Something always has bigger teeth.

Aspen

I've spent my life chasing emotions I can't understand. I don't feel bad for what I am—I don't feel much at all, really. I'm a monster, comfortable in my own skin. When I move to a small town where people go missing, and they say the woods are haunted by a beast, I think I've finally found a place to settle.

And then he finds me… A creature made of shadow and moonlight.

A beast with wings that feeds on pure emotion.

A monster who says I belong to him.

Nox

I am the shadow that hangs over my small town by the mountains. I am the thing the children fear, and the adults speak of in hushed voices. I've never cared to know a human until Aspen shows up in the woods with blood on his hands. I feed on emotions, but his are volatile… different. He doesn't feel fear, but I can taste the desire for violence just beneath his skin.

I want to consume him. I want to keep him. I want to peel away his layers and wrap him up in my wings until I can taste his heart on my tongue.

I never believed in mates, but I know Aspen is mine.

Pareidolia is a full-length MM dark monster romance and is part of the Mayhem Manuscripts Cryptids shared world collaboration. Expect dark themes, scorching heat, and two monsters figuring out what love means in their twisted world.

Contains mature content. A complete list of content warnings can be found on the author's website.