Just This Once

How do you turn your life interesting overnight? No idea, but it probably doesn't involve falling through a mirror into another world after popping a pimple... Maisie was your average introvert, looking for a bit of spice in her life. That's probably why she ignored the warning signs that the mirror was more than it seemed. The $5 price tag on a full-length mirror probably should have been a hint, too.

At Lycanthrope University everyone knows the ropes - you study hard, play harder, and when you become of age you’re forced to attend a mating ritual where you’re paired with your mate for an eternity. When Devon is “accidentally” paired with his best friend, Nate, his entire world gets turned upside down. Sure, when there was an uneven number in the year, there were some gay pairings, but it was weird and unlikely. And he never thought it would happen to him. Now he has to fight the evil vampyres, prove himself worthy of the title of alpha, explain this his girlfriend why he’s linked to a guy, and tell his best friend he wants to break their mateship. Yikes!

The night my parents were kidnapped, my brother—who happened to be a police officer—chose to go bungee jumping with the fake heiress. I didn't stop him. Instead, I called the police and began preparing the ransom. In my previous life, my brother had forgone the outing to rescue our parents. As a result, the rope snapped during her jump, sending her plummeting into the abyss. Her body was never recovered. He never spoke a word about it afterward. On my birthday, he drugged me and dragged me to that very cliff. "You orchestrated the kidnapping! You'd go this far for their attention? You're nothing but a monster! Lillian is dead. You don't deserve to live either!" When I opened my eyes again, I found myself back on the night my parents were kidnapped. This time, my brother didn't rush to their rescue. Instead, he ran to the fake heiress. But in the end, he regretted it so much that he nearly lost his mind.

I stood between both of them masking my son from his gorgeous daddy but my stubborn son cocked his head and gave his dad a very beautiful sunburnt smile. I couldn't help but chuckle my baby is too cute. "Mommy, is this Daddy?" Oh my God! I looked behind us at Jale who was only a few steps away from us. I bet he clearly heard what my son had just asked me. The was he was looking at me with curiousty, I knew he wanted an answer to that question too. Who am I even kidding from his viking gold hair, brown chocolate eyes, his fair skin, to proud attitude. Everything he was was the same thing my boy was. Chase was a true young version of his daddy but I would never let him know that. I crouched down in front of my angel and kissed his forehead before answering his question. My eyes shot up at Jale again who pretended like he was looking at something on his phone yet his phone's screen was blank then. After making sure he had his attention to us, I cupped my baby's cheeks and made him look into my eyes. "No honey, this man is not your daddy but uncle. He is uncle Jale." I could see Jale's face fall from the sides of my face. Suck a jerk! What did he expect that I was going to say Chase is his son. That is something I would never do in my life. I would never let Jale into my son's life. I will never let him know he is my baby's daddy because he doesn't deserve my little boy at all. He doesn't deserve us after all the horrible things he did to me five years ago.

I loved Stella for five years, and we were even engaged. However, she never helped when my grandfather was dying, all because the adopted son of my family suggested that she should use the opportunity to put me through adversity—so that I would toughen up. After my grandfather died helplessly, I toughened up just as she hoped for, no longer relying on her for everything. Naturally, I no longer loved her anymore either.

Ashley, the want to be alone outsider, can't believe what hit him when he met Austin, the goodlooking, nice soccerstar. Which leads to a marathon of emotions and some secrets from the past.

On New Year's Eve, I waited at home with a box of sparklers, hoping Jake Thompson would come. Instead, an earthquake struck. Trapped under fallen debris, I prayed for his safety. Little did I know, Jake was putting on a grand fireworks display across the city for his high school sweetheart who had just returned from abroad. The whole town buzzed with excitement, wishing them a lifetime of happiness together. Meanwhile, I had lost my hearing in the disaster, with no hope of recovery. When I tried to break off our engagement and leave town, Jake stood before me, his eyes red-rimmed and pleading. I couldn't understand a word he said. I simply wished him, “May you always have a day like today, year after year.”

In a werewolf country cursed to be forever cold, Evadne wished under the full moon for many years to find her mate and escape from her hell of a home where her father, Alpha Marcus of the Moonflame Pack, and Elodie, Evadne’s sister, constantly made sure her day won’t end without her being bullied or beaten by them. When she finally turned eighteen years old, Evadne find her mate, Alpha Gregor of the Fireheart Pack. She promised him that she would be the best mate and Luna for him. However, Elodie reveals he’s her fiance and boyfriend and begs the Alpha to ruthlessly reject her in front of the whole Moonflame Pack at Evadne’s very own birthday party. Evadne’s heart became even more shattered when her father banished her and ordered her to never return to their lives when she humiliated his favorite daughter, Elodie, on that same night. Alone, she was imprisoned in the dungeons of a pack that thought she was a Rogue—when it was attacked by the Alpha King’s forces since the said pack was the only remaining one who refused to bow down to him. As she tried to escape the ensuing chaos, she met him, and never had she thought that the Moon Goddess would let her second-chance mate be Alpha King Kallias himself—the cause of the eternal winter and now the most feared Alpha.

When I find out that Joe Herring—the man I've loved for ten years—is planning a grand proposal, I'm so thrilled I can't sleep a wink that night. But the next day, everyone in the pack is buzzing about how Alpha Joe just proposed to my stepsister, Nora Safford. He comes to me afterward, trying to explain. "It's not even real, Anna. Nora doesn't have anyone in the pack. I'm just doing her a favor. "Don't worry. I'll break it off before the mate-bonding ceremony next week. Then we'll have our ceremony, just like we planned." But over and over, he keeps asking me to compromise for Nora. And when the mate-bonding ceremony finally arrives, he's still with her. So in the end, I let her have him and walk away without a word.

Years ago, Elijah’s world shattered the day his husband, Gabe, vanished without a word. They said it was a plane crash. They said there were no survivors. But lies have long wings and now Gabe is back. Alive. Rich. Powerful. And with no memory of the life he shared with Elijah. When Gabe reappears in the arms of another world, Elijah is torn between rage and relief. His husband doesn’t remember the vows, the late-night laughter, or the broken pieces they were trying to heal together. Worse, someone is trying to erase Gabe’s name from his family’s fortune and Elijah might be the only one who can help him uncover the truth. Bound by a fake marriage that once held real love, the two must pretend for the world while battling ghosts of their past. As secrets unravel and the danger grows, so does the pull between them. But this second chance comes with a price and a past neither of them are ready to face. Was Gabe running from something… or someone? And if Elijah helps him remember, will love bring them home or destroy them both? A dark, emotionally raw MM romance about memory, betrayal, and the painful beauty of second chances. .