Gothic Table Runner

My dad is a fan of tough love parenting. When I was a kid, there was a time when I obtained full marks on two subjects. But he told me, "Your grades don't mean anything in life. If you were a true man, you'd leap down five floors without batting an eyelash." Some time later, I was awarded for my act of bravery. But Dad scoffed in my face. "Not even a hair is harmed on your head. Why should you be awarded anyway?" I thought Dad wanted me to go through more training in life. On Christmas Eve, he ditched me on a snowy mountain under the guise of wanting me to go through more training. He didn't give me a tent or a lighter. Later on, Dad even brags about his parenting method to his relatives and friends. "A real man should survive and thrive in a desperate situation! I told Julian that he can forget about being my son if he can't even make his way back to the summit!" But the red dot on the GPS tracker installed in his phone hasn't moved for the past three hours. The truth is, I've already frozen to death in the mountains. Trapped in my fist is a scrap of paper detailing the SOS number that Dad had torn apart earlier. Meanwhile, my soul is currently floating above the dining table while watching Dad brag about his tough love parenting.

“I don’t want you. I hate you.” Those words from her only son slice deeper than any blade. Sarah returns from the hospital expecting love, only to find her place at the family table stolen. Her husband, James, stands arm in arm with Tiana — his late brother’s widow, while her son clings to the other woman’s waist, rejecting his own mother. The betrayal does not end there. After a confrontation with Tiana, she woke up in an abandoned building, her hands tied, and mouth taped. Beside her was Tiana too. Tied. James stood, his confused gaze darting from Tiana to Sarah. And then came the baritone voice from one of the kidnappers: “One life. One choice. You can only save one. Choose!” Sarah turned, seeing how Tiana was communicating with the kidnappers with her eyes. She struggled to let James see the truth; that this was all a setup. But she couldn’t. Her mouth was tapped. But then, like a match striking steel, James’ voice came brittle and final. “Tiana.” He chose his ex over his own wife. Over the mother of his child. Sarah was abandoned in the warehouse. Immediately they left, the warehouse exploded, covered in flames. And Sarah’s screams and cries inside, filled the night. Did Sarah survive the fire outbreak? If she did, can they stand her revenge when she finally returns?

Ten years to the day we were mated, Eric came home wearing the scent of his first love. He wrapped me in his scorching heat, his voice a hoarse whisper against my ear. "I want you, Lyra." He hadn't marked me on a full moon in so long. But right now, the scent of another she-wolf on him was a bitter ache in my chest. The dinner I'd prepared for our full moon ritual was swept off the table by our cub, River. He looked at me with his father’s cold expression. "Mom, your cooking doesn’t even come close to Auntie Aurora’s." Aurora. The first love Eric could never forget. The one he'd brazenly appointed as CFO of our pack's corporation. They were the perfect pair, flaunting their connection for all to see. And I, his true mate, had become the pack's laughingstock. For ten years, I played the part of the perfect mate and mother, only to become a shadow in my own home. That night, I filed the request to the Elders. I would sever the mate bond。 Later, under the brilliant Alaskan aurora, I received Eric's frantic mind link. "Lyra, what about River if you leave?" I let out a small laugh. " River only needs you." "Your first love is back, isn't she? Let her be the mother. I'm free."

When my husband and I drop by his childhood home for Christmas dinner, my mother-in-law, Melissa Potter, is the only one busying away in the kitchen. Everyone else is on their phones. I've just taken a seat when Melissa begins to lecture me. "What, are you just going to sit your ass down and wait for food to come? Don't you know when to lend a helping hand? Am I supposed to exhaust myself for your sake?" From time to time, she keeps rattling the pots and pans loudly. "I can't believe those with healthy bodies want a 70-year-old like me to serve them! Does anyone here have any conscience?" Feeling a little uneasy, I gave my husband a tiny nudge. "Why don't you help Mom out?" After Melissa hears my suggestion, she gets even more pissed off. Thinking that this is my first Christmas with my in-laws, I don't really want to cause a scene here, so I get up to my feet and help her out. But the moment I enter the kitchen, Melissa delegates all the tasks to me. I endure my fury as much as I can while finishing the Christmas dinner preparations. When I'm about to head back to the dining table and dig in, Melissa suddenly speaks up. "Hold up. We got scores to settle before dinner."

“What if I choose not to?” I asked. “You don't want your little secret to get out, do you.” he raised a brow. “No, I don't.” I said, dropping my head. “Good.” he said, and snapped his fingers. A young man walked up to our table with a briefcase in his grip. Conrad received the briefcase from him, and placed it on the table. He unlocked and turned it to me. In the briefcase were wads of cash. “I believe this is good for a start.” he said. “Also, I'll help you get rid of that scar on your face. So what do you say? Do we have a deal or not?” ********************* One minute, Lauren was preparing to leave home for her friend's birthday party. And the next? She is a murderer. Faced with the chance of spending the rest of her life behind bars, she's approached by Conrad Anderson — son of the man whom she murdered. He offers her a deal: help him get some information from the CEO of Beamers Industries — Thomas Roy, by becoming his secretary and he would keep her secret safe with a promise to help her get rid of the scar on her face. But when she realizes that she's nothing but a pawn in Conrad's game of revenge, would she terminate the deal, and suffer for her sins, or would she help him get the information which he needs to ruin Thomas's life completely?

My older brother, Ethan Earnhart, was the Alpha of the Shadow Pack. Right now, he was slicing my chest open with a silver surgical blade. Beside him, my adopted sister, Sara, had tear-filled eyes. "Elina went as far as faking her own death just to escape the loan sharks. She even used the body of a disfigured rogue." Ethan's gaze was filled with disgust. He pointed at the bruises covering my body, marks left when I was alive, and explained calmly to the young healer beside him. "Look. This is what happens to a traitor who betrays the pack and sleeps with filthy rogues. Elina, being the liar she's always been, even found a stand-in for her little performance." My wolf soul hovered beside the operating table and watched in despair as he handled my body the way one would process prey. 'Ethan, that really is me. I was trying to retrieve something you lost. That was why they–' "Check the stomach contents," Ethan said flatly as he cut open my stomach. Unexpectedly, there was no food residue. Instead, there was a single ring. It was corroded black by stomach acid, but the emblem engraved on it was unmistakable. It was the Alpha heirloom Ethan had lost five years ago. I had swallowed it just before I died. I had to protect that secret even if I were dead. Ethan's hand trembled violently while holding the forceps. He tore into my facial flesh like a madman. "Elina?"

“It’s our anniversary today. I planned our day together,” I declare. “I have work to do,” “But I asked your PA to clear your schedule for the day,” “That’s the thing. You made plans behind my back without talking to me about it first, Ariel,” He then walks past me and walks out of the closet. “I thought I was doing something nice for you – for us at least. You have always worked so hard, so at least take this day off with me. We never got to celebrate our wedding anniversary,” I rebuke. He decides not to say anything. He opens his bag on the couch facing our bed and takes out a white A4 envelope, tossing it on the little table in the middle of our room. “Is it so hard for you to read the room all the time? How would you celebrate a wedding anniversary when there is no love between us? Are you not tired of all this pretence because I am!" He chastises. "That’s for you. Sign it so that we can get it over and done with,” With that said, he puts on his black sunglasses and walks out of the room. Only then do I breathe out the air I didn’t even know I was holding. I’m confused and, most of all, hurt. I didn’t see this coming. I drop my eyes on the envelope with bold printed letters of the name of the law firm our lawyer works at.

BOOK ONE OF THE IMMORTAL SERIES “Over a hundred people have reported you for aggravated assault, vandalism of property, several attempts at bullying, invasion of privacy, and reckless driving. Who are you?” The stupid police officer in front of me asked as he continued to read out, “Kidnapping??” “Mark I think that is enough,” Zachariah intervened. Mark closed the file that had all of my detailed crime reports as he glared at me. “And so on,” he said, placing it on the table that separated us from each other. “What do you have to say for yourself?” he asked. I sniffed into the air as I exhaled out deeply, my back relaxing less comfortably on the iron chair as I answered with not a single show of concern at all. “What can I say? They all deserved it.” I cackled as I admired my gloves, having nothing but evil thoughts as I looked at them.  ____________________________________________________________________ Cursed since birth to become the Snake Goddess and wield supernatural powers way stronger than she can imagine, Eve is on a journey to become one of the greatest the immortal realm has ever seen, and she won't be on this journey alone. But with her amulet still missing and the world slowly drowning into utter chaos because of her, time can only tell if there has been a mistake made in handing over such powers to her, as there are secrets that lie ahead of her that can either rip her apart or make her stronger.

"What's an Omega like you doing here?" he sneered. "Don't you belong in the slum, or something?" His friends snickered at his cruel joke, and I felt my cheeks burn with embarrassment. I tried to ignore them and head to the empty table, but Eric wouldn't let it go. "Look at her, pretending to be a real wolf," Eric sneered. "As if an Omega could ever be anything more than a loser." *********************** Shannon’s life has always been hard as an Omega. She is bullied and abused by the pack members everyday. She has only one wish: to find her true love on her eighteenth birthday and runaway with him. But her hopes are shattered when she finds out she is mated to Alpha Eric, the most desired Alpha in school. Eric rejects her blatantly and taunts her publicly for being weak. She moves to a different pack, hoping to start afresh but things are not quite different there. She has new stepbrothers, the Alphas triplet sons, who turn out to be her worst bullies. They hate Shannon and her mom for trying to take their dead mother’s place. But what happens when they find out that they are all mated to the girl they humiliate constantly? There’s a struggle for her, each one desiring to have her for himself. But Shannon can only choose one of them but must she? Will she end up with all three brothers and how will she navigate her complex relationship with them?

At the pack's anniversary dinner party, the Alpha, Matt White, told us to write down the gifts we wanted. He would make sure every request was fulfilled. When it was my turn, the newly arrived intern suddenly snatched the paper and pen out of my hands. "Mr. White works so hard managing the pack. We can't let him spend money on us! You shouldn't write down your dream gift," she said. I ignored her, grabbed the list back, and calmly wrote down one item: a washing machine. Peyton immediately flew into a rage and splashed the champagne on the table straight onto me. "I told you not to write anything down! As a Beta, how can you be so inconsiderate of Mr. White?" My coat was completely soaked, and I looked utterly disheveled. I couldn't hold back my anger anymore. I flung the list straight at her face without mercy. She instantly covered her face and screamed, "How dare you hit me! Do you know who my father is? He's the Alpha King! Even Mr. White has to be polite to him. I'll have you kicked out of the pack for laying a hand on me!" I froze. I was the Alpha King's biological niece. My uncle didn't even have a partner, so how would he have a grown daughter?