Ice Bird Mythology

Being a mute used to be simple before all the craziness started. I just can't talk and that's who I am. Mum has learned to accept that and I guess so have I. Everything was just fine in my high school in Shanghai. I had finally made it to year twelve and even though I was in China, I was actually being treated as a human being despite my disability. Things were definitely not perfect but I would give anything to go back to that, like it was before. I heard my first voice that year, right at the beginning of year 12. I didn’t really have any real friends, but I was used to it and before the voices started, I was fine with that. But it all changed when I first heard them. The voices inside their heads started then and my life was never the same. They weren't just thinking about school or they girls or guys they were into, no they were thinking about doing things, doing horrible things to each other and I was the only one that knew how messed up they really were.

[It's an unedited book. Typos and grammatical errors are common] What happens when a mafia and police get in a contracted relationship? They say if two people end up badly in one life, they get another chance in their new life. Shawn and Bella were meant to be together, but what holds them back was the past and secrets. They got to shield their hearts but instead, these two people from opposite sides of the law collide and build fiery attraction among themselves with explosive chemistry and an instant connection. There are no laws for love.

Mengidap amnesia sejak usia 8 tahun, tepat saat bibi menemukanku di samping tumpukan sampah jalan Serdadu, membuatku menjadi anak yatim piatu sekaligus tuna wisma yang tidak memiliki siapa pun. Pergi ke psikeater mungkin adalah cara terbaik yang dimiliki bibi, ketika kondisi mentalku terus memburuk ketika hujan turun. Trauma itu, membuatku menutup rapat-rapat cela ingatan masa laluku. Tepat saat secuil memoriku kembali, dan aku melihat derasnya darah yang mengalir tanpa henti di tengah lebatnya hujan. Selain itu, aku mengingat wajah yang tidak asing membawaku pergi, tepat setelah dia menusuk seseorang dengan tangan kotornya.

Terrance Burgess slapped me in front of the entire company, all because I accidentally knocked over his assistant's vase. My five-year-old son, Claude Burgess, stood off to the side, clapping like it was something worth cheering for. Afterward, the assistant walked up to me while holding the bouquet the father and son had given her, showing it off right in my face. "So what if you're the wife? The one who isn't loved is the real outsider." I looked at her calmly. "Then you'd better watch yourself. If he can have you on the side, he can just as easily find someone else after you." I used to think I had a happy, complete family. Until Terrance's assistant came along and made me realize it had all been in my head. The love from that father and son had already moved on to someone else. That was the moment something in me went completely still. I called a number I hadn't contacted in years. "Dad, I want to come home and take over the family business."

Because of the incident, my life changed completely. I never thought that in an instant, I would lose everything. Family, friends and even the man that I loved. But I met a man which I did not expect to love him. He is the mysterious one, cold as ice, introvert, anti-social but he really caught my attention. But the way his voice sounds or the words he speak makes me think that I met someone like him before. Curiosity kills me inside. Naging parte kaya siya nang nakaraan ko? Nakilala ko na ba siya noon? Pero hindi ko inaasahan na isang araw, mahuhulog ako sa kaniya. Can we bring back our past or remain strangers?

A girl's love so deep? It appeared it was true love at the beginning. She was determined to do everything possible to get what she wanted. Her friends ridiculed her. Society mocked her. But she did not give up. "True love?" I often asked myself. But I had no answers to my questions. It took me quite a long time to define her true intentions. One night, she visited. "Let's try it," she proposed that night. I felt her warm breath as she whispered. Her wild expectations coupled with anxiety was making her heart beat very fast. It was a quiet night, and the light was dim in the room. That was the first time she spent the night with me. I was determined not to have any affair with her. I was a novice, and I believed she was not though many people in the community including her family believed she was a virgin. A feeling I could not define thrilled through me when she spoke. "A test or she mean it?" I asked silently. We have often talked about staying chaste till the appropriate time, the time we are sure to get married, so why was she proposing that we try it? I brushed off that thought and began thinking about how I was going to go about it if she really meant it. I had no experience in satisfying a woman in bed. "Did you hear me?" she asked. And before I could say anything, I felt a kiss on my right cheek. The man in me responded to the touch. But before I could act on my feelings, I remembered grandma's prediction about us. "Are we really going to get married someday?" I asked silently . . . Happy reading!

It's my husband, Niall Luther's birthday. I take my son to the hospital to visit Niall since he's working late; I want to surprise him. However, we get into an accident on the way there. When I rush to the hospital with my bloodied son in my arms, I see Niall holding his first love's daughter. He coos at her and says, "This might be a small wound, but there's a risk of infection if it isn't handled well!" His first love, Chelsea Blanc, gives him a chiding look. "You treat Lulu so well that I'm getting jealous." Niall wraps an arm around her. "It's only because I love you. You're the one I love the most." I pull out my phone and call him. He keeps his arm around Lulu White and rejects my call. So, I text him, telling him our son is injured and has been taken to the hospital where he works. I tell him he needs to attend to our son. However, he berates me for lying. I have no choice but to take my son elsewhere for treatment. Before leaving, I see Niall kiss Chelsea tenderly and tell her he wants to take her to an amusement park. That's when I know he and I are over.

Aline’s life plan doesn’t include being the sole female in a pack full of idiot males. When her boyfriend turns Alpha and imprints on her best friend, she learns horror stories are real. When Hunters attack the pack, Aline discovers how far she'd go to cheat fate. Jian, her packmate and secret-admirer, finds Aline naked in the trees, broken by her epiphany. Lending her his shirt and taking her home hardly seems like a life-changing event. But she asks him to stay. Will Aline choose Jian over the imprint she's fated to meet? --- Author's Note: Your reading experience is important to me. For some, certain topics can ruin that experience. Please visit https://laelamoreno.tumblr.com for a list of trigger warnings.

I was the company's top sales performer, but I never clocked in or out, and I rarely showed my face at the office. Two-thirds of the employees had never even met me. Yet somehow, I single-handedly dominated the sales numbers, outperforming everyone else and propelling us to the number one spot in the industry. Then came the day they handed out year-end bonuses. Jeffrey Young, the new sales director, fired me on the spot, claiming it was bad luck that I stepped into the building with my left foot first. When I demanded to know what gave him the right, he sneered at me with pure contempt. "Because I'm going to be the future owner of this company! You just got lucky landing a few big clients, and that was all thanks to the company's existing customer base anyway!" He continued, "Let me tell you something... Kieran Campbell, whoever the company gives resources to, becomes the top seller!" I could not help but laugh. All they saw was that I never clocked in, but they never saw me out there day and night, running around to maintain those client relationships. The truth was, in this industry, clients were loyal to me personally, not to the company's brand. I pulled out my phone and called my wife, Melanie Gardner. "When did you get yourself another husband behind my back?"

Stanley Porter, my wife Jessica Evans’ close male friend, and I are both competing to be the next fire captain. In my first lifetime, I was chosen by a unanimous vote. On my very first night on duty as captain, Jessica came over to the fire station to celebrate with me. Sticking to my duties as captain, I didn't touch a single drop of alcohol. Yet, after drinking the chicken soup Jessica gave me, I fell into a deep sleep. That night, a massive fire broke out in the old district, resulting in the deaths of 58 people. Because I missed the station's alarm, I was accused of dereliction of duty and labeled as the main person responsible for the tragedy. The enraged families of the victims ended up beating me to death. In my second lifetime, I withdrew my name from the selection for captain. I handed the badge over to Stanley instead, saying, "You're better suited to be captain than I am." I'd assumed that this was enough to ensure that the fire couldn't be pinned on me. Yet, when the authorities looked into the fire, they ended up seeing me appear in the security footage from where the fire began. Everyone assumed I'd deliberately started the fire to get back at Stanley out of jealousy for losing out on the captain position. I now open my eyes again to live my third life. I watch as Stanley excitedly gives his speech on the podium after being made the captain. This time around, I submit a request for annual leave and take a cab straight to the airport.