How Does Worthy Opponents End?

On the day Winter Everhart suffers a miscarriage, her husband, Joshua Stroud, and their son, Terence, are out with his beloved Jessica Lynch. They watch the very performance Winter has always loved. "You're just so unreasonable. What's the point of all this?" "Dad, can you get me a new mom? She's so annoying!" On Winter's birthday, she returns from the hospital only to find Joshua celebrating Jessica's instead. Even Terence, the child she nearly gave her life to bring into the world, pledges to protect the woman who has stolen everything from her. Tears glisten in Winter's eyes as she smiles. Then, with quiet resolve, she walks away from the cage of a marriage that has bound her for five years. Joshua and Terence believe she won't survive without the Stroud family. What they don't expect is that she rises so high that they can no longer reach her. "Mr. Stroud! Mrs. Stroud's car design is now number one nationwide—Stroud Group has been completely outshone!" "Mr. Stroud! Mrs. Stroud has just won the World Championship in Artificial Intelligence Design!" "Mr. Stroud! Mrs. Stroud has been invited by a foreign president to attend a state banquet!" Regret tears Joshua apart. Dragging Terence with him, he kneels before Winter and pleads, "Honey, please give me another chance! If being your servant is what it takes, I'll do it!" But just beyond the door, a strikingly handsome man kneels on one knee, a leather collar fastened around his neck. Twining a diamond leash around Winter's palm, he vows with his gaze burning with feverish devotion, "My master, from this moment on, I bow to no one but you. Please, take me in."

For nearly two decades, Madison Evans has led her pack, Blue Meadow as Alpha. Alone. In all that time, she has yet to meet her fated mate. She has dedicated her life to leading like a good alpha should and training her siblings to become the destined Royal leaders of the shifter world. But being without a mate has taken it’s toll on her and her wolf, Infinity. A deep depression has set in and without the magic of her Luna, Infinity is going feral. Maddie is losing hope that she will ever find her destined love and she feels that Selene has abandoned and forgotten her. Joshua Logan, three-time Super Bowl champion and sixteen-year veteran quarterback of the Green Bay Packers, has found himself in a bit of situation. Despite all his success over the years, he is learning that resigning a contract with his recent injuries is proving near impossible. Frustrated and depressed, he spies Maddie in the most unlikely of places. Obsessed with finding her again, Joshua turns up in Blue Meadow, unknowingly placing himself in a world of supernatural danger. As the situation between Maddie and Josh builds, so does the unrest and malice within the shifter world. The darkness has been focused on Maddie and Blue Meadow, but unable to bring her down, it shifts focus to her family and allies. Will the mounting danger of attacks and the political conflicts keep Maddie and Josh from growing their bond? Will Josh fall in love with Maddie, choosing to stay and be her Luna? Or will he go back to his life in the human world, leaving Maddie alone once again? Continue on for the exciting conclusion of The Alpha’s Rose in The War of the Royals.

Athena Cole was the best player on the ice until the boy she trusted asked her to throw the championship game and she believed him. One viral humiliation later, she jumps into a lake and is removed from her team. Unexpectedly she gets an offer from Jeremiah Ashford, the one person whose team she never wanted to help. The deal is simple, she rebuilds his struggling Falcons using everything she knows about Luca Ryder and he gets her to the elite women’s national development training camp but what is not simple for Athena is Jeremiah himself. When Luca comes back wanting forgiveness, Sienna comes for her position on the board and the truth about what Luca has done before surfaces, Athena realizes the fight is bigger and the person standing beside her through all of it was the most important.

Vera Quinn and I spent seven years tearing each other apart in the corporate world. When we first started, she sabotaged my presentation slides, hoping to watch me humiliate myself in front of the board. I retaliated by flagging her fraudulent expense reports to HR, making sure her name was dragged through every department in the company. When we were both up for the director position, she locked me in a supply closet to make me miss the final interview. The moment I got out, I poached a major client she had been pursuing for six months, leaving her at the very bottom of the year-end performance rankings. In our industry, we were fire and water—completely incompatible. Then three years ago, the endless scheming finally felt hollow. I handed in my resignation and walked away from the industry for good. The day I packed my desk and left, Vera was leaning against the elevator door, her eyes full of mockery. "Giving up already? Mylo, a cowardly deserter like you deserves to starve on the streets". I hit the "close" button, swearing I never wanted to see her face again as long as I lived. Three years later, we crossed paths again at the industry’s annual gala. Vera was now the youngest partner in the industry. She looked at me as I stood there, humbling myself to pour drinks for an executive, and let out a sharp laugh. "It’s been a few years, and you’ve fallen this far? Working as a glorified escort to scrounge up some investments? What happened to that pride you used to fight me with?" But I wasn't there to secure any investment. I was there to beg that executive for a few more days to pay off the predatory loans my father had left behind. I just needed enough time to sign the consent form for my stomach cancer surgery with a clear conscience.

My sister Emily and I were both given a Destiny System, a once-in-a-lifetime chance to change our futures. In our first life, Emily chose the Beauty System. She thought beauty would make every powerful man fall at her feet. Instead, it only made her a pretty toy for rich heirs to admire and discard. When she failed to earn genuine love before the deadline, the system took everything back. Her beauty vanished, her admirers disappeared, and she ended up broke, abandoned, and bitter. I chose the Elite Athlete System. I trained until my body nearly broke, became America’s youngest Olympic champion, shattered records, and built a legendary career. Fame, fortune, and success were all mine. Even Ethan Walker, the heir to one of the country’s most powerful old-money families, chased after me. Emily hated me for it. So she rammed her car into mine and killed me. When I opened my eyes again, we were both sixteen, standing before the Destiny System on the very day we first made our choices. This time, Emily shouted before I could speak. “I choose the Elite Athlete System!” She looked at me with a smug smile. “Olivia, this time I’ll be the one everyone admires.” I looked at the Beauty System now drifting toward me and smiled. Emily thought she had stolen my golden future. She had no idea that every gift fate offers comes with a price.

Zaire Gibson spent years hating Sebastian Burkhart - the arrogant, charming captain of Milton Academy's football team. Their rivalry has always been explosive, from locker-room brawls to public fights that nearly got them suspended. But beneath Zaire's fury lies something he refuses to name... something that scares him more than losing a game. Sebastian, on the other hand, knows exactly what he feels, and it's killing him. He's been in love with Zaire for years, forced to hide it behind smirks, taunts, and bruised knuckles. Every fight, every insult, every stolen glance only pulls him deeper into the boy who will never love him back. But when one charged night tears the line between enemies and something else entirely, both boys are forced to face the truth: maybe what's between them was never hate at all.