Bruised

From as far back as I can remember, I knew my mom hated me. She gives me sleeping pills when I'm three. When I'm five, she tries pesticide instead. But I'm hard to get rid of. By the time I'm seven, I've already learned how to fight back. If she refuses to give me food, I flip the table so no one can eat either. If she beats me up until I'm on the ground, writhing in pain, I go after her beloved son the same way, leaving him bruised and bawling. That's how we stay locked in battle until I turn 12. Everything changes when my youngest sister is born. I'm clumsily trying to help with her wet diaper when Mom suddenly shoves me against the wall. The look in her eyes holds both disgust and fear. "What were you trying to do to my daughter? I knew it. You take after that monster of a father. Why didn't you just die with him?" I hold my aching head. For the first time, I don't fight back. I believe she's right. My existence is a mistake. I should never have been alive.

Everyone in Oceanton knew that mob boss Jared Pierce was deeply in love with me. No one feared my disappearance more than he did. Even if bullets were raining down on him, he'd still find a way to contact me, just to make sure I felt safe. But on the night before our wedding, he didn't come home. When he finally returned, he dropped to his knees, a bruised and weakened woman cradled in his arms. "Rosalia! Melody took the drug just to save me! I can't just watch her die! So I had no choice but to sleep with her." Terrified that I wouldn't forgive him, Jared drew six wounds into his arm. Blood soaked through his shirt in an instant. As soon as the wedding banquet ended, I heard his men chuckling and teasing. "The boss didn't even take off his wedding outfit before rushing to see Melody. Just how seductive is his lover?" Jared’s low, sultry voice followed. "Last time I stayed with her, I didn’t come back for three days and nights. Take a guess." In shock and despair, I called out the system. "I want to leave this world!" The system's cold voice replied, "After your exit, this world will erase all traces of your existence. Counting down… Seven days."

On the fourth day of Christmas, my true love sent me, heartbreak on a platter of gold. How thoughtful. Melody Hart once believed December carried its own charm, everything feels beautiful and magical, and she would be having a Christmas wedding, something she’d dreamed of since childhood. But magic turned to ash the moment she walked in on the man she loved, unwrapping someone else like a gift. Determined to start over, she runs to New York City with nothing but a bruised heart and an almost empty bank account . She isn’t searching for miracles anymore. She just wants a job, a bed that’s not a borrowed couch, and one peaceful night where she doesn’t cry herself to sleep. Just like she had her problems, Logan Russo had his. He needs a woman for Christmas, someone who would be able to act in front of his whole family, just to get them off his neck. Melody needs two hundred thousand dollars. Neither of them needs love. The universe brought them together, two desperate strangers who needed each other. What started off as a confrontation at the airport, soon blossomed into something beautiful. She got her Christmas miracle after all. All that was short-lived because the universe had other plans. But this time, how much can she take, how willing is she to protect what she's built? Only time will tell.

"Go after them! Don't let her escape, the mother and daughter must be killed." The sound of the chase continued to come from behind. The woman clutched her newborn baby in her arms and dashed forward. The thorns on both sides pricked her legs and bruised her body, but she could care less about that. No one can hurt her daughter, no one!!! However, the one chasing behind her was her husband, the most powerful Alpha in the wolf pack, how could she, a human, be his opponent? Looking at the cliff in front of her, she closed her eyes in despair. Suddenly, there was a "whoosh". A long, cold arrow cut through the sky. With a "poof" sound, the arrow directly pierced into the woman's shoulder. "Ah..." the woman screamed, fell to the ground, the baby in her arms flew out, and was hanging on the edge of the cliff. "Owwww, owwww..." the newborn baby girl cried out in pain. "No!" The woman exclaimed, ignoring her injuries and crawling over like a madman to get her back into her arms. "Elena, hand over this little demon, I will not hurt you." The powerful half wolf man with his army of wolves, stared down at her. "No, she's your daughter, our daughter..." the woman sobbed. "She is a demon, she will kill our wolf pack!" The man was cold-blooded and heartless. "Bastard!" The woman cursed and closed her eyes in despair, she had no other choice. Holding the baby girl, she turned around and jumped off the cliff.

With Alpha Cain…there's just something with him that makes my blood boil to the hottest degree, my mind roaring with spite and disdain every time I look at him in the eyes. I often ask myself, "Am I really sure to be the Alpha's Pet or am I just looking at the fastest way to die?" Maybe I'll never know the answer. Maybe I also knew the answer already. But deep inside, one thing's for sure: I hate Alpha Cain. But I also like some part of him. And I hate that part of myself that liked the part of him. *** Anastasia is an I-don't-fucking-care type of Omega who, because she's already bruised outside and broken deep inside, just accepts whatever comes her way. But Alpha Cain somehow liked her wicked mouth. She's the only Omega who can talk back to him with enough sarcasm and wits that most of his pack members lack of. And in the tradition of most packs, whether in every year, months, or even weeks and days, the Alpha will choose among Omegas as his Pet: a more accurate term for his personal bed warmer. It is an actual title in a pack reserved to only one person, with benefits and privileges on its own. And because Anastasia accidentally became drunk the night Alpha Cain tested her skills in bed, she rode so wild and satisfied the Alpha more than he expected. And a hate-to-love, pet-to-lovers tale began to unfold.

Aria Moonclaw was the cherished daughter of Alpha Mason Moonclaw, leader of the Silverfang Pack. After losing his beloved mate, Mason poured every drop of love and hope into Aria, training her to become something their pack had never known a female Alpha. The elders scoffed, the traditions forbade it, but Mason’s faith never wavered. Aria would prove them all wrong. On the eve of her eighteenth birthday the night before her awakening , Aria longed for one final taste of freedom. Slipping beyond the pack’s borders, she chased a white rabbit into the forest, unaware that fate was luring her into darkness. Beneath the silver light of the moon she once adored, her life shattered. A stranger emerged from the shadows powerful, ruthless, inhuman and in moments, her world was torn apart. Broken but alive, Aria stumbled back under the cruel gaze of the moon, her body bruised, her spirit splintered, and a mysterious crest glowing faintly on her wrist, a mark bound to destiny itself. What she thought was a human attack hides a deeper, older truth her assailant was no mortal, but a creature of royal blood. Soon after, Aria’s reality unravels again when the man she calls father reveals a devastating secret she is not his blood, nor the child of Silverfang by birth. Now, with betrayal in her veins and a mark she doesn’t understand, Aria must rise above pain, prejudice, and prophecy. For the Moon Goddess has chosen her not just to lead, but to face the darkness that claimed her… and to uncover who she truly is.

She who will not know her destiny until it reveals itself to her. She who will have the eyes of good and bad. She who will bear the chosen. She who will be just as powerful as the Moon Goddess herself, an infused element of the greater powers. She who will have a powerful mate who will need her, and who she will need. She who is the Pallid Wisteria. Her whole life, Angelina Wisteria was seen as ‘one of the nicest people you will ever meet’. Most people found it impossible to be mean to her, so she had a lot of friends. She’s beautiful, and many consider her the full package. When she turns seventeen, her parents are brutally murdered, forcing her to have to move away to live with her grandparents. She suddenly feels very threatened in the new environment. Here, the people seem to act strange around her, mostly growling at her. Growling? Silas Keller is the strongest alpha in the world. He had to become alpha at the age of fifteen when his father was killed by rogues, bringing about his hatred for them. He’s merciless to them, which makes his decision to allow Martha and Jorge Wisteria’s rogue granddaughter to live with them without joining the pack, harder than he thought. He’s away when she arrives, but returns just days later to find her battered, bruised, and unconscious in the middle of the forest. He wouldn’t have cared if she didn’t smell like vanilla and wisteria. His mate.

WARNING: THIS BOOK CONTAINS EXPLICIT SCENES AND MATURE ELEMENTS, SUITABLE ONLY FOR READERS AGED 18 AND ABOVE. Read at your own discretion. Blaze Arden Vaughn is an heir to a huge empire. An ace student of the medical faculty. Exceptionally handsome, sweet, and nice. His name signifies fire but his heart is as cold as ice. Ace Daxton Anderson is a known 'one-night stand' guy and bi. A gang leader who won't back down from a gang fight and is not afraid to be bruised just to prove his point. Both have their own territory, not knowing each other's existence. Until the day the Ice Prince fixed his cold gaze on the very hot gang leader on the field. "You want me that bad... your eyes were screaming it out loud..." Blaze announced with his challenging tone. A calm smile adorned his face, making Ace's jaw clench while their gazes locked. "I can smell your desire even from afar..." Blaze continued with a very subtle smirk, making Ace grit his teeth. "Who would not? You are Blaze Arden Vaughn. The epitome of perfection. Everybody's dream guy" Ace sarcastically responded, a smirk grazed his lips. His jaw clenched in annoyance not with Blaze but with himself. "So Ace Anderson, want to try, a Blaze Arden Vaughn for tonight?" Blaze smirked as he casually asked. A one-night stand offered by the cold Blaze Arden Vaughn, just one night of pleasure… one night of curiosity.

Celeste Leblanc, the daughter of the richest man in the city, has ordered a custom-fitted ring worth a billion dollars according to my finger size. She claims that she will marry the person who can wear it perfectly. In the first time loop, George Braun, the fake heir, secretly enlarges the ring so that he can marry Celeste. She responds by slapping him to the point he's all bruised and battered. "You're not the one!" In the second time loop, my adopted brother, Roger Braun, loses 30 pounds in one go so that he can marry Celeste. She responds by pushing him down the stairs. "You're not the one either!" In the third time loop, my stepfather, Edgar Braun, grits his teeth and makes up his mind. He slices the flesh off his finger so that he can wear the ring properly. Celeste chuckles coldly at the sight. She orders her bodyguards to drown Edgar in a bathtub immediately. In the fourth time loop, everyone is left without a choice. They're so frightened that they deliver me into Celeste's hands. I put on the ring. It fits my finger perfectly well. The entire family heaves sighs of relief. But the moment Celeste sees me, she draws out a blade and stabs me to death. "You're not the one too! Where the hell is my fated husband?" In the final time loop, when Celeste tells her secretary, Donny Griffin, to bring the ring over, all of us claim that we can't wear the ring at all. But Donny shoots us a weird look. "Ms. Leblanc has already made it clear that one of you is the ring's owner."

"You do know that being my maid makes you my property and I can do whatever I want with you." He put a finger to her chin and tilted her head upwards. "Anything I want ..." She looked at him trembling. These days she had spent with him were scary. He truly was the devil. "I'm not your toy", she managed to say. "According to my contract, you are...", he said dangerously. She was dealt the wrong cards. She is already in a world of pain. Her body ached terribly. He grabbed her bruised body and dragged her... Lilian Mendez picked pockets for a living. She did whatever she needed to do to survive. Life was tough so she had to be tougher which meant making tough decisions. After a failed attempt at stealing from the wealthy at a luxurious gala event, she finds herself the property of Mr. Damian Richards, the multi-billionaire businessman, a handsome yet sour personality, and a no nonsense man. He was every girl's dream. Every girl lusted and drooled over him but he never looked their way. He them. He had no time for love. Lilian becomes his maid to make up for stealing from him. She hated everything about him. He was just another arrogant, rich moron. Men like him were only good for their money and nothing else. She wanted nothing more to do with him than to hopefully get out of his place in one piece. She was nobody's toy or plaything. However, over time, boundaries are broken and feelings are shared and grown. Is Lilian finally the woman to tie this eligible bachelor down or is it all a play to get rich off him?