Christmas Time Is Killing Us

She had always feared the opposite gender. Her dislike rooted in trauma, her heart shaped by the pain inflicted on her by someone who wasn't female. For years, she ran from those fears, convinced that one day, they would consume her; then she met him. He was everything she despised yet wanted. A mirror of the chaos she tried to escape, yet the calm she never knew she needed. His presence stirred the storm inside her, but still soothed it. She hated the way he made her feel; vulnerable and weak. And in the wreckage of her guarded heart, he planted something dangerous/; hope, that she may run from her fears no longer.

He’s the campus hockey king. She’s the girl he was never supposed to want. Logan Shaw doesn’t do relationships. As the captain of the university hockey team and the son of an NHL legend, his future is simple: hockey first, everything else second. Girls are fun. Temporary. And never a complication. Harper Lane is the exact kind of complication he avoids. Smart. Stubborn. Completely unimpressed by his reputation—and the one girl on campus who refuses to fall for Logan Shaw’s charm. They were never supposed to collide. But when Logan shocks the entire university by spending five thousand dollars to win Harper in a charity date auction, suddenly the whole campus is watching. What starts as a fake date quickly turns into something much more dangerous. Late-night celebrations. Arguments that end in kisses. Chemistry neither of them can ignore. Logan was supposed to stay focused on hockey. Harper was supposed to protect her heart. Instead, they’re playing a game neither of them knows how to win. Because the more Logan tries to keep things casual… the harder he falls. And when NHL scouts start watching and Logan’s controlling father steps in, Harper becomes the one thing Logan might have to give up to chase the future he’s been raised for. But walking away from her might be the one game Logan Shaw can’t win. Enemies-to-lovers tension Hockey captain energy Slow burn with explosive chemistry And a love story that might ruin everything.

“I told you not to flirt with me when we're training," I told Andrea after she missed her sidekick to my left. “Oh really?! You're so cute when you tried to be serious." Andrea mocked me with her seducing whisper while already lowering her center ready to give another kick. That was it! I couldn't take it anymore, so I moved fast and pinned her to the wall while saying, "You ARE the death of me, Andrea," I growled so low and kissed her fiercely while she welcomed me with both her arms on her head. Her body was ready for my hands to trail every inch of her skin. ****************************************** In the world of Luna with blue or green eyes, Andrea from the Nasriantra clan was different because her eyes were glowing gold like a demon. Because of that, she became the rejected Luna after her mother died. Her mate threw her away. Suspicion aroused that she was a Hybrid or even a Tribrid, which was impossible because they all had died. Devastated, she joined the werewolf force with her timid best friend, Joe who had always been in love with her since they were children. There she met Hunt, the greatest warrior who was said to be the next Alpha because he was adopted by the Gursala clan. Andrea and Hunt always trained together, then love rose between them. But their happiness didn't last long, because Andrea's father wanted Andrea to marry Duncan, the other son of Gursala. Behind Duncan, there was the mysterious Kirk who was also secretly in love with Andrea. Who were Hunt and Kirk? How will Joe face Duncan? Will Andrea be happy with Duncan or with one of the others? Find the exciting stories of Andrea's loves and more secrets to reveal …

Sa edad na 32 ay hindi pa naranasan ni Andrea ang magkaroon ng boyfriend. In short, siya ay NBSB o No Boyfriend Since Birth. Hindi naman siya kapangitan ngunit napakailap ng pagkatataon sa kanya. May nagawa ba siyang malaking kasalanan sa kanyang past life? Sa edad niya ay hindi na siya umaasa pa na may lalaki na magmamahal sa kanya ngunit gusto niya na magkaroon ng kahit isang anak man lang. Puwede naman na magkaroon ng anak na walang asawa kaya naisip niya maghanap ng sperm donor. Hindi artificial insemination ang gagawin kundi natural method. Sa kalagitnaan ng paghahanap niya ay nakilala niya si Martin na isang guwapong bilyonaryo. Unang pumasok sa isip niya na perfect match ang binata para sa kanya ngunit ang problema lang ay hindi siya nito gusto. Mapapayag kaya ito ni Andrea sa nais niyang mangyari? Paano kung hindi? Itutuloy pa ba niya ang paghahanap ng sperm donor o ititigil na lang at tatanggapin na lang na kailanma'y hindi siya magkaroon ng asawa't anak?

Mark was everything to Alexa, and when he lost his job and mobility, she never left his side. She loved him, fought for him, and kept him from drowning in despair. Then, a powerful conglomerate gave Mark a second chance—paying for his surgery and making him rich. And just like that, he discarded the one person who had stood by him. "I'm saying we should get a divorce. I don't feel the connection anymore." Left with nothing, Alexa refused to break. She rose higher than ever, building an empire of her own. Now, Mark watches in regret, desperate to have her back. But will she ever let him in again?

On the way home during the holidays, my fiance's sister-in-law, Pamela Kensington, brings out an electric pot that requires 2,000 watts in order to function so that she can cook some meatballs. "The sockets in the electric car are meant for us to use, no? If we can't have hot food during our trips, then what's the use of having an electric car in the first place?" My fiance, Mason Vance, who is driving, doesn't bother to stop Pamela. Instead, he helps her fill up the pot with water while smiling. In my previous life, I had strictly stopped them from cooking meatballs and told them that we didn't have enough power left in the electric car. If they were to cook the meatballs, the car would stop in the middle of the journey, and we wouldn't be able to make it home. Pamela, who tagged along for the ride, thought that I refused to let her son have a piping hot meal, so she began criticizing me. Mason, on the other hand, thought that I was being too much of a busybody. He slapped me in front of everyone before pushing me out of the car. I was frozen to the bone in the blizzard as I watched everyone else leave me behind happily. In the end, I died from hypothermia. When I woke up again, I realized I'd returned to the moment when Pamela is about to plug the electric pot into the socket. This time, I hand her a power strip. "Go ahead and use this power strip. It can channel more power for your meatballs to cook quickly."

At twenty-eight, I held the dubious honor of being the last unmarried socialite on New York's Upper East Side. Everyone around me was growing increasingly anxious about my single status. In my previous life, my mother arranged a matchmaking cocktail party, where I was told to choose a husband from ten handpicked elite bachelors. I bribed the event planner to place Mark West's profile at the very top—and as I had hoped, I chose him. After we married, Mark treated me with what seemed like tender affection. He even bought me an oceanfront villa in the Hamptons, making me believe I had finally found true love. But that illusion shattered the day I was nine months pregnant, just hours away from giving birth. Mark drove a scalpel straight into my abdomen—then, right in front of me, hurled our newborn onto the floor. "If you hadn't forced me into this marriage with your family's power, Sofia wouldn't have been heartbroken enough to go drinking and get drugged and assaulted. This… this is what you owe her!" He tossed the scalpel aside, then calmly let his private doctor pin down my blood-soaked body. I fought through excruciating pain for six agonizing hours, until I finally bled to death. Afterward, Mark dumped my corpse into the Hudson River. But for Sofia, he hosted a grand funeral—funded with my money, under my name—and paraded himself to the world as a grieving, devoted widower. Given a second chance at life, I refused to step foot in that cursed matchmaking event. Instead, I went straight to my mother with a demand: marry me to Robert Black—the most ruthless, cold-blooded titan of Wall Street, whose scarred face was feared by all. In the end, stripped of my financial backing, Mark's hedge fund collapsed. He became a disgraced fraudster, spat on by everyone on Wall Street.

My wife, Ariel Sweeney, would always buy me a new watch every time she cheated on me. We'd been married for four years, and I'd already collected 99 watches. That also meant I'd forgiven her 99 times too. This time, she went on a business trip for three days, and returned with a Patek Philippe watch worth ten million dollars for me. I then knew that it was time we got a divorce.

BLURB Lena Hale thought heartbreak couldn’t get worse until she walked into a luxury restaurant with a Christmas gift in her hand and found her boyfriend on a date with another girl. Broken and humiliated, she flees home for the holidays, hoping her mother’s new marriage will give her a quiet place to recover. Instead, she walks straight into a nightmare. Her cheating ex, Bryce Carter, is waiting at the mansion… as the beloved nephew of her new stepfather. And her new stepbrother, Cassian Ward, the cold, quiet son who sees too much and says too little can’t seem to look away from her. Trapped together for Christmas, Lena is forced to face the boy who broke her and the man who’s slowly undoing her in ways she doesn’t understand. Bryce wants her back. Cassian wants her safe. And Lena wants to forget she still feels anything at all. But secrets run deep in the Ward family… and desire runs deeper. And this Christmas, falling for the wrong brother might be the most dangerous mistake she’s ever made.

Amanda Lucifer is the archmage of Time Cross Academy - the best school for all kinds of species. She oversees the best kind of education for her students who are future heirs to their clans or countries as the principal but more importantly, Amanda has a job to keep the population growing. The grand archmage of Time Cross Academy supports love in all forms and mating season is the best season to catch romance in action. Every year, clans and countries will send their sons and daughters to Time Cross Academy with their children's application form as well as an identification certificate that includes their second gender traits. This year is no different and the archmage looks forward to greeting her new students and tying a few red threads. Hormones will fly, clans will get allied, mates will be bonded. Everything that happens at Time Cross Academy happens for a reason and nobody shall question the archmage. Let the mating season begin! Note: As this is an anthology Collection, the focus will be around the ABO theme more than the actual couple. There will be many couple pairings so feel free to skip what you don't like and put in the comments what kind of pairings you would like to see. No females in the school seeing as the setting is purely BL. Also, no entry to those below 18, there will be adult scenes. Drama seekers, toxic bitches and overly-sensitive folks who cannot chillax not welcomed. Author also has indemnity to typo, grammar mistakes and English bugs throughout the story as no proofreaders are offered. You have been warned. Proceed with caution and enjoy. *** Cover Art by Krustallos. Support me and my works one: Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/destinyaitsuji Join and stalk me on: Discord: https://discord.gg/UrtDMXn