Clung

As the upcoming tour approached, the dance troupe suddenly revoked my position as the lead dancer. Anxious to get an explanation in person, I lost my footing due to my distracted state and tumbled down the stairs. While enduring the sharp pain and preparing to call for emergency services, a notification popped up on my phone screen: “Redwood Dance Troupe: Welcome our new lead dancer, Averil Wells, and our generous sponsor, Julian Ford." The accompanying photo featured two smiling faces—my husband of seven years, whom I had secretly married, and his pampered mistress. Julian had his arm wrapped around Averil's waist as he placed a gentle kiss on her cheek. Meanwhile, Averil clung to Julian's neck, her face radiating shyness and delight.

A few years ago, her scumbag father had set her up. To save her mother, she clung to that man. “Mister, please help me. I’ll surely return your kindness.” Several years later, the Smith family was the most prominent in New York. Calix Smith was paralyzed and had a pitiful five-year-old son. The Smiths wanted to look for someone caring enough to help him in taking care of his son, and hence, they put up a matchmaking notice to find him a spouse. Blaire Willows came marching back with multiple identities and slapped the matchmaking notice on the table. “I’ll marry Calix Smith!” The public thought she was crazy. They made fun of her and made her the subject of their ridicule. Not long after they married, Calix finally opened his eyes.

My younger sister Ruth and I got a do-over, reborn to the day we were about to be adopted. Ruth clung to Jeremy, the butcher who'd taken me in during my last life, and begged, "Please, Mr. Butcher, let me be your daughter!" She thought she had it all figured out—Jeremy Butcher was set to rise to power, while the rich couple adopting her would crash and burn. It was clear—she was gunning for the life I built in my last run. I just smiled. She had no clue. Jeremy's success? Yeah, that was all me. Without my help, he'd stay a small-town butcher forever. From day one, Ruth was chasing a dream that was already doomed.

After five years trapped in a loveless marriage, Cecily believed that finally carrying a child would give her life meaning and perhaps soften a husband who had never learned how to love her. But when tragedy steals her unborn child before it ever draws its first breath, the fragile world she clung to collapses completely. Left with nothing but grief and quiet betrayal, Cecily makes the boldest decision of her life: she walks away from her marriage, her home, and the identity she sacrificed everything to protect. Yet leaving is never simple when she has spent years living under the shadow of one name. Without the title of being Linus Shaw’s first wife, who is Cecily? Will she truly build a life that belongs only to herself?

The men of his Pack never live past thirty. Only a union with my bloodline can break the curse. But on the day of our mating ceremony, he tore up our bond in front of everyone— just for his precious lover. In front of the entire Pack, he looked at me with nothing but disgust. “Elara, you’re nothing but a parasite. Your kind has been using black magic to deceive my Pack for generations. That ends with me.” His lover clung to his arm and laughed softly. “Why are you still standing here? Get out.” “With my knowledge, I can keep him alive far beyond thirty.” I looked at him. At the life-force already collapsing beneath his skin. A quiet laugh slipped from my throat. Fine. On his thirtieth birthday— we’ll see who’s right. Very soon.

My husband Norman had always hated how his childhood friend Julia clung to him no matter the occasion. He even cut her off for my sake. One morning, I woke up and realized that I had mysteriously swapped bodies with Julia. I wanted to find my husband and figure out what to do, fearing he'd turn me away because of Julia's appearance. I cooked up a hundred explanations in my head until I finally arrived at our home. When Norman opened the door and saw me, he frowned and quickly shut the door, pushing me away. Just as I was about to explain that I wasn't Julia, he suddenly pulled me into his arms. "What are you doing here? Can't stand being apart from me for even two days, huh?"

"Love was never part of the equation, sunshine," he whispered, his words a cold blade to my heart, shattering the fragile hope I'd clung to. Rory's life was reduced to ashes the day she discovered her wolf was a myth, a cruel fate that severed her connection to the world she once knew. No bonding, no mating, no purpose. But fate has other plans. As her father's pawn in a game of power, she's traded from one nightmare to another. Yet, her new captor, Orion, might not be the monster she expects. Driven by vengeance and a desperate bid to reclaim his pack, Orion's arranged to marry the enemy's daughter, intent on breaking her spirit as his own was shattered. But as the lines between love and hate blur, he'll face an impossible choice: sacrifice his pack or surrender to his forbidden desire. When darkness meets sunshine, will it be a salvation or a cruel fate awaiting?

Poisoned, stabbed, and betrayed by the man she trusted most, Kaida Reed dies praying for a second chance—and gets it. She wakes three years earlier, one month before her wedding. Alive. Breathing. Still wearing the ring that will one day kill her. This time, love is off the table. Revenge is everything. To take it, she turns to the one man her enemy fears most: Zavian Nolven. Dark, untouchable, and lethal in ways power alone can’t match. He sees the fire Kaida hides behind her control... and he wants it. But his help comes at a price, one that could consume her body, corrupt her heart, and shatter the careful control she’s clung to for years. Trusting him could ruin everything. Loving him could be fatal. But as the past fractures and danger closes in, Kaida realizes survival may not be enough— Because when desire turns deadly, who truly survives?

Katherine Danvers grew up in a pack where she was treated like an outcast, her small size and status as a common Omega making her a target of ridicule. She clung to the belief that her mate would one day come and love her unconditionally. On her 18th birthday, her dreams were shattered when she learned she had been mated to Alpha Nathaniel Hawthorne, the most feared and ruthless alpha of the woodland pack. Nathaniel had made it clear he never wanted a mate, viewing them as weaknesses. He was already engaged to Emilia Danvers, Katherine's very own half-sister. Torn between her desire for love and acceptance, and the reality of Nathaniel's ruthless nature, Katherine must confront the truth: Can she truly find happiness as the mate of a man who sees her as nothing more than a burden, or will she risk everything to seek a future where she is valued for who she truly is?

My boyfriend and his godsister were caught by the vice squad at a scandalous party. When I went to the police station to bail him out, he was disheveled, his exposed skin marked with dried candle wax and whiplash scars. His godsister, Sonia, clung to him, sobbing into his arms. “The light in Sonia’s house was broken. It was too dark, so I went to accompany her,” he said. I couldn’t help but wonder, Did he accompany her all the way to the police station too? In the past, I would’ve demanded an explanation, but I was too tired now—too drained to argue. Without a word, I signed the papers. The vice squad officer looked at me and asked, “Are you Anthony Leeman’s family?” I shook my head. “No, I’m not familiar with him. Just a colleague.” Lowering my gaze, I typed out a message to my father: [I agree to get married. Give me three days, and I’ll marry him.]