Did you know roughly twenty-seven percent of child abductions are carried out by an acquaintance or family friend? Who better to lure you away than someone you know and trust? With every day that passed, the likelihood of my being found grew smaller. I never imagined I’d be one of them—my face tacked to a bulletin board at the local grocery store and a statewide search issued on my behalf. Even harder to fathom was that I’d ever be one of the lucky few who made it home after enduring years of captivity.

When Dad died, he made me the leader of the Italian Mafia. That position was unheard of for a woman—until me. Ryder, Dex, Gage, and Holden are my team, my closest friends. Then Leo waltzes into my life, turning it upside down, along with everyone in it. One lie. One secret. That's all it took to bring it all burning down around me. Jealousy and hidden desires from the four guys I thought only saw me as their friend and boss stoke the flames even higher.

In therapy, they tell you to use your senses. List the things you know: Sermons recited with malice. A blood-soaked ritual. The sting of tears and gasping sobs of the dying. Rotting flesh. I grew up in a cage, tortured by the Lord Almighty's most twisted servant. Death and despair became my close companions as I watched years of slaughter at Pastor Michaels’ hand. Eighteen girls. Dead. Eighteen lives. Ended. Eighteen futures. Stolen.

Five years ago, I masterminded the infamous massacre of the Tri-state Timberwolves. The streets outside the Wolves HQ ran red with the blood of the old guard, and not one of those members loyal to my father were spared mercy. Not a single one. I let the media twist and distort the story. My new recruits eagerly proved themselves in spreading false news, in covering our tracks. To the general public, the Tri-State Timberwolves were extinct. But that couldn’t have been further from the truth.

"You may now kiss your bride". They were the last words my mother heard before she collapsed on the church steps, poison ending her pitifully short life. When her new husband dies minutes later, all eyes turn to me. There are whispers. Accusations. The verdict is split. I murdered them both. Or I'm the next to die.

My parents made a deal with the devil, and now I’m a Hell Fae captive. Enslaved. Owned. Thrown to the Hellhounds and expected to survive. Because only survivors earn their mates. It doesn’t matter that I don’t want to be a bride. I’m a Halfling. Part Hell Fae and part girl-who-doesn’t-give-a-shit. But because of a bargain, he owns me. Lucifer. The Hell Fae King who created this godforsaken realm. Also known as the orchestrator of these deadly bride-trial games.

Suddenly thrown into a world representing bloodlines I know nothing about, forcing a past I refuse to remember into the present, my world is turned upside down. It doesn’t matter that I didn’t want to go to college; it doesn’t matter that I don’t want to be here. I’ll follow the rules or risk my life. The organization that runs the criminal underworld is no joke.

“Madison Kate Danvers was murdered tonight.” Those words changed my life, and not for the better. They were wrong, of course. I wasn’t dead. But I was set up. After being charged with a string of offences - and made an example of by my political-minded father - I’m eventually released back into Shadow Grove with one thing on my mind. Hate. Someone is going to pay for derailing my carefully laid-out future. How very convenient that someone just moved into the bedroom down the hall from me.

I thought I’d hit rock bottom when I turned 16. The day I broke my first love's heart, ending things before I could ruin his career as a rock star. But damn, was I wrong. Things got progressively worse from that moment on, until now. Eight years later, when I find myself homeless, jobless, covered in blood, and running from a ghost of my past.

"Do you want some Goldfish crackers, Bliss?" Those were the last words my brother said to me before he was shot execution style. A childhood code only he and I knew, and one that had a single, clear meaning behind it.

Kotah, Brant, Jaxx, and Hawk grew up hearing the legends of how one day, the phoenix would rise and unite the realms. They never thought it would happen, and they certainly never thought the fae universe would choose each of them to be her fated mates.

Welcome to Fate Hollow Academy, where supernaturals blessed by the Fates cultivate their manifested powers and master ancient magic. Fate Hollow is the academy of the elite, where supernatural beings with special magic train for war against humans. A big-hearted, naïve arctic fox shifter like me couldn’t have prepared for the treachery lurking within the walls of the academy. Students were going missing or turning up dead on campus and rumors circulated about humans infiltrating academy grounds.

When my father wanders into the enchanted realm of the fae, I know I have to go after him. And when he gets imprisoned, I'll do anything to save him, even trade my freedom for his. I had no idea I'd end up imprisoned by four sexy fae who turn into beasts at night.

Being the twin of a movie star isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Eva is glamorous, sweet, and everything I’m not. Believe me, every person in my life has made that crystal clear. The press calls me the Ice Queen, leaving pack after pack broken in my wake. I wish it were true. All I’ve ever wanted was a pack—to be loved and cherished the way an Omega was meant to be—but now I’ve given up hope. Every group I meet wants a copy of my sister. Let’s not even mention the ones who called me by her name.

They were my bullies once. Three boys I hated more than anything. They made my life hell for a year - until I escaped their cruelty when my dad's job moved us away. I've never forgotten them, though. Never forgotten what they did. And I know they haven't forgotten me. But when I'm offered a full-ride scholarship to the prestigious Clearwater University, I refuse to let old fears stop me from accepting. Because I'm not the girl I used to be. I'm stronger. Tougher. Angrier. And if West, Reese, and Trent think they can screw with me again...well. We'll just see who breaks first.