They say life begins at 40.... But when infertility led to my divorce, it seemed more like the end. When I’d rather be at home in my sweats binging '80s movies, my dad begs me to go to Carlton with him for moral support as he presents my much younger sister to their unmated Alpha.

Rule number one of Wall Street: don’t fall in love with your billionaire boss. I hate my boss. The Wall Street tycoon is a jerk. A world-class alpha-hole. Devastatingly handsome but terribly flawed. He goes through assistants like I go through vanilla lattes, and I need this job. But I went to school with bullies like him, so I’m not afraid. I hate my attraction to him. How sparks fly when we spar. The way he barks orders and dresses me down. I hate how I fantasize about him during and after work hours.

He used to torture me mercilessly for being a geek. He shattered my heart by calling me names and comparing me to others. But I’m no longer the scrawny girl with the braces. I’m a curvaceous grown woman, and I want my revenge. Everyone in the pack has always joked that we would end up together. But I know how he uses women and runs away from them. I know that I could never give him my heart. Yet all that knowledge doesn’t stop my womanhood from reacting to him. Even in anger, he makes me feel something no man has ever made me feel.

I was born a mistake, a hybrid unwanted. I act tough, soft inside to survive. All I need is a savior. Here he comes. As my fated mate, he triggers my innermost itch to love, but he loathes and rejects me like I'm worthless.

Tate is not the sort of neighbor you can ignore. Especially when he walks around half naked for all the world to see. I can't help that I got a weak spot for bad boys. But that was before I became a single mom, and I’m not so weak anymore. Besides, Tate lights my temper without even trying, and I swear he enjoys teasing me. Well, two can play at that game, and I think it’s time someone teaches him a lesson. 

I keep my head down. In this backward pack, females rank low, and my bad leg makes me damaged goods. It doesn’t help that I’ve never shifted. I don’t mind the late-20s single life, though. No one’s paying any attention as I build an illicit farmer’s market empire. My roomies and I are doing it for ourselves, and if life under Killian Kelly is stifling, at least it’s predictable. We can deal. But when biology finally kicks in, I lose my mind. I claim our alpha as my mate. And he rejects me in front of the whole pack.

I’ve been told I’m beautiful to look at, but I’m a monster all the same. Barely contained. Terrifying now that the thirst is upon me. I’m a beast king, and that comes with its pros and cons. Big con: I have to take a bride. It’s built into my DNA. We all reach a point where the drive kicks in. I thought I still had time. I was wrong. I need to find her. The one. A vampiress whose blood will quench me. The hunt is on. If I don’t find her soon, I’ll be put down like a rabid dog, leaving my throne to my greatest enemy: my rival by blood. And that can’t happen.

I got pregnant from a one-night stand. I wasn’t going to tell the father...until I walked into the office and found out he’s my new boss. Here’s some advice: Don’t sleep with your boss. Here’s some more: Don’t sleep with your married boss. And while I’m at it: Don’t sleep with your married, dangerous, billionaire, completely incapable-of-feeling boss because all he’s going to do is break your heart and your body and leave you to cry in the ashes. But I’ve never been good at taking my own advice.

My fiancé is screaming at me in public. I'm used to it. My role here is to look pretty on his arm and to play nice so he doesn't hurt my sick daughter. What I'm not used to is the man who comes to my rescue. Adrik Tasarov is a tall glass of gorgeous. He's got a jawline that could cut glass and eyes that could melt steel. Best of all: my fiancé is absolutely terrified of him. So when Adrik asks me to dance, I say yes. When he asks me to do a little more than that, I say it again. Then comes the make-or-break moment. Adrik offers me a fake marriage to get me out of my real one.

Practically Perfect. That’s the name of the magic shop my witch twin and I own in Chicago’s supernatural marketplace. In reality, things are not so perfect. Tessa's the face of our shop. She draws in the customers to buy our potions, brews, spells, and enchantments. I’m the sensible sister moving boxes in the back. It works, sort of, and we have a pretty good life...until Tessa disappears. My instincts tell me my sister didn’t leave by choice. But here’s the problem—this isn’t the first time she’s flitted off, forcing me to bail her out of trouble.