Better Off

Zephyr stood with her head bent low and her hands clasped in front of her. His dark aura made cold sweat roll down her spine, and she felt herself trembling. She felt his ethereal dark gray eyes fall upon her, intensifying the urge to scurry away as he closed the distance between them. She tried to move backward, but her back pressed further into the wall, reminding her she had no place to run to. His larger frame towered over her as he placed one hand beside her head. Zephyr had seen many men, and she could confidently say none held a candle to Alpha Damon Alaric. Damon was handsome in every way, and if she didn't know better, she might have mistaken him for the devil. Zephyr shivered when his fingers grasped her chin and tilted it up to meet his dark gaze. "Zephyr…" Alpha Damon trailed off, a sinister smirk playing on his lips. Her heart raced as his thumb gently caressed her lips. "Didn't I tell you you're mine? How dare you let another man touch you?" His voice remained calm, but his eyes spoke volumes. Zephyr's heart skipped a beat when his hands moved to her bottom, gently caressing the soft flesh and stirring sinful desires within her. "Or do you want me to take you to my bed and remind you to whom you belong?" Zephyr Cyrus was the lowest of all kinds; even the Omegas easily trampled her because she was a slave. She had accepted her fate, knowing that denying it would only lead to death. However, everything began to change when the Alpha's shrewd eyes fell on her.

She stood in the driveway watching the ambulance pull out. Feeling more alone than ever, tears streamed down Tatiana's face. Her father looked so weak and human. Looking back at the house, She could not go in. She could smell sickness inside. Blinded by tears, she made a run for the forest. Shedding her clothes under a rock before crashing in deeper. The forest around her was a blur. What if her father never came back? She would have no one. What had she done to the Moon Goddess to be forsaken? Her fear switched to anger, and she pushed forward faster and faster. Talia's muscles burned, but she kept running. As her wolf finally entered a clearing, her fur stood on end. On the other side of the clearing stood a sizeable sandy-colored wolf with amber eyes fixed on her. His ears perked up, and his head cocked to the side. Staring at each other from across the field, Tia could not take her eyes off him. She had never been this close to another wolf, and he was beautiful. Wobbling slightly, Tatiana realized she better move to the cover of the trees. As she turned, she heard an earth-shattering snap, and pain rolled up her left leg. She collapsed and looked down at her leg. It was caught in a trap. Her white fur turning red as blood seeped from the wound. Forgetting about the other wolf, she let out a tortured howl. Stabbing at the trap with her free paw, she whimpered and whined in agony. Her head rolled back as the pain threatened to render her unconscious. It was then that she noticed the wolf again. He had moved across the clearing and was now standing above her, and this time he was not alone.

I’d just set sail to escort the cargo to the border when a Category 8 typhoon warning suddenly blared. I steer the ship back in the direction of the harbor, only to realize that the ship has run out of fuel. The distress beacon has been dismantled, too. Immediately, I pick up the radio and call the maritime rescuers for help. As soon as the call gets connected, I hear my wife, Melanie Watkins' mocking laughter instead. "I've already rewired the emergency number so that you can never reach the rescuers. Have fun surviving in the ocean!" Her student, Darell Parker, is with her as well. "Remember when you made fun of me for not knowing how to swim, Clifton? Well, now you're given the chance to show off your swimming skills! You can swim all the way back to the shore on your own! You'd better not be as slow as the sea turtles!" The waves have almost capsized the cargo ship. If I can't get rescued anytime soon, I'll end up dying in the sea. I can only grit my teeth before pleading to Melanie, "No one can possibly swim back to shore! Help me call the maritime rescuers—" But she laughs coldly in return. "Why do you need the rescuers' help? Didn't you say one must learn how to protect themselves? Now swim! "If you think the waters are too cold, then swim faster! Maybe you'll feel warmer the faster you swim!" I give up on arguing with Melanie. After that, I head toward the cargo area with a blade in hand and get ready to sever the ropes tying the cargo down. Said cargo contains the ransom money that's capable of saving Ella Zimmerman, the daughter of Hugh Zimmerman, the wealthiest man in Starbury.

…He caresses my check and I close my eyes and lean close so as to get more of his touch. "Catania, why is your pheromone doing this to me?" He asks calmly and this time around, I open my eyes. "Because… because you don't want to accept the…" my sentence is caught off by the feel of his lips colliding with mine. A thunder of emotions strike within me as he kisses me passionately, like he owns me, loves me. I return the kiss with all my might as I decide to forget everything that is going on and enjoy the moment. Without breaking the kiss, he gently pulls me into his big muscular arms and further intensifies the kiss. His lips are warm and soft. They are partly sighted, allowing my tongue to slip inside. Our bodies are pressed together heatedly as I our lips joined with each other's. I can taste our shared breath and feel the taste of our combined heartbeat. Warmth blossoms in my chest, igniting it as Alpha Nolan leans in close, with his lips brushing tentatively. This is my first kiss ever. The smell of his perfume is dizzying and it causes butterflies to dance in my stomach. My eyes are close and they seem to have gotten stuck. I want to open them, I want to get a better look at Alpha Nolan's dark brown eyes, I want to admire his crazy vampire hairline. I have the feeling this is never going to happen again and that this might even ruin what is left in my life, so I want to open my eyes and bear some witness but I can't, because I am so tired and his mouth is so soft… He cannot ignore the connection even if he wanted to…

When the Irwins were on the brink of bankruptcy, I proposed a marriage of convenience to Ryan and saved them from collapse. Ever the playboy, Ryan was so grateful that he swore eternal loyalty to me, even getting a vasectomy immediately to prove his devotion. He took me across mountains and rivers, saying he wanted to etch our love into every corner of the world. Three years later, he got me drunk, stole my phone, and used it to infiltrate the Knights’ estate. That night, he orchestrated the complete downfall of my family’s legacy. My parents overdosed on sleeping pills. My sister was dragged into an alley by his men, violated, filmed, and the footage was auctioned off to amuse wealthy heirs. I begged him to let my family go. However, he gripped my face and forced me to watch as my parents were cremated. “You think marrying me back then was some noble sacrifice? Sure, the whole city praised your family for helping mine in our darkest hour. But what did they say about me? “They call me your lapdog, Lily!” Ryan destroyed the Knights to prove he was better than us and not anyone’s dog. He tore up the divorce papers and shoved the shreds into my mouth. Ryan wanted me to watch as he rose to power and made the world kneel before him. To humiliate me, he brought home a different woman every night, turning our house into a hotel while I served them. “What’s the Knights’ worth now? With your status, cooking for them and massaging their feet like this is only fitting.” It didn’t matter. When I saved him from that avalanche, a shard of stone slashed my heart. Now, I only have three days left to live.

When my boyfriend, Mark Jamison, gets in a car accident that leaves him paralyzed, I pawn the ring my mother left to me before she died to help him. With hands that have never been used to do any work or a single household chore in my life, I start lugging around delivery bags. In the middle of a rainstorm, I get assigned to deliver a food order worth 10,000 dollars, with a 100-dollar tip. Just as I happily celebrate my luck, I overhear the raucous laughter coming from inside the villa. "She actually believes you got paralyzed in a car accident? She now spends all day doing deliveries just to support you financially? She even sold off her dead mom's ring?" "She'd probably cry her heart out if she ever finds you're actually a wealthy scion worth tens of billions of dollars, who's just pretending to be poor!" Mark twirls the wineglass he's holding and says, "A lowly woman like her was born to wait on others. She brought it upon herself by always being better than Rosie back in school. Messing with her is the punishment she deserves." I continue to stand in the rain, tears rolling down my cheeks. This is how I find out Mark has spent the last two years faking his condition just to help his childhood sweetheart get back at me. His so-called paralyzed legs, deceased parents, and helpless tears are all just part of a meticulously executed lie. I haven't talked to my father, the richest man in town, for years. But now, I have finally decided to call him. "I lost, Dad. I'll accept the marriage alliance and marry the guy you picked for me."

Money and power. That is where Bora Huassefa Mafianni's world revolves. But as she explores the mafia world more, she meets Connor Zulueta, who will make her feel different emotions she hasn't felt before. Can Connor change Bora for the better? Can the two powerful mafias collide? Or they will be the end of each other's bloodline? Watch Bora as she plays the Nasty Games made by the Ruthless Mafia.

Layne needs to pay off the hunter who is threatening to sell her dad off to the highest bidder. One year, one million dollars. How does she plan to do it? By working as a for-hire mate at her auntie's high-end mate (escort) service. Easy enough to spend a little less than one month each with a man who she doesn't have to sleep with if she doesn't want to, right? With never-ending love for her dad and writing off love with anyone else, this beautiful bombshell plans to throw caution to the wind and sign up for the ride of a lifetime for the next year. Get in, make money to save dad, get out. Keep her head in the game and her heart out of it. That's the game plan. How hard can it be to stick to it?

"Let's get engaged for a few weeks,just to bolster the lie, then we'll break it off and go our merry way." The unexpected offer caught Janet Benson by surprise. After a serious heartbreak, she had already sworn off men for good, now billionaire Kevin Watson was making her a deal she couldn't refuse.She accepts, determine to steel her heart. But things take a streamy turn when business is mixed with pleasure!

After he goes down for something his team was supposed to prevent, Antonio Rossi comes out a changed man. Determined to become better, he leaves his gang and opens his own company. He tries to live in normality but all is impossible when an innocent girl is thrown into his path and he has no other choice but to pull her out of the realms he himself tried to escape. It's never over.