From Prison To Power: Rise Of The War Goddess
Scarlett Hayes thought marrying James Whitmore would finally make her family see her as more than a burden.
Instead, it destroyed her life.
Framed for crimes she didn't commit, betrayed by the people she trusted most, and sentenced to prison while pregnant, Scarlett lost everything in a single night.
Then came the cruelest blow of all.
After giving birth in chains, she was told her baby had died.
The people responsible believed she would spend the rest of her life rotting behind bars.
They were wrong.
Five years later, Scarlett returns.
No longer the discarded daughter of the Hayes family. No longer the broken woman they left behind.
Now she is Commander Scarlett Hayes-a decorated war hero, the unseen force behind a global intelligence empire, and a woman powerful enough to make governments tremble.
She comes back for one reason only: revenge.
Her ex-husband, the stepsister who stole her life, and the family who buried her alive are about to learn exactly what happens when a woman with nothing left to lose takes back everything they stole.
But as Scarlett tears through the secrets of her past, one truth threatens to change everything-
the child she mourned for years may not be dead.
And the mysterious man connected to the night that changed her life has been watching from the shadows all along.
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Chapter 2
James looked like he was seconds away from snapping.
"Scarlett... Hayes."
Her name came out through clenched teeth, each syllable heavy with barely contained rage.
Just as he was about to lose control, Sadie reached out and gently tugged on his sleeve.
"James... maybe I should talk to her," she said softly, her voice trembling. "At the end of the day... I'm the one who hurt her first."
The sight of her teary, guilt-stricken face made his chest tighten.
In his eyes, Scarlett had wronged Sadie over and over again-she had even cost them their child.
And yet Sadie had never blamed her.
Instead, she blamed herself-for "taking him away," for everything that had happened.
How could someone be this selfless?
"Please... let me talk to her," Sadie whispered, fragile and pleading.
James hesitated for a moment, then finally stepped aside.
The second she stood in front of Scarlett-
Everything about her changed.
The tears disappeared. In their place came a cold, mocking smile.
"Scarlett, that prison uniform really suited you," she said with a sneer. "Honestly, you should've stayed locked up for life."
Scarlett's eyes narrowed, irritation flickering across her face.
"I'm not in the mood for your games," she said flatly. "But don't worry-you won't have to wait long."
Her lips curved slightly.
"I heard your wedding's in three days. I'll be there."
A brief pause.
"To settle the score."
Sadie's heart skipped.
For just a split second, unease flickered across her expression.
What was Scarlett planning?
But the feeling vanished as quickly as it came.
She scoffed, her gaze full of disdain.
"As if you could do anything," she said with a laugh. "Go ahead. Try."
Her tone sharpened, turning vicious.
"Let me make one thing clear-no matter what you do, you'll always be nothing more than a rat living in my shadow."
"James is mine."
"Your mother? Mine too."
"You've already lost, Scarlett. Completely."
Scarlett looked at her the way someone might watch a clown on stage.
One brow arched slightly, her expression lazy, almost amused.
"Don't you think you're celebrating a little too early?"
"Oh? Still not giving up?" Sadie smirked.
Then, glancing quickly at James-making sure he wasn't watching-
She lifted her hand and slapped herself.
SMACK-
Instantly, her eyes filled with tears.
"I'm sorry, sis!" she cried, her voice shaking. "It's all my fault! I shouldn't have taken James from you! I-I didn't mean to... I just love him too much... I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..."
Scarlett felt a wave of disgust watching the performance.
And yet-
There were always fools willing to believe it.
James rushed forward, pulling Sadie into his arms.
"Sadie! Are you okay?!"
"I'm fine..." she whispered weakly. "Don't blame her... it's my fault..."
Her trembling voice and tear-streaked face only fueled his anger.
He spun around, glaring at Scarlett, his eyes blazing.
"Scarlett! How can you be this cruel?! If you're angry, take it out on me! This has nothing to do with her!"
Scarlett's gaze drifted lazily toward Sadie.
"I didn't touch her."
"You're still denying it?!" James snapped, his fists clenching.
Scarlett let out a quiet, almost amused breath.
"I can prove it."
Prove it?
Both James and Sadie froze, confusion flashing across their faces.
How could something like that even be proven?
Before either of them could react-
Scarlett raised her hand.
Then-
CRACK-
Her arm lashed out like a whip.
The impact was explosive.
Sadie spun in place like a top, stumbling in circles before crashing hard onto the ground, limbs sprawled.
Her hair fell into complete disarray.
The right side of her face swelled almost instantly, turning an ugly shade of red.
When she opened her mouth-
Blood poured out.
Along with several teeth.
She looked utterly wrecked.
Sadie stared at Scarlett in shock, her jaw slack.
James stood frozen, his mind completely blank.
No one had expected-
That Scarlett would actually hit her.
And certainly not like that.
In the suffocating silence, Scarlett gave a faint smile.
"See the difference?" she said lightly. "That's what it looks like when I hit someone."
If they insisted on framing her-
Then she'd make it real.
Not just real-
Unforgettable.
James's hands trembled with rage.
"You need to apologize to Sadie!"
Scarlett let out a soft scoff.
"Idiot."
Even after that, he still couldn't tell?
She didn't bother sparing him another glance.
Turning on her heel, she walked away.
"Don't ignore me!" James roared, lunging forward and grabbing for her shoulder.
Scarlett stopped abruptly.
Her eyes darkened.
Cold. Sharp. Dangerous.
Without even turning fully, she shifted slightly-effortlessly dodging his hand.
Then she moved.
Fast.
She caught his wrist, twisted, and-
In one smooth motion-
Flipped him over her shoulder.
James flew through the air in a clean arc before slamming face-first into the ground.
Hard.
A sickening crack echoed.
Blood gushed from his nose.
Sadie's face drained of all color.
She had expected James to defend her-
Not... this.
Her neck turned stiffly toward Scarlett, disbelief written all over her face.
Since when was she this strong?
James staggered to his feet, wiping the blood from his nose.
The way he looked at Scarlett now-
Was pure hatred.
Scarlett casually raised her fist, a wild grin tugging at her lips.
"What? Want more?"
She took a step forward.
James immediately backed away-again and again-putting distance between them.
Scarlett let out a mocking laugh.
"Pathetic."
Humiliation burned through him, but he didn't dare move.
Not after that.
Scarlett turned and walked toward the car parked by the road.
Without looking back, she lifted a hand in a lazy wave.
"See you at the wedding in three days."
She didn't have time to waste here.
There were people she needed to see-
Her adoptive parents.
Her brother.
Five years.
It had been five long years.
"Damn it!"
James ground his teeth so hard it felt like they might shatter.
He had always been the one standing above everyone else-untouchable.
And today?
He had been humiliated like never before.
Not only that-
He was supposed to go to the airport with his father to welcome an important figure.
Instead, he came here to force Scarlett to sign the divorce papers.
And what did he get?
Nothing.
He missed everything.
All because of her.
Scarlett.
His expression darkened.
Fine.
If she wanted to show up at the wedding in three days-
Perfect.
He'd make sure she paid for everything.
But remembering her terrifying strength, his eyes narrowed.
He'd need backup.
This time-
He'd make her kneel.
Beg.
...
Inside the car, Howard glanced at Scarlett through the rearview mirror. She had changed into civilian clothes. Her eyes were closed, resting.
"Where to, Commander?"
"My adoptive parents' place," she replied calmly. "And from now on, call me Boss. I don't want my identity exposed."
"Understood."
Just then-
A child suddenly ran into the road.
"Shit-!"
Howard jerked the wheel sharply.
The car screeched, barely avoiding the roadside barrier.
Scarlett's eyes snapped open, her hand gripping the overhead handle.
"What happened?"
"A kid ran out!"
Without hesitation, she pushed the door open and stepped out.
A small boy lay on the ground ahead, struggling to push himself up.
He looked about four or five years old.
"Hey-are you okay?" she asked, hurrying over and helping him to his feet.
Then-
She froze.
The boy's face...
Why did he look so much like her?
The child's eyes widened.
He stared at her, bright and clear.
For a few seconds, he said nothing.
Then slowly, uncertainly-
"...Mommy?"
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9.2
She loved him until she lost herself.
Now, behind locked doors and shattered glass, she must learn to breathe again.
When she first met Lloyd, he was magnetic and intoxicating. The kind of man who turned every head when he entered a room, who spoke in promises sweet enough to taste. With him, she felt chosen, cherished, and safe.
But safety was an illusion, and love became a weapon.
And slowly, piece by piece, he dismantled her until nothing of the woman she once was remained.
Now institutionalized after a breakdown, she begins to piece together the brutal truth of what really happened in the shadows of their love story. Memories sting like open wounds: the manipulation disguised as tenderness, the apologies that blurred into threats, the desperate hope that tomorrow he'd be the man she fell for again.
Yet beneath the grief and the shame, a quiet rebellion stirs, a vow to reclaim her voice, her freedom, and her life. Because this is not just a story of how she fell apart. It is a story of how she rises.
Haunting, raw, and achingly intimate, Boys like him peels back the glittering mask of a toxic love affair to reveal the kind of darkness that hides in plain sight, and the unbreakable strength it takes to escape it.
7.5
For five years, I was locked away in the freezing royal dungeon, starved and used as a bloody plaything by the kingdom's sadistic Cabinet Minister, Brandt Fischer.
He tortured me daily for one twisted reason: I simply looked like someone else.
When he visited my cell to casually announce my father's execution and drag a silver dagger across my neck, he expected me to beg.
Instead, I laughed, sank my teeth directly into his carotid artery, and was violently thrown against a jagged stone wall to my death.
As my skull cracked and my blood stained the moss, I thought about my so-called family. The moment Brandt had demanded me, my father, the Duke, handed me over without a single hesitation to save his own political career.
I was nothing but a disposable pawn, left to rot in the dark while the monsters who ruined my life thrived.
I died suffocating on my own blood and absolute, destructive vengeance.
Then, I opened my eyes.
I was lying in my silk-sheeted bed, reborn as my fifteen-year-old self.
Today was the exact day Lord Daryl Langley, the God of War, would be ambushed and crippled—the event that allowed Brandt to seize ultimate power.
I immediately stole a horse, rode to the palace gates, and threw myself directly in front of Daryl's moving carriage.
"I just didn't want to see a hero die like a slaughtered pig."
I didn't care if I had to shatter my own ankle to hijack his convoy. This time, I was going to save the general, and he would become the blade I use to slaughter them all.
8.4
On the night before her wedding, Navia Harrison discovers her fiancé in bed with her step-sister-and worse, the two of them are already planning how to get rid of her after the marriage.
Humiliated and consumed by hatred, Navia exposes their affair during the wedding ceremony itself, destroying both families' reputations in a single move.
Then, she meets him.
Leonel Crawford - the cold and dangerously powerful head of the Crawford family. Untouchable. Ruthless. A man no woman has ever been able to keep close.
He's also her ex-fiancé's uncle.
One impulsive proposal changes everything.
"If you need a wife... marry me instead."
"Honestly... we'd make a pretty good match."
8.7
I was dying in a cold hospital bed, listening to the monitor count down my final seconds.
As a ghost, I watched my own funeral. My popular friends and wealthy family soon moved on, but one person stayed.
Cas Riley. The invisible outcast from the back of my history class.
He brought a white rose to my grave every single day, withering away until he collapsed on the frozen ground, dying of a broken heart for a girl who barely knew his name.
Opening my eyes again, the hospital smell was gone. I was reborn back in my high school classroom.
I immediately tracked him down, only to witness the brutal hell he was trapped in.
He was humiliated by a cruel foreman for pennies, violently slapped by his uncle over his sick mother's medical money, and forced into bloody street fights.
He was starving, covered in bruises, and completely alone.
When I tried to buy him medicine and step into his life to protect him, he violently pushed me away in the pouring rain.
"Stay out of my life! To protect you, I have to fight, and when I fight, I lose everything!"
He wasn't rejecting me out of hate. He was terrified that his dark, violent reality would drag me down with him.
Standing soaked in the rain, my resolve hardened like steel.
Gentle kindness wasn't going to save him from this hell.
To protect the boy who died for me, I had to become ruthless enough to tear down his entire rotten world and build him a new one.
8.6
Book Two of the Betrayed Luna to Alpha Queen Series
Can be read as a standalone or after Book One
-----
"They were supposed to hate me. All four of them. But the Moon Goddess doesn't make mistakes, she just has a twisted sense of humor."
-----
"Let me die free rather than live as his possession."
Those were Lyralei Ravenwood's last words before she jumped off Widow's Cliff, choosing death over marriage to a monster hiding behind a charming smile.
She should have died.
Instead, she wakes in the camp of the Four Great Alphas..the most powerful, dangerous men in the ancient werewolf world. Men who look at her with resentment. Men who make it clear she's not welcome.
The Moon Goddess sent her to unite them against a rising darkness.
But they don't want unity. They don't want her.
Lyra didn't ask to be sent anywhere. She just wanted to escape a cage.
Now she's trapped with four hostile Alphas who see her as an obligation rather than a person. Who resent every breath she takes. Who make it clear that prophecy or not, she will never command their loyalty.
But something is awakening between them. Something ancient and undeniable.
The Primordial Mate Bond-a force that links one soul to multiple Alphas, pulling them together whether they want it or not.
As shadow wolves attack and an ancient evil rises, Lyra must navigate not just war, but the far more dangerous battlefield of four hearts that were determined to hate her.
Because feelings without trust are torture.
CONTENT WARNING: This book contains mature themes including explicit sexual content, violence, death of major characters, psychological trauma, and morally complex situations. Recommended for readers 18+
8.3
The dragons and royals are at war. Dragons have power and the royals want it to cement their rule in their kingdoms. Rather than creating a bond between the two, the royals have been stealing dragon eggs, hoping they will bond with the dragon once it hatches, allowing the royal to become a dragon rider. However, there is a thief among them, someone who is stealing the dragon eggs and returning them to the dragons. Someone who, when found, will be put to death.
Princess Skylar is the daughter of King Augustus. Her father has been hunting dragon eggs for years. Unbeknownst to him, Skylar is the thief that he is searching for. She does not agree with stealing dragon eggs from the mothers who make their nests away from the other dragons, making themselves vulnerable to attack. Her betrothed, Prince Kenneth, also supports stealing dragon eggs in the hope of bonding with a dragon and making his kingdom stronger.
Ryuki is a dragon rider. He bonded with his dragon, Bynjym, a year ago when he stumbled across him in the wild. The bond between dragon and rider is sacred. Ryuki and other dragon riders believe that it should never be forced. The riders fight against the royals who steal dragon eggs, working to keep them from being able to access the eggs, or fighting to get the eggs back to their dragon mothers.
What will happen when Ryuki realizes that Skylar is a royal like no other? Can Skylar keep her secret from her father, continuing to work inside the palace to take the stolen eggs back to their mothers? What will happen when Skylar realizes that her feelings for Ryuki are much stronger than her feelings for Prince Kenneth? Find out in The Dragon Thief.