The Crooked Branch

Everything was supposed to be fine. I was dancing between success and happiness. My path was straight, with no major things to take away. All my things was going well, almost perfection, I swear, until I became the obsession of a boy named Maël, and my world became so crooked...

While I'm waiting for my wife, Anna Fulton, I happen to come across a popular post on social media that's posted by someone who lives in the same city as I do. "What should I do if my husband clings to me too much?" Among the comments that make fun of the original poster for flaunting her happy marriage on the Internet, the lengthy comment left by a masculine ID attracts my attention. "You gotta pretend to be ditzy and dumb. My childhood friend was forced to marry the man she doesn't love, so I suggested to her that she should pretend to be a directionally-challenged idiot. She kept up that facade for five years so far. "After that, her mother-in-law kept urging her to give birth to a baby. So, she secretly coated the stairs with grease, leading to her husband falling down the stairs. When she drove him to the hospital, she pretended to lose her way and drove a few laps around the suburban area. In the end, her husband could never get his manhood up ever again because the treatment got delayed. "Her mother-in-law thought it was an accident. She was afraid that my childhood friend might abandon her husband, so she bought her a house and a car. You have no idea how much that mother-in-law sucked up to her! "Today is her husband's professor selection day. She even suggested to him that she'd drive him to the campus. But the truth is, she plans on pretending to lose her way in the traffic just to drag the time out so that I can replace him in the selection. "Once her husband fails the selection, she'll use the opportunity to convince him to resign from his job. He's already a loser, to begin with. Once he loses his job, she'll have a valid reason to divorce him once and for all." The familiar experience makes my heart skip a beat. Before I can ruminate about the details, I hear Anna's guilt-ridden voice drifting into my ear. "I think I'm lost, Claude. Surely you can make it to the selection on time, right?"

Sam and I have been married for ten years. He always said he would give me the wedding of my dreams. However, three days before the ceremony, my eyes, which had been blind for the past six months after saving Sam’s life, miraculously regained vision. The first thing I saw when I opened them was Sam tangled in bed with his pretty secretary, Alisa. The bed was still shaking while Alisa typed on her phone. She showed it to him, smirking. [Sam, we're out of condoms. Why not ask your blind wife to grab one for us?] Sam’s veins bulged at his temple. His eyes darted toward me in panic. Alisa, however, scoffed and typed again. [What are you so scared of? Your wife’s blind. What’s she gonna see?] Sam sighed in resignation. “Hazel, can you pass me the box of cigarettes from the nightstand?” That cigarette box he mentioned was clearly labeled: Durex Ultra-Thin—Bare Feel. My heart shattered, and I booked a flight to Rockbridge before the wedding. When Sam came running after me, hysterical, I said coldly to him, “Sam. I can see.”

I had no choice but to become the partner of a mafia boss with an incubus bloodline when his heat cycle began. To my surprise, Lionel Andrus and I got along better than I ever imagined. Every night, he held me close, craving more of me, as if we were made for each other. But right before we got our marriage license, my jealous sister, Tracy Rowe, tried to talk me out of it. "Incubi are born flirts," she warned. "How do you know you're his only woman? Once he's bored, he'll toss you aside." In my last life, I had believed her. I called off my engagement with Lionel and, through her introduction, married a "nice guy" named Jamie Stephenson. After we married, Jamie cheated on me and gave me STDs. Desperate, I went to Tracy's house to ask for help. She turned me away with disgust. "You couldn't control your husband and ended up sick, and you actually came asking me for money? How dare you! You have no self-respect. You don't deserve to be my sister!" Right then, she publicly cut ties with me. Even our parents sided with her, calling me a disgrace and refusing to let me step inside the house. In the end, I couldn't take the pain anymore and ended up hanging myself. When I opened my eyes again, I had returned to the very day Tracy told me not to marry Lionel.

"Let go of your inhibitions. Push your boundaries. Explore your limitations. Take my hand, say yes, and be mine forever!" My name is Annalise Walsh, I live in Los Angeles and I’m working as an advertising executive (an AE) for “S&W Advertising”, a small but fierce agency. My goal right now is to put my hands on a very important account. I’m talking about “HL Sportswear” a new branch of “Hamilton Inc.”, a company that belongs to the sexiest man alive, Lance Hamilton. My name is Lance Hamilton and I’m the youngest CEO in the States. I’m heir to billions and a billionaire in my own right. I’m quite ambitious and I’m constantly trying to expand my business towards new horizons. “HL Sportswear” needs to be presented to the world and for that, I need the best AE in the city: the intelligent and gorgeous Annalise Walsh. Working for Lance isn't going to be easy for Annalise, but is going to be extremely interesting. That's for sure!

"Am I your first, little flower?" the Alpha asks me. "Well, I won't be your last." He wears a crooked grin as he gestures to the bed. I bite my bottom lip and comply because I have no choice. My father has sold me to the king, and now, I must entertain the four candidates to become the next Alpha King. I am, after all, their breeder. As he climbs onto the bed, I hold my breath. He's unbelievably sexy, but he's just the first of the men I will be getting to know better, the first of four vying for the title of Alpha King. What if I fall in love with him? What if I fall in love with all four of them? *** Rose's parents insist she enter the contest to become the new Breeder because they need the money. They never thought she'd win. Because of her unique anatomy, Rose is the perfect candidate to take on the four Alphas. What Rose doesn't know is that the current Alpha King isn't really in this for the right reasons. In fact, he may not want a new heir at all. As she finds herself falling in love with all four of the men, she realizes not only is she in danger, but so are they. Will Rose and her four Alphas succeed in making babies and claiming the throne, or will the evil Alpha King prevail?