

The Forgotten Girls (Book #1 in The Suburban Murder Series)
Alexa Steele · Completed · 67.8k Words
Introduction
Chapter 1
PROLOGUE
Joslyn Freed had always been terrified of water. Tonight, as she made her way down to the shore on the jagged, uneven path alone, in darkness, she felt a rising sensation to turn and run as fast as she could. She didn’t, of course. She had said she would be there and she would.
Carefully and slowly she navigated the trail, her shimmering, sky-high stilettos faltering under the pressure to support her. They gave way on a pile of loose rocks when she slipped and fell, catching herself as she landed on her side.
Shaken, she lifted herself, brushed dirt off her dress and continued, unsteadily, down to the yacht she had promised she would go.
Joslyn had regretted agreeing to this meeting before she even snuck outside and now, as she approached the dock, she felt queasy, gagging from the smell of salt water and fish.
She bent over and vomited.
Miserable, she straightened herself and looked back up the hill at the well-lit club, the faraway sound of voices and laughter eerily distant.
She turned. The gate to the marina stood before her, hanging loosely off its hinges, tempting her. Swirling, agitated water slapped against the side of the pier. She felt queasy and turned away.
Joslyn had never liked the sea, found it way too unpredictable. Even as a young girl she could never relax when in its grip. On her family vacations, her father would hold her hand and walk her out, deep into the water, to a spot where they could dunk under the gigantic waves that crashed for them, one after another. She would hold her breath even after she came up for air and beg him to let her go back to shore. He would just laugh.
Joslyn stood frozen, staring at the churning, deep water, and wished she hadn’t allowed herself to be talked into coming down here. She needed to learn to say no, to not worry so much about others’ feelings. That was her problem; she was too kind. After tonight, she decided, it was time to make some changes.
For starters, she would get out of Greenvale this summer to spend time with her sister back home. The years had passed without her having shared with her daughters the simplicity of her childhood in rural Wisconsin—so different from the life they knew here. She would plan a surprise girls’ trip in honor of Carly, her oldest, off to college this Fall. A pang of sadness tore through her as she thought of the double suicide of two high school senior girls in town, both of whom Carly knew. Now, instead of sending their girls off to college, their mothers had just finished burying them. What was wrong with this town?
Leaving for a while wouldn’t be enough, though, and she knew it. She was going to have to end the toxic relationships that permeated her life, starting with this one, the worst of them all. Really, what was left to say? Their differences were glaring, and this last-ditch attempt to revive something was a waste of time. This would be the last time she would engage, she promised herself. Ending this relationship was way overdue.
Joslyn forced herself forward, through the gate, out onto the dock and toward the yachts, lined up like sardines. Her instructions were clear: walk to the very end.
Paradise Found
would be on her left.
She hadn’t been on a yacht in years, though she had been invited many times. As she walked past them, she had forgotten how imposing they looked up close, each one grander than the next. They screamed money and leisure like nothing else. She thought of the gala that evening, how it too broadcast the same message: a self-congratulatory air for being rich, privileged, and fabulous.
Suddenly it dawned on her. It wasn’t the wealth in her town that bothered her—she liked beauty and luxury as much as the next person. It was the way everyone around her idolized it. It was the way they all strived to project an image of perfection, especially through their kids; succeeding at all costs, at any cost, had become everyone’s number one goal.
She was sick of all the affect, the self-absorption, the constant preoccupation with themselves and their children. No one she knew had saved the world last time she checked, or found a cure for cancer or worked as a firefighter and saved a life. She was disgusted with it all quite frankly, and with herself, for having become so fully lost in it. Somewhere along the line, her life had morphed into a bubble of money, privilege, status, and inordinate self-obsession. She was suffocating in it; she had to get out.
It was eerily still as Joslyn meandered down the rickety, wooden dock, an invisible force pushing her along. Two lampposts at either end cast a shrouded light, and a few errant stars hung in the sky, defying the quickly-moving cloud cover. The yachts groaned angrily, struggling against their tethering ropes.
After a few more reluctant steps, Joslyn reached the 54-foot Alden Ketch, nestled proudly into a side slip at the very end. A small white note was taped to the piling, its words barely legible in the dim light:
“Come inside.”
Joslyn looked down the gangway and saw the cabin, lit.
Trying to be cute
, she thought.
As she unstrapped her heels she heard a door slam on the yacht and looked up.
No one was there. Where was Fred? He always worked the marina during parties, but she’d noticed he hadn’t been in his chair near the entrance.
Leaving her shoes on the deck, Joslyn gripped her clutch and the gangway rails and gently made her way down the plank. She felt like an intruder as she stood, barefoot, on the rocking teak deck, steadying herself.
The cabin door stood slightly ajar and a warm, comforting light glowed inside like a refuge from the elements, from the churning sea. Tentatively, she made her way toward it.
As she reached for the door, Joslyn suddenly had an awful premonition; before she could understand what it was, she sensed motion and saw a face, contorted in rage, and rushing for her at full speed. She was confused as she saw hands, wearing gloves despite the warm weather, rushing up for her mouth—and the last thing she saw, as they clamped her mouth, was the teak deck of this million dollar yacht, rushing up to meet her.
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My Possessive Alpha Twins For Mate
My drunk stepfather remained indifferent, his weight suffocating, making it hard to breathe as my heart raced.
Suddenly, the door slammed open, and two figures burst in.
"Get off her!" a deafening roar echoed.
I didn't expect the twin brothers who'd bullied me at school to come charging in like gods to save me.
After my grandmother passed, I had to move in with my mom and stepdad, who treated me like a servant. I prayed every day for my 18th birthday to come, so l could leave and escape this broken home.
However, on my first day at my new school, l encountered the legendary twins everyone feared.
To make matters worse, the Moon Goddess revealed they were both my mates!
After helping me out with my stepdad, my twin mate cornered me, played with my hair, and whispered possessively, "You belong to us, our little mate..."
Falling for my boyfriend's Navy brother
"What is wrong with me?
Why does being near him make my skin feel too tight, like I’m wearing a sweater two sizes too small?
It’s just newness, I tell myself firmly.
He’s my boyfirend’s brother.
This is Tyler’s family.
I’m not going to let one cold stare undo that.
**
As a ballet dancer, My life looks perfect—scholarship, starring role, sweet boyfriend Tyler. Until Tyler shows his true colors and his older brother, Asher, comes home.
Asher is a Navy veteran with battle scars and zero patience. He calls me "princess" like it's an insult. I can't stand him.
When My ankle injury forces her to recover at the family lake house, I‘m stuck with both brothers. What starts as mutual hatred slowly turns into something forbidden.
I'm falling for my boyfriend's brother.
**
I hate girls like her.
Entitled.
Delicate.
And still—
Still.
The image of her standing in the doorway, clutching her cardigan tighter around her narrow shoulders, trying to smile through the awkwardness, won’t leave me.
Neither does the memory of Tyler. Leaving her here without a second thought.
I shouldn’t care.
I don’t care.
It’s not my problem if Tyler’s an idiot.
It’s not my business if some spoiled little princess has to walk home in the dark.
I’m not here to rescue anyone.
Especially not her.
Especially not someone like her.
She’s not my problem.
And I’ll make damn sure she never becomes one.
But when my eyes fell on her lips, I wanted her to be mine.
My Husband Wants An Open Marriage
Julie's world is shattered when her husband, Ryan, reveals that he wants an open marriage. His reason: he needs a child as they've been unable to have one. Julie reluctantly agrees to save her marriage.
The next day, Ryan returns home with his secretary, confirming Julie’s long-held suspicion that their affair was taking place behind her back.
Julie, heartbroken and enraged, seeks solace in a bar, where she meets a fascinating stranger named Luke, who changes the game. Julie confides in Luke over drinks, and he proposes a risky plan: he will act as her "boyfriend" to turn the tables on Ryan.
Julie agrees, setting off a chain of events that will challenge everything she thought she knew about love, loyalty, and herself.
Into the Alpha’s Keep
To protect her sister, she flees, searching for a safe place to endure this agonizing time away from any pack.
But fate has other plans. Her journey leads her into forbidden territory, where the land is ruled by Fenrir, a powerful and ruthless alpha.
Fenrir has never known loss of control—until he crosses paths with the omega in heat, lost and vulnerable on his lands.
Their wolves take over, and an unimaginable bond forms between them: a mating bond neither of them wanted.
Confused and enraged by what has transpired, Fenrir decides to imprison the omega in his home, determined to figure out why their destinies are now tangled.
As the two struggle to keep their distance, their hatred for one another grows—but their wolves demand closeness.
The beasts within them are relentless, and neither can bear to be apart.
The Alpha King's Human Mate
“I have waited nine years for you. That’s nearly a decade since I’ve felt this emptiness inside me. Part of me began to wonder if you didn’t exist or you’d already died. And then I found you, right inside my own home.”
He used one of his hands to stroke my cheek and tingles erupted everywhere.
“I’ve spent enough time without you and I will not let anything else keep us apart. Not other wolves, not my drunken father who’s barely holding himself together the past twenty years, not your family – and not even you.”
Clark Bellevue has spent her entire life as the only human in the wolf pack - literally. Eighteen years ago, Clark was the accidental result of a brief affair between one of the most powerful Alphas in the world and a human woman. Despite living with her father and her werewolf half-siblings, Clark has never felt like she really belonged in the werewolf world. But right as Clark plans to leave the werewolf world behind for good, her life gets flipped upside down by her mate: the next Alpha King, Griffin Bardot. Griffin has been waiting years for the chance to meet his mate, and he's not about to let her go anytime soon. It doesn't matter how far Clark tries to run from her destiny or her mate - Griffin intends to keep her, no matter what he has to do or who stands in his way.
The Wolf Prophies
Mated To The Cold Hearted Alpha
"You want me to fuck you, I know it"
"As much as you don't like me, you're my mate and you can't deny it."
He stood up behind me, one hand holding my hip, and leaned down, his breath ragged against my neck, his voice was husky,
"You'll listen to your body... what it wants... and my body... what it needs. Only the pleasure that a small bite can bring."
At the age of 15, I was shocked to hear the ruthless Alpha claim that I was his mate.
To make matters worse, he killed my father, who was trying to protect me. At that time, I successfully ran away from him.
However, when I turned 18, I fell into his trap again.
I hated him and wanted revenge, but the moon goddess had a different plan for me.
I was his mate, and we were fated to be together. No matter the circumstances, my body couldn't resist him.
The Pack: Rule Number 1 - No Mates
"Let me go," I whimper, my body trembling with need. "I don't want you touching me."
I fall forward onto the bed then turn around to stare at him. The dark tattoos of Domonic's chiseled shoulders, quiver and and expand with the heave of his chest. His deep dimpled smile is full of arrogance as he reaches behind himself to lock the door.
Biting his lip, he stalks toward me, his hand going to the seam of his pants and the thickening bulge there.
"Are you sure you don't want me to touch you?" He whispers, untying the knot and slipping a hand inside. "Because I swear to God, that is all I have been wanting to do. Every single day from the moment you stepped in our bar and I smelled your perfect flavor from across the room."
New to the world of shifters, Draven is human on the run. A beautiful girl who no one could protect. Domonic is the cold Alpha of the Red Wolf Pack. A brotherhood of twelve wolves that live by twelve rules. Rules which they vowed could NEVER be broken.
Especially - Rule Number One - No Mates
When Draven meets Domonic, he knows that she is his mate, but Draven has no idea what a mate is, only that she has fallen in love with a shifter. An Alpha that will break her heart to make her leave. Promising herself, she will never forgive him, she disappears.
But she doesn’t know about the child she’s carrying or that the moment she left, Domonic decided rules were made to be broken - and now will he ever find her again? Will she forgive him?
The Luna's Vampire Prince
His hand is cool when it brushes a loose curl from my cheek, but I don’t jerk away from him. I have no idea what’s going on. I don’t understand why I’m here. I don’t know what will happen tomorrow. It seems like a lot of powerful people want me—dead or alive. And yet, all I can think about right now is how badly I want this vampire’s hands on my body.
I live in a desolate village on the edge of the Vampire King’s lands. This used to be wolf shifter territory, but now, we are just trying to survive.
When I mess up and find myself in a culling, I know I’m dead. No wolf shifters ever survive these events.
And after the stunt I pulled in the middle of the village, Prince Rafe probably wants me dead.
Is it a good thing or a bad thing when a vampire looks at you like you’re a snack?
Something tells me, once I reach the castle, I’ll be missing my miserable existence in the village.
But then—it turns out I have no freaking idea who I even am, and when the royals start referring to me as Princess Ainslee, I realize my life is about to take a turn—for better or worse.
Omega Bound
Thane Knight is the alpha of the Midnight Pack of the La Plata Mountain Range, the largest wolf shifter pack in the world. He is an alpha by day and hunts the shifter trafficking ring with his group of mercenaries by night. His hunt for vengeance leads to one raid that changes his life.
Tropes:
Touch her and die/Slow burn romance/Fated Mates/Found family twist/Close circle betrayal/Cinnamon roll for only her/Traumatized heroine/Rare wolf/Hidden powers/Knotting/Nesting/Heats/Luna/Attempted assassination
Stuck With My Three Hottie Boss
"Do you want that, buttercup? Do you want us to give your little cunt what it craves?"
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They want to share her but will she accept the fact that they fuck each other?
Will she be able to navigate business and pleasure?
She has never been touched by a man before let alone three, all at the same time. Will she oblige?