The Final Countdown Novel Novels & Stories

On the surface, Connor Shaw appears to be the coolheaded, celibate follower of the Fyerian faith who lives like a monk. All of Jewelton knows that about him. Behind closed doors, however, he suffers from a severe case of compulsive sexual disorder. According to the traditions of the merpeople, a mermaid like Sylvie Waverly will have to marry the first human she meets and perform the ultimate act of intimacy 999 times. Masquerading as a lovesick doormat, Sylvie does everything she can to marry Connor. However, the only one in Connor's heart is Anna Larson, his first love. Everyone assumes Sylvie will get jealous, but all she wants is to complete her mission as soon as possible and return to her own world. Once Connor has bedded her 999 times, Sylvie leaves him without a second thought. By the time Connor realizes Sylvie is the mermaid who saved him all those years ago and that she alone can cure him of his compulsive sexual disorder, it is all too late.

I have the same due date as Roxanne Coleman, the childhood sweetheart of my Alpha Mate, Sebastian Graham. However, her pup has been diagnosed with a congenital heart defect. That means it will never be as strong as a normal pup and may not even survive its first shift. Even the healers advise her not to give birth. Just as I begin to pity Roxanne, Sebastian makes a request that shatters me. He asks me to give our pup to her. "Roxanne's pack is harsh on her. They demand she bear a powerful heir," he explains patiently. "If they find out her pup is born with a heart defect, they'll kill her. "Please, I beg you. Save her. Let her take our pup." I stare at Sebastian in disbelief. "Are you saying we should trade our healthy pup for her defective one?" Seeing how resistant I am, he doesn't answer. In fact, he doesn't need to. … A month later, during a prenatal checkup, Sebastian secretly switches my medical report with Roxanne's. I can't believe he truly plans to steal my pup for her. At that moment, I broke down completely. So, I sever our mate bond and leave with our unborn pup. While Sebastian frantically searches for me, I accept the Temple of the Moon's invitation and become the only one who can speak to the Moon Goddess and deliver her oracles. And my pup will be the next Chosen One. From that day on, Sebastian is nothing to me.

After three days of the silent treatment, my fiancé, the Capo of the Moretti family, took his assistant, Bella, on an island vacation. He expected me to be driven mad with jealousy, just as I always had been. But when he returned to Valmont a month later, he found a different woman. He made me give up my corner office. I didn't fight him. I just packed my things and handed it over. To prop Bella up, he discredited me in front of a key partner at the annual family meeting, just so she could shine. I didn't try to prove my innocence. I just accepted the family's reprimand and took my punishment. When Lucas wanted to put Bella in charge of the family's most profitable business, I didn't even get angry. I handed over all the necessary documents without a fight, letting him redistribute power as he saw fit. Bella was smug. "See? What did I tell you?" "A woman like her just needs a firm hand. One trip to the island and she's terrified of losing you. Look how obedient she is now." Lucas bought it, praising Bella for her insight. In a move he'd never made before, he promised me a wedding so grand it would become a legend in the Valmont underworld. But he seemed to have forgotten the dissolution agreement he signed, the one I slipped him right before he got into the car for their vacation. I had already severed all ties with him. I was leaving, but he had no idea.

Through the bond that tied my wolf to his, I sent ninety-nine screams for help. The hundredth time, he answered—distant, distracted. "Seraphine, I'm occupied. Stop whining like a needy pup." I lay in an ice crevice, our pup suffocating in my womb, while he hunted beneath the full moon with another. Five days later, I woke in a healing den. Through the wall, I heard my mate—my Alpha—speaking of me like livestock. "Keep her under until Lysandra whelps," Leon growled to the shaman. "If she learns I drained our pup for that she-wolf's marrow, I'll have your tongue. And if you fail me—I'll burn your den to ash." I touched the mating mark burning on my throat and reached for the crystal. My voice didn't tremble. "Harris. Prepare the severance scroll. I want his signature before the moon wanes." The she-wolf who loved her Alpha died in that ravine. The one who clawed out will make him howl.

My family is human. We were gifted a long life by the Thorne clan, something close to immortality. For generations, we’ve been their most loyal guardians. And I fell in love with Cedric, the vampire lord I was sworn to protect. For a hundred years, I was his secret. His sin. His only bedmate. I was his shield against dark magic. The sworn protector of his vast clan. I thought I’d earn the mark of an eternal bond. I was even ready for him to turn me. After all, on every blood moon, he would claim my body. Then, at the peak of an agonizing pleasure, he’d sink his fangs into my neck and drink my blood. He’d press his cold lips to my skin and whisper that I was his one and only. That no other blood, no other body, could make him lose control like this. But this time, the moment he was finished with me, he announced his eternal bond with Elsie, the pureblood princess of the Valerius clan. He smirked at the shock on my face. "You're just a human, gifted a long life by my ancestors. My bed warmer. You didn't actually think you could be my mate, did you?" In that moment, I understood. I was just a renewable blood bag. A tool with a purpose. For an alliance, for her, he sacrificed me. He cast me into the abyss and let the darkness swallow me whole. He thought the Guardian's Pact would chain me to him for eternity. But he forgot one thing. Every pact has a loophole. So I destroyed everything he ever gave me. Then, with my family's help, I vanished. But when the Lord of Eternal Night couldn't find his favorite toy… he went mad.

Every Christmas Eve in Port Saint Giovanni, the Camerlano family hosts the Claiming Rite at Saint Giovanni Manor. Twelve girls stand in a line. Whoever receives the white-gold signet pin becomes the heir’s publicly acknowledged bride candidate. I am Grace Sorrento, the bastard daughter of the Sorrento family. If I do not receive that signet tonight, by sunrise I will be put on a plane to Chicago and married off to a Rizzo, a man rumored to have killed two former fiancées. Adrian Camerlano, the boy I grew up with, swore to me in blood three days ago that the signet would be mine. But when the moment came, his hand turned. With a smile, he pinned it on Lucia, the orphan his family had sponsored. Then he leaned close to my ear. "Let Lucia have her moment. No one has ever really looked at her before. Don’t worry. This is my estate. No one will dare arrange your marriage without my say." I grabbed his sleeve, but he removed my fingers one by one. "Lucia has no roots and no last name. Tonight is all she has. But you are a Sorrento. Even without the signet, no one will touch you." That phrase, no last name, drew every gaze in the ballroom toward me, full of pity and quiet mockery. The next morning, I boarded a flight to Chicago. When Adrian heard, he made one call to Port Saint Giovanni Air Control. "Ground every plane. Nothing leaves today!"

When Ryder's professor sent him yet another email, he glanced around his cold, empty home. Faced with Seth's relentless provocations, Ryder made up his mind—he would leave Laura. With the wedding fast approaching, Ryder decided to give Laura the perfect ceremony—one that would please both her and Seth. His departure, however, would be the biggest surprise of the event. But after Ryder walked away, Laura looked at the groom standing at the altar, lost control, and destroyed the wedding in a fit of madness.

I had loved my best friend's Alpha heir brother Marcus Steele for ten years. After my first shift, I was thrilled to discover he was actually my mate. Without hesitation, I gave up my position as Alpha heiress of the Crimson Pack and joined the Moonridge Pack. I spent three years doing everything I could think of to win him over. Finally, he agreed to our binding. Just as I was happily preparing to discuss our mating ceremony with him, I overheard his conversation with his Beta. "Alpha, are you really planning to hold a mating ceremony with Aria Blackwood? Serena is still carrying your child..." The man's eyes were dark and unreadable. "That's right. Even though Serena is pregnant with my child, my father has been dissatisfied with me. This time I have no choice but to marry Aria to appease him. After all, she's the Alpha heiress of the most powerful Crimson Pack. If I marry her, father will definitely let me inherit the Alpha position." "Aren't you afraid Aria will find out about Serena and cause trouble for her?" "No way. After all these years, I know exactly what kind of person she is. I'll just sweet-talk her a bit and she'll obediently listen to me. Besides, that's my bloodline. She'll have to accept it." I felt like I'd been struck by lightning. I stumbled outside in a daze, only to be ambushed by enemy rogue wolves. I was poisoned with silver, and because help didn't arrive in time, the silver toxin spread through my bloodstream to my brain. After three days and nights in a coma, I woke up having forgotten all memories of the man I had once loved with all my heart. Ever since I came to the Moonridge Pack, my parents called every month asking me to come home. This time I dialed my father's number and told him: "I don't want to be the Moonridge Pack's Luna anymore. I want to be Crimson's Alpha."

I, Darcy Cowell, have been secretly married to my husband, Frank Winston, for seven years. He is the president of a company and has just hired a new assistant. The new assistant, Johanna Scott, is well-behaved and has a voluptuous figure. Scandalous rumors about her and Frank quickly spread throughout the company. Feeling uneasy, I seek Frank out for answers, only to overhear him telling his good friend over the phone. "I'm not interested in her. My wife, Darcy, will always be my only love." I am filled with warmth and relief at those words. A fire suddenly breaks out at the company banquet, and I get crushed under a falling cabinet. Yet, as my life hangs in the balance, Frank turns to run toward Johanna. When I next regain consciousness, I find that I have survived but lost my unborn child forever. This time, I truly lose all faith in Frank. Our child is gone, and I want him gone from my life as well.

To save the man she truly loved, the princess locked me in our room and cut out my heart's blood. The last time she drew blood from me, I finally reached the end of my strength and died. But without a shred of pity, she drove the knife into my chest again. "Alec, just bear it a little longer. Stephen's illness came on so suddenly. I need you to give one more bit of your heart's blood." She thought I would struggle in pain. Instead, I lay motionless on the bed and let her take what she wanted. She finally froze, then softened her voice and said, "I'm glad you've come to your senses. I'll make it up to you some other day." But she didn't know there would be no other day. Because I was already dead. What lay before her now was nothing more than a ghost without pain or feeling. In seven more days, I would disappear completely.