The Release: Jasper stood on the hill beneath the endless Texas stars, holding a torn piece of red paper shaped like a heart. He had poured his loneliness into the night sky, asking the universe if there was anyone out there for him. He let the heart go. The wind took it, carrying it up into the darkness, and for just a moment, something shifted. The air grew warm. A presence, vast and patient, seemed to stir. Something had heard him. Two thousand miles away, a girl named…

From the pantry, Gerald’s voice rang out. “I’m not going to be your pet.” Rosalie turned slowly. “You’re fine with being eaten, but being a pet is where you draw the line?” “I have dignity.” “You’re sitting on a stool in a pantry.” “Dignified sitting. There’s a difference.” “There really isn’t.” “The eating one has nobility,” Gerald explained. “It’s a predator-prey dynamic. Natural. Respected. Being a pet is just… humiliating.” “His logic is completely broken,” Edward announced….

“Come somewhere with me.” Four words. That was all it took to change everything. Bella looked up at Jasper Whitlock, at the intensity burning in his amber eyes, and felt her heart stutter in her chest. The New Year’s Eve party swirled around them, but he wasn’t looking at the champagne or the decorations or the crowd counting down to midnight. He was looking at her like she was the only thing in the universe that mattered. “Where?” she whispered. “Somewhere the stars can hear us.”…

Bella squinted through the rain-lashed windshield. There was something in the road. Something tall and dark and absolutely not supposed to be there. She slammed on the brakes. The figure didn’t move. Just stood there, rain streaming down what she now realized was a tuxedo. A very expensive, very wet tuxedo. She rolled down her window. “Are you okay?” The stranger turned. Golden eyes met hers, filled with more pain than she’d ever seen. “No,” he said quietly. “But I’m hoping to be.” Best decision she ever made, hitting…

Bella knelt beside the Christmas tree and opened the brown paper parcel. Inside sat a wooden box sealed with a wax star. When she lifted the lid, twenty-five small envelopes lay nestled inside, each marked in elegant script: December 1… December 25.She unfolded the first letter, and her breath caught at the familiar handwriting. “You once believed you were unworthy of love. You were wrong. “It was signed with a single letter: J.A pressed snowdrop flower fell into her palm, delicate and impossible….

When Edward Cullen leaves Bella broken in the woods, Paul Lahote is the one who carries her home. Months later, Bella is healing. Building a real life in La Push with Emily, Leah, and the pack. Then Paul imprints on her—right as she’s defending herself from Jacob’s dangerous obsession. But Paul is different. He doesn’t try to save her or control her. He just stays. Old-fashioned dating. Rebuilding her truck together. Teaching her she’s worth staying for. Until Alice Cullen arrives on Christmas night: Edward thinks…