"I will fight every man, confront every god, endure every force of nature to find you again. I promise you, I will come back for you because you and I, our love is written in the stars." At twenty-two, Meera dreams of only one thing. Freedom. Freedom from the abusive father who has controlled every moment of her life. Instead, she is forced into an arranged marriage with Mohan, a successful entrepreneur, ten years older than her. She never expected to fall in love with her husband. She certainly never expected to remember him dying for her. A thousand years ago, Mohan was Shyam, the royal guard who swore his life to the last Chola princess, Rani Devashree, Meera's past-life self. Now, as fragments of another lifetime begin to surface, an ancient enemy returns. As the line between past and present begins to blur, Meera and Mohan must uncover the truth behind a thousand-year-old conspiracy before history repeats itself. Is their love destiny or a death sentence?

What happens when Death falls in love with the paramour he is gifted? Cursed to kill everyone he touches, beastly Lord Damien Casteel lives in anger and loneliness. During a rare game of poker, he wins the final hand against a petty criminal named Luca. The prize is a pouch of twelve precious gemstones. But Luca is determined to get the stones back, no matter what. Breaking into Damien's mansion to exchange the real gems for fakes, he is captured and threatened with death. Begging for his life, he strikes a deal: his freedom in exchange for his adopted son, Jemison, who will serve the lord as his paramour for twelve days; one day for each stone. Although he is reluctant to let anyone into his life, Damien is desperate to keep Jem away from Luca's abuse, so he agrees. What he does not expect is to fall for the tormented young man. Prompt used is number 46. We love broken, beautiful people. And it doesn't get more obviously broken and more classically beautiful than you. (Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid) My writing is AI-free. Any emdashes are here because I LIKE them. The poetic purply prose is here because I LIKE it. Computers don't write my stuff. The Muse inside my head who keeps me up till 3 AM and wants to drive me bonkers, does. Warning for: spicy situations, alcohol, some swearing, blood, abuse, and typical Christine darkness. There's no graphic sa, torture, gore, or animal abuse.

The stars whispered to amateur astronomer Levi, and to his alarm, one by one they disappeared within the abyss. But when he witnessed one such disappearance, the star fell to him and took a human form. Explaining Celesta's sudden appearance to suspicious townspeople became an insignificant problem when a Darkness threatened to consume the universe, one star at a time, including the one that warmed his world. A fantasy story written for the 2026 Open Novella Contest, utilizing prompt #69: The stars are disappearing one by one, and only you can hear their whispers.

Some roads aren't meant to be traveled alone... because they can kill. | On her way home after a long day of work, the most talented basket weaver in Sitio Sanstorya clashes with her childhood bullies. Luckily for Mila, an eligible bachelor from the same village comes to her rescue. Unfortunately, Lucca also happens to be the neighborhood's most notorious flirt and sweet-talking cadger. Before she could shoo him away, the road she travels almost every day of her life transforms into a dark and terrifying place. Now Mila has no choice but to rely on her equally frightened yet surprisingly protective companion. She will have to resist Lucca's rapt stares and constant flattery until they find their way home. And until they escape the monsters hunting them down.

🏆 ONC 2026 Honorable Mention 🏆 ''Nothing is what it seems in dreams.'' In the depths of a dark and twisted forest, Aris, crown prince of Lancaster, is tormented by recurring nightmares of the Tainted--monstrous creations of the black fae, a corrupting force that seeps into all who live within its woods. Relentlessly hunted in the dreams, he finds unexpected aid from a mysterious girl named Elara, and with her help he is able to elude the creatures each time, breaking free from the nightmare's clutches. But when Aris is wounded by one of the Tainted, the line between dream and reality begins to blur. When a weapon deadly to the black fae appears in his grasp from the dream, Aris and his sisters--Tamryn, Maeve, Maeril, and Aine--must race against time and his failing health to uncover the ancient truth behind the forest's curse, or face the imminent threat of the black fae and its vengeful master, the guardian of the dark forest, Erebus Nocturne. ✧☽ ✧ ☼ ✧ ☽ ✧ Cover design by Aravis Brightspell ✧☽ ✧ ☼ ✧ ☽ ✧ If you are reading this story on any platform other than Wattpad, you are very likely to be at risk of a malware attack and reading a plagiarized copy of my work. If you wish to read this story in its original, safe form, please go to https://www.wattpad.com/user/Aravis-Brightspell.

All that once glittered was gold until it turned to bitter ash and ruin. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Life has never been kind to the likes of Juliette Laurant. Tortured by flowers with each failure that arises, and a voice or two spewing poison into her ears, she's more well known for her oddities than she is as an artist, but if she had her way, she would seclude herself to the forest and create paintings till the end of her days. But when an eccentric earl comes calling for a well seasoned artist, it's hard for Juliette not to leap into the unknown without questioning his motives first. With years of trauma and a dash of magic lurking beneath the surface, Juliette has plenty of secrets of her own that she'd rather have stay buried, but will the ever persuasive Cole Roswell convince her to leave the past behind? Or will she bury herself along with the life she thought she'd live? Only Fate will tell.

~ a Vikings meets Pride & Prejudice fanfiction ~ He is crippled. He is unlovable. He is ruthless. Together with his brothers and the Great Heathen Army, Viking warrior Ivar the Boneless has been wreaking havoc on England for the past two years. Some of his brothers think it has been enough, but Ivar is just getting started. While quarreling about their next move, Ivar makes one mistake too many and accidentally kills his brother Sigurd. Heartbroken, he retreats to the forest to indulge in one vulnerable moment, convinced nobody can see him. Elizabeth Bennett is intelligent, free-spirited, and sharp-tongued. Together with her mother and sisters, she manages the Bennett estate while her father takes up his seat in King Aethelwulf's council. She did not plan on stumbling over a weeping Viking in the woods and much less on getting scolded for it, but here she is, wrestled to the ground by a son of Ragnar, the most broken, yet most beautiful man she has ever met. He'd better polish up his manners if he knows what's good for him. The problem is that perhaps he doesn't. 🪓❤️‍🔥⚔️💋❤️‍🩹 🪓❤️‍🔥⚔️💋❤️‍🩹 🪓❤️‍🔥⚔️💋❤️‍🩹 An ONC2026 entry Prompt 46: We love broken people, beautiful people. And it doesn't get more obviously broken and more classically beautiful than you. 🏆 ONC 2026 SHORTLIST 🏆 ONC 2026 HONORABLE MENTION 🪓❤️‍🔥⚔️💋❤️‍🩹 🪓❤️‍🔥⚔️💋❤️‍🩹 🪓❤️‍🔥⚔️💋❤️‍🩹 Content Warnings Violence, swearing

On the eve of a board meeting that will make or break the company, a snowstorm forces the CEO of Keystone Systems, Richard Thompson, and his new personal assistant, Claire Reynolds, to spend an evening at the office together. A perfect man and a perfect woman, all alone... only that they aren't, and neither of them is quite what they seem. As the night falls, the office romance turns into something much more sinister, and Richard is about to learn that "perfect" is just another word for "replacable". ----- Another of my genre benders -- a sci-fi thriller, a heist, some (say it with me) social commentary, and a billionaire romance (without the romance part, but with a HEA, sort of). With some off-kilter erotica because I swear it looks like I'm contracted to have it always. How about a 50 Shades of Grey speedrun as seen by a bored, disgusted AI? ----- ONC 2026 story, main prompt 88 (not quoting for spoiler reasons). Also prompts 48, 38 (sort of).

Mature 18+ Lucien isn't looking for love, but through a chance encounter, he meets his fated, Jocelyn―or so he thinks. Jocelyn turns out not to be what Lucien believes, and she sets into motion events that threaten his peaceful, secure world, a world where humans and vampires reside together mostly without conflict. Vampires need human blood to survive, and humans supply it willingly in trade. Then Lucien begins to see the seedier side of things. Not all humans are willing to give blood. Sometimes money is not enough as payment. Then, there is human slavery to contend with. Lucien is introduced to beings that he thought only existed in folklore. Then there are the beings that he had never even fathomed. Some of these beings wish him harm, even through no fault of his own. Then the "Seekers" arrive. Is there really a possible cure for vampirism? What is the cost? What are the repercussions? Follow Lucien as he navigates a world that is no longer what he thought. Beings are not what they seem, including those closest to him, and betrayals run deep. Perhaps Lucien is no longer what he seems, either.

The crew of the Iron Bell soars through the universe, helping those in need while making a good living from those who can afford their services. This mismatched band of former military men pushes the envelope while rescuing others. When Isobel begs her brother's old team to help her friend Lily - a witch on the run from the boss of the Andromeda galaxy - do they have what it takes? And what happens when an all-powerful boss doesn't like interference with his business? ________ This story is only on W A T T P A D. If you are reading it anywhere else, it was stolen and you may be at risk for malware. This story started as my entry into the Spec-Fic Smack Down for 2024. (which made it through to the end of round four!) It is also based on the Pink Floyd album, Dark Side of the Moon. I do not own the music or lyrics, which belong to the songwriters, respectively. @SeraDrake created the cover and did all the editing. Trigger Warnings: Foul language, death. Please read safely!