Bittersweet Seventeen

Over five years I’ve lived a bittersweet lie as David Hargrove’s kept woman, Maria Bell. David’s shown no interest in me beyond what he wants. Love’s a bitter pill to love when it's not returned. I'm bought and paid for. Kept in a gilded cage. David suspects nothing of the secrets I hold. Tonight, David announced he’s marrying my stepsister. He doesn’t know. The level of betrayal I’ve experienced is unbelievable. Everything becomes complicated as the lies surface. Leaving and facing it alone are my only choices. I’m living in fear as I pick up pieces of a life, I believed lost. Blackmail, sabotage, and intrigue dog my steps. I don’t know who I can trust or how to win. I won’t surrender without a fight this time. They don’t recognize me. They won’t see me coming. My name is David Hargrove, and someone is trying to destroy my family. I must marry my rival’s daughter. His stepdaughter signed the contract. Before we learned, she couldn’t deliver the Belgrave empire to me. She can help me secure my family’s empire as my fiancée. I need the ugly biological daughter, Maria Belgrave, who’s hiding. Things get confusing. Maria Belgrave sent two women to represent her. One is my Maria. My missing woman. The betrayal and conflict of interest still stand. I will say when our contract has ended. How can I work with her? I know nothing about her. She owes me answers and loyalty. Perhaps I’ll use this to my advantage. When David learns of Maria’s past life. Will he help her? Or use her and take over the business himself? It starts with an engagement and the death of a patriarch.

Hope is a seventeen year old Omega. And for as long as she can remember, she has been moving from one pack to another with her widowed mother. Hope is a loner and all she longs for is to be accepted, to have friends and not be bullied. But coming to Crescent Manes, she meets her greatest nightmare in the form of Blake Parker, soon to be the Alpha of Crescent Manes. But Blake the tormentor carries a scar, a burden that no one knows. He holds a dark secret, one if unleashed might just spell doom to the entire race of wolves. ***** "Say it, Hope," he says, his voice dangerously low as he traps me against the cool tiled wall. A shiver runs down my spine and I have to close my eyes. His voice is pulling me, the power in it making me want to do anything he asks. "No." I try to slip away but he grabs my wrists, pinning them above my head. He presses his hard body against mine and I stifle a gasp, aware of every inch of him that is touching me. "You're not going anywhere. We're not done yet." He slides his hand up my skirt even as his lips trail from my neck to my collar bone. And lower. I can feel my resolve weakening as his hand reaches its destination. "Say it," he orders. I moan, dipping my head back. I want to say it, I really do. But I know that if I give in and say the words, there will be no going back.

For seventeen years, I believed I was nothing, Iris Delta, the unwanted orphan tolerated by a pack that saw me as a burden. The Maxwell quad Alpha heirs made sure I knew my place, tormenting me with cruel words and vicious pranks. I was weak, worthless, invisible. I was wrong about everything. On my eighteenth birthday, Alpha Maxwell reveals the truth that changes everything: I'm Seraphina Blackthorne, the last heir of a bloodline thought extinct. My parents didn't abandon me—they were murdered by the Northern Alliance, who believed they'd eliminated every trace of Blackthorne power. They were wrong, too. The moment my wolf Diamond awakens, the mate bond snaps into place with the four men who made my life hell. Fin, Brent, Kane, and Liam—my tormentors are my fated mates, four pieces of one soul that can only be completed by me. Their cruelty wasn't hatred; it was a fractured soul recognising its missing piece and lashing out in fear. But the Northern Alliance isn't finished. They've come to eliminate the last Blackthorne before I can claim my birthright. What they don't realise is that I'm not just the last heir, I'm the strongest Blackthorne born in three centuries. When divine justice flows through my veins and ghostly wolf spirits answer my call, they'll learn what happens when you try to destroy something the goddess herself has chosen to protect. The Blackthorne line has returned. And this time, we're not going down without a fight.

Carissa Carter, known as CC, has always been an outcast. Although she was born into the prestigious Beta family, her life was anything but glamorous. Her mother, Kim, had an affair that led to CC's birth, a secret that hung heavy over her upbringing. Beta Anthony “Tony” Carter, her presumed father, never bonded with her, remaining cold and aloof while lavishing love on her siblings, Matthew and Brittany. Things began to change when Tony found a new love, Lindy. As he warmed to CC and forged a genuine father-daughter bond, hope flickered for CC. However, her happiness was short-lived. Enraged by Tony's acceptance of CC—the child born from betrayal—Kim conspired with the pack's next leaders to eliminate her. Left for dead after a brutal attack by those meant to protect her, CC’s story takes a turn as fate intervenes in the most unexpected ways. Without a wolf to aid her healing, she rises from the ashes, fueled by a thirst for vengeance against those who wronged her. At just seventeen, she finds herself not only fighting to survive against the leaders of her own pack but also entangled in a deeper conflict as the Blackfoot Rogues—seeking revenge for past injustices against them—target Trinity Falls Pack. Amidst this turmoil, a new layer emerges as the fearsome Beast Alpha discovers something he's long been denied: a true mate. *The Alpha Beast's Rebel Wolf* offers a fresh take on werewolf lore, blending adventure, love, and an unyielding quest for revenge. This tale promises to keep readers on the edge of their seats, eager for CC's journey to unfold.

Aurora is an orphaned pup, who had everything working against her since the pack she grew up in was raided. Through a happy coincidence, she and her sister were rescued by the Beta of a kind pack: the Midnight Protectors. But they are no ordinary group of werewolves. They are highly trained with special skills that make them exceptionally dangerous to any threat: but especially to vampires. When Aurora stumbles onto a mysterious cavern housing tombs, she can't possibly understand what she's unlocked. Her new pack has many secrets she has yet to understand and the biggest one is that they are housing the male destined to be her true fated mate. Javed is a thousand year old vampire stuck in the body of a seventeen year old male. His boyish good looks are incredibly misleading, no one should mistake how deadly he in fact is. And the lengths to which he would go to have his mate. Excerpt: As I leave dinner and move to walk back inside the packhouse, the cold chill from nights ago hits me. The very thing that set that fateful night in motion. The sun has just set and the air is thick with humidity. I have gotten used to this climate which is all the more reason the cold strikes me as bizarre. My eyes move to a post that sits just in front of the door, the crest of the pack is burned into it. “The Midnight Protectors; Light in the Dark.” I had seen it many times now, but never questioned its meaning. When the cold air hits my skin again, it makes me shake uncontrollably. I force my back to stiffen. “Not again,” I whisper, as I quickly move inside and go to my room. Locking the door.

Gabriel Thorne was seventeen when he met his fated mate across a burning packhouse during a sanctioned werewolf purge. The moment their eyes locked, the mate bond snapped into place with devastating clarity. Dominic Ashford, the youngest billionaire Alpha in North America, rejected him instantly and publicly, shattering Gabriel's world with five brutal words: "I don't have a mate." Five years later, Gabriel has been cast out from the Holy Order, disowned by his exorcist family, and is barely surviving as a paranormal investigator when catastrophe strikes. His father is dying from a curse that can only be broken by Alpha blood willingly given. Gabriel must return to the pack territory he was exiled from and beg the mate who destroyed him for help. Dominic agrees, but his price is cruel: a thirty-day contract where Gabriel lives in his penthouse, attends pack functions as his companion, and submits to experimental mate bond suppression therapy designed to erase their connection forever. Gabriel accepts because he has no choice. Dominic believes proximity will kill the bond. Instead, it ignites into an inferno neither can control. As they're forced together, dangerous truths emerge. The curse killing Gabriel's father wasn't random, it was orchestrated. Someone inside the Holy Order is funding a conspiracy to restart the werewolf purges, and the scandalous mate bond between an exorcist heir and an Alpha is the spark that could ignite a supernatural war. Now Gabriel and Dominic must choose: break their bond to preserve the fragile peace, or claim each other and risk destroying everything their worlds have built. Their love could save both species, Or it could damn them all.

Seventeen year old Regina May has always been a sickle cell fighter. Battling from one crisis to another for most of her teenage years, she dreams of a perfect healthy life. But when a mysterious accident struck, she awakens to a shocking reality: she is married to the cold and wealthy twenty-four-year-old Quin Steel Incorp heir, Quin Deshawn. As Gina struggles with her new life, she discovers that her marriage is not just a whirlwind romance; it was just to save the face of the Quin Steel Incorp heir from a scandal which threatens to destroy his father’s company, so she thought. Torn between her heart break from one sided feelings she has for her childhood best friend, Mace, and the sudden appearance of Deshawn lavish world with the constraints of her own fragile health, Gina must navigate a cage filled with secrets, expectations, and the shadows of Deshawn’s past. She wanted freedom, love and above all a loving husband but her marriage to Deshawn had only restraint her, bounding her not only to her ill health but to a marriage she finds a heavy burden. As the lines between love and obligation blur, Gina must decide if she can embrace this unexpected life or if she will fight to reclaim her independence, even if it means risking everything she’s come to cherish. Will Gina find the strength to break free from the chains of circumstance, or will she remain forever entwined in a life she never chose? And what happened when she wands up falling head over heels in love with her Mr Pervert, at the same time Mace finally confessed his feelings for her?

"I told you not to touch me," Audrey said. "In front of people," He reminded her. Audrey could feel the smirk in his voice. ~~~ Audrey's seventeen years in the Grey Blood pack were like a caged animal. She lived each day dreading the next unexpected thing the Alpha could punish her for. Audrey tried hard to understand the mysterious dream she'd been having, but nothing made sense to her, she was lost. She wished to be freed from the Grey Blood pack, but she lost all hope of survival when she found herself locked and chained in the cold dark dungeon. She hated him, she cursed him as her blood drained from her. She was happy to die and go away from that monster-alpha. Audrey awoke in a magical world where she learned everything about herself, she cultivated herself to become the strongest wolf and witch alive. One item though, led her back to the last place she wanted to be. Alpha Aloha Lake ruled the Grey Blood pack, the largest and strongest pack in the States. He was known to be brutal, even the mafia feared him. Nothing or anyone bothered him, except one; the damned bitch Audrey. He hated her, and he would make her pay for her mother's sins. But he could not kill her...yet. Alpha Lake emotionlessly stared at Audrey's bleeding body that lay on the cold dungeon floor, he ordered his beta to dispose of her without a second thought. One year later the enemies met again. Will hatred be the only emotion they share? Could they resist the fatal attraction they felt for each other?

Anim na taong gulang si Jae-young nang magkahiwalay sila ng kakambal niya dahil sa paghihiwalay ng kanilang ama’t ina. Si Jae-young De Paz, kasi ang isinama ng Itay niya dahil pinili ng Inay niya ang kakambal niyang si Jelay. After seventeen years, muli silang nagkatagpo na magkapatid dahil lang pala may pakay ang kakambal ni Jae-young sa kaniya. “Okay ka lang, Jelay? Uutusan mo akong magpanggap na mag-ina kami ng anak mo sa ama ng pamangkin ko na si Ishmael Martinez, kahit na ni hindi ko nga kilala ang lalaking sinasabi mo? Akala ko pa naman kaya mo ako pinahanap dahil gusto mong makasama mo ako bilang kapatid at kakambal mo.” “Sige na Jae. Ilang ulit na akong nagpakilala sa kaniya ngunit hindi siya naniwala sa ‘kin. Wala raw siyang maalalang may nangyari sa ‘min kaya paano raw kami nagkaanak.” “Jelay, mag-da-dalawang taon na ang pamangkin ko pero ngayon mo lang naisip ito?” “Isang taon na lang mawawala na ako sa mundo. Gusto ko bago ako mawala, kilalanin muna ang anak ko ni Ishmael Martinez—” “M-may sakit ka?” “Oo Jae. Please? Pumayag ka na. Ayaw kong maiwan na mag-isa ang anak ko.” “S-saan ko ba matatagpuan si Mayor Ishmael Martinez?”

Seventeen years ago, the Hartwell family's little girl vanished into thin air, leaving her big brothers, Alexander and Julian, heartbroken and their parents wrecked until the end. Fast-forward to now: the billionaire brothers launch a worldwide hunt for their long-lost sister—the true heir to their massive empire. The big giveaway? A unique crescent-moon-and-star birthmark on her back. Plot twist: she's been right under their noses the whole time—as Elena, the overworked, underpaid maid getting bossed around by greedy widow Victoria and her bratty daughter Sophia. When the birthmark news hits, Victoria spots the real deal on Elena's back and smells money. Boom—they slap a fake tattoo on Sophia, coach her on sob stories, and march her straight to the Hartwells. The brothers, desperate for family, buy it hook, line, and sinker. Sophia morphs into "Isabella Hartwell," moves into the mansion, snags the CEO title, and starts living like royalty. Meanwhile, the actual heiress keeps scrubbing toilets. But power turns Sophia into a total monster—snobby, mean, and extra cruel to Elena. She even frames her for stealing a billion-dollar necklace and gets her kicked out. One brother (the sharp one) starts smelling something fishy. Then, at the huge CEO crowning gala, Sophia forgets to redraw the fake birthmark. Cameras flash, the mark's missing, and the internet explodes. Fake heiress busted! The brothers show up at Elena's tiny apartment begging forgiveness. She quietly shuts the door in their faces. Weeks later? Elena reclaims her empire—not as a sweet lost princess, but as a fierce boss lady who rebuilds it better, smarter, and kinder. She doesn't just inherit power—she owns it. And the brothers? They get front-row seats to the glow-up they never saw coming.