Comfort Zone

"Vaxel Jericho, do you take Clarissa Vicente to be your lawfully wedded wife, to live together in matrimony?" The priest asked. He bends to her ear, his face showing nothing but hate. "I vow to live together in hate, making you spend the rest of your life in agony and pain, and making you pay for the sins of your mother" he whispered to her ear. "To love her, to comfort her, to honor her and to cherish her?" "To hate you, punish you, to break you and get you fucked up" "In good health and in sickness, forsaking all others, until death do you part”? The priest asked. "In depression and in sickness, through tears and even at death we part not" his vows whisper to the ears of his bride. Fear written all over her face, she let the tear drop. This was just the beginning. ~~~ The war between both families, Vicente's and Jericho's, had started years before the heir's were born. Both families would never be seen in the same place at the same time, the mere mention of the name was a problem and caused a rise of anger. But something crazy happens and the heir and heiress of both families fall in love, as they say love happens. Falling in love was a crime and when both families find out about the little love affair between Vaxel and Clarissa the two are separated. Five years later, an accident occurs in Vaxel's welcome party, an accident that forces him to do the forbidden thing. He forcefully marries Clarissa in order to make her pay for the sin she never committed. The sins of her mother.

“I Marcus Brennon of Shadowmoon, hereby reject you as my mate,” he declared with finality. “Not only are you a disgrace to me, but you are a curse to this entire pack. I do not wish to be associated with such bad luck.” Marcus stood before me, his voice extremely cold as if we didn't just share a special bond a few hours back. As Marcus turned to leave, the pain of his rejection sliced deeply through me. I stumbled to my feet, my limbs feeling weak under the weight of the broken bond. *** Bella had it all, a face card that never declined and curves in all the right places, excellent college grades, and a lovely, peaceful home. But when her father Alpha Derek was mysteriously murdered, everybody turned against her and her world as she knew it comes crumbling down. Everyone but her knows her real identity and how she came to be a part of Alpha Derek's family. In a cruel twist of fate, the woman she thought was her mother does the unthinkable casting her out with nothing to her name. Betrayed by her own family, with nowhere to turn, Bella seeks comfort in her mate's arms, only to be met with rejection. Just as Bella was about to lose hope a friend saved her life unexpectedly. A few months down the line Bella met a fine young man who effortlessly set her heart ablaze. Would her life take a turn for the better or, does fate have something more special or perhaps even darker, for her?

For three years, Grace Silver endured the bitter reality of being the Luna of Crimson Moon Pack—watching her mate Alexander repeatedly choose Victoria, his childhood sweetheart and supposed savior, over their sacred bond. Each time Victoria's "heart condition" flares, Alexander rushes to her side, leaving Grace alone. When rogue wolves nearly kill Grace during a vicious attack, Alexander abandons his wounded mate to comfort Victoria through another convenient "heart episode." Broken by this final betrayal, Grace decides to sever their mate bond, hiding a life-changing secret: she carries Alexander's twin pups, a blessing as rare as it is dangerous in their world. "I don't need your protection anymore," Grace declares coldly, though her dormant wolf aches with each word. However, after their divorce, Alexander found that his true love was Grace. What made him even more regretful was that he found Grace was the legendary "Moonlight Savior," the mysterious healer whose abilities Alexander has desperately sought to strengthen his pack. His wolf howled with regret. "You're still my Luna," he growled, his Alpha power making the walls vibrate as he begs for her return. But can Grace forgive the mate who chose another while she silently carried his pups? In a world where sacred bonds are everything and betrayal runs deep as blood, Grace must decide if Alexander deserves a second chance at their mate bond, or if some wounds cut too deep to heal.

Tricia thought grief would destroy her. When the news came that her fiancé, the decorated soldier, Colonel Raymond, had died during a dangerous mission, her world collapsed overnight. The man she loved was gone, and nothing felt the same anymore. But in the darkness of loss, one person stayed beside her. Raymond’s best friend. Mark Coleman. What began as comfort soon became something far more dangerous. Their shared grief turned into late-night conversations, stolen glances, and a passion neither of them expected. Within months, the bond between them became a secret neither dared to speak aloud. A forbidden love. A betrayal that could destroy everything. Then the impossible happened. Six months after being declared dead, Raymond returned alive. Now the man Tricia mourned stands before her again, while the man she secretly loves is his closest friend. Caught in a web of guilt, desire, and loyalty, Tricia struggles to hide the truth as tensions grow between the two men who trust each other most. But jealousy is a dangerous thing. Secrets begin to unravel. A revenge plot spirals out of control. A brutal attack leaves one man fighting for his life, another facing prison… and Tricia trapped in the middle of consequences she never imagined. Just when she thinks things cannot get worse, a shocking discovery changes everything: She is pregnant. And the father could be either man. As love, betrayal, revenge, and secrets collide, Tricia must face a painful truth. Some webs of passion are impossible to escape. And sometimes the heart’s most forbidden entanglements come with devastating consequences.

The day I found out I wasn't really an Adelson, Sharon—their real daughter—stormed in and stabbed me—over and over. Just like that, my shot at being a mom? Gone. Chuck Benetton, my fiancé, lost it. My parents swore they'd disown her. To "comfort" me, Chuck proposed on the spot. My parents handed me the severance letter—Sharon officially disowned—and told me to just focus on healing. Later, they said Sharon had run off and gotten trafficked in Nyamara, some hotspot for scams and lost souls. They said it served her right. And yeah... I believed them. Six years into the lie, I saw her—very much alive, baby bump and all, curled up against my husband like she owned him. "If I hadn't snapped back then, Yasmine never would've married you, " she said. "Thank God you and Mom and Dad backed me. Otherwise, that imposter would've landed me in jail. "She probably never guessed I've been right here, carrying your baby. Once I give birth, just fake an adoption. She can nanny our kid forever. "Thanks for everything, Chuck." She smiled like he was her hero. And he blushed. "Don't thank me. Marrying her was the only way to protect you. I'd do it all again." So yeah. The guy I thought loved me? He was always lying. My "parents"? They only cared about Sharon. If that's love, I want nothing to do with it.

To cheer up their depressed adopted daughter, Ashley Reid, my parents don't dare to treat me nicely. They've even locked me in a pitch-black room more than 700 times, just to put a smile on her face. At first, they feel guilty toward me. But eventually, even my older brother, Liam Reid, who used to care for me the most, treats it like it's all perfectly reasonable. When Ashley's depression finally starts to ease, I work up the courage to kneel and beg them to seal off that room for good. But at her birthday party, simply because I'm wearing the only T-shirt I own, she starts tearing up and asks my parents if I don't like her. My parents and Liam rush to comfort her and, yet again, lock me away in that dark, endless room. "Summer, you're her elder sister. You have to be more considerate of her feelings." "If you hadn't insisted on wearing something so tacky for her birthday party, she wouldn't have gotten so upset." "You've gotten used to it after all these years, right? One more time won't matter to you." I curl up in the corner, gripping my hair, unable to say a word. Three days later, they finally let me out. They remind me not to upset Ashley again. But I just stare at them blankly. "Sorry, who are you?"

I helped my wife, Kim Carey, rise from obscurity into stardom, only to discover that she was having an affair with a rising young actor who looked like me. When I asked for a divorce, she cried and begged me not to leave. In the end, I caved in. I gave her three chances. The first time, she stayed up all night to post a public statement clarifying all the rumors between her and Emmett Stone. She canceled all her work and stayed with me for an entire week. The second time, on my birthday, she publicly announced that Emmett was her soulmate. She even released intimate photos of the two of them. She buried herself in my arms and said righteously, "Emmett is depressed. I'm only doing this to comfort him. You're the only one in my heart. This is the last time. Please believe me." Then, she abandoned me in the wilderness, just because Emmett had suffered a minor injury on his hand. The final time, my father was critically ill and urgently needed a huge sum of money for surgery. She refused to even transfer a single cent to me. "All the money has been invested in Emmett's new drama," she said coldly. "Your father won't die that quickly." That night, my father missed the best window for treatment and died on the operating table. My heart was completely shattered. When Kim finally returned home late that night, I asked for a divorce once more.

Ian Tost was the prince of the notorious underworld. Everyone in Harbor City knew he spoiled me rotten. He even went so far as to hire ninety-nine female bodyguards to keep me from harm. It did not prevent a kidnapping attempt on me. One of those bodyguards, Cece Yates, ended up with nothing more than a scratch. Ian immediately brought in the nation’s top medical specialists to treat her. To comfort her, he even took her to the Maldives for a vacation and gifted her an island. Not long after they returned from their trip, Beatrix Kazinsky, my mother, suddenly suffered a stroke and was hospitalized. Then, Michael Kazinsky, my younger brother, died in an accident during a competition. I burst into the morgue while in tears, only to overhear Ian comforting Cece. “All right now, it was my fault you got hurt last time. I’ve made Mira’s family pay for it. You’ve got too much grace to hold a grudge against her.” With my nails digging into my palms, I finally realized everything that had happened to my family was Ian’s doing. It was all just because his precious bodyguard got hurt because of me! I stumbled out of the hospital with my brother’s death certificate in a daze. On my phone, messages from that person kept coming. It added up to ninety-nine share transfer agreements, along with his promise. [As long as you want me, my arms will always be open for you.]

When I became the blood bank for my mate Alpha Kane’s sweetheart, my wolf died from the endless loss of blood—and so did I, alone, in the cold den he rented to keep me out of sight. Today marks the third day since my death, and finally, my six-year-old pup noticed something was wrong. His finger bled when a toy hurt him, but I didn’t come to comfort him. When he tried to feed me his favorite food, I didn’t stop him either. He lay on my chest, gripping my clothes and whispering my name—but I didn’t respond. Desperate and helpless, my pup picked up my cellphone and called his alpha dad. “Dad, why is Mom still sleeping?” Kane didn’t answer. Instead, he sent him a photo of himself and Serena—his sweetheart—celebrating Full Moon Day, smirking. “Don’t worry. Your mom is just sleeping, not dead. You know I’m quite busy on Full Moon Day. Tell your arrogant and stubborn mom not to come find me until she admits her fault.” The call ended, leaving my pup frozen in silence. However, three days later, Kane received news of my death. He let out a gut-wrenching growl, refusing to believe it was true. Clutching my cold, lifeless body in his arms, he wept bitterly. “Kate… you are my only Luna,” he cried. “Come back. Stay with me… please.”

After our company loses the eight-million-dollar deal, my girlfriend, Lindsey Corwell, gets mad at me for the first time ever. She goes as far as to heavily insult me in front of everyone in the company. Once we get home at night, she retains her professionalism. "There's no such thing as a romantic relationship between us when it comes to work. The fact that you screwed up still stands. This is your fault." Meanwhile, Lindsey's junior, Gerald Whitaker, sends me an apologetic text. "This is all my fault, Julian. I'm the one who screwed up the deal. Lindsey bought me a cupcake to comfort me. It's pretty delicious. Let me buy you a cupcake as well." The next morning, Lindsey chucks the breakfast I've made for her into the trash can without hesitation. "I told you many times that I don't eat breakfast!" At work, my colleague, Joshua Miller, suddenly approaches me and begins sharing gossip with me. "The newbie really is fearless, eh? He actually had the guts to start a conversation with Ms. Corwell and even bought her breakfast! Guess what happened after that? Not only did she eat it, but she also claimed that it was tasty!" Oh, so that's how it goes, huh? Whatever. Anyway, the woman who keeps texting me is still trying to get me to switch lovers. "If worse comes to worst, I don't mind being a side chick! C'mon, give me a try!" I purse my lips in return. "It's fine. You shall be my official girlfriend now."