Drifted

One of Ethan Sterling's closest friends got drunk and humiliated me. Called me a nobody orphan who married above her station, said I'd never be accepted by the Sterlings, that I wasn't fit to sit at their table. Ethan smashed a bottle over the man's head. He announced in front of everyone that if anyone ever disrespected me again, he'd make them pay. When I was pregnant and the morning sickness was so brutal I couldn't keep anything down, he went and scheduled a vasectomy. He didn't want me to suffer through another pregnancy. This was a man who loved me like I was his whole world. And yet — when I was lying on the operating table about to give birth, he was standing right in front of me with his arms around Iris, putting on a show for anyone watching. Iris was the daughter of another old-money family and she'd donated bone marrow to save Ethan's mother's life. The night before her own engagement, her fiance betrayed her, and the trauma wiped her memory clean. Now the only thing she knew for certain was that Ethan Sterling was her husband. In her world, I was the homewrecker — the scheming woman using the bastard in her belly to force her husband into a divorce. Ethan promised me it was all an act. Just repaying the debt for his mother's life. Once Iris recovered, he'd walk away from her immediately. But when I picked up the surgical consent form for him to sign, and his first instinct was to pull Iris behind him — to shield her — I knew. His heart had already drifted off course. The fairy tale of a Cinderella marrying into high society was over. Time to wake up.

A witch and a werewolf should have never been mates. It never happened, and should have never happened. Believing he was cursed by the Moon Goddess herself, Alpha Cain Cadell had the surprise of his life when he found his mate. Cordelia had a troubled life, extremely troubled even for a witch. Scorned by her people, hated by her mother, and wished dead by the council of magic. She really didn't have it easy. And when the Alpha of the biggest of packs wants to claim her as his, Cordelia has to fight spells, nails, and teeth. …. Blurb: “This is all sorts of wrong, alpha. I can't be your mate. Witches and werewolves can't be mates.” I shouted, trying to drill the fact into his mind. “Yet, it happened.” He stepped closer, cornering me to the wall. His eyes drifted between my eyes and my lips and he breathed out, “You are my mate; mine to love, mine to fuck, you're simply mine Cordelia and nothing and no one will stop me from getting you.” The possessiveness in his voice sent shivers down my spine. I itched to kiss him, I wanted him to kiss me, but I knew I shouldn't. But the fight in me was dying down as he leaned closer, his lips almost brushing mine. “Admit it, darling. You want me as much as I want you. Just give in.” His hand on my neck felt hotter, and I let out a shaky breath. It was one hell of a fight that I had to put up with myself. Cain Cadell was all sorts of bad. He's power hungry, his desire for power was almost maddening, and witches were very disposable to him. “I will never.” I couldn't even convince myself with that shaky voice.

His nose was an inch away from mine. Eyes looked down it with burning intensity. “You are mine, Adelia. And there is nothing in the world that can change that.” He growled, tracing the side of my face with a feather-light touch. I recoiled and swatted his hand away. Wanted to move backward. Out of his proximity but a strong hand settled on my lower back. Pulled me into him. Our eyes met again, letting all of my venom show in them. “You are married, Michael. Married and human! Us being mates doesn't take away from that fact.” I hissed. His blue eyes darkened. Hand flexed on my back. “Then turn me. Make me a wolf and I will be by your side until the world burns.” “Married. That is another obstacle. I won't be a home-wrecker. Never again.” I tried to move away from him. Away from the lurking promise of death and destruction if I gave in to him. Remained in his presence. But his hand twined with my dress. Forced me to stay so deathly close to him. I felt my resolve melt away. “She will understand. How can't she? We were destined to be together by the goddess herself.” He whispered and brushed his lips against my cheek. A shudder ran down my spine. “A goddess that you don't believe in.” Michael pulled away. Smiled cruelly down at me. “The only goddess I believe in is the one right in front of me.” I didn't stop him when his lips crashed into mine. Or when his tongue drifted over my bottom lip. Opened up for him so that he could explore the inside of my mouth. Devoured me whole. Morals be damned, then.

I had argued with Tiffany Jensen at the construction site over a 15-dollar BBQ plate, and the fight had spiraled out of control. Clutching my throbbing head, I watched as she stuffed the freshly cashed paycheck into her pocket. "Are you ever going to let this go? You just want me to pay for your meal, don't you? You're always complaining about headaches and dizziness. I think you're just lazy!" I wanted to tell her about the flashes of luxury that kept appearing in my mind, images I could not explain. However, the words stuck in my throat as another wave of vertigo hit me. By the time I steadied myself and caught up to her, she was already climbing into a black Rolls-Royce Cullinan. Their mocking voices drifted out through the car window. Someone said, "I thought your little 'real-life experience' would be fun, but this is it? You even argued over a meal." Another person laughed along. "Tiffany, Mr. Jensen's about to have a heart attack over this. Now that he's finally agreed to let you date Ethan Parker, just dump this loser already. Are you planning to support him for the rest of his life?" Tiffany replied without hesitation, "He's a nobody who doesn't even know who he is, and he thinks he deserves someone like me?" It turned out that after I lost my memory, I had become nothing more than a pawn in a wealthy heiress' rebellion game. I turned to leave, my heart sinking. Just then, an unknown number flashed across my phone screen. I answered without thinking. "Mr. Shaw, this is Alfred Wright, your family's butler. You've been missing for five years! Your grandfather is dying, and he wants to see you one last time." I glanced back at the car disappearing into the distance and said, "Alfred, come pick me up."

"Betrayal is a sin, flower," He murmured near my ears, his arctic orbs whisking the warmth of my flesh against his. A course of harrowing singeing fire drifted down my body from the swell of my breasts to my heated core. My nerves screaming with torturous touch of his skin against mine, I couldn’t think for he had me confine in his arms. Brutally, he swept his tongue under the rim of my ear whilst my breath hitched and my tears become uncontrollable. The blood seeped through the cut I gifted him with as he inflated every bit of my scent I had to offer. His filthy tongue leapt across my lower lip with hellish slowness. The bond tempted me to submit to him. "I do not yearn to hear your cries, Katarina. Worship me with your moans." He commanded and I closed my eyes tightly not wishing to swim in those ocean pools of his. Their intimidating tone of his made me want to submit fully to him, to hand over the reins of my soul in his fists. Tears streamed down my face. "F-Forgive me, Xerxes." I stammer softly unable to face his wrath for I knew he was just playing with me, toying with my emotions before he punish me for deeds I've done. Xerxes cruelly grasped my wrists whilst locking them above my head so he could fully discern my naked flesh. "Forgive you?" He mocked, his eyes holding mine into a captivating grip as he licked his lips. "You let another male touch what belonged to me, tell me, flower, why must you test me like this.” I gulped unable to meet his gaze. He chuckled dryly. “Spread your legs, Katarina. The nectar I’m craving is between your legs.”

Everyone knew Elio Carbone, Don of the Carbone family, was a cold-hearted womanizer. He had one rule: never sleep with the same woman twice. But for me, he broke it. The first day after our breakup, he stood outside the old Bianchi estate for a day and a night, his entire security detail in tow, just to win me back. The second day, he flew to Sicily and bought the deed to my family's ancestral estate at auction for triple its value, and had it delivered to me. The third day, he tattooed my favorite flower, the lily, over his heart. The tattoo artist said he refused any anesthetic and didn't make a sound. Later, at a banquet for the Five Families, in front of all the other Dons, he sliced his palm and made a blood oath. He swore loyalty only to Eleonora Bianchi for the rest of his life; if he broke his vow, he would pay with his life. After a year of his relentless pursuit, his devotion finally wore me down, and I agreed to take him back. I truly believed him then. That Elio truly loved me. Until one night. He took me to an underground racetrack to broker a deal with an ally. But in the roaring crowd, I saw a girl, trembling and crying, her clothes in tatters. Ava was shoved to the starting line. She was the wager for the death race. One look was all it took for Elio's face to darken. The next second, he dropped his hand from my waist and, without a word, walked toward the track entrance. I stood frozen, watching his back as he disappeared into the driver's seat of a modified sports car. I used to wake up crying, terrified he would lose his life in one of these reckless races. He had smashed his trophies, burned his marker for the illegal track, and sworn to God he would never again enter such a life-or-death gamble. My hand drifted to my stomach, covering the secret I hadn't yet had the chance to share. His blood oath was broken. And so was I.

“Give my best friend one month to stay in our house, Love.” Aurelia had been enjoying her afternoon snack when her husband’s words made her turn toward him. “Stay… with us?” “Yes.” Ethan stepped closer, taking her hand, his voice soft with pleading. “Just one month. You heard what Anna told us yesterday about her life, didn’t you? Could you really bear to see her suffer even more? What if her ex-husband comes back and hurts her again? She’s pregnant too—just like you.” Auri looked at her husband for a long moment, searching his face. “Please,” Ethan said quietly. “Will you?” The permission Aurelia gave that day became the beginning of a ruin she had never imagined. From the moment Anna arrived, Ethan’s attention slowly drifted away from her. The affection that once belonged fully to Auri was now divided—often leaning toward his childhood friend, who had come carrying sorrow and carefully displayed wounds. Day after day, she lost more than her husband’s warmth. Until one day—heavily pregnant, her body was still weak after nearly losing her life due to a severe allergic reaction—Aurelia was driven out of the house she had once called her heaven. But her suffering didn’t end there. At the lowest point of her life, Auri was abducted by her husband’s business rival—used as leverage to pressure Ethan Harrow in a ruthless corporate battle. A real threat. A pregnant woman’s life is placed on the line. And yet, to Ethan… it was nothing more than a trick. Ethan didn’t come. He believed it was all a lie. A cheap performance—one he thought his own wife had staged.And perhaps, in that moment, he had already lost everything… long before he realized what he had thrown away.

My husband, Luca, had a childhood sweetheart named Sophia. Years ago, during a brutal gang shootout, Sophia shielded him from the worst of the bloodshed, and since then, she had suffered from severe PTSD. Because of that, Luca would push aside family business every year and fly to our estate on a secluded island off the coast of Sicily to spend three months “helping her recover.” “Victoria, she lost her mind because of me,” he told me. “I’m responsible for her. I hope you can be magnanimous.” So, I nodded. And eventually, I got used to the fact that every year, my husband would disappear for three months to fulfill what he called a moral obligation. That was until the day I flew in without warning to inspect the family’s money-laundering network on that island and saw him. In the town square, under the bright Mediterranean sun, Luca was standing there with a five-year-old boy by his side. “Papa, how long do we have to hide on this island?” the child asked. “I want to go to New York. I want to see the Empire State Building.” Luca laughed gently and scooped him up in his arms. With his other hand, he held Sophia’s. “Antonio, be good,” he said affectionately. “Papa’s position is… complicated. When you turn eighteen and pass the family’s initiation ceremony, I’ll kill that woman and her dead old man. Then, I’ll take you back to New York to inherit the entire Corleone family.” I stood in the shadows, unseen. Slowly, I lit a cigarette. The smoke curled around me as their voices drifted over, the conversation getting more vicious as it went. Sophia leaned into his chest, her tone sweet and coy. “Luca, I’ve been with you for seven years without a name or a title. How much longer are our son and I supposed to live like ghosts?” Luca sighed. “I don’t have a choice. The old man in the Corleone family is still alive. I married Victoria just to get her territory. Don’t worry. I’ve been adding something to her milk every day. She’ll never get pregnant in this lifetime. My family bloodline will only continue through you.” The last thread of reason in my mind snapped. In the six years of marriage we shared, I had been infertile. I’d taken countless hormone injections to stimulate ovulation. I’d knelt in church and prayed more times than I could count. Yet, all along, the devil poisoning me was my own husband. The initial shock faded quickly into rage. I crushed out my cigarette and pulled out my phone. Then, I dialed my uncle, the family’s clean-up man. “Uncle Rocco,” I said calmly, “Luca betrayed me. He betrayed the family. Order a coffin in the finest black walnut for me, and make it large, large enough to fit a family of three.”