Ast Novels & Stories

In a world shielded by ancient walls, seventeen-year-old Raina has spent her life surviving the shadows of a broken home, until the night the walls literally fall. When nightmarish creatures known as the Scourge shatter Millbrook’s centuries-old defenses and slaughter everything in their path, Raina loses her family and barely escapes with her life. Thrust into a shattered world of ash and terror, she joins a ragged band of survivors fleeing to the legendary Stronghold Keep. But safety is an illusion. The Scourge is not mindless—it is organized, intelligent, and building something monstrous. In a pulse-pounding raid against an alien fortress and its growing horrors, Raina must decide if she will merely survive….. or become the spark of humanity’s resistance.

As the only expert in the world capable of rescue dives below 3,000 feet, I received a once-in-a-lifetime salvage contract worth tens of millions of dollars. I had dived in those same waters over a decade ago. My son's research submersible had been damaged on the ocean floor. After his oxygen ran out, he suffocated in the dark. The grief nearly destroyed me. My husband, Griffin Lattimer, held me through it, staying by my side through countless miserable nights. I found out later that he had personally redirected the only rescue vessel capable of reaching the depths our son was at to save his childhood friend's daughter. That girl had merely choked on a mouthful of water in the shallows. I divorced Griffin and threw myself into deep-sea salvage like a woman possessed, diving over and over until I knew the undercurrents of those waters better than I knew my own home. I never wanted another child to die the way mine did. Today brought the same stretch of ocean, the same crushed hull, the same depleted oxygen, and the same impossible odds. When I opened the client's file, I went completely still. I recognized the name and face inside instantly. I would never forget either of them for as long as I lived. I smiled and slid the folder back across the table to my partner. "I can't take this one."

My husband is the director of a private hospital. During the three years of work, he would always find his "female best friend" with all kinds of excuses. The first time he went, he bought me a new purse I had been longing for. The second time he went, he credited one thousand dollars to the beauty salon I frequented. Only after he gave his family member's spot for the hospital's retreat did I finally ask for my one-hundredth request. He simply signed the form, thinking that it was some kind of order for a luxurious item. "I've neglected you lately. Shall I take you to see the aurora after I come back this time?" When he gracefully gave me that promise, I calmly smiled. That was because he didn't know the last thing I asked him to sign was divorce papers.

— Sold. Claimed. Bound to a monster. When Sena’s own family betrays her to supernatural slave traders, she thinks her nightmare can’t get worse. Then the cursed Alpha King buys her at auction—not as a servant, but as his mate. Kael Ravencroft is the beast who slaughtered his own pack in a single night of madness. Now he’s trapped Sena with an ancient moon bond, tying her life to his in the cruelest way possible: if he dies, she dies too. He claims he needs her healing magic to break his curse. She’d rather see him burn. But in his ruined kingdom, Sena discovers the horrifying truth—three hundred innocent souls died because of a betrayal that destroyed everything Kael loved. And her power might be the only thing standing between him and complete darkness. Now she faces an impossible choice: help the monster who bought her, or watch him fall to a curse that will consume them both. Some bonds are forged in darkness. Some love is born from fury. And some healers must decide if a beast is worth saving.

Cassandra Porsse grew up being the 'Miss Piggy' during her school days. Having a crush on one of the most popular boys in school, Crayvin Smith, and with her waistline expanding, Cassandra faces cruel peers and cold hearts. The final result toughens her resolve at the expense of creating a self-sabotaging relationship between Cassandra and her body. After battling through the demons of her past, Cassandra is back with a heart made of steel and moving on fresh from the Police Academy. Being the new officer in the station is hard enough, especially since she's the only woman, but what makes it more complicated is the fact that her new assigned partner is her old crush and nemesis.

I am the youngest daughter of the King of the Sea, the most beloved little mermaid princess. The man I married is the world's most brilliant marine biologist. He has a childhood sweetheart who grew up with him, a woman who knows everything about extracting ocean toxins. The two of them, her brewing poisons and him developing antidotes, spent over a decade happily doing research together. Until the day she injected that toxin into my body. I nearly died. When I came to, he was sitting at my bedside writing up a treatment plan. "Don't be mad at Vicky," he said, still writing, his voice impossibly gentle. "She's just immature. She didn't mean to hurt you." "She knows I can save you. She just wanted to get a rise out of me." The moment those words left his mouth, one of Vicky's people came to call for him. After he left, I looked down at the treatment plan. He had left out one key ingredient. He'd been in too much of a hurry. He hadn't even noticed. That was when the sprite, silent for so long, finally stirred. The glowing pearl that had traveled with me for over twenty years drifted out from my collar, floating lazily in a slow circle. "Your Highness, once your human-form energy is depleted on land, your soul will return to the sea, and you'll never be able to come ashore again. This treatment plan is missing deep-sea spirulina extract. Following it will drain your energy even faster. The choice is yours." I stared at that line for a long time. Then I passed the treatment plan to the caretaker and smiled. "Let's go with this."

“Why is Elara always better than me?” The night before her wedding, Hannah Graham vanished, leaving behind a bitter note blaming her sister, Elara, for her death. Damon Blackwood, the cold and powerful CEO of Blackwood Corp, lost the woman he loved—and in his rage, he married Elara instead. Not out of love. Out of hate. For five years, Elara lived in misery. Damon ignored her, let his family humiliate her, and made sure she never forgot she was unwanted. She stayed only for their daughter. Then Hannah came back. Alive. Smiling. And with a son she claimed was Damon’s. Overjoyed, Damon turned his back on Elara completely. He gave all his care to Hannah and the boy, while Elara and her daughter were left to suffer. Even when Elara begged him to believe their child was sick, Damon’s words cut her to pieces: “You’re disgusting, Elara. Using our daughter just to get my attention.” Broken, Elara signed the divorce papers. On their fifth wedding anniversary, she said her final goodbye. But tragedy struck when her car went off a cliff, mother and daughter…gone. Too late, Damon realized the truth: He had fallen for the woman he swore to hate… and destroyed her with his own hands.

I was born with a rare condition. My blood carried healing properties strong enough to neutralize any poison. When Garrett Frank, the young heir from Osbury, was bitten by a venomous snake, he was hanging by a thread. In that desperate moment, I slit my wrist and used my blood to cleanse the venom from his body. Only later did I find out that whoever saved Garrett's life would become the future Mrs. Frank. But after Garrett took over the family business, the first thing he did was drain every drop of blood from my body and have me chopped up and fed to his dogs. "At that time, Loretta had already brought the antidote," he had said coldly. "If you had just waited another five minutes, I could've married her openly and honorably. "But you had to interfere. You stole her place as Mrs. Frank, drove her into despair, and pushed her to take her own life. Since you claim your blood can cure any poison, let's see how much antidote it can make." They bled me dry and threw me into a cage for his dogs. I died there, torn apart and unrecognizable. Afterward, my parents went bankrupt because of the Franks. Both of them took poison and died together. When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the very day Garrett had been bitten by the snake. Michelle Frank, Garrett's mother, looked at me with desperate hope. "I heard you have that rare healing blood," she said. "Will you please save my son?" I quickly shook my head. "That's just a rumor, Mrs. Frank. And honestly, using blood as medicine sounds pretty unsanitary. Please don't worry. I heard Ms. Huber is on her way with a special antidote. Your son will be fine!" Still, a small part of me couldn't help looking forward to what would happen. If I didn't step in this time, Garrett wouldn't just fail to inherit the family business—he'd be lucky to live another month!

I've been married to Ryland Webster for eight years. In that time, we got divorced nine times. I met every woman he dated after our wedding. Whenever he grew tired of someone and wanted out, I became his favorite excuse. "If you marry him, you'll end up like me," I told them. "Cleaning up his messes, signing divorce papers over and over, and walking away with nothing." On New Year's Eve, I sat beside another woman he'd abandoned, handing her tissues as she cried. Across the city, Ryland was setting off a fireworks display for his newest girlfriend. As I watched her sob through an entire box of tissues, I saw a younger version of myself. For the first time, I asked Ryland for a divorce. He looked genuinely confused. "We'll be remarried in three days," he said. "Do we really need to go through this again?" I smiled and shook my head. No. Not this time. Ryland, I'm done waiting for you.

My show-quality service beastkin doesn't like me. He only wags his tail for my sister. I then bring home a low-grade venting beastkin. But he's now so upset that he's nearly in tears. "Layla Manfred, there can only be one hound, and that's me!"