Swallowed Star - Chapter 13 — Joy

“What does it feel like to be a shadow?”People say it's bondage — the absence of light, of freedom. But what is freedom, really?The ability to choose whatever you want?Or... just a beautiful illusion masking the void?Strange question, I know.But you'll understand soon enough.Because my lives?They've always been a little... enlightening.— Kaiser

Lady Dawn expected to die.After casting her soul to the wind, taking a one-in-a-million chance to escape the wretched dungeons of Taegrin Caelum, the once-caged songbird of the Asclepius wishes nothing more than to find her Hearth and warn them of the coming danger. Instead, she’s found herself a shade, anchored to a young man who knows far too much—and with far less hope than she’d started with.Toren Daen, for his part, only wanted to make it home safely. Now he’s in a world taken straight from the page, questioning what is real and what is fiction, and scrambling to make something worthwhile. And with his foresight, there’s only one way that Toren can see to keep this new world safe: prevent the descent of the Legacy. But those in power will not make it easy: Nico Sever is in a league of power all on his own, and Arthur Leywin bears the burden of Fate a continent away. In this familiar-yet-not world of mana, monsters, and looming deities, any misstep along the roads of Alacrya and the High Sovereign’s Dominion could lead to a Fate worse than death.But what is death to a phoenix? With a burning secret in his mana core, knowledge of the future, and a maelstrom of fears and questions, Toren might just survive to be more than what Lady Dawn expected him to be. He might just survive to waylay the encroaching tide of death in the proxy war between raging asura clans.More than all of that, he might just live.

Anne's life takes an unexpected twist when she meets her mate, the Alpha wolf prince Damien. Her world shatters when he rejects her, casting her out of the pack and into exile. To escape certain death, Anne flees to the human world, hiding her true nature and the secret she carries.Five years later, Anne has built a new life among humans, raising her son in peace. When Damien unexpectedly stumbles upon Anne and discovers their child, the heir to his pack, old wounds are reopened, and forgotten bonds are reignited.Damien is determined to reclaim what he lost, but Anne is no longer the same broken wolf who once loved him. She is stronger, fiercely protective, and unwilling to be hurt again. As Damien battles to win back her trust and integrate their son into his legacy, they must navigate a path of betrayal, redemption, and unknown enemies.Can Anne forgive the past and accept a future with the man who once shattered her heart? And can Damien prove he’s worthy of the mate and child he abandoned?

His name was Brayden Neal, and he was an ordinary citizen. At eighteen years old, he was bestowed the title of a king!

After ten years of fighting in the northern borders outside the kingdom, he finally returned home. He swore to kill three people the moment he arrived at the capital…