Danger, heartache, grit, tension, brotherhood, trauma, betrayal, sacrifice, fear. Death square in the face. All in a day's work for the REAPERS, an elite black-ops team deployed to remote, untamed conflict zones. Their mission: to assassinate covert targets, conduct rescue operations and gather intelligence. We follow this tight band as its members evolve; some will die and be replaced by new faces, some will defect, be injured or retire, and others will change in unimaginable ways. All will be tested to their limits. REAPERS is an epic set in a sprawling dark fantasy universe of tragic characters, complex villains, and shocking story turns. It explores contemporary and timeless issues about the human condition set against an otherworldly backdrop; a study of the horrors of war and xenophobia through a fantastical yet gritty lens. Written by Them Thorntons. Full book available at Amazon: https://amzn.com/B00ZK8XZ5O Visit our website at: https://www.themthorntons.com "REAPERS - Book Two: The Hunger and the Sickness" coming soon!

"Society wants to believe it can identify evil people, bad people, or harmful people. But, it's not practical. Sometimes, there are no stereotypes, there's just evil." -Ted Bundy, serial killer of 30+ victims. Sometimes, Wattpad authors are inspired by real-life horror that's going on in their own lives. Special thanks to @Heather_Dianne for the cover!

Life Lesson #1: If you are planning on going to a nightclub in the middle of sketchy, dark woods, don't. Life Lesson #2: If there are too many attractive, healthy people in said nightclub, be alarmed and rethink Life Lesson #1. Life Lesson #3: If you were foolish enough to ignore rules 1 and 2, I suggest you haul ass. Aeress is one of those special people who obviously need a couple more life lessons... ----------------------------------------------------------------- He chuckled. It was dry but it was an addictive sound. "No," he brought his nose against her collar, "not at all." His lips skimmed over her exposed skin. She sighed at his touch, riding the sweet, overwhelming waves that came with. "You've barely touched me," Aeress had her hands skimming up the back of his neck and in between his strands. "And I'm falling apart." His voice was a little hollow and this worried her. "The bond we have is responsible for that." She tugged at him until he looked up. For a moment she just basked in how handsome he was. "I don't think so," she leaned in for a kiss, "I think that you are just about the most fascinating man I have ever met. And we have only just met. I don't think a bond can simply erase the will of an independent woman like me." His eyes came to life with a blazing fire. He closed the distance between them and kissed sensation back into her body, setting off every nerve in her flesh. Everything came to a boiling point, sizzling with need. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ °°MATURE AND EXPLICIT CONTENT OF ALL KINDS, AND I MEAN ALL KINDS°° Highest Rank: #7 in Werewolf, #79 in Romance

{WATTPAD FEATURED STORY, NOVEMBER 2017} Welcome to the Grove. Two years after a devastating sickness swept the planet, the surviving human population barricaded itself into walled cities, shutting off the outside. While these self-preserving men and women tried to repopulate the lost Earth, the remaining scraps of society, the children orphaned by disease, were thrust into the wilderness. This is the Grove. My people, my tribe. When the world denied us salvation, we banded together with only one common goal: survive. We call ourselves the Ravens. Welcome to the wild. MAY BE TRIGGERING IN RESPONSE TO COVID-19. PLEASE PRACTICE SOCIAL DISTANCING/QUARANTINE //cover by @sophgray

A 2019 Watty Winner. For fans of Allison Pataki and Philippa Gregory, THE NYMPH OF VERSAILLES is based on the true story of Madame Montespan's rise and fall at the court of King Louis XIV. Being the Sun King's mistress is a coveted position in a court full of greedy courtiers vying for power and Athénaïs de Montespan won't let anything stand in the way of her stealing the king's heart-not even poison. When the king's interest in his mistress Louise begins to wane, Montespan sees the position as a possible escape from her husband's mounting debts and loveless marriage. Her strained friendship with Louise doesn't stop her from charming the king. However keeping his heart is tricky in a court full of plotting beauties eager to have him for themselves, especially with her jealous husband bent on ending her seduction. Then her children's governess becomes an unexpected rival for the king's heart and the only woman who can contend with Montespan. With the court swirling with rumors of poison, Montespan finds herself caught in the web of accusations. Her position with the king begins to crumble as she fights to hold on to the life she's built. Without the king's love, she fears she will lose everything as she falls from grace.

**Available on Amazon KU and paperback** All Bria wanted to do was go for a hike in her favorite Fjord. She didn't plan on falling through a stone portal into a new realm. *** Now, Bria is stuck in a land full of Vikings, where dark magic and war is all they know. But a myth tells of a warrior who will enter Volheimer and save them all, freeing them from their imprisonment between worlds. But Bria isn't anyone's savior. With no other choice before her, Bria starts to make a life for herself in the town of Daganold. She becomes fast friends with a Watcher named Emblyn and she certainly isn't falling in love with the king. *** Alarik is the new King of Daganold and he isn't ready. His father wasn't meant to die on the battlefield, not yet. But such is the will of the gods, damn them. He doesn't believe in the myth, in the stories they tell children to explain their existence. But when a woman with striking eyes and sharp witt falls into his care, he doesn't know what he believes anymore. Is it true? Is their time stuck between worlds truly coming to end? And if it is, was the king falling in love with the savior foretold, too? SKY IN THE DEEP x NARNIA *CONTENT WARNINGS: violence; blood; attempted rape; kidnapping ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ **Wattpad Editor's Pick August 2021** **Watty's Shortlist 2021**

the ghost of you keeps me awake [editor's choice 2021 | poetry] [cover by @qixing]

When men vanish around the city, a young, paraplegic detective takes it upon herself to uncover the truth and soon realizes the culprit might be a lot closer to home than she imagined. **** Barbara Gordon thought her career as a promising young detective ended after she was left crippled in a tragic accident. But when men start disappearing around the city, Barbara is given one more opportunity to fulfill her dream. Convinced her dad's new fiancee is not who she seems, Barbara begins her own investigation and discovers she might be responsible for the recent string of disappearances. But a darker truth lies just below the surface. If this once would-be detective wants to solve the case, then she must accept the help of some even more mysterious--and possibly dangerous--allies. [Wattpad Editors' Picks AUGUST 2021] [Wattys 2021 and 2022 Shortlist] (Cover by @lantea-)

[UPDATES ON FRIDAYS] It's been three years since Luz Melo left Portland, Maine... and Drake Medina. ☽ When her "borderline" alcoholic lifestyle in NYC falls apart, leaving her girlfriend in rehab, her grades trashed, and her scholarship revoked, the only thing left for her to do is admit defeat and head back to her hometown, to a shared apartment with her brother (and his roommates) in a sleepy port city that she swore she'd left behind forever. Enroll at MECA. Sober up. Forget Jess. Her hopes for normalcy (and recovery) sink quickly, when a body surfaces off the Maine State Pier, only a few blocks from her campus, ruled as a drug-related death. It becomes a pattern, and if Luz looks deep enough, it becomes a coded chase through cold, dark nights with a shotgun passenger: Drake Medina. Because she knows Drake knows something, but if there's anything she... really... knows, it's that Drake has been (and always will be) a liar. It doesn't take long for Luz to understand why: if they keep digging, it only gets darker and darker... and closer to home.

An orphan with a dubious pedigree strives to secure her future through marriage, but as she stumbles through the dance of courtship, she begins to question who she truly is -- and who she wants to be. ***** Edith Shepley looks like a Wyrm. She takes after her father, whoever he was, but that doesn't change things. She is a proper Folk lady nonetheless, trained from the cradle to govern as Baroness of Ewert someday. And she knows her duty. Now a woman at sixteen years old, Edith must marry and beget Ewert's next heir. She obediently considers suitor after suitor, some sweet, some baffling, some detestable. But the more she sees of her mother's society, the more Edith questions whether she really is a Folk lady, after all. And the more she's stung by its insults, its injuries and injustices, the more she doubts she really wants to be. Book One of The Unfinished Wyrm! Wattys 2017 "The Storysmiths" winner!