Counter Yin

At the full moon gathering, I learned that my mate Carrick was forced to bond with the Omega daughter of our rival pack. He rushed to complete a mating ritual with her regardless of the consequences. They fled to the Northern Territories that very night. Their childhood bond story went viral among the packs, but I became the shameful third wheel who interfered with their "true pairing" and was shunned so severely that I couldn't even leave my den. Unexpectedly, Alex, the blind Alpha of the Silver Crest Pack—Carrick's sworn enemy—appeared at my door. "I've always been a vengeful wolf. Carrick stole my intended mate through deception, so I will claim his rightful Luna." His unseeing eyes somehow found mine with uncanny precision. "Alliances require balance, Jenna. Are you willing to complete the mating bond with me?" I looked at the image of their moonlight ceremony being shared through pack links, and without hesitation, I handed him my wrist, exposing my scent gland for the claiming bite.

In the three years since I became Zander's mate, I've tried to kill myself ninety-nine times. Kidnapped by a rival pack in my youth, years of torture nearly destroyed me. I clawed my way back to the Crescent Moon Pack, only to find my place had been taken by an adopted daughter, Vivian. My Beta parents doted on her, and my fated mate—the Alpha himself—had eyes only for her. I begged them, told them my kidnapping and my suicide attempts weren't accidents, but all I ever heard was: "Ember, you're delusional. You just wandered off and got lost." "You tried to drown yourself in the river." The people closest to me, and not one of them believed me. Until the ninety-ninth time. Another "suicide." When I woke up three days later, I rubbed my aching head. My eyes were vacant, my own gaze foreign to me. I had forgotten who I was, forgotten the humiliation I'd endured, forgotten the desperate girl who had thrown away her dignity for a scrap of her Alpha's affection. At the pack ceremony, while everyone waited for me to fawn pathetically over Zander, a single tear slid down my cheek for reasons I couldn't comprehend. I wiped it away and, under the shocked stares of the entire pack, announced calmly: "Zander," my voice was steady. "I don't love you anymore. So I, Ember of the Crescent Moon Pack, hereby reject you as my mate." "This little act again?" Zander sneered, his eyes glinting with the same casual contempt they always held for me. But he didn't know. This time, I was leaving him for good. It wasn't until I vanished completely that the ones who'd never believed me were the ones who truly went mad.

My boyfriend was both poor and mute, yet we were deeply in love. When the earthquake struck, he clawed at the rubble with his bare hands to save me. His ten fingers were reduced to raw, bloody stumps. I worked three jobs just to support him, often pushing myself to the brink of exhaustion. Most days, I was so hungry I fainted. But I never imagined the truth—he had only pretended to be mute to deceive me. And he wasn’t poor at all. In fact, he was the wealthiest man in the city. He could casually order a Ferrari worth millions for his first love, without so much as a second thought. Yet he spent the 10,000 dollars I had painstakingly saved on a handbag for her, leaving me unable to pay for my grandmother’s surgery. She died, helpless and in agony.

   Nang dahil sa kahirapan at mga hindi inaasahang pangyayari, isa lamang ang maaaring puntahan ni Serenity Mendez–kulungan o simbahan. Makukulong siya kung hindi niya mababayaran ang kanyang mga utang at ito ang pinakaayaw niyang mangyari kahit gumuho man ang mundo. Paano na lang ang kanyang kapatid na may malubhang sakit? Kaya naman, wala siyang ibang nagawa kundi ang pumayag na magpakasal kay Sage Christensen, ang apo at tagapagmana ng kanyang matandang boss, kapalit ng hindi matutumbasang halaga. Pero hindi niya ito basta-bastang makukuha. Kailangan niyang tuparin ang nag-iisang kondisyon ng kanyang pinirmahang kontrata–ang bigyan ng apo sa tuhod ang matandang boss.       Ngunit paano niya lalapitan ang isang malamig at masungit na si Sage kung sa tuwing magkatinginan lang sila ay tila ba gusto siyang balatan nito ng buhay? Ang mas malala pa ay napapansin niyang nandidiri itong mapalapit sa kanya na para bang may nakakahawa siyang sakit. Dahil dito, palaging nauuwi sa away ang kanilang bawat pagtatagpo. Matutupad kaya niya ang nasasabing kondisyon? O mauuwi sila sa diborsyo?     "How much did that old man pay you? I'll triple it, just fucking disappear from my life, Serene." - Sage Christensen           

Emma thought she had escaped the city that broke her, but when her family’s business teeters on the brink of bankruptcy, she is pulled back into the orbit of the one person she vowed never to see again. Zane Mendoza. Now the heir to a billion-dollar fintech empire and the boss of a secret mafia dynasty where Emma’s parents work as underdogs, Zane holds all the cards. For years, he had been searching for Emma, who had disappeared without a trace after their divorce. When Zane discovers that Emma is the daughter of the family who now owes him everything, he makes a ruthless proposition. An arranged marriage. In exchange, he will wipe away her family’s crushing debts. Desperate to save her parents, Emma agrees to Zane’s conditions but negotiates a deal of her own. Their marriage will last one year, and if she is not happy in the marriage, she will leave. Zane agrees, but with a twist. If she falls for him again before the year is up, she will remain his forever. But Zane doesn’t just want Emma as his wife. He wants her in every way. His obsession with her runs deeper than she realizes, and he is ready to eliminate anyone just to have her forever. With a jealous best friend that wants to take everything she loves, an ex boyfriend who wants her back, betrayal lurking at every corner, a secret daughter that Zane doesn’t know is his, and a love that refuses to die, Emma must navigate this web of lies and emotions. Can she resist Zane’s magnetic pull, or will she be caught up in his game for good?

In my past life, I supported the bankrupt Clark brothers. However, after I became pregnant, they allowed a poor student, Kimberly Scott, to push me down the stairs, where I bled profusely and died while carrying my child. When I opened my eyes again, I was reborn on the day I had brought them into my house. This time, I kicked them out without hesitation. To my surprise, Kimberly had teamed up with my grandmother to pretend to be the real heiress, painting me as the fake heiress who had taken over the family. The butler, Mr. Williams, who had watched me grow up, came forward and accused me of causing my parents’ death. Under the public backlash they had orchestrated, I remained calm and presented my evidence. Not only did I expose Kimberly’s fake identity as the heiress, but I also revealed the true faces of my grandmother and Mr. Williams. I avenged my parents and gave the wrongdoers the punishment they deserved.

"Isaiah..." I breathe. He's so close, I can feel his hot breath mingling with mine. "What do you want, Kenna?" he murmurs, dark eyes flickering, his hands clenching tightly on the bench behind me. "For me to bend you over this counter and wake all my poor staff up?" *** Avia has one job. To seduce the Alpha. Part of a rebellious group, Avia has been given a job to gain the Alpha's trust, so they can take him down. Feigning being another girl of Noble birth, Avia finds herself in the Alpha's estate, but what happens, it hardly what she could have expected. The Alpha is devastatingly attractive, intense and passionate. And when the roles change, and he's seducing her, her jobs becomes a lot harder to do. But falling for such a dangerous Alpha doesn't come without a price.

My dad was a zombie. My mom? Even scarier. She was an uber-powerful mutant. At the crack of dawn, she was already yelling, "Derick Olson! Don't make me come over there! What kind of zombie are you? Glued to your headphones all day—are those audiobooks really that captivating?" I rolled over in bed and promptly fell right off. Scrambling to my feet, I started tidying up my room in a flash, terrified she might actually make good on her threat. "Look at Mr. Hoffman next door," she hollered. "He roams the streets day and night, probably gobbled up more brains than you've read books!"

I am diagnosed with severe systemic lupus erythematosus, and I only have three days left to live. When my husband rejects my 188th plea for help, I take my test results and enter the hospice care center. "Hello, I'd like to schedule my own cremation process and apply for government aid." Ten minutes later, they arrive. Before I can speak, my lawyer husband, Jasper Horton, coldly slaps me across the face. "You're faking a terminal illness just to steal attention from Janice?" My doctor brother, Casey Carter, snatches the medical report from my hand and scoffs at it. "Lupus? If you're going to fake being sick, at least make it believable. Only one in a million people gets this." I endure the pain in my body, return to the counter, and hand in the application form and my medical records once more. The staff member sees the butterfly-shaped rash on my wrist and sympathizes with me. "I have no family left," I say. "I'm requesting cremation in three days, location doesn't matter. I just don't want my death to burden anyone."

Nagulat na lamang si Ysabel nang may mga armadong lalaki ang pumunta sa kanilang bahay at pilit siyang kinuha kahit na may malubhang sakit ito. Mas lalong nadurog ang kanyang puso nang malamang may pagkakautang at atraso ang kanyang ama kay Harrem Lavigne, na isang muti-billionaire at kinakatakutang CEO "Alam mo ba kung bakit ka andito saakin?" "Your father sold you to me. So you are going to give me your body and your soul. Sayang lang at hindi pa kita mapapakinabangan sa ngayon. You will be my bed warmer. I'll wait until you fully bloom." Iyon ang mga katagang tumatak sa kanya nang makapasok siya sa buhay ni Harrem. Naging pansamantalang libangan siya nito tuwing nakakaramdam siya ng tawag ng laman. Akala niya ay doon magtatapos ang kanyang paghihirap Ngunit ano ang gagawin ni Ysabel nang malaman niyang si Harrem at ang fiancee nitong si Cassandra ang dahilan kung bakit nasawi ang kanyang pamilya? “You'll pay for what you made me into. And I will make sure that you'll end up kneeling into your knees begging for my forgiveness. Dahil patay na ang dating Ysabel na kilala niyo." Brace yourself, Harrem Lavigne because Ysabel Larraine Cielo will make you taste your own medicine. Sa gitna ng kanilang paghihiganti sa isat isa ay matutuklasan nila ang isang sekretong magkokonekta ulit sa kanilang dalawa. This time, is there any second chance para sa kanilang pagmamahalan? "Ysabel, you're an angel sent from hell to save a demon like me. I'm fucking whipped on you, baby." Mainit na bulong ni Harrem sa tenga ng namumulang si Ysabel.