May the Dead Stay Dead
Published: 10/13/2026
Genre: Alien Horror Romance
Tags: Miscommunication trope, short king, fated mates only one of them doesn’t know it yet, smooth talking golden retriever meets his black cat, she likes it rough, trauma bonding YAAAAY, he finds it sexy when she’s brilliant and she’s ALWAYS brilliant, healer x person who gets stabbed a lot, bend her over a desk, ‘keep quiet or they’ll hear us banging’ trope, Voyeurism, mask kink, PRIMAL (duh)
Warnings: Survivors guilt, mass human casualty by viral infection, autopsy, body horror, gore, blood, infections, zombies, pustules, bugs, eldritch horror, emesis, non-human lover interest, explicit scenes, pregnancy announcement HEA.
A B O U T
Vivian Darkwater is about to embark on the next chapter of her life: Personal Healer to the Mphronatch, aka, her college roommate and bestie, Aphrodite. Aphrodite is the mate of a Vroskrowz prince and very pregnant, which means a brand new job for the sarcastic, fiery Vivian. In a few short hours, she's going to be on a ship to the other end of the stars.
Until patient zero for a horrifying outbreak enters her healing bay. The dead begin to walk again, and they're sporting strange mutations she can't explain. And the dead are hungry. Trapped in the Council Station, Vivian must keep her wits about her in order to survive. Good thing the flirty, charming Reevar is stuck in there with her. If only it wasn't for that pesky fated mate thing! She's ready to risk it on him but she's afraid to get her heart broken when he finds his Fated Mate...because he would have said something if she was his mate, right?
Reevar has known Vivian is his mate for a few months now, but after witnessing the massive political scandal of Xexis and Aphrodite, he's sworn to himself to do better. Smoother, subtler, slower, if only Vivian wasn't so curious about all the ways he could make her see the stars.
Danger lurks out in those stars and an age old foe has returned to destroy the Vroz. But that's what Reevar was built to be, the one who takes the hit. He's the one who takes the final blow, he's the spare, the right hand to the Kannatch and the one whose never afraid. Until the day he's actually got something...someone to lose.