Ambush Doors

Celia never wanted trouble, just a quiet life, working hard to support her younger brother. But trouble finds her when Rafael, a ruthless mafia boss, walks into her gas station one night. He’s dangerous, untouchable, and completely uninterested in attachments, until she becomes the bait in an ambush meant to take him down. Rafael should have walked away. Instead, he kills for her, rescues her, and drags her into his violent world. Celia fights him at every turn, refusing to be just another possession. But with enemies closing in and no way back to her old life, she has no choice but to trust the man who claims to own her. What starts as a battle of wills turns into something far more dangerous. Celia is no longer just a captive, she’s becoming Rafael’s greatest weakness. And in his world, weaknesses get people killed. But Rafael doesn’t care. He’ll burn his empire to the ground before he lets anyone take her from him.

Anita," her angelic voice calls to me. Thunder rumbles in the distance. Her soft, delicate hands caressing my face, sparkling green eyes grounding me from the dark past I wish I could forget. "You're safe, it's okay." I bring my hand up, running my finger over the mound of scar tissue. The constant reminder of that night. The raised bump covers the bullet fragment embedded in my sternum. She takes my hands as more thunder rumbles and tears roll down my cheeks. "Breathe Anita," she says in a soothing whisper. My lungs were burning with the need for air and it was then that I realized I'd been holding it. I take in a gasping breath and recall the first time my eyes met her green eyes. My sister had been lifted off me and my eyes opening had startled her. The first time she touched me gave me strength to hold on. I held her hand tight, trying to tell her what happened, but couldn't get enough breath to form words. Sitting in the present going through the same as I had five years ago. "They were all found, Anita. They can't hurt you anymore. It's just a storm. All the doors and windows are locked, the alarm is set. It's just you and me." "Will you keep the light on tonight, please?"

Everyone in the company fears Killian Vale—the ruthless billionaire CEO of ValeCorp. He doesn’t speak unless necessary, fires employees without blinking, and has a face carved out of stone. He built an empire on logic and power, not emotion. Then she walks in. Emery Quinn—a soft-spoken, stubbornly independent woman with zero interest in corporate games—takes a job as his executive assistant out of desperation. She needs money to save her younger brother from a dangerous situation. She expects to hate Killian. He expects her to quit. What neither expects is the tension that builds between them—the dangerous, slow-burning tension that starts behind office doors and seeps into stolen glances, late-night calls, and locked conference rooms. But Killian doesn’t do relationships. He doesn’t do feelings. And she’s too smart to fall for someone like him. Until the day he finally snaps and says: “You're the only person who's ever made me feel anything, and I hate you for it.”

The Awaited Lycan Queen by pemeemee Aliyah was never meant to survive the night her pack fell. Captured and gifted like property to Leo, the future Alpha of the powerful Blood Moon Pack, she endured five long years in silence, humiliated, feared and hated. Except him. Leo was her only light in a world that wished she didn’t exist. Through small kindnesses and fleeting glances, a quiet bond began to form—something that made her believe she wasn’t truly alone. But love was never enough. Driven by hatred unknown to her, Leo’s mother forced Aliyah out of the pack with a forged goodbye. Heartbroken and unaware of the truth, Aliyah vanished. She never expected the ambush that followed or the power that awakened under the full moon. She didn’t just become a wolf. She became something rarer. A Lycan. Eleven years later, Leo is a grown Alpha, hardened by grief and still haunted by her memory. When he steps into her new world, the past crashes back into them both, along with secrets about her bloodline and the role only she can play. Now secrets are unraveling. Old wounds are reopening. And destiny is calling her home. But after everything that tore them apart, can they survive what’s still to come? Will they choose love or power?

Kiara is a human-wolf hybrid who felt out of place as she moved from the human city to the werewolf kingdom. Her mother had gotten married to the Alpha of the Golden Pack, and now She had three step-brothers who hated her guts. They constantly bullied her for her inability to shift, and Kiara endured it all. To everyone, she was shy and introverted, but she had a secret. Behind closed doors, she took on the personality of Cherry, a cam girl who serenades her audiences with her seductive performances. Little did she know that her biggest fans were her stepbrothers. What happens when they find out that the woman they fantasized about was living under the same roof with them?

She wanted stability. She found Adrian Blackwell—dominant, dangerous, and determined to make her his. After catching her boyfriend of three years cheating, Elena Carter swore never to fall in love again. On a reckless whim, she walked into a blind date arranged by her family—and impulsively proposed a flash marriage. All she wanted was a quiet, dependable man. What she got was Adrian Blackwell—a ruthless billionaire known for crushing rivals with a single glance. Cold to the world, dangerously charming behind closed doors, Adrian doesn’t ask. He takes. From the moment she slips on his ring, Adrian makes one thing clear: “You’re mine, Elena. No man touches what belongs to me.” But as whispers of his past lovers surface, Elena’s heart twists with emotions she swore she’d buried—jealousy, heartbreak… longing. Then, a brutal accident unearths a forgotten memory: a reckless one-night stand years ago… with the same face as her husband’s. Everything falls into place. Every twist, every detour— It was always Adrian.

Mina Mendoza thought her darkest days were behind her, running her late mentor’s bar in the heart of New York gave her a fragile sense of peace. But all of that shatters one night when a blood-soaked stranger crashes through her doors just before closing time, gun in hand and secrets in his eyes. Luciano is dangerous, wounded, and devastatingly magnetic, the kind of man Mina swore she'd never fall for. But he’s not just any man. He’s tied to the mafia. The kind of ties that leave blood trails and whispered threats. Helping him survive was instinct. Surviving what came next… that’s the real challenge. Drawn to him in dreams that feel too real, haunted by her traumatic past, and stalked by the violent world Luciano can’t outrun, Mina finds herself caught in something far deeper than attraction. She’s entangled in a web of lies, bullets, and power where trust is a gamble, and love might be a fatal mistake. As her world tilts into chaos, Mina must choose: run from the fire, or walk straight into it with the one man who could destroy everything. Because loving him was never part of the agreement. And yet, it might be the only thing that saves them both. Luciano isn’t just trouble, he’s the trouble: the Don of a powerful mafia family, running from a betrayal that could cost him everything. Now, Mina is caught in his storm, haunted by dreams, and tangled in a love that defies logic. She saved him once... but loving him might be the most dangerous thing she’s ever done.

In the coastal quiet of Baler, a studio is born—not of architecture, but of intention.* Founded by Yam, a poet whose words cradle pain gently, and Franc, an artist who paints tenderness into walls, the studio becomes a refuge for those learning to stay—with grief, love, longing, and themselves. As visitors arrive, they leave behind more than footprints: a sigh recorded in bamboo, a poem tucked into the “Found Letters” shelf, a mural painted in crooked lines. Through zines, tea, silence, and sketchbooks, the studio teaches softness as revolution. Ren creates the *Window of Soft Returns*, an installation of anonymous voice recordings—each whisper forming a community of echoes. Drew builds the *Staircase With No Wrong Turns*, inviting people to walk through emotions without shame. Franc offers brushstrokes as brave work, and Yam curates writing circles that map healing in half sentences. Together, they host festivals that feel like hugs, and they begin traveling their archive, letting softness cross oceans. Even those who once left—like Miguel—return, discovering that some doors never truly close. Others, like Tala, capture the studio’s sound and turn it into a podcast of breath and becoming. Over seventy chapters, the studio transforms into something larger than itself: a mural of memory, a sanctuary for second chances, a place where return is sacred and voice is proof of survival. In the final bloom, the studio stands not as a monument—but as a reminder: > *“Staying isn’t easy. > But chosen together, > it becomes home.”*

Juliette Thorne’s life shatters when her mate and boyfriend of 2 years chooses her stepsister, leaving her heartbroken. Forced into an arranged marriage to save her family’s honor, Juliette seeks one last night of freedom—only to discover her mysterious one-night stand is her future husband. On their wedding night, he cruelly rejects her, and their marriage becomes a façade. To the world, they’re the perfect couple, but behind closed doors, it’s nothing but cold resentment. Can Juliette survive a loveless union, or will she find a way to reclaim her life and heart?

Her fiancé left her at the altar… for her sister. Desperate to save her family from bankruptcy, she agrees to marry his cold, ruthless billionaire brother — a man who has every reason to hate her. But when passion flares behind closed doors, revenge becomes dangerous… and a secret she’s hiding could destroy them both.