Mother Flame

Prior to that day, she had never been so hopeless in her life. In any case, when she was in the most humiliating circumstance, the nonsensical man she met ended up being the legend of M city. He was rich, amazing, attractive, and he had a unique association with her… She was orchestrated to go on a prearranged meet-up. The two kids cried and called her: "Daddy beats us, help!" She hurried over in sweat, while the man was remunerating those two kids for their incredible acting abilities with huge drumsticks ... She indignantly said, "Alex, my prearranged meet-up has been obliterated by you!" The man said in a soft tone, "I'm the dad of the kid. Assuming you need to get hitched, shouldn't I be the best option?"

Three months after my baby was born, I found out my husband, Joe, was cheating. The other woman? Hailey. Pregnant and smug. Joe actually got on his knees, begging for a divorce. I said yes. Until I could find a place, Joe's mom, Claudia, let me stay at the house. "Hailey," Claudia said, "you'll handle all the household responsibilities now." Hailey, all fake enthusiasm, chirped, "I'll take good care of this family!" Claudia replied, "Great. You'll start your day at five making breakfast. When Luca's hungry, you'll feed him and change his diapers. Once he's down for a nap, clean the house, grocery shop, and prep lunch. Laundry in the afternoon, tea service mid-day, then bathe Luca and cook dinner. After that, you'll put him to bed." Hailey's face? Priceless.

At the banquet hall, I refuse to let my adopted twin pups eat the walnut cake. Ivana Lamont—the childhood sweetheart of my mate, Luther Hardwick—chokes up dramatically. She cries accusingly, "Yara, they may not be yours biologically, but you can't abuse them! Why won't you even let them have a slice of cake?" I'm just about to explain that the twins are allergic to nuts, but they point at me and complain in aggrieved voices. "Mommy often doesn't give us food. We never have enough to eat!" With that, I'm unceremoniously driven out of the banquet hall by the host. When I go to look for my mate to talk about it, I accidentally overhear his conversation with a friend. "Alpha Luther, it's been eight years. Are you still not going to mark Yara?" "There's no rush. I'll wait until the kids are a little older. We love each other very much, so it's fine even if I don't mark her." His friend responds disapprovingly, "You've been hiding from her that the twins are actually your and Ivana's pups. Aren't you afraid she may leave in anger if she finds out?" Luther shakes his head and replies with certainty, "She won't. Yara is an orphan, so she has no family. If she leaves me, where else can she go?" The ugly truth causes me to freeze on the spot. It turns out the pups I've loved for eight years were born to my mate and another she-wolf. What I thought was a happy life is nothing but a cold, heartless deception! I touch my belly, thinking of the pup I just conceived. My tears fall like a relentless downpour. In the shadows, I say inaudibly, "You're wrong, Luther. In fact, I found my birth parents three days ago. I just haven't had the chance to tell you. But it doesn't matter now because you don't need to know about that anymore." I have Luther sign the mate bond dissolution agreement before finalizing my withdrawal from the Sharp Teeth pack. Two days later, I give both my mate and the pups to Ivana. With the pup that Luther has never known or laid his eyes on, I disappear from his world forever.

On my mother’s seventieth birthday party, I ran around handling various matters, paying out of pocket and putting in all the work. I did not even have the time to sit down and drink a sip of water. When I finally found the time to surprise her, I prepared eighty-eight grams of gold jewelry as her gift. Just as I was about to give it to her, I heard her talking to the other relatives. “See that? My daughter is truly my sweetheart. She woke up so early this morning to bake me this cake. I wouldn’t trade this cake for gold.” Our relatives immediately began praising my younger sister, Jessie Radley, for being so devoted. Only a couple of them pushed back. “Why aren’t you praising your eldest daughter, Mary? I heard she handled the entire birthday party.” “Tch. She only knows how to muddle through things. None of it had been done to my liking. Jessie is the good one. She got up at seven in the morning just to bake me this cake.” I turned around and walked away from the doorway. Since she loved Jessie so much, she could pay for this birthday party, worth eighty thousand dollars.

On the verge of a great war between the realms of humans and of dragons, Larice Whitewind, a female dragon hunter who has an extreme fear of fire, journeys out to find the dragon who burned her village and her parents alive; but when she realizes who the real enemy is, she must learn to face her greatest fear before she loses all the people she cares about ... including the "dragon" she loves. *** Meanwhile, Raeherys Alagor, the last Hyborn of the Dragon Realm who's afraid of making his own decisions, travels out to the human realm to find the Orb of Phlareus, the only heart of magic that can save them from the humans trying to annihilate their realm; but when he realizes that not all humans are bad, he has to learn how to make his own decisions to lead his brethren before he loses the entire dragon race for good.

Megan Starks and Damon Zahan are two strangers suffering same fate -heartbreak from previous relationships- and need company to while away time. They click and hit things off pretty quick: a journey from the bar to the bed. No strings attached. But then, what is supposed to be a night stand brews pregnancy, driving Megan to search for her baby Daddy. She is dire need of financial assistance as her search for her Baby Daddy proves futile. Desperate and left with no choice, she applies to be a surrogate and she hits her jackpot when she is taken. But what she doesn't know is that her Baby Daddy and employer are not only related but are sworn enemies. And when their paths cross, she is stuck between choosing who will father her kids.

The Mother That Fed the Dark is a study of inherited guilt, ritual, and the long reach of a mother's choices. Amahle, a woman who practices the old rituals in secret, believes that her younger son , Sipho, was born as a spiritual "door" to be sacrificed for the sake of power and protection. During the ritual she performed , she got interrupted by the older son, Thando, who died instead. While the community believes Thando's death was accidental, Amahle knows better: it was the wrong son who died, and the ritual was left unfinished. Drenched in fear and resentment , Amahle raises Sipho as if he is the love of her life, while at the same time working to destroy him. Behind closed doors, she feeds the supernatural force from the failed ritual, which weakens Sipho, making him fearful and dependent. As Sipho grows, so do the misfortunes that follow him, and an unseen entity begins to present itself-first in dreams and whispers, then in the physical world . What we see is that the ritual did not bind to the house but to Sipho's bloodline. When Sipho leaves home, the haunting grows stronger. After Amahle's death, Sipho finds her secret notebooks , which reveal to him the shocking truth: that his brother's death was a mistake and, in fact, Sipho was never meant to die but to be the vehicle for the ritual, which he indeed is. Setting the family home on fire brings only temporary relief , but the curse does not break. In the final revelation, Sipho realizes that he is not the offering but the keeper, the living portal through which harmony, hardship, and magical power flow. Unlike his mother, he comes to the realization that he has a choice.

As the most eligible bachelor in Rivenhold, Alex Ye is engrossed in his work and shows no interest in women. One day, due to family pressure, Mr. Ye reluctantly went on a blind date. He had to convince himself, 'I might as well get married, have a child, and live a normal life.’ However, after the date, he was informed that he has a three-year-old daughter. Alex was shocked: “How can this be?!" ----------- One morning, Michelle Xia awoke to find a three-year-old child running a fever beside her, as well as a pile of messy overdue bills scattered around. Staring at her bank book, with a balance barely in double digits, Michelle realized she didn't even have enough to get the child to a doctor. Deep in thought, Michelle weighed her limited options. It didn't take her long to come to a decision. "To avoid the child's fever causing any brain damage," she mused with a hint of mischief, "perhaps I'll just have to interrupt the secondary male lead, who might be on a date with the heroine right now (^_^)."

Paige I learned a long time ago that the only person I could rely on is myself. I’ve spent the last few years building up my defenses; these walls are not coming down for anyone. Not even him. Colin Blackburn. Alpha. Sinfully hot, arrogant son of a… well, you get the drift. I’ll do what I have to do and become his Luna. I’ll give him my body, but his grubby paws will not get anywhere near my heart. Colin The universe is laughing at me. It has to be. Why else would it pair me with Paige Bradshaw? She’s insufferable, pushing me at every turn. But being Alpha means I never back down from a challenge. No matter how insurmountable it may be. The thing about wolves… we’re mated for life. She’s mine whether she likes it or not. I’m fighting to save her life, but I fear the fight for her heart will be a much tougher feat…

She was cursed by blood, bound by fear… and loved by the one man her bloodline said she could never have. Aria Hale spent her life hiding from the truth of her lineage until one night of forbidden passion with Alpha Caden of the Darkfang Crest stripped him of his wolf and left her carrying a secret that could be the start of a war. For two years, she stayed in the shadows, raising their son alone, haunted by the night that changed everything. But when her ruthless brother, Victor, the same man responsible for the death of Caden’s parents seeks to destroy the Darkfang Crest, Aria's life becomes more torn apart and complicated. Bound by a six-month contract marriage to Alpha Caden, who doesn’t recognize her as the woman from his past. Aria walks a tightrope of lies, love, and looming danger. On the other hand, Kael, Caden’s second-in-command, harbors a dangerous truth: he knows who Aria really is… As her secret threatens to explode, her brother closes in with his hunger and desperation for power. If the secrets locked within gets exposed would the truth stop Alpha Caden from doing the unthinkable? Or will he raise his blade against his own blood?