Always Been Yours

Rainy nights in Sicelia were always thick with the stench of rust and gunpowder. Rumors had circulated that the newly appointed Don of the Romano family, one of the most powerful mafia clans, had been badly disfigured in a fire. His temper had grown brutal, and three fiancées had already been driven to terror. When the news reached the Deluca family estate, my so-called sister had collapsed in tears and begged me to take her place and honor the engagement. I had watched her act in silence before kicking her to the floor. I had said calmly, "When I was brought back into this family, you were afraid of losing your status. You rushed to secure the marriage alliance to protect your position. Now that your fiancé is disfigured and you can't bear to face that scarred monster, you want to shove me into the flames instead?" At that moment, my childhood sweetheart had burst through the door. He bent down and helped my fake sister to her feet, his concern plain to see. "Elena, don't be so ungrateful," he snapped. "This marriage was yours from the beginning. Now it's simply returning to its rightful owner. Tomorrow, I'll be holding a grand wedding with Rosa. As for you, you can obediently go and serve that monster." My parents had stormed in as well, pointing at me and cursing without restraint. As I looked at the selfish faces before me, I drew a slow breath. Resolve hardened in my eyes. "Fine," I had said quietly. "Then all of you can come down to hell with me."

"What gives you the right to think you can control me?" I fumed, feeling the anger rising in me. Before I could react, he had me pinned against the wall, his eyes staring into mine. “Go ahead and deny it all you want but this body of yours belongs to me completely. Like hell I'd let anyone touch you this way.” Violet Murray had always longed for the day she would find her mate. She doesn’t expect the painful rejection and humiliation that comes from the Alpha. Tired of everything she’d been forced to endure; she does the most reasonable thing anyone would do in her shoes. Strike a deal with his long-time rival, Lucian Sinclair. They form an alliance under the guise of a fake relationship. She swears she has no feelings for him. When their fake relationship bleeds into something else, she finds herself questioning everything, including her growing feelings. Lucian Sinclair had one simple aim; completely destroying the one thorn in his flesh, Tristan Black, along with his bleeding pack. He finds an opportunity in the person of Violet who bears a grudge against Tristan and her former pack for all she’d been put through. They agree to form an alliance for the sole purpose of taking their mutual enemy down. It was meant to be no feelings attached. When the lines start to blur, her finds herself unable to deny the feelings he has for her. When different enemies threaten to tear them apart, they must decide if their love is worth fighting for.

"Look, Mi amor, I don't know what goes on in that crazy head of yours but what I do know is that we can both help each other," Nikolai said, running a hand across my cheek. "How?" I breathed. "Marry me." ****** After the death of her mother, Sarah DeVille has been encountering one problem after the other. From the taunting of the pack members to her fiance's betrayal, Sarah has finally had enough. When she decides to leave the pack for good, she is suddenly hit with news that would change her forever. "Nikolai Mezzeselma has arrived."

“He’s not yours,” I said, each word slicing through him like glass. Valentine stared at me, stunned, like I’d slapped him. Maybe I should’ve. That would’ve been easier than this. I thought I’d buried the past the day I ran—pregnant, heartbroken, and alone. Valentine Hale was the love of my life… until he shattered it. He never knew I was carrying his child. He never tried to find me. I raised our son alone. But fate doesn’t forget. Now I’m back in the one place I swore I’d never return to. And Valentine? He’s here. He’s looking at me like he still feels it. Valentine- She was human. Off-limits. But I touched her anyway. Loved her. Marked her. Then I walked away before the pack could find out. Before I destroyed us both. But now, Vivian’s back—with a kid who smells like me. But now I bear a secret, a curse from my father the previous alpha and I cannot risk their lives. I need to protect them. I need them. I feel it in my blood. He’s mine. She’s mine. They both always were.

Carl Grant was going to marry his first love. Although Rosalyn Jones had been with him for seven years, she didn't throw a fit, even personally organizing a grand wedding ceremony for him. However, on the day of his wedding, she put on a bridal gown too, and their wedding cars crossed paths along the highway. As the brides exchanged bouquets, Carl heard Rosalyn telling him, "All the best!" He chased her down for miles before finally catching up to her, and he was breaking down in tears as he held her. "No, Rosalyn… You're mine!" That was when a man alighted and took Rosalyn in his arms. "If she's yours, then who do I belong to?"

When Aster decided to confess to her childhood friend, Xavier, she feels relieved to find out that he feels the same way about her. However, he claims that he's not ready yet, asking for her to wait until he becomes the partner he thinks she deserves. Waiting for him would've been the easiest thing she'll ever have to do in her entire life if only her stupid mate, Khai, with his dangerously adorable grin and unwavering desire to befriend her, hadn't decided to conveniently show up a week after her confession. Shenanigans ensue as Aster tries to refuse her fate, believing Xavier to be the only one for her. ( cover drawn by yours truly )

How would you know that there's another world until you make it through? All her life, Claudia feels she doesn't belong to anyone much less when she and her family go to her grandmother's house in Batangas. The nineteen-year-old city girl has yet to find out what kind of journey awaits her. With a novel on her left hand and her younger sister on the opposite, they will embark on their journey of finding out what lies inside in a world she has never been before. Will she be able to fulfill her grandmother's wish before she passes away? Or will she find her anticipation of belongingness in the other world and stay there? "The person you're with on this journey will be yours forever."

For another girl, Lex Hamilton—my fiancé of several years—dumped me in the middle of nowhere and left me to fend for myself. Three years later, he showed up with her to bring me back. "It's been three years," he said. "Even a dog would've learned its lesson by now. I did this for your own good. If you don't fix that attitude of yours, don't expect to ever become my wife." They thought I'd crumble. They thought I'd beg, cling to him, and unload all the pain and humiliation I'd carried for the past three years. Instead, I smiled. "Sorry, Mr. Hamilton. I'm already married."

Everyone has gathered around to play games together. The current game requires all players to transfer red wine to each other via our mouths. Before my fiance, Teodoro Lamperti, is able to transfer the wine to me, his female best friend, Cristina Ghedini, shoves me away before kissing him on the mouth right away. "What are you doing? Today is Serafina's big day, you know!" Teodoro might be complaining on the outside, yet he's patting Cristina gently on the back. The atmosphere in the villa becomes eerily silent. Everyone stares at me as I sit on the floor in a wretched manner. Cristina merely smiles nonchalantly. Then, she leans against Teodoro's shoulder. "Don't be so petty, Serafina. Teodor and I are as thick as thieves since we were kids. We're used to sharing everything together." Teodoro begins advising me as well. "It's just a game, Serafina. You've always been gracious, haven't you? Don't act like a sore loser." Everyone thinks that I'll explode into rage and flip the table of food over, like I had done in the past. But this time, I just draw to my feet and take off the engagement ring. Then, I slide it onto Cristina's finger. "This ring is yours now. Congratulations on your marriage. Remember to invite me to your wedding."

During the year that changed my life, my high school homeroom teacher called me to the corridor and asked if I was the heroine of the dirty scandal that shook the whole school. “I know you’re here on a scholarship because of your family’s underprivileged background, but you can’t just do anything for money!” As everyone threw me strange looks, she continued smugly, “Don’t deny it. The mole on the girl’s neck is just like yours!” I calmly wiped off the ink stain on my skin, revealing my unblemished neck. My teacher turned red in the face. Unfortunately for her, I had been reborn. This time, I was not going to fall into the same traps.