Astral Pet Store (WN) - Chapter 1552: Slaying the Dragon (2)

They whisper my name in fear. Justin Black. The guy who sits in the back of the class, always in black, always untouchable. The one everyone watches but no one dares to approach.They don’t know me. Not really.Because if they did, they’d stay the hell away.I don’t do friends. I don’t do relationships. I don’t do attachments.But then there’s her.June Matthews—cheer captain, golden girl, a walking distraction. She’s everything I hate… and yet, she’s in my way. Assigned to me. Forced into my space. Testing my patience.She thinks she can handle me.She’s dead wrong.Because I have a secret. A place where I go to release the darkness inside me. Where names don’t exist, where pleasure and pain are one and the same. A world where people fulfill their deepest, most twisted fantasies.June doesn’t belong in my world.But the longer she stays, the more I want to pull her under.And once I do… I’m not sure I’ll ever let her go.

ExcerptAristia could not help but stare at the platinum blonde a few steps in front of her. She seemed to sparkle with a glow that drew people in around her. Something that only happened to the main character of a novel.[Is that stupid book sure I'm the female lead?] She thought, her jaws almost going slack.At this point, she was sure she was deluding herself— or the book was deluding her.She didn't know why, but she already disliked the girl.[This is definitely not jealousy.]She rubbed her brows, watching how the innocent, naive looking girl exuding female lead aura was being flocked around already by others.“Fuck, I'm in deep shit!”—Excerpt Two“What do you mean this is where I belong?!!!” She asked incredulously.“It is the truth. It might sound extremely absurd and unbelievable, but it is the truth.” He said, his voice tinged with helplessness.“Hell, it is absurd.” She threw her hands up in the air exasperatedly. The seriousness in his eyes told her he wasn't at all joking or messing with her. He was damn serious.“Ugh. What shit am I involved in?” She asked frustratingly to no one in particular at the news she was still trying to wrap her head around.***Aristia Andrews had just come back home from work and prepared to go to sleep, when she was given a novel.Nothing strange about that though, huh?But just after she had completed the novel, she woke up to find herself tossed into a whole new world. Taken from her world and the life she deemed perfect, and tossed into a not-so-ideal world.Now part of royalty, she has to get accustomed to living in a backward world of Kings and Queens, Dukes, Marquises, Earls, Viscounts and Barons. Just the titles and hierarchy were enough to make her smart head spin.With beautiful and loving parents and relatives, a cute younger brother, loyal servants and a smart brain, join Aristia as she enjoys eating and making new and delicious cuisines, forms unique friendships, and creates successful businesses.However, she finds all is not as she thought it was; there just might be something bigger than she expected, that the book did not reveal.Now... she has a lot of mysteries surrounding her to unfold, and secrets to uncover, and perhaps she'll find a dash of love along the way.

Within the red tent, under the passionate eyes of the man on top, she was forced to make love and three thousand black strands turned to white.

Outside the red tent, her husband laughed and drank with the beauties by his side as they watched…

When the red was torn, pieces of it were carried away by the wind. As she stepped out with difficult steps, the silver hair danced in the wind. Exactly whose heart was the one that was hurt in the end?

“How…how could it be you?” A voice filled with disbelief, he who always believed himself to be cold and unfeeling, fell into the pits of hell, filled with pain and regret for eternity.

For this imperial power, there are countless hidden plots. She hid her capabilities and bided her time, only desiring for a safe haven. In the end, her wish did not come true, and she fell into the hands of someone else as a chess piece.

The tale of a time-traveling woman who gets forced to the point of no return, turning her black hair into white. Should she bow to her fate and submit? Or should she fight back and glow brilliantly?

- Description from Novelupdates

A conversation with a handsome stranger leaves Ariane chained in a cellar with a strange affliction. She soon discovers that the darkness of the nineteenth century’s Deep South hides many dangers. Mages, wolf shifters and the humans who hunt them play a risky game where to stumble is to die, all under the amused gaze of the apex predators of the supernatural world: vampires.

It is never healthy to attract the gaze of the aristocracy of the night. It takes much to survive in this merciless world, but Ariane will not let that deter her. The southern belle has a bite, and she is willing to learn and to grow in this hostile new world. She will use whatever means necessary to reclaim her freedom, be it guile, charm, or those intriguing new instincts that make blood so delectable.

This is a story of vampires as I believe they should be, with their strengths and weaknesses, with their remnants of humanity and the beast inside. Updates every Friday. Mind the tags.

Cover by Antti Hakosaari: https://www.artstation.com/haco

Special thanks to Svensonsen for getting me started, as well as Omi Nya, Hesketh, Rhaegar, Yaksher, Selkie and Raven for proofreading my stuff. Thanks to my patrons and you dear readers, for the support. I could not do it without you.

Journey is on Amazon, both in ebooks and audio. here is a link to the first one:

https://www.royalroad.com/amazon/B08DK6G8Y8

The story probably exists in your local marketplace as well of I can tempt you.