Delicious Reptilian Meat

Have you ever eaten "Reptilian" meat? My grandfather said he had. Creatures that looked exactly like us on the outside, but were fundamentally different on the inside. Extremely dangerous, yet incredibly delicious. Before he died, my grandfather left behind a notebook. The first page read: "Reptilian look exactly like humans, but human instinct can tell them apart." The moment my cousin Braden returned for my grandfather's funeral, my gut told me: he wasn't human!

Chapters

Chapter 3

Corrie Holt's POV

Hoover leaned back, his eyes still vacant, lost in the memories of the past.

"That night," he began again, his voice barely audible over the silence, "we huddled in the dark. The kids. My brother, Clara, me, and a few others. We were all just children, but we knew what Elias was. The adults... they were too blind. Too hungry. Too desperate to see the truth."

He described the suffocating silence in the cabin where the Reptilian Elias slept. The only sounds were the rhythmic creaking of the old wooden walls and the Reptilian's faint snoring.

Hoover and his siblings, clutching rusty knives and makeshift clubs, crept soundlessly into the room.

"We were starving too," Hoover admitted, his voice raspy. "But we knew. We knew this was different. This wasn't human flesh. This was... Reptilian meat. We needed it to survive. Not just to fill our bellies, but to fight back."

"My brother was the smallest," Hoover recalled, his eyes locked onto some unseen horror in the corner of the room. "He tried to slip a rope around Elias's ankle. But Elias... he twitched. Just slightly. He made a tiny noise. It was almost a whisper, but it shattered the silence. We all froze. Our hearts stopped beating."

Suddenly, the bedroom door was shoved open. My great-grandfather Robert stood there. "Kids, what are you doing?"

He saw the makeshift weapons. He saw the mimic of Elias, still lying on the cot.

Robert's face instantly went pale.

"No!" Robert shouted, his voice thick with anguish and fear. "Elias! No!"

He rushed forward—not to help the children, but to protect Elias.

Hunger had blinded him; all he saw was his cousin, the man who had brought them food.

"Dad, don't!" Hoover screamed, but it was too late.

The Reptilian moved with a terrifying, unearthly speed.

Its body contorted, its chest ripping open to reveal a gory, gaping maw lined with razor-sharp teeth and writhing flesh.

It lunged at Robert.

A sickening crunch echoed through the room. Robert's screams were abruptly cut short.

The Reptilian began to devour him. Its fleshy, interwoven tentacles wrapped around his body, dragging him into its yawning mouth.

Hoover watched it all, paralyzed by terror.

His father was being eaten. Right in front of his eyes.

His younger brother let out a piercing, desperate shriek.

Clara passed out cold.

The other kids stood rooted to the spot, eyes wide, witnessing the absolute horror.

Hoover described the smell. A stench of copper and blood, mixed with a nauseating, alien musk that hung heavy in the air. The sounds were even worse. Wet tearing noises. Gurgling. The sickening slurp of flesh being sucked away.

The children finally snapped out of their shock, driven by the sheer instinct to survive.

They scrambled out of the cabin, fleeing blindly through the snow-covered forest, their bare feet freezing, their lungs burning.

...

Halfway through the story, Hoover paused, his breathing ragged and uneven.

Suddenly, he clutched his chest, his face contorting in pain. He gasped for air, his breathing rapid and shallow, his eyes rolling back into his head. He was having a heart attack.

I screamed and dialed 911. The paramedics arrived quickly.

Hoover's body was rapidly weakening. His breathing grew shallower by the second. He slowly opened his eyes, meeting my gaze. He reached out a trembling hand and grabbed my arm with unexpected strength.

"Corrie, don't ever get curious about the taste of Reptilian meat. It's dangerous," he rasped, his voice fading to a whisper. "Trust your gut. Your instinct will know before your brain does..."

He squeezed my arm one last time, his eyes empty, delivering his final warning.

Then, his hand went slack and dropped, his eyes glossing over.

He was gone.

The paramedics pronounced him dead. My grandfather, the man who had told these horrifying stories, had passed away.

I stood there frozen, his dying words echoing in my ears: "Your instinct will know before your brain does..."

"Because those who couldn't react in time... are all dead."

Continue to next part

The craziest thing I've ever done was let a dangerous man touch me, and not pull away. "Trust me." Words like that could mess you up in this line of work. Then he did something I didn't expect, he stretched out a hand. Even I knew when not to doubt a helping hand. I sighed. Well, roadkill it is then. I clasped his hand and his firm grip pulled me up out of the line of fire. *** Cake Coogan survives by her fists and her fury, spending her life fighting in underground rings to keep herself and her mother alive. But one stolen payout, one stranger's intervention, and one accidental bag switch drops her into the crosshairs of Nico Vescari. Nico Vescari; mafia heir, feared and ruthless, a man who kills with a steady pulse-wants his money back. What he gets instead is Cake: the girl with the iron fists, mismatched eyes, and a journal he should never have read. Fascinated, furious, and threatened by how she makes him feel, he gives her a choice that isn't a choice at all-marry him for a year... or lose the only family she has left. Thrust into a world of blood feuds, monsters, and merciless mafia politics, Cake becomes both weapon and wife. She's pulled between power plays, underground fights, and a man whose touch feels like fire even when she swears she hates him. Nico's family is dangerous, his enemies worse, and his rules suffocating, but the most lethal thing between them is the feral desire none of them want. As bodies fall and alliances burn, Cake is forced to choose between revenge and the man who has broken her, protected her, and ruined her life in equal measure. In a story of obsession, betrayal, and savage love, only the strongest survive. And Cake Coogan is not prey.

Action Modern Romance

8.7

Deceit Led to Daughter's Death

8.7

Alpha Caleb Thorne lives a lie, pretending his daughter is his sister while treating his true mate, Lyra, like a servant. Blinded by a desire to protect his status, he remains oblivious to the suffering of his secret family. When a tragic accident claims their child's life due to his neglect, the veil of deception finally shatters. Now, Caleb must face the devastating weight of his choices as Lyra vows to make him pay for the ultimate betrayal.

Action Romance Werewolf

7.3

He Chose The Nanny, I Chose Revenge

7.3

Clara came home from a fourteen-hour board meeting to the sound of a piercing scream in the playroom. When she rushed in, she found her husband, Chadwick, kneeling on the floor in a panic. But he wasn't looking at their five-year-old son, Leo, who had a massive bleeding welt on his forehead. Instead, Chadwick was trembling as he held the nanny's daughter, Autumn, who barely had a microscopic scratch. "She needs ice. And antibacterial ointment," Chadwick snapped, carrying the nanny's daughter away and leaving his bleeding son behind. From that moment, the nightmare only escalated. Chadwick ordered Clara to cook a three-hour meal for the nanny's kid, threw away Leo's favorite toys because Autumn sneezed, and even secretly took the nanny and her daughter on Leo's promised Disney trip. The final humiliation came at the Met Gala. Right before their sponsor speech, Chadwick received a frantic call from the nanny claiming Autumn was having a panic attack. He abandoned Clara in front of hundreds of flashing cameras, sprinting out of the ballroom. Clara stood completely alone, the humiliation eating through her veins like acid. She couldn't understand how a father could call the nanny's kid his "little princess" while watching his own son cry. Why was he treating his own flesh and blood like garbage just to play savior to another woman's child? Suddenly, the blinding camera flashes were blocked by a massive shadow. Erasmo Chase, the heir to New York's largest financial dynasty, stepped out of the darkness and shielded her. "A man like that is unworthy of your grief, Ms. Best," he whispered, pressing a silk handkerchief into her trembling hand. Looking at the sharp profile of the powerful man beside her, Clara's shock hardened into a lethal, cold fury. She was going to dump her family's shares, crash the board, and make Chadwick lose absolutely everything.

Action Modern Mystery

8.5

I Married My Ex-Fiancé's Ruthless Older Brother

8.5

I was a Vitiello, sold to the Morettis to secure an alliance. For five years, I quietly loved Dante, counting down the minutes until our wedding at St. Patrick's Cathedral. But it ended with a single text three minutes before the ceremony. "Stay at the apartment. Sofia is awake. Don't make a scene." His ex-girlfriend, the love of his life, had woken from a coma with no memory. Just like that, I was erased. For thirty days, I waited in the shadows while Dante played hero to a woman who didn't remember him. He told me he was protecting her fragile mind. But then I found the truth. I stood outside the doctor's office and heard Dante refuse a treatment that would restore Sofia's memory. "If she remembers, she might leave again," Dante told the doctor. "Elena will wait. She's a good soldier. Let me have my fantasy." He wasn't protecting her. He was keeping her broken to feed his ego, banking on my submission. He thought I was furniture he could put in storage. He was wrong. I didn't go back to the apartment. Instead, I dialed a number every made man in New York feared. "Matteo," I said to Dante's lethal older brother, the King of the underworld. "I am done waiting. I want to be a Moretti bride. But not Dante's."

Action Modern Romance

8.0

MARKED BY FATE : RETRIBUTION

8.0

The future Luna of Silvermoon, Carolyn is suddenly accused of treason and exiled by the pack she devoted her life to. But the wilderness awakens an ancient power within her, the Watchman Wolf, a legendary force that bends the four elements themselves. She meets people with deep connections to her past, and now she must unravel what fate has in-store for her. Because the girl Silvermoon cast out is no longer powerless, she's becoming a legend that her may destroy them all, if she doesn't master the storm inside her soon. While her former Alpha crowns a new Luna and war grows between rival packs, Carolyn must uncover the truth behind the conspiracy that ruined her life and decide what she truly is... The protector of the wolf realm or the harbinger of doom.

Action Mystery Werewolf

9.7

Mated To My Stepbrother And His Best friend

9.7

No matter how far I ran, no matter how deep I hid, I knew one truth... He would always find me. Knock. Knock. I jolted up from my sitting position, with my heart hammering in my chest. Just as I was saying... He had already found me. But by the time he broke down the rickety door, I was already standing and facing him with a knife to my wrist. I'd rather die than return home with him as his mate. *** TRIGGER WARNING! This is a dark, taboo romance containing graphic themes, possessive men, hate-fueled sex, psychological intensity, emotional torment, and taboo that will wreck your morals. Reader discretion is strongly advised. Read only if you're ready to fall for monsters. *** Eve thought she and her mother had successfully escaped her abusive father by getting married to the former Alpha of a pack far away from where they used to live. But all her hopes and expectations were cut short the moment she realized her new stepbrother, Alpha Saint, who was also the current Alpha of her new pack, was the same man she had a one-night stand with eight months ago, along with his best friend, Beta Kyrie. And on that fateful night, she had stolen very valuable items from these men. Hated and controlled by her stepbrother, Saint, who saw her as nothing but a thieving whore, Eve decided to find solace in Kyrie, who was already falling madly in love with her. But Saint would rather fight his best friend to the death than let him anywhere close to the woman he was secretly obsessed with from the day he set eyes on her – Eve. All hell was let loose when Eve turned twenty-one and found out that not only was she mated to the man she loved and desired – Kyrie. She was also mated to her overly possessive stepbrother, whom she dreaded with her life. Saint burns with obsession. Kyrie aches with desire. And both men aren't willing to share. How far can she run? And how much blood are they willing to shed, just to stake their individual claim on her?

Action Romance Werewolf

Delicious Reptilian Meat

Chapter 3

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