Defiance of the Fall - Chapter 8: Abby the Eye

Nicole d'Armand never expected to walk into her apartment and find her fiancé *bleep*-deep in another woman's lady bits. What's a girl to do?Well, after obliterating an 18th-century Meissen vase, delivering a punch that would make a heavyweight boxer proud, and embarking on a night of raucous drinking, Nicole figures she might as well embrace the chaos.But when alcohol and pheromones collide, her wild night spins into something unexpected... Like a ride on the Logan Everett express.Which, naturally, leads to a whirlwind of its own: She's his fated mate. Because of course she is.And he rejects her. Because of course he does.Now embroiled in a mystery bigger than her post-breakup hangover, Nicole finds herself the prime suspect in a murder she didn't commit—no matter how tempting the thought might have been. And the only person who believes her innocence? The same guy who shot down the idea of being her fated mate.Great. Just what she needed: her love life is a crime scene, and the man stupid enough to let her go is holding her freedom in his hands.

“Nine Heavens cast down the Undying Tree, from the tomb the Immortal's bones were fetched;Taoist Venerable tut-tutted as they drank blood plasma, Old Buddha relished in the chew of meat;Beasts and livestock rang the Dharma Drum, city foxes and hole-dwelling rats boiled in the pot;In the Immortality Wine, the resentful spirits were fishy, at the Killing Banquet, the Dao Fruit was bitter!”In this world where Daoist Skill manifested, countless Sect Cultivators, Side Door Magicians, princes and scholars, officials of high rank and nobles all coveted immortality!Owl God Tomb, stealing heavenly secrets, Pearl Gathering Skill, Holy Infant Pill, bone effigies, Yin God Shrine, human-transformed monsters, Undying Elixir, Red Line Poison, Blood Immortal insects, Mermaid Meat, gold-threaded robes, Five Poisons Primordial Spirit, Seven Star Life Extension...They killed and harmed life only to steal the “Killing Dao Fruit” borne upon that Undying Tree!Until... a sly “Fishing Man” came to this world.Wang Yuan, born with the Small Book of Life and Death, had but a simple and unadorned dream:Amid bustling strings and smoky vistas, on a night bathed in moonlight, in peace and quiet did I lean on the rail, savoring the wind, toasting to the stars.With his “Bride in bridal clothes,” watching the sunrise at Taishan in the morning, admiring Qionghua in Luoyang at noon, and drinking under the aurora by the North Sea in the evening.“But you all smell so incredibly fragrant!No more, none shall escape, for today I shall crowdfund Cultivating Immortality! Please... my treasure, turn around!”The blood-red veil of the Bride abruptly fluttered to the ground.

Being the pack defect is bad enough. Getting REJECTED? By your own fated mate?Yeah. THAT is a whole new level of low.Ava Grey is the pack defect, a wolfless shifter. She struggles through life with the vague dream of freedom. Her opportunity comes when she's suddenly informed that she will be attending the Lunar Gala, an annual ball for young adult shifters to find their fated mates.And she finds him. He's beautiful and intense, and his kisses send desire through her veins like a drug.Until he REJECTS her.Ava isn't about to go back to her dreary life. She escapes and forges a new identity far from her pack, and far from her alpha mate. She makes new friends and is even forcefully adopted by a hilarious husky.But just as she settles in and finds happiness, strange things begin to happen...Her husky has been holding secrets.She's hearing whispers that shifter packs all over are looking for her.And she can smell a familiar scent in her apartment, which makes no sense at all... because the man it belongs to rejected her.DECEMBER 2024 NOTE-- Author has a broken hand and updates are slower than normal. Deepest apologies. Trying to get updates more normalized again!!---------This is a wolf shifter romance with multiple triggers that like to waltz hand in hand with all the dark themes through a meadow of dead flowers. In this book you will find the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. Laugh, cry, rage; you can do them all as you follow Ava in the rather perilous journey of being a wolf shifter in this generation of werewolf romance.There are R18 scenes sprinkled throughout this book like candy popping out of a pinata. Please read responsibly.-------

She was forced by her husband and his mistress to jump into the sea and commit suicide, only to be rescued and taken care of by the jerk's uncle for seven years.