by C. D. Gorri
Noah has been in love with Amber since they were kids, and he’s determined to awaken his dormant wolf and help her fulfill her duty to the pack.
But achieving his dream comes at a cost he never considered. A new demonic threat has been awakened, and it's reigning terror on New Orleans.
If he can't vanquish the demon and keep his pack from discovering the truth about the fiend's appearance, it could mean the end of the Crescent City Wolf Pack.
Hunter Moon by Erzabet Bishop & Gina Kincade
Dearly departed...
Zoe is tired of seeing ghosts, but when you connect with the dead, it’s just one long party. When she gets invited to go to a weekend retreat at Mercer Cliff House to help her friend Vie determine if it’s really as haunted as they say, she reluctantly goes, her ghostly tagalong, Randall, along for the ride. But when she encounters a familiar face among the dead, her weekend is about to get more interesting and she may just have more at stake than her heart.
Lowell has been trapped on the earthy plane since he was murdered over a century ago. Tied to his family’s estate and holdings until the deed is found, he spends his nights making the new so called owners of Mercer Cliff wish they’d never set foot in the place. When an unexpected guest shows up for a weekend event, he realizes time is of the essence and the woman he loves could be in grave danger unless he finds a way to save her first.
SHIFTER MOUNTAIN BY C.D. GORRI
Even the hardest heart has its weakness.
Keeton Grey is an Eastern Mountain Lion Shifter with a serious people problem. As in, he hates all of them. In his experience, they’re just a bunch of liars.
Betrayal is a bitter pill to swallow for most, but for Keeton, it’s damn near impossible. Choosing instead to live in a secluded cabin far off the beaten path, he finds his peace of mind disrupted when an injured hiker stumbles onto his property.
After she catches her fiancé cheating, Marilena Sorelli needs a break from life. What better place to do a little soul-searching than New Jersey’s own Panther Mountains? Not much of an outdoor girl, camping alone proves unwise after Lena takes a tumble and twists her ankle.
She meets her rescuer in a nearly seven-foot-tall giant with piercing green eyes and a beard that makes her fingers itch to run through it. Can Lena keep her desires in check? Or will she risk making a fool of herself?
Keeton doesn’t know what to do with the totally gorgeous, totally off-limits female. Well, that’s not exactly true, but it is impractical. She needs his help, but his beast needs her even more.
Will the beautiful interloper crack this rugged Shifter’s heart of stone, or will self-imposed isolation be his future?
Hearts Unleashed: A Limited Edition Paranormal Romance and Urban Fantasy Collection
Collected Authors
Naughty Nights Press LLC
Cursed Hearts By Siren Allen
Cursed Hearts © 2021 Siren Allen
Edited by: Kristal Tawana
Cursed Hearts
He’d long yearned for a mate. Instead, Fate gave him an enemy.
When Yung Yoshida caught a whiff of his mate’s scent, he thought his dreams had come true. When she smiled, he’d thanked the Fates for her. Until he saw her fangs.
That’s when he realized the Fates hadn’t given him a mate, they’d given him an enemy. Pack rules state wolves and vamps aren’t allowed to be together. But the more time he spends with his mate, the more he thinks about breaking those rules.
Will Yung choose to follow his heart, or will he follow his pack?
Chapter One
Yung’s nostrils flared as he inhaled. Damn, what was that? It was the sweetest scent he’d ever smelled. Scanning the smoke-filled club, he searched for the creature whose scent sent tingles up and down his spine. His hand tightened around his beer. His nails elongated, puncturing the aluminum can.
He tried to tune out all conversations in the bar. That was hard to do with his loud-ass brother and cousin in the corner discussing the legs on a red-head seated at a table across from them. The red-head, who happened to be a witch, was daring one of her red-headed friends to take another shot of vodka.
The witches reeked of magic and trickery. However, their scent was not the one causing him to mangle a perfectly good can of beer. He inhaled deeply again. With the stench of alcohol and sweat in the air, he couldn’t pinpoint where the aroma was coming from.
Yung stood up, causing his chair to scrape against the floor. The troll seated at the bar next to him frowned as Yung towered over him. Having a seven-foot wolf shifter abruptly stand up next to you would cause any creature to frown. Yung smiled stiffly at the troll before starting in the direction the mind-numbing scent was coming from.
Sniffing, he strode across the club. He was confident his nose would lead him right to her. As he walked, he realized it wasn’t only her scent that was luring him in. It was her energy. He could feel her presence. He’d never experienced anything like this before. The hairs on his arms were standing up.
His mouth was watering just from the thought that tonight, he would finally find his mate. Her scent grew stronger. Yung walked faster. She was close. So, fucking close. He rounded the corner and came up short. The sign read: Ladies Room.
“Damn.”
Was he really about to let a simple sign keep him from the woman he’d been waiting so long for? Yung looked both ways, making sure he was alone. Then he leaned forward until his nose almost touched the door to the ladies’ room and inhaled. The beast inside him roared, screaming for him to claim his mate.
The sound echoed through his skull. Yung swallowed, trying to stay calm, trying not to wolf out in the middle of the club. But calmness was hard to achieve when both man and beast wanted their hands on the woman who belonged to them. Yung inhaled again and caught the scent of something else.
He leaned closer to the door and sniffed again. A shiver raced down his spine as this new scent washed over him. Heat – pure and hot. A fragrance so decadent it almost brought him to his knees. Yung smiled. The beast inside him growled. His mate was in heat.
Unable to contain the beast any longer, Yung pushed open the door, causing it to slam against the wall. He hadn’t meant to shove it that hard. He told his beast to be calm. But there was no denying the fact that his mate was going through the change and she needed him. He stalked the scent to the last stall and shoved it open. Just like that, the scent was gone. The tiny stall was empty. Impossible.
“What the hell?” Yung muttered as he walked into the bathroom stall, feeling irritated and very frustrated. He could have sworn she was in there. His nose had never failed him. He would recognize the scent of his mate anywhere. Yet, there he stood, alone. Was his mind and nose playing tricks on him?
“Damn it!”
Yung slammed his fist into the wall. It cracked. He’d have to pay for that. Sighing, he turned to leave but stopped when he noticed a tiny wallet beside the toilet. He bent to pick it up. Once again, the sweet smell of his mate filled his nose. Like a pervert, Yung held the wallet to his nose and inhaled.
It was hers. Had this accessory really drawn him to the bathroom? How could something that small get him so worked up? The wallet couldn’t be the reason. His mate had been there. If she hadn’t, how could she have left the wallet behind? So many questions, so few answers.
The one thing he did know was this wallet belonged to the woman who belonged to him. What he needed to do now was open it and find her address so he could return it to her and claim her. Yung opened the wallet. There was nothing in it. Absolutely nothing.
No I.D. No cash or credit cards. Nothing at all. What woman carried a wallet that held nothing in it? Yung turned the wallet upside down and shook it, dislodging nothing. He was right back to square one. His beast growled his disapproval.
“Calm down, boy. I’m pissed too,” Yung muttered, talking to his inner wolf. A shriek sounded behind him, pulling his attention to the ladies’ room doorway.
“What are
you doing in here?” Myra screamed.
Busted!
“If my dad finds you in here, he’s going to skin you alive.”
“Sorry, Myra. I know this looks bad. But... I… um... was looking for someone!”
“Really, Yung? You were looking for someone? In the ladies’ room? That’s the lie you’re going with? You know what, forget it,” she said, shaking her head. “I don’t care what you were doing. Just leave before someone else sees you in here. Come on. Hurry! Hey.” She paused. “Why do you have a hot pink wallet? You know what? Never mind. I don’t care. Just go.”
Yung tried to explain that he was looking for the owner of the wallet. But Myra was too busy pushing him out of the bathroom while telling him what the owner of the club, her father, would do if he ever caught Yung being a perv. Though small in stature, Myra was strong like all cheetahs.
On more than one occasion, he’d witnessed her and her sisters tossing someone out of the club without asking security for assistance. Yung walked ahead of Myra out of the bathroom.
Myra’s light-brown eyes seemed to glow once they were back in the darkness of the club. The spots on a cheetah shifter’s skin only showed when they were pissed off or extremely aroused. Yung doubted Myra was the latter. Yet, her dark brown spots were definitely showing up on her light brown skin.
Yung stuffed the wallet into his back pocket as Myra walked past him, shaking her head while muttering about how she hadn’t pegged him as a perv. He hoped she wouldn’t tell her dad about this minor incident. Jakob would probably ban him from the club if she did.
“Thought we’d lost you, buddy,” Hyun said, slapping Yung on the back. “Your brother just brought another round of drinks for those hot witches at table three. Join us.”
Yung was barely listening to what Hyun was saying. Yung’s nose flared and his body tensed. The beast in him scraped its claws against Yung’s back, begging to be set free. It was her. Not the damn hot pink wallet, but her in the flesh. He could almost taste her she was so close.
Scanning the room, he spotted his brother, Jihun. The scent was coming from the woman standing directly in front of Jihun. Yung ignored Hyun and strode toward his brother and his woman. He vaguely heard Hyun asking him if he was okay. Was he okay? No. No, he wasn’t okay.
Yung frowned as he watched his brother talk to his mate. Right before his eyes, Jihun reached out and touched the mysterious woman on the elbow. Fuck no, Yung wasn’t okay. The beast in him growled. Apparently, so did the man. Jihun turned toward him with a huge grin on his face.
“I figured it was you when I heard that growl, Yung,” his brother called out. “I’ve got someone I want you to meet. I knew you’d want to get to know her–”
Before Jihun could finish his sentence, Yung had crossed the room and slammed his fist into his brother’s nose, knocking him out of his chair. The witches jumped up as Jihun fell onto the table, causing their drinks to spill. Before Yung could ram his fist into his brother’s nose again, Hyun was there holding him back.
“Man, what the hell are you doing?” Hyun yelled.
What was he doing? This wasn’t like him. Yung tried to calm down. He opened his mouth to speak but was hit with a scent of arousal so strong it made his knees buckle. Hyun caught him before he hit the floor. That scent! Yung stared straight at the woman who belonged to him. He could hear the witches helping his brother up.
One was saying a spell to fix his brother’s broken nose. Another was asking his brother why was Yung so violent. Normally, Yung wasn’t like this. Tonight, he didn’t give a damn about any of that. Tonight, he couldn’t take his eyes off the dark-haired, brown-skinned beauty with the dark eyes who was standing before him.
She seemed unable to take her eyes off him also. Did she feel the mating pull too? She had to. For a moment, it was as if time stood still and the two of them were the only people left in the club. Fuck that! In the world. Even in his wildest dreams, he couldn’t have conjured up a more beautiful mate.
There were so many things he wanted to say to her. So many things he wanted to do to her. All of a sudden, she licked her lips and he was lost. His beast took over. Yung knocked Hyun’s hands off of him and leapt towards the woman whose scent was driving him mad.
He needed to touch her, hold her, claim her. He reached for her but ran into an invisible wall that damn near knocked him on his ass. Growling as he regained his footing, Yung tried again. Something wrapped around his wrists and pulled him back.
He glanced down at his hands and saw nothing. Yet, when he moved, he felt ropes biting into his wrists. He tried to break free of the invisible hold. The more he struggled, the tighter the ropes got. Damn it!
“Let him go, Valera. Please,” his mate said to one of the witches who stood giggling beside his brother.
This was his first time hearing his mate’s voice. It was like the sweetest melody. More surprisingly, it calmed his beast, a little. Yung ceased struggling to break free and simply stared at her. Mine. He’d finally found his better half. Now if he could only go to her.
“I can’t let him go, babe,” the witch called Valera replied. “He seems hell-bent on getting his hands on you. I don’t think you’re ready for what he’s ready for. Then again, maybe you are!” The three witches started laughing at their inside joke, while his woman blushed.
“No, no, I don’t think I’m ready for that,” his mate replied. Her gaze darting from him back to the witches. “Um, maybe we should just leave. I’ll go first while you’re holding him.”
Don’t go!
Yung growled and pulled against his invisible restraints. He didn’t want her to leave. He hadn’t had a chance to talk to her. He hadn’t had a chance to tell her he was so fucking glad he’d found her. Tonight, he would get that chance. Or he’d destroy this entire fucking club. His beast wouldn’t be denied.
*.*.*.*
How did he have this kind of power over her? Staring into his brown eyes, she caught a glimpse of the wolf he was barely holding in. Iris liked what she saw. Being part wolf herself, she felt her inner beast begging to be released. This was a feeling she’d never felt before. Normally, her wolf was dormant, even lazy, for a better word.
But lately, Iris had been feeling a plethora of new emotions and her wolf had been acting strangely. For the past two days, she’d been feeling sick to her stomach. Her whole body ached. Her best friend, Val, said it was because she was going through the change.
The change was something all female shifters went through once they reached their primeage; the age where their body was the healthiest and the strongest. From then on, they would cease to age the same way humans did. Iris turned twenty-four a few months ago.
She would stay looking twenty-four for about five years if the 5:1 ratio was correct. To celebrate her primeage, her friends had suggested coming to the club as a diversion to her problems. However, the only thing coming to the club had done was make matters worse. She did a mental recap of her night so far.
Once inside the club, she’d been hit with a need so strong, she hadn’t known what to do. Racing to the bathroom to keep her friends from noticing, she’d rushed into the last stall, slammed and locked the door, then stood against the wall, trying to catch her breath.
But the bathroom wasn’t the haven she’d hoped it to be. Not even a minute later, she’d caught another whiff of the scent that had sent her racing to the bathroom. Only that time, it was closer. And that time, she’d felt herself getting wet because of it.
She’d felt close to losing control of her body. She’d felt close to giving that control up to her inner wolf. Her, the woman who was praised for her amazing amount of restraint and self-control, was finally losing her mind. Her body was betraying her.
Hiding in the tiny stall, she’d felt horny, unsatisfied, needy. Then the door to the lady's room had burst open. And that’s when she’d heard him growl. At that moment, she’d known exactly what it was her body, her wolf, needed. Him! His scent had been so strong, so
powerful, so sexy.
When he sniffed then growled, she’d known he’d come in there specifically to look for her. That had frightened the woman but riled up the wolf. Her friends had warned her of this. She’d been told that once her wolf found the person she wanted to spend her life with, she’d attempt to take over.
And once her wolf took over, the next few days would be nothing but a fuck-fest. Val’s words, not hers. Iris wasn’t ready for that. She was pretty sure her body wasn’t ready for that also, no matter how much her wolf growled in disagreement.
Iris had heard the man her wolf wanted nearing the stall she’d been hiding in. The need growing inside of her had increased. She could feel the energy coming off of him. From that energy, she could sense that he needed her just as much as she needed him.
But she wasn’t used to needing anyone. And there was no way in hell she was going to risk having her wolf take over her in that club. Nervous and confused, she’d weighed her options. She could stay and see if the stranger wanted to have a friendly talk over a nice cold beer.
Or, she could let her wolf out and she could hump a stranger in the bathroom of a shifter club. Her wolf had growled her approval at that option. Out of time, the stall door had burst open just as she’d decided to go with option C and teleported herself to her bedroom.
She’d done the one thing she’d been told not to do at the club, teleport. But no one had been there to see it. He definitely hadn’t seen her teleport. Once in her bedroom, Iris had been able to breathe again. Taking a deep breath, she’d sensed her mom downstairs watching T.V.
But she could no longer sense him. Perfect. What she’d truly needed at that moment was a cold shower. Iris kicked her heels off. Pulling her shirt over her head, she’d headed to the bathroom. Once she’d entered the bathroom, she’d taken her pants off then started pulling her panties down. She’d groaned as the fabric slid from between her legs.