Cuddling Comfort

“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.

Kyla Adams is a workaholic. I mean, who wouldn't be when you're working your dream job? She is one of the many writers for a startup business in North Carolina called "Clicked," where the focus is writing about hot gossip, new trends, and out of the ordinary experiences. Think of this social media app as an online magazine, where the workers are gossip hungry millennials and Gen Z'ers all trying to top one another. And the best part- Dakota Kramer; the hot young CEO at the top floor of the office building. Kyla is the job. She thrives on gossip and is a phenomenal writer, but lately her articles have been dryer than her dating life. After Dakota threatens to fire her if she doesn't step out of her comfort zone, Kyla and her friends drunkenly email Dakota an exciting new article proposal titled "EleDATE." What does the hell does this mean? Kyla must ride the elevator every morning, starting from floor 1 up to floor 50-the top floor- with a hand picked single guy from the office. The catch? She's blindfolded. She must rely on her instincts about the "bachelors" and the impressions they make during their limited time riding together- and they must remain anonymous. With over 100 employees in the building, 50 floors, and 20 single men willing to participate, this will sure make for an intriguing article and a literal make or break career moment. And let's face it... there's just something about elevators.

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.

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.

I'm the scapegoat who was hired by the rich Shelton family to marry into that family under the guise of repaying them for their benevolence. But my wife, Jenny Shelton, hates me for ruining the wedding meant for her and her first love, Jackson Wembley. She has hordes of treasure under her name, and yet she only gives me five dollars every day to survive. I've starved to the point I'm all skin and bones. Jenny, on the other hand, goes through partners like mad. She even drives while under alcoholic influence in order to make her new boyfriend laugh, which results in her crashing into the generator powering in the hospital and causing my mother's death. Later on, Jenny merely throws me a black card. "Wow, you really have the heart to arrange for your mom to live in that small and rundown hospital, huh? Then again, a money-minded person like you is capable of doing everything in this world. "Take this card and get your mom transferred to a VIP ward. Don't think about stealing from this card; I'll always check the bills." But I just throw the black card away and start preparing for my mom's funeral. What Jenny doesn't know is that Jackson had chosen to flee from the altar and abandon her back then. I was just a tool hired by her family in order to comfort her. Now that my mom is dead and I'm done paying back the debt, it's time for me to leave.

Time. It’s the only thing every person has – regardless of gender, age, race, and social status. We all have the time. But, time, for others, can be longer than they expect it to be, shorter than it is, and for some like Zoe, time is her ultimatum. Living a mundane life in the peaceful city of Glendale, Zoe only has two priorities in life – her mom, and her dream. Arts has brought colors and meaning to her life, and the ambition of being a successful artist someday, just like her dad she never met. Despite the lack of confidence in her works, Zoe has big dreams. But her dreams slowly fall in the spiral of her reality when she was diagnosed with a chronic disease. Now, her time is ticking. She has so many things she wants to do and now with her time being limited, she goes out from her comfort zone and starts to explore, wanting to live her life to the fullest before her time is up. Her once dull and boring life turns completely upside down when she met Lucas, a mafia leader. Despite knowing the pending danger that comes with him, she was rather thrilled because why not? She might die tomorrow, or the next day, or even the next few hours. What harm could it be if she falls for a mafia leader when she’s more scared of her condition? And the excitement she rather felt eventually birthed something really unexpected – something that gave her life a new purpose she never imagined she would have.

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?"

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.”

My name is Dakota Wetherby. On the very day my husband, Theodore Aldridge, and I get legally married, he brings his ex-girlfriend, Sofia Moretti, into our home. "Sofia recently suffered a miscarriage, so she's going through a very difficult time. I'm genuinely worried about her," he says. "We're just friends. It's only natural for friends to comfort each other," he adds. Sofia is Theodore's college sweetheart. Rumor has it they separated on good terms when she went abroad for further studies. Clad in Theodore's jacket, she curls up on our bed. Her pale, ashen face is streaked with tears. "I'm so sorry, Dakota. I had no idea you two were getting married today. "I was too upset and didn't know who else to reach out to, so I called Theo. "He was only comforting me because I lost my child. It's completely my fault for overstepping and ruining your wedding day. "You can ask for whatever compensation you want. Just please don't blame Theo for this." I hold the freshly issued marriage certificate from the courthouse and walk up to her. "Since you've brought it up, I suppose I'll reluctantly accept your compensation. "Theodore and I are married for business reasons, with billions in projects hanging in the balance. "Tell me, how exactly do you plan to make up for all of that?"