Misfits Like Us

During the holiday season, a flood hits. The company's warehouse is submerged up to the third floor. Due to the emergency, I have my assistant tell everyone to come back a day early to help. I promise that the company will provide stipends and extra time off to make up for this. But on that day, a Gen Z employee goes live across the internet to report me. "Oh, my God. It's 2025, yet there are still companies forcing employees to adjust their time off and work overtime! Is this heartless boss so broke that she needs to exploit us like this? Will she die if she doesn't squeeze us out of every drop of usefulness? Company notices override the law. Impressive stuff, this is!" Soon, the company ends up on the trending list due to criticism from the online community. Even the regulators come knocking to hold us accountable. In the end, the company is forced to cancel the notice. A lot of equipment isn't salvaged in time, resulting in significant losses. The employee even posts a victory lap. "Give the boss a tiny lesson—see if she dares to force overtime again!" I'm so angry that I laugh out loud. I tell my assistant to cancel the annual benefit we give all employees—an entire month of paid time off for Christmas and the New Year holidays. If we have to stick strictly to the law, then fine. Have it your way!

With a history like ours, the meaning of the word family tended to tangle into something unrecognizable. DNA and bloodlines didn’t tie us together, and neither did our last names. Various shades of grey blurred the branches of our twisted family tree. I wasn’t her brother. They weren’t my parents. Not that it mattered… She was off limits. Portia was my friend. Then my foster sister. And she’d always be the love of my life. Family Ties is created by Stephie Walls, an eGlobal Creative Publishing Signed Author.

My parents, Morris Lester and Andrea Smith, got a divorce. My younger brother, Ian Lester, goes with my mother, who marries into money, while I stay with my father, who has just gone bankrupt. However, fate has a twisted sense of humor. My mother remarries Mark Laurent, an abusive man, and her life spirals downward. My father, on the other hand, pulls himself together and builds a successful business from the ground up. Ian becomes green with jealousy. He pretends to be pitiful, begs me to take him shopping, and drives us straight into a car crash that kills us both. When I open my eyes again, we're back on the day our parents file a divorce. This time, Ian pipes up, "I want to stay with Dad and make a better life together!" I keep a straight face, but deep down, I'm over the moon. I, Ethan Lester, refuse to spend another lifetime living like a fugitive.

I’m Aria, a rogue who hates Alphas more than anything. I’ve spent my whole life running from them, fighting them, refusing to bow to anyone. And now the Moon Goddess thinks I belong to the one Alpha I can’t stand? He needs me to survive. I want nothing to do with him but when danger forces us together, resisting him becomes harder than resisting the bond itself. He was born to rule. Cursed to fall. And only I can save him. Alpha Darius once ruled the strongest pack in the kingdom, until a witch’s curse stole his wolf. Now he’s a broken Alpha, unable to shift, his enemies circling like vultures. The only way to break the curse? Claim his fated mate. Too bad that’s me. He’s cursed. I’m stubborn. And the fate of us both may burn if I refuse to claim what’s mine.

Can Love Happen Twice? Yes! Love is a beautiful feeling that can bring us joy and happiness. It is a magical experience that can make us feel alive and complete. However, when love fails, it can also bring us pain, disappointment, and even despair. It is normal to feel that love can only happen once, especially after a heart-wrenching breakup. Sometimes we fall in love with a person so deeply that after a breakup we are totally shattered. The same thing happened with Sebastian Russo when his first mate betrayed him with his best friend. His heart has been frozen since then. He could not feel for a woman. He had been drowning in the pit of darkness until one day, Alessandra King showed up in his life like a ray of first light brightening his dark life. She succeeded in awakening his emotions which have been locked for a long time. They both find their true love in their second chance.  Alessandra's past was not an ideal one. She loved her mate and died at the hands of her own sister who loves her mate. Destiny gave her another chance to find herself four years back. She wanted to take revenge on her mate who betrayed her and decided to change her fate. But her life took a ninety-degree turn when Sebastian's ex-mate came back with his heir. Will Alessandra be able to get love in this life?

The day after my best friend, Sarah Blunt married Patrick, the second son of the Brosnan family, I too became a bride and wed Matthew, his older brother. She married a swimming champion, and I, the rock-climbing coach. We thought we had our futures all figured out. Then, something happened that summer. The four of us planned a getaway but Matthew and Patrick’s baby sister, Megan joined us and our peaceful trip became a crowded affair.  While rock climbing, disaster struck—the rope snapped, and all five of us plummeted into the river below. The brothers rushed frantically to save Megan, leaving Sarah and me at the mercy of the river’s current, battered and tossed like driftwood. By the time the rescue team pulled us from the water, we were bruised, scraped, and utterly spent. In the hospital, Megan and I received devastating news that would change everything.  “You’ve been pregnant for 40 days, Ma’am. How could you put yourself in such a risky situation? Your baby survived, but your friend lost hers.” Shaken, I called Matthew to tell him about the pregnancy. His anger cut through the line. “You’re angry that I went to Megs first and now you’re trying to fool me with a fake pregnancy? She’s my sister—it’s my duty to protect her!” Sarah faced her own storm. Patrick practically scoffed at her grief. “Miscarriage? Do you expect me to believe that? The doctors said you only had a 30% chance of conceiving. I can’t stand women who create drama out of nothing.” Both calls ended abruptly, leaving us stunned as we stared at each other in the sterile light of the hospital room. In that shared silence, we made our decision—we would leave these men behind and start anew, launching a business together. But when the brothers received our divorce papers, they showed up at my door in the middle of a storm, kneeling in the pouring rain, crying through the night for a second chance.

During the tenth year I had a crush on Ron, I was diagnosed with advanced stomach cancer. With a critically ill notice in hand, I stood at the door to the room where my former classmates gathered, and I heard Ron holding his crush and cooing at her, “Just ignore it. Willow has been bothering me for ten years. If there was even a possibility of us getting together, we would have done so a long time ago. Honestly, I would never like her. Even if she continues bothering me for another ten or twenty years, I still won’t like her.” My former classmates cheered, and Ron looked like he was about to kiss her. I stood at the door and cried so hard that I trembled, but I did not dare make a sound. Ron, I would not be able to bother you for another twenty years. I was about to die.

My mother’s a doctor and with one beer and some stolen sleeping pills that she knew nothing about, they were knocked out like little babies. I ran to my mother’s room who was working on some paperwork when I grabbed her arm urgently. “We need to leave. We need to leave right now.” I demanded. “What are you talking about?” “Let’s go.” I yelled, yanking her off the bed. We ran down the stairs and out the front door when my mother stopped momentarily when she saw the guards on the ground. She looked at me and knew that I did something but I kept yanking on her arm towards the car. They were ready for us at the border and I could see my mother hesitating as she saw the line of wolves blocking the road. So I reached my leg over and I pushed it on hers so that we would accelerate faster. “Savannah. What the hell are you doing?” My mother screamed. “If he catches us now, what the hell do you think he’s going to do to us?” I asked. “I can’t believe you just did that.” My mother said, practically out of breath. “If I had told you that I was going to do it then you would have stopped me.” I said. “Because Alpha Calvin is not going to stop looking for us. He is going to come after us and it will be even worse when he finds us. We don’t even know where we’re going.” Mom said. “Louisiana.” I said. “What?” She asked, looking at me confused. “We’re going to Louisiana. Alpha Kane at the Hidden Moon Pack.” I said.

So this is how the mate bond feels. A rush of energy, a pull like gravity tightening around us, and an almost maddening awareness of the other person. I wasn’t about to let it sway me though. Sure, the man in front of me is ridiculously perfect, but I wasn’t some love-struck fool who’d drop everything at the first spark of fate. I had a life, plans, and a fiancé waiting for me upstairs. I raised an eyebrow, forcing myself to stay calm even as my heart raced. “Take a number and get in line, sweetheart,” I said coolly, flashing the engagement ring on my finger in front of his gray eyes. “I’m otherwise occupied right now.” …Five years later, when I pushed the door open, my mate remained motionless on a leather couch, his piercing gaze boring into me with a cold detachment that sent shivers down my spine. He leaned back, the casualness of the gesture at odds with the intensity in his eyes. His arms rested lazily on the backrest, but there was nothing relaxed about him. His body was coiled tight, like a predator ready to pounce, and the air between us crackled with tension. “Is my number finally up?” he asks, his tone laced with bitter amusement. “My dear mate.” The words sting, but I can’t deny the truth in them. He is my last chance.

“What do you think you’re doing? Let me go!” I hissed in fear. Someone might see us like this. “Happily married? I don’t think that’s the case,” he said instead of releasing me. His voice carried anger now. “I’m a married woman!” My voice trembled with fear and nervousness as I struggled, but it was useless. He easily caught both of my hands in one of his. “Married, yes. But not happily,” he said, not caring about my desperate pulling. “Please… let me go. Someone will see us,” I pleaded in a low, shaking voice. “You have beautiful eyes,” he said suddenly, his voice deep and strange, making my pulse quicken. Marceline never imagined she would experiment with betrayal. But after seeing her husband tangled in the arms of her closest friend, she let herself taste what it felt like to sin. What began as one night of reckless desire soon turned into many nights of fiery passion and dangerous obsession—an affair she could not escape. Yet even while indulging in forbidden pleasure, Marceline swore never to grant her husband what he wanted. Divorce. Philip would never be free. Anastasia would never have the happiness of standing by his side. If they wanted to play with her heart, she would play with their lives. In this game of marriage, passion, and betrayal...only she decides who wins.