Can't Run Can't Hide By Lee Williams

When Professor Adrian Hale walks into his first seminar of the semester, he expects the usual—half-awake students, predictable questions, and the comfortable distance that has kept his life quiet and controlled for years. He does not expect her. Eden Marlowe, twenty-two, sharp-minded, quietly bold, and entirely uninterested in hiding the way she looks at him. She’s the kind of student who asks dangerous questions, the kind that sees right through a person’s façade. And Adrian feels himself unravel a little more every time their eyes meet. He knows the rules. He wrote half of them. And Eden is the one person he has no business wanting. But the pull between them is immediate—magnetic, unnerving, impossible to ignore. What begins as lingering glances and charged silences quickly spirals into something neither of them can pretend is innocent. Eden isn’t shy about testing boundaries, and Adrian isn’t nearly as composed as he pretends to be. As lectures blur into tension-filled encounters and office hours turn into moments he can’t forget, the line between professional and forbidden thins… then threatens to disappear entirely. The more Adrian tries to distance himself, the deeper he falls into the gravity of her presence. The more Eden pushes, teases, and challenges him, the faster his restraint cracks. In a world where reputation matters and consequences are real, they have to decide: Is this obsession worth the risk? Or will crossing the line cost them both more than they ever expected?

Elena Matthews appeared to have it all with her wealthy tycoon husband, Richard McDowell. However, her seemingly perfect relationship crumbled when she caught him red-handed with his step-sister in a hotel. Just when she thought life couldn't be worse, her brother and his wife died in a tragic car accident. Now, suddenly, Elena is tasked with being the legal guardian of her late brother's six-year-old son, and also set to inherit his business until her nephew is old enough to take over the billion-dollar enterprise. A year and a half later, rich and successful, when Elena returns to New York, her ex-husband can't stop begging her to take him back. And that's not all. The mysterious and domineering president of McDowell Industries, and the uncle of her scumbag Ex, wants to pursue her too. Strange, isn't it? But with a heart scarred by love's betrayal, will she risk it all for a man from the same family that shattered her world? Or will she fully embrace her boss lady status at Matthews Empire and shut love out for good? And what about those secrets she's been keeping—the ones that could blow everything up? And let's not forget about the revenge she's itching to dish out. Will she manage to have it all without getting burned? Or is this whole thing going to crash and burn before anything good even gets a chance to start? ——-S N I P P E T ——- “I tried to warn you, princess, but you always seemed to have your head in the clouds. But it's not too late, is it? Be my woman, and I promise to make you my queen," he whispered. To which Elena replied. "I have learned my lesson, Mister. Such lies can't move me anymore."

"Melonie Starling, I, Bolin Crescent, reject you as my rightful mate." His jawline tightened, and his arms rolled into a fist, squeezed angrily by each word. Every word that departed from his mouth felt like salt thrown into an open wound, and I became so weak that my entire body shook. Witnessing the pain of the rejection I'm going through, Alpha Bolin said, "You'd be a joke and unfit to be my Luna, so make it easier for yourself and also reject me as your mate." ******** Melonie is anxious to find her mate, the one who will give her what she has been longing for her entire life: to be loved. Discovering under the full moon that her alpha, Bolin, is her mate, she knows right away that he would never accept her as his Luna much as a mate. Alpha Bolin rejects her on the spot and uses his alpha voice, forcing her, against her will, to also reject him and flee from her, breaking every hope Melonie had in him. How will Melonie carry on, knowing the wolf she has been waiting for her entire life to give her what she has always dreamed of, choose to share it with another she-wolf who has made her life a living hell?

When I'm six months pregnant, my mate, Rylan Silverclaw, still forces me to fight. He says it's my duty as Luna, yet when the council presents the honor medal, he locks me up. He makes my stepsister accept the glory meant for me. When I finally arrive at the ceremony, I hear Rylan whisper to her, "The medal is just the beginning. Once Thalia gives birth to the heir, the Luna title will be yours too." Later, rogue wolves attack us. My father and Rylan risk their lives to protect my stepsister. I'm the one left behind. I'm buried under rubble with half my ribs shattered. I lost my pup. I hand our dead pup to Rylan and walk away from the pack forever. Now, he regrets everything.

The first experiment in the world of retrieving memories after death succeeds, and my memories are going to be broadcast live all over the Internet. My dad has just learned about my death, but he only says in a disgusted tone, "Who would want to see the memories of someone who is selfish, mean, and has nothing commendable at all about them? Today is the wedding day of Zoe and Cameron. Pause the live broadcast and stop being so sickening!" Zoe is my stepsister, and Cameron is supposed to be my fiance. After that, my father finds out the truth from the live broadcast of my memories. He begs for my forgiveness tearfully but… I'm already dead.

Everyone was watching them when Augustine grabbed my hand and said, "Where do you think you're going, my mate?" I can't believe her mate is the new Alpha! I once thought that Augustine loved me, but contrary to what he said, he was engaged to wolfless me, simply for the elders and the pack. And I knew nothing about this. Worse still, there's always a Rhoda between us. When Rhoda lied about me pushing her. "Apologize to her." Augustine said to me with an expressionless face. He always had the utmost tolerance and patience with Rhoda even if she wanted to kill me. When I finally shifted miraculously, my wolf revealed the unsettling reality, "Didn't you know the earrings he gave you had a location tracker in them?" I shuddered as I heard this. I jumped off a cliff, letting everyone think I was dead. Augustine, I want you to regret it; I want you to remember this day you lost me forever. I never thought we'd see each other again. He stared at me when I stood with a younger Alpha by my side and pulled me into his arms, "Don't touch my mate." "Augustine, I am not your mate." I sneered. "Keira, I am sorry, but don't leave me." The condescending Alpha begged me.

“Is trusting you a sin?” Hannah asked. “It wouldn't have been a sin if you were nothing but sand under my feet. You’ve always had it all—the grades, the charm, the spotlight. Teachers adored you. Boys wanted you. Even James, the only one I ever looked at like that, fell for you despite your boring look.” Her best friend’s laugh was dry. Cruel. Hannah’s heart squeezed, her breath catching in her throat. “You think you’ve won?” she said, voice shaking. “Because you slept with my husband and fed him lies?” “I don’t think, Hannah. I won.” “You didn’t win. You settled. You crawled into my leftovers and tried to wear my skin like it would turn you into something better—but it didn’t.” --- On her first wedding anniversary, Hannah Reyes was drugged—by her husband and her best friend. The betrayal shattered her world, and cost her the one thing she was holding onto: her unborn child. The next day, still lying in a hospital bed, her husband handed her divorce papers... then ordered her thrown out. Lost, bleeding, and alone, she was hit by a car. But fate wasn’t done with her yet. The driver? Matthew DeLacruz—her husband’s former friend, now bitter enemy, and a man he once scammed. And Matthew made her an offer she couldn’t ignore: "Be my vice president, and I’ll help you destroy him." What began as revenge turned into something else, something thrilling, empowering, and dangerously beautiful. And just when she thought she had nothing left to lose, Matthew made her a different offer: Marriage. Now Hannah must ask herself: Can she truly trust again? Or will this new beginning become just another ending?

It's been five years since I started trying to win over Zachary Pierce. I even went so far as to have a child through IVF, hoping it would finally make him care. But no matter what I do, I can never reach 100 percent affection from him. It always stays at 99 percent. Sometimes it even drops lower. One day, exhausted and aching, I go looking for him. As I reach his room, I hear laughter coming from inside. "She still hasn't figured out the egg wasn't even hers. The moment the baby was born, Zach's affection score for her dropped to zero." "So what if she finds out? She should be grateful that her face looks so much like Yvonne's. Honestly, I'm done entertaining her. It's exhausting." At that moment, everything clicks. All the hope I've held onto, every sacrifice I've made, they were all just a joke. I turn away and say to the system, "End this for me. Send me to another world."

On our sixth wedding anniversary, my cheeks burn as I dodge my husband, Ethan Grant, leaning in for a hungry kiss. I push him toward the nightstand for a rubber. What he doesn't know is that I've tucked a surprise in there, a positive pregnancy test. I can already see it, the way his whole face will light up the second he finds it. But the moment his hand goes for the drawer, his phone goes off. His best friend, Henry Miller, comes on the line in Danish. "Mr. Grant, how was last night? That new love couch our company rolled out is treating you okay?" Ethan lets out a low laugh and answers in Danish, "The massage feature's great. Saves me from having to rub Sandy's back myself." He still has me pulled tight against him, but his eyes look straight through me, like he's seeing someone else. "This stays between us. If my wife ever finds out I slept with her sister, I'm done." It feels like someone just put a knife through my chest. What they don't know is that I minored in Danish in college, so I catch every single word. I force myself to stay calm, but the arms I have looped around Ethan's neck won't stop shaking. At that moment, I stop hesitating and decide I'll take the offer from that international research project. Three days from now, I'll be gone from Ethan's world for good.

“I never betrayed you!” Cassandra’s voice trembled as she spoke. “Not once—not ever—” “Then whose child did you give birth to?” The Alpha, Alaric Drayden, cut in coldly, each word heavy with condemnation. The woman lying weak on the hospital bed flinched at the cruelty in his tone. “Enough. I don’t need your excuses, Cassandra.” Tears streamed down her cheeks, unstoppable. “No, my Alpha. I swear—I never betrayed you—” “I, Alaric Drayden, Alpha of the SilverFang Pack, hereby sever the bond between us. From this moment forward, no tie of fate binds us, Cassandra. I reject you as my Luna for the treachery you’ve committed.” Cassandra shook her head in disbelief, her voice breaking. “No! No! You can’t do this to me, my Alpha!” *** Betrayed by her husband. Stolen from by her own half-sister. Cast out by her pack. That was the fate everyone had wished upon Cassandra Vale, the fallen Luna of SilverFang. But a true wolf never truly dies. Five years later, Cassandra returned—stronger, sharper, her elder blood awakened and ready to shake the entire werewolf world. With the Alpha who once saved her—Orion Caldrex—at her side, she would face the conspiracies of her family, the battle for the Luna throne, and a war between packs that threatened to shatter the balance of power. Betrayal had remade her. Fate demanded her rise. And this time… nothing would stop Cassandra Vale. Not even destroying those who once cast her aside—including Alaric Drayden, her former Alpha. But when every truth finally comes to light…would Alaric still be standing at her side?