9 Minutes

The crowd starts a countdown to midnight like New Year’s Eve. I close my eyes and smile, holding Liam’s hand tightly. Everyone yells “ONE!” and cheers. I open my eyes and see the iridescent liquid light of the full moon pouring out of the giant orb flowing down over us. People around us ooh and ahh at the beautiful sight.  When the first rays of moonlight cascade over my skin, I feel a heat inside me turn into a burning fire. I gasp and look up at Liam. He looks at me with wide, surprised eyes. “Mate,” he murmurs and squeezes my hand tighter. It isn’t a comforting feeling. There are no sparks like people describe when they touch their mate. Maybe it takes a few minutes to develop. I smile and try to admire Liam, but I don't want to say it back. Nothing feels different. I still love him, but he’s not the one. Liam is looking at me, but it isn’t a look of true love. It’s lustful and carnal. I feel a pit in my stomach. Liam isn’t my mate. How can this be? And how was he able to call me his mate if he’s not mine? “Zara,” a woman’s voice says in my head, “My name is Lavender. I’m your wolf and you’re in grave danger, my dear. You need to run. You need to run now. Your life depends on it.” “My… wolf?” With everything that happened the past couple of hours, I forgot she was waking up. “L-Lavender, what’s happening? What do you know?” Lavender repeats her order. “Zara, you need to run. I can explain later. I’m so sorry this is happening to you, sweet girl.”

Mon petit ami était officier de police. Je me suis retrouvée menacée par des agresseurs et la bombe fixée à mon corps était sur le point d’exploser. Il ne me restait plus que dix minutes à vivre. L’un des agresseurs, dans son froideur calculée, m’a ordonné d’appeler mon petit ami. Mais lorsqu’il a pris l’appel, c’était un déluge de mots cruels qui m’a frappée de plein fouet : « Romy, tu es folle ou quoi ? Es-tu prête à tout sacrifier pour capter mon attention ? Tu sais, le chat de Sylvie est coincé dans un arbre depuis trois jours, et elle l’aime plus que tout, comme si sa vie en dépendait ! Si tu me fais encore perdre une seconde, sache que tu es une meurtrière ! » Dans le même instant, une voix claire et douce, celle d’une jeune fille, s’est glissée dans le combiné : « Merci, Liam, tu es vraiment incroyable. » Et cette femme n’était autre que l'amie de mon petit ami depuis leur enfance... Alors que la bombe menaçait de tout engloutir, dans un dernier geste désespéré, j’ai envoyé un message à Liam : « Adieu, je crois qu’il vaut mieux que nos chemins ne se croisent plus jamais, même dans une autre vie. »

BOOK #1 MARINOS' MAYHEM SERIES "I said 'act like my boyfriend' for just five minutes, not 'act like my fucking husband' for the rest of your life!" Adrian Price half-yelled, his fingers curled into a tight fist as he glared at the terrifying, yet super gorgeous man in front of him. Giovanni Marino blinked slowly, taking his time to register every detail of Adrian's figure into his memory, not minding that he was disturbing his work at all. "I don't see a big difference between the two." "Oh, for fuck sake! You're a thug, but surely you're not dumb, are you? Do you not know when to stop?" Adrian scoffed, his anger growing thicker. "Sadly, I don't seem to know what 'stop' means. You made the idea of being someone's boyfriend sound so great now I don't think I wanna stop." Adrian Price knew asking a mobster to fake being his boyfriend would get a lot of unnecessary attention from lustful eyes off him, but what he never knew was that the man he had just picked was no different from the unwanted pests that lingered around him, wanting to have a taste of him. Giovanni Marino enjoyed clubbing as much as he enjoyed killing; however, despite this, he was extremely lonely. Now, the big bad man had found a toy he could play with, and he was having the best fun of his life. Would he ever stop and return to his lonely life? That, he wasn't sure he could do that. Not even when he realized Adrian was his enemy's son. He needed Adrian, either to break him or to make him.

“Let’s get this over with, I have things to do. Just so you understand, I need a strong and BEAUTIFUL Luna by my side. I, Alpha Cullen Niles, of the Ironclaw Pack, reject you, Rebel Lawson, as my mate and Luna.” Instantly, my chest feels like it is ripped open and gutted. The pain is the worst I’ve ever felt. But I refuse to show pain in front of Alpha Cullen. I stay rigid and force my face not to react. Roxie is howling in desperation, because she wants her mate and he just rejected us, causing her immense pain too. The sooner I accept, the sooner we can move on. “I, Rebel Lawson, accept your rejection.” It was like a final death blow. I see Alpha Cullen grab his chest, taking deep breaths. Then after a couple of minutes he stood straight up. I still haven’t moved. Bearing all the pain until Roxie and I can be alone. “You will not mention this to anyone, do you understand?” As much pain as I was in, I couldn’t muster up the strength to say yes, so I just nodded. “Good, I can’t have people knowing I was mated to such a she-wolf.” With that, he turned and walked away. I turned and went back to the lake, sat down next to my guitar and then the barriers crumbled. I held on to my chest and cried for hours. Roxie feeling weak from the rejection, retreated to the back of my mind. She was still talking to me, but it was much quieter. I felt so incredibly alone. Fated mates were supposed to love each other, no matter what. He was supposed to protect, cherish and love me. However, I never felt more unwanted and alone.

Dark Mafia Scene “Who laid a hand on you? Dallion's voice was low, cold, and dangerous. His dark gaze bore into her, daring her to stay silent. When she didn’t respond, the tension snapped like a whip, his voice booming through the room, “Who?” The butler, standing rigid against the wall, swallowed hard before stammering out the words, “It... it was Mr. Rivers, sir.” The atmosphere turned deadly as Dallion's jaw clenched, fury igniting in his eyes. “Bring him to me.” The butler’s eyes widened in fear. “N-now, sir? It’s... it’s late.” Dallion's hand, once braced against the wall near her head, slowly curled into a fist. His eyes never left her face, his possessiveness was palpable. Without looking at the butler, his voice dropped to a lethal calm, “Do you need a better time? Or shall I break your legs to teach you urgency?” The butler didn’t need any more encouragement. He fled the room, returning twenty minutes later with a trembling Mr. Rivers. “Dallion, my friend, what’s all this about?” Rivers began, his voice casual as if nothing was amiss. But Dallion wasn't’t here for pleasantries. His eyes slid to the knife stabbed into the apple on the table, and in one fluid motion, he yanked it free, the blade glinting in the dim light. Without a word, Dallion grabbed Rivers outstretched hand, slamming it onto the table. The sharp scream that followed echoed in the room as Dallion, with one swift movement, sliced through the man’s fingers. Blood splattered across the polished wood as Rivers screamed in agony, clutching his mutilated hand. “No one touches what belongs to me,” Dallion's voice was eerily calm, his expression devoid of any sympathy.

"I, Zade Matthews, Alpha of the High-claw pack, reject you, Sierra Whitmore, to be my mate and Luna to my pack. You are to work here and obey every command and to accept my rejection" Nobody wants to hear the word rejection. Especially when you're not even strong enough to handle the aftermath of it. At 18, I had just got my wolf, Mina. I was not supposed to mate with an Alpha. I'm an Omega living an Omega life. But the moon-goddess had other ideas, and I was mated to the cruellest of Alphas there is. I'm what they would call a slave to the pack. In other words. I was dispensable if they didn't want or need me. So, when I was invited for breakfast with the Alpha, my mate, I should have taken that as my first red flag. I have never eaten with them. Even when my parents were alive. 6 Years later, just after my 24th birthday, the mate-less Gala was just around the corner once again, and I was tired. Emotionally and physically tired. I had nothing to live for. I had nothing to hope for. Every Omega knows they don't get a second chance at love and every omega had to accept that. That was simply our fate. So, being assigned to accommodate Alpha Nikolai's room was not one of my top things to enjoy, but here I was. Five minutes was all I wanted to have to myself when cleaning the room on the very top floor for the Alpha of all Alphas, so I stopped and sat down to rest my aching body. And cried. Only...the scent of all scents hits me. His scent. Alpha Nikolai Anderson. He doesn't know me, but he chooses to love me. He chooses me.

A girl jumped into the river, cursing her fate and God. She was sinking in water and a pair of huge arms saved her. Someone, who came to save her is her Saviour. He carries her in her arms and puts her in his car. He reached the hospital in a few minutes with the unconscious body of that girl. All the way, he was looking at her thinking about the girl. She became conscious after treatment of a few hours given by doctors. She asked first of all, as she woke up, "Who saved me?" A sound like a roar is colliding in her ears, "I saved you." "You...... What the hell ?" She yelled. "Don't shout Ms Aradhya Kashyap. Now I gave you a new life so you have to pay for this." Samarth said conditionally. "What should I pay? And why should I pay?" She asked back and added angrily, "Did I ask you to save me?" The disgust for this man was shown on her face. He was just giving a winning smirk to her. "You have to marry me." He bored her orbs sharply. "Marry you, my foot. I will choose to die... Go to hell, Mr Goenka." She replied with disgust in her tone. "Really" He saw her photos when he saved her, she was in torn clothes and it was visible that she was raped. She was startled. He is blackmailing her without hearing her. "If you will not marry me, I will publish it in the newspaper. The choice is yours." He smirked again. A tear spilt over her cheeks, she replied, "Yes, I will marry you. But...." "What but..??" "I'm only 17. How can you marry a minor girl?" "Let me remind you, Ms Aradhya Kashyap, you turned 18. Today is your birthday, 21st February."

Audrey Nathan, twenty years old, notorious hacker since the age of ten. She's the most scouted hacker in the whole of the continent and probably worldwide, but no-one could really get to her. Different Mafia organisations has been searching for her but she's as slippery as an eel. Luck left her side for few minutes that she got caught in two Biggest Mafia organisations' fight and was shot. Jordan Van Arthur, leader of Lone Wolves found a frail redhead in his penthouse fighting for her life, clutching to a lilac tote bag. "No.. no hospital please.... Doctor....call .....call a..." She fell conscious. **** Audrey Nathan swore her loyalty to Jordan Van Arthur when she found out he had saved her life and protect her identity away from the people looking for her , most importantly, Lone Wolves has never been part of those scouting for her and killing anyone involved with her just to get her. Jordan Van Arthur is rumoured to have facial paralysis due to his always expressionless face, even at the face of death, he is never moved, even when he was betrayed by the person he loved most and his most trusted aide, he never showed how hurt he was, but with Audrey Nathan, Things changed that he himself could hardly predict his next wave of emotions with Audrey around. *** "Nghnn... Jord... I want you.....all of you" Audrey moaned out, her eyes hooded with lust, she didn't care if his shadow crew could hear her, she wanted him in her, home where he belongs. "I got you mama" Jordan's voice always dripping with lust just like his lips were dripping of her juices.....

A painter, artist, and an engineer single father named Mike living with his Mom Rose, He was been single father since Alice died in giving birth to Augustine, years later he worked as an engineer contracted three years of bridge project with his co-engineer Angel and they became close till years passed by where their project will end. Angel confesses in a letter to Mike that she likes him, and he was willing because he also likes Angel as their relationship went through, A test result came in that he has a liver cancer stage one only his Mother know this. He desired not to tell this to Angel instead he gave her a small box for the birthday with nine letters inside it but all is ten as he instructs every year on her birthday she will open one letter and if all nine will do, he will give the tenth letter which he designates the very important one. But eight years later Mike died in the eighth letter Angel had only one, The nine and it came to the point where she need to get the tenth letter but don't know. Instead she visits Mike grave as she there, un-expectedly a voice of a child calling her name as Angel turns around she saw a child amused walking to her holding the tenth letter she doesn't even know who's this child but the woman who followed back, is Mike's mother Rose as the child reach in front of her, He hand the tenth letter to her. Minutes of reading heavy tears appear and she knees down to the child and hugs him then Angel whispered "he's resting forever but no worries Augustine father is always okay promise I'm always here for you Son" And she heavily cried.

「大学を辞めたくないなら、俺の手の中に落ちてこい」 　幼い頃から私を見知っていたと言う９歳年上の男が、ある日突然そんな言葉と共に私の生活を一変させた。 ―― 　母の入院費用捻出のため、せっかく入った大学を中退するしかない、と思っていた村陰 花々里（むらかげ かがり）のもとへ、母のことをよく知っているという御神本 頼綱（みきもと よりつな）が現れて言った。 「大学を辞めたくないなら、俺の手の中に落ちてこい。助けてやる」 　なんでも彼は、母が昔勤めていた産婦人科の跡取り息子だという。 　学費の援助などの代わりに、彼が出してきた条件は――。 クスッと笑えるラブコメ（全32章） （改稿版 2020/08/14〜2021/08/19）