly. "I'll bring him back. I swear it. Just... don't turn away from me. Please."
The word please—low, ragged, almost broken—undid me more than anything else could have.


Ella never imagined she would marry the man she had secretly loved for years in such a way.
When her brother Theo faced twenty-five years in prison for massive embezzlement, the ruthless business tycoon James Lancaster offered her a deal: marry him in exchange for her brother's freedom.
This wasn't a fairy tale proposal, but a carefully orchestrated revenge. Because in James's heart, Ella was the culprit who had killed his sister Cecilia. He wanted her to pay the price—to atone with a lifetime of suffering.

She broke their marriage. He walked away.

Neither of them knew she was carrying his child.

Emily’s affair didn’t just end her marriage—it erased the life she thought was guaranteed. Ryan left without looking back, carrying his anger like armor and leaving Emily alone with regret she would never outrun. Three years later, fate drags them back into each other’s world, along with a little girl who has Ryan’s eyes and a truth that shatters everything he thought he knew.

Old wounds reopen, grief masquerades as rage, and love refuses to stay buried. As parenthood binds them together and the past demands accountability, Emily and Ryan must face the question neither of them is ready to answer: is broken trust the end of their story… or the beginning of a love forged through loss, forgiveness, and brutal honesty?