Eight Hundred Grapes

Tristan Moreno and I are asked when we're getting married when we attend a class reunion. "We're undecided." "1st of October." Our answers come simultaneously. His head shoots up, and he looks at me with anger and disbelief. I ignore him and explain to my classmates, "I'm getting married on the 1st of October. You're all invited." I know what Tristan wants to ask me. He and I have dated for eight years, but he's never discussed marriage with me. He drags me to a corner, looking furious. "Didn't we agree to put marriage on hold? Do you take pleasure in forcing me into this?" I pry his fingers off my wrist and say, "You can put it on hold for as long as you want. That doesn't stop me from getting married." He's long since gotten bored of me—he's found a younger woman but thinks he's done well in keeping it a secret. Fortunately, he's not the man I'm marrying.

Charlie, One day, I woke up in a hospital with no memory, no answers. Not just any hospital, a mental institution surrounded by nut jobs. I wasn't supposed to end up like this, scared, changed, no memory of what happened. I was a normal teenager, then my seventeenth birthday changed everything. I started having visions of a place called Cresent Moon, a remote little forest in the middle of Colorado. I begged my family to go, and that was the last thing I remembered. Next thing I was in a bed being forcibly restrained. I had two choices stay, serve my time and pray they let me leave or escape and discovered what happened to my life. Naja, I give up the notion of ever finding a true mate at twenty–eight I had witnessed more death than I cared to admit, all because of my powers gifted by the Moon Goddess. I was blessed with the ability to heal or cursed as I often thought of my gift. A gift that was used for despicable evil. In the pursuit of tracking rogue hunters, I found her — the other half of my soul, broken, bleeding, and dying. I had no choice but to send her away for her own peace of mind and safety. She was too young, too sweet for a jaded asshole like me---too precious to put in danger. I wasn't given a choice to have a normal life but she would, even if I have to kill anyone who dares to hurt me through her. They say when you love someone you have to let them go, they will come back to you. I just pray its true, I can’t exist now that I know she out there waiting to come back to me, even if she doesn’t know it yet

Diplomatic marriages between two members of different race certainly aren't unheard of nowadays, but for Prince Nikolai of the Kingdom of Wolves and Col. Akari Kingston of United Human Federation, it might just be fate worse than death. The union is meant to end a devastating war that has lasted for over a hundred years between the werewolves and humans, but when the female bride intended for the fierce, sexy prince runs away, her twin sister is substituted instead. Akari Kingston knew that taking her sister's place to marry the werewolf prince won't be easy. As once part of the military, she knew first hand what the werewolves were really capable of, but when she learned that the Werewolves not only expect her to take the place of her sister and marry their Prince, they also expect her to undergo physical alteration to have the man's baby, she almost wanted to quit. But with the fate of the world peace at stake, how can she say no? Can the two enemies put aside their differences and focus on making love and not war-not to mention a baby? As a powerful love struggles to take root, can they learn to trust each other and stand together against the forces that are trying to tear them apart?

[ ᴜɴʀᴇǫᴜɪᴛᴇᴅ ʟᴏᴠᴇ ]"Let me go, Heath. You know it's wrong." I whispered, as he shifted himself closer towards me. "What's wrong with me hugging you?"I took a deep breath. "You just got cheated on by my sister who you were about to marry in some weeks! Not to mention, you loved her so much you fought against your whole family to marry her. Is that enough of a reason now?"With that being said, he left me abruptly and I could feel him still standing behind me. "You just have to mention that now, don't you? When I'm trying to cope up with the truth?""It's the truth. You really were getting married to-""Is that the reason you're leaving me?!"I frowned. "What?""I was going to marry Kiara. You didn't like it-""Why wouldn't I like it if you'd marry my sister?!" I yelled, my own temper rising at his random observation. "It's simple. You were jealous." ___Eight years working your butt off for someone you love, only to watch them fall in love with your own sister and propose a marriage by your help, is not something everyone have guts for, to do. Follow the journey of Heath Evercrest and Hazel Scarlett, as Hazel struggles to put up with her employer's sudden unexpected odd request, while her own heart threatens to betray her sooner or later, in her own quest.___Warning - Contains kisses and scenes that might make you blush.Copyright © StarryRitika 2020.

Eight years ago, the Woodens' lives underwent an unprecedented change that altered everything good as they knew it. Rosalie, unaware that she had humiliated Victor when they were young, became a target for Victor, who privately destroyed her by reducing her to his servitude in bed with the help of his affluence! Eight years later, Rosalie, after reinventing herself, returned to face Victor... She reemerged sophisticated and in the arms of another man: "I am getting married! I do have your blessings, don’t I?" Victor held her down as forcefully as he often did eight years ago and spoke in a low voice: "You are the canary I've been nurturing for the last two years, and you will not fly away until I say otherwise." But the current Rosalie, like a wild rose with myriad flavors, would never be dominated by Victor, never again!

I married Rafe Maretti—the man who owned the Maretti Casino empire. Sophisticated, ruthless, but sinfully charming. By year three of our marriage, I introduced my little sister to his nephew, Adam Moretti—twenty-five, all sharp smiles and sharper ambition. He ran the dirtier side of the family’s business—arms, drugs, the kind of trade that dripped blood and money in equal parts. I married the powerful, irresistible uncle. She married the young, dangerous nephew. It was supposed to be our fairytale. Then one day, I got kidnapped in Rafe’s casino. Snatched by a rival mafia family desperate to force Rafe to sign over one of his biggest, most profitable casinos. Except Rafe didn’t answer the phone or even notice I was gone. The kidnappers grew impatient. First, it was slaps. Then punches. Then they shattered my leg and buried a knife in my stomach. Still no word from my husband. Until finally, after what felt like a hundred unanswered calls, a single message came through. "I’m with Bianca. She’s having a stomach. Stop calling." Once the kidnappers realized I had no value, they dumped me in a rotting warehouse like discarded luggage. It was Isla, my sister, who found me. She got me out. And then the brakes failed. The car spun out. Isla went unconscious beside me. I tried calling Adam. Isla’s husband. But as soon the call went through, all I could hear was. “Leave me along. Isla, I am in the middle of something here.” When I clearly heard a woman’s voice in the back. If not for a passing stranger, Isla and me wouldn’t have made it to the hospital, let along have survived. So when I opened my eyes again, the first thing I thought was: I’m divorcing that sorry bastard. The Maretti can go to hell.

The year I was at my poorest, I impersonated my sister to take care of her blind fiancé in exchange for one hundred thousand dollars. On the day he regained his sight, I left without a word. When we met again, it was during a business interview. I was a nameless intern reporter. He had returned to his rightful status as the heir of the influential Hughes family. During the interview, the host asked, "We’ve heard that during your illness, your fiancée, Miss Dawson, stayed by your side through thick and thin. The two of you are about to get married?" He lifted his hand slightly, revealing a ring, and his lips curled into a faint smile. "Yes, we’re getting engaged soon." Yet, his gaze, through the lens of his glasses, landed—intentionally or not—on me, standing in the corner.

The day my ex finally made it big, the doctor told me I had less than three months to live. On TV, a reporter was interviewing James Larson. “Mr. Larson, what drove you to success?” James chuckled, but his eyes were misty. “The biggest push? Probably when I was diagnosed with kidney disease eight years ago, and my ex walked out on me.” “I’m grateful she didn’t marry me. That was the wake-up call I needed.” After the interview, he called. “Amelia Simmons, I made it. Do you regret it now?” I rested a hand on the spot where my kidney used to be and let out a bitter laugh. “I do. And I have cancer now. Happy?” James sounded satisfied. “Serves you right.” He never knew—I got cancer because I gave him my kidney all those years ago.

Nine-year-old Samara is the youngest of three Alpha children. When her parents and pack are attacked, Samara watches her brother murdered by someone that her family trusted. At her brother’s urgent request she runs, finding refuge in a southern pack and hiding her true identity. When she finds out that her family is gone, she begins planning her revenge. Roman is the Alpha heir to his father’s pack when his best friend, Theodore’s, pack is attacked. He finds Theodore dead, not knowing who murdered him. They search for Samara and not finding her, they assume that she is dead as well. Nine years later, Samara’s new Alpha has a party, inviting several Alphas to attend. Samara’s wolf senses one of the Alphas is her mate, but Samara recognizes him as one of the men who betrayed her brother. She attempts to reject him, but Roman has been waiting eight long years to find his mate. His curiosity is peaked when he realizes that this Alpha female has been hiding as an omega and he wants to know more. Having planned her revenge since her family’s murder, Samara is angry that Roman insists that she accept him, threatening to wage war against the kind Alpha who has raised her. She accepts her fate, agreeing to leave with Roman while still planning to take her revenge. What will happen when Roman realizes that his mate is the long-lost sister of his best friend? Will he be able to convince her that he wasn’t part of her brother’s betrayal? And when she finds out that another person close to her has betrayed her, will Samara turn to the only person who is willing to stand beside her and help her find the truth?

The childs gone. The dreams gone. I've become comfortably numb Valentina Lombardi has been through a lifetime of trauma throughout her years. From her absentee, abusive father who's neglected her all her life to her even more abusive legal guardian who's been the one to traumatize her. A trip to what she sees as her second bedroom, the police station, takes a turn of events with a piece of information she receives that changes everything. Zane Marino, leader of the Marino mafia, and Raul Romano, one of his top men. Dead. The two men who've destroyed her are now out of her life, a miracle to her. Now, she's being thrown into the custody of her eight older brothers she never knew she had. Her biological family. Not to mention, her eldest brother who's now her legal guardian, also happens to be the leader of the Sicilian mafia. Her "father's" pure enemy. What happens when she has to learn to deal with the infamous, ruthless Lombardi brothers, the ones she was raised to hate? Marino through adoption and Lombardi by blood. A dangerous mix. Throw trauma, boys, secrets, and utter chaos into the mix. How will it all play out when her inner demon's come to the surface, making everything unravel right under her two feet?