My First Love

Gagawin ni Bivianne Cordova ang lahat para lang maging isang perfect na anak. She'll aim for the top all the time, kahit na sino pa ang makabangga niya. Academics? Sisiguraduhin niyang hinding-hindi na siya matatalo pa ni Yeshua Tada sa number one spot sa buong school. Sports? Hinding-hindi na niya hahayaang matalo pa ng Fahrenheit Academy sa futsal. And she'll do all that to please her mom. Ngunit nang ipakilala ni Zenith Cordova sa kaniya ang isang lalaki, nagkaroon ng kalituhan sa kaniyang puso. She didn't want to date that guy with marriage in mind. Dahil isa lang ang gusto niyang makasama at pakasalan. Makakaya niya kayang suwayin ang ina sa unang pagkakataon para makasama si Oxem? O susuko na lang ito sa mga pagsubok na kanilang kahaharapin?

Eidolon Avenue: Where the secretly guilty go to die. One building. Five floors. Five doors per floor. Twenty-five nightmares feeding the hunger lurking between the bricks and waiting beneath the boards. The sequel to Eidolon Avenue: The First Feast (“a great read...powerful and jarring” - Cemetery Dance) returns to the voracious Eidolon as it savors The Second Feast. A narcoleptic man in apartment 2A battles a vengeful past determined to rob him of everything as he runs from the barbaric disaster of a delusional love. A woman in 2B, reinventing herself to please a callous boyfriend, discovers the horrors that wait in the shadows of her self-renovation. The man in 2C, a teacher at the nearby Catholic girl’s school, collapses beneath the brutal consequences of his lecherous desires. An older woman in 2D, after decades dedicated to the church, is cornered at last by the grisly carnage beating at the hollow center of her faith. And a college student in 2E, hungry to escape an ignored life of invisible anonymity, finds herself captured between the pages of a ravenous book. All thrown into their own private hell as every cruel choice, every drop of spilled blood, every silent, complicit moment of cowardice is remembered, resurrected and relived to feed the ancient evil that lives on Eidolon Avenue. ©️ Crystal Lake Publishing

My husband, Mark Thompson, and I went hiking. After eating some wild berries I picked, he was poisoned and died. When I got home, a woman named Sarah Miller and her son, Tommy Miller, showed up at my door. It turned out Mark had given them our house and car. On top of that, he owed them a huge amount of money. I ended up giving them all the savings I had. To care for my sick mother-in-law, Judith Thompson, I worked three jobs. I was surviving on basic meals like bread and butter. After years of exhausting work, I collapsed in the hospital. Judith told the doctors to stop my treatment. Just as I was about to die, Mark walked into the ward with Sarah and Tommy in his arms. He tossed five dollars at me. “Thanks for taking care of my mom all these years.” That was when I realized Mark had faked his death just to be with Sarah and their love child. When I opened my eyes again, I was back to the day we went hiking together.

Sa araw ng kasal ko, dumating ang first love ng fiance ko sa wedding ceremony suot ang parehong haute couture gown na gaya ng sa akin. Pinanood ko silang tumayo ng magkasama sa entrance, binabati ang mga bisita na para bang sila ang bride at groom. Nanatili akong mahinahon, pinuri ko sila, sinabi ko na bagay sila sa isa’t isa—maganda at matalino, itinadhana sila para sa isa’t isa. Napaluha ang babae at umalis. Gayunpaman, ang fiance ko, ay hindi nagdalawang-isip na ipahiya ako sa harap ng lahat, inakusahan niya ako na mapaghiganti at makitid ang pag-iisip. Noong matapos ang wedding banquet, umalis siya para sa dapat sana ay honeymoon namin—at siya ang kasama niya. Hindi ako nakipagtalo o gumawa ng eksena. Sa halip, palihim akong nag-book ng appointment para sa abortion.

"Vier.... lo kenapa bisa gini?" pekik Jeania melihat Xavier terkulai lemah terguyur ribuan air hujan. Xavier sudah kehilangan jalan hidupnya, orang yang dia sayang sudah tenang di sisi Tuhan dan orang yang ingin dimilikinya dengan segenap jiwa, kini sudah nyaman berada dipelukan orang lain. Kedatangan Jeania saat ini membuat hati Xavier samakin tersayat. Jeania mempunyai alasan mengapa ia harus berada di sisi Xavier sekarang kalaupun itu hanya bersifat sementara. Jeania merengkuh tubuh Xavier lalu mendekapnya dalam pelukan... hati Xavier seperti merasa tenang namun tetap ada sayatan yang datang. Siapakah Jeania sebenarnya?? Mengapa Xavier sampai begitu kehilangan arah hidupnya??

"Don’t worry, Sister," Lorenzo says. "Our dirty little secret is safe with me. Infact, it is already forgotten. It wasn't even that memorable. Just a few lousy sex." I gape at him, not wanting to believe the words coming out of his mouth. This isn't the Lorenzo I knew. It's like he changed to this cruel bastard standing in front of me. What happens next is out of character. It's like someone takes over my body and controls me. I don't even think about it, I just act. The slap I give to him across his face lands with a crack that draws the attention of passersby who murmur and point at us as they pass away, probably wondering who the crazy bitch is. I back away from Lorenzo in horror, my now throbbing palm held in my other hand like I just touched a hot pan. Lorenzo brings a hand to his cheek which is now spotting an angry red color and stares at me in shock then he laughs, the sound bitter and cutting through the still night's air. "When did Little Miss perfect get feisty?" He drops his hands and eyes me, a leering look in his eyes. "Maybe I shouldn't have been so quick to dump you." He rubs his jaws, still eying me. "Who knows, you might have brought this attitude to bed. It would have definitely made things more exciting." I hate him so much.

Mikalya Carnell, a woman born into a cursed pack where women are nothing but birthing machines. The first female alpha in the world. But to become the Alpha, she had to commit a crime that haunts her an eternity later. Now she a lone wolf, a rogue that has no place but the one she made on her own and she’s happy being left alone. But an Alpha can’t stay alone forever without forming a pack and inevitably, she begins drawing wolves to her. Abhay Raichand is a photographer who meets this mysterious woman in the deserts of Rajasthan, who looks like a foreigner and is instantly drawn to her. But whenever he is around her, he feel the chill of the mountains and a reoccurring dream of his impending death. However, despite the sense of danger, he cannot help but continue to fall in love with her. Will Mikalya finally settle down and let Abhay into her life? And will Abhay be able to convince her that she was chosen as the Alpha for a reason?

Alpha Ethan's first love, Sarah, died unexpectedly just days before their marking ceremony. His grief was so profound, it sent shockwaves through the entire Duskrend pack. I spent my youth walking beside him, helping him crawl out of that darkness. And finally, when he was ready to love again, he chose to mark me. In the first two years after he marked me, I got pregnant twice. Both times ended in miscarriage. Ethan, heart aching, told me he couldn't bear to see me suffer through childbirth again. That he didn't want me to endure that kind of pain anymore. But in the third year, I conceived again. On the way to see the pack healer for a routine checkup, I was attacked by a wild beast. My wolf, desperate to protect me, burned through most of her life force holding the creature off. Ethan arrived just in time and carried me to the pack hospital himself. But the healer shook his head. We had lost too much time. The pup couldn't be saved. Worse, my ability to bear pups would be permanently damaged because my wolf was too injured to ever carry life again. My mother clung to me, sobbing. Ethan stood in the corner and smiled. "Joy just can't have pups anymore," he said. "But Sarah—Sarah lost her life because of people like you." Then he looked at my mother, his voice edged with contempt. "You were the one who forced Sarah to abort. You watched her—an Omega without a wolf—scream herself to death. So now, your daughter shall feel that pain too." Five years after severing our mate bond, Ethan had become the most powerful Lycan Chairman the region had ever seen—courted, admired, endlessly celebrated. And me? I was working at an underground club. I was dressed in scraps of fabric, smiling until my cheeks ached, bowing and pouring drinks for whoever walked into the VIP room. There shouldn't have been any reason for our paths to cross again. But Ethan held me tight, eyes red and refusing to let go— “Say it,” he whispered, voice breaking. “Call me your mate.”

"It's not me, please believe me." Ashley Patterson stubbornly looked at the people in the car, it was pouring rain, and the car door was wet with rainwater, revealing a cold face. Ashley's whole body trembled. She stood outside the car, one door away, screaming. "Listen to my explanation." The car door suddenly opened. Before Ashley could be happy, a strong force violently pulled her into the car. She fell on top of him, and his white shirt immediately soaked a large area. “Milan Elise, the gangsters who killed Gina were not arranged by me…” As soon as Ashley opened her mouth, a long and strong hand squeezed her chin mercilessly, and from the top of her head came his magnetic voice. "Do you like me that much?" His voice was clear and cold, faintly smelling of cigarettes - a taste that belonged to him. "Huh?" Ashley was a bit confused, she liked him, and the whole world knew. Why does he suddenly ask like that now? The man squeezed Ashley's chin, his other arm was long and strong, and his palm gently touched her cold, wet cheek from the rain. Ashley got lost in his gentle eyes, she seemed to hear this man ask. "Is it cold?" Suddenly, a cold breath radiated from his body. He said coldly: "Ashley, do you like me that much? Like me so much that you would kill Gina?" The coldness from the bottom of his heart immediately spread to her whole body. Ashley immediately woke up and couldn't help but smile bitterly... She immediately thought, how could he give her such gentleness? This is not gentleness but just a devil's smile.

Sa murang edad ni Clariza ay natutunan nyang umibig. Subalit ang una niyang pag-big ay hindi katulad ng pangkaraniwan sapagkat hindi niya nakita si Joseph. Sa pamamagitan lamang ng text sila nag-usap at sa ganoong paraan niya ito minahal. Nagpakilala si Joseph kay Clariza bilang pump attendant ng isang gasoline station. Lingid sa kaalaman ng dalaga na nag-iisang tagapagmana ang binata ng pamilya Villa Fuente at Monreal. Itinago ng binata ang kanyang estado sa buhay upang sukatin ang pag-ibig sa kanya ng dalaga. Naging tapat naman ang pag-iibigan nila pero isang araw ay nagbago iyong lahat. Dahil sa isang mabigat na dahilan ay nakipaghiwalay si Joseph kay Clariza. Labis na ikinadurog ng puso ng dalaga ang biglaang pakikipaghiwalay sa kanya ni Joseph. Mula noon ay nangako si Clariza sa sarili niya na hindi na siya iibig pang muli. Mabilis na lumipas ang sampung taon. Lingid sa kaalaman ni Clariza ay matagal na siyang nagtatrabaho sa lalaking nanakit sa kanya. Si Engr. Joseph Kristian Monreal Villa Fuente. Isang kilalang inhinyero at isang multi-billionaire. Tatlong taon siyang hindi umuwi sa Pilipinas dahil sa kagagawan ni Venus, ang babaeng sumira ng maganda nilang relasyon ni Clariz. Sa kanyang pagbabalik sa Pilipinas ay dumeretso siya sa resort na pag-aari niya. Nakilala niya nang personal ang supervisor na laging ipinagmamalaki sa kanya ng kanyang assistant. Sa unang pagtatama ng paningin nila Joseph at Clariza at sa simpleng ngiti ng dalaga ay agad na nahumaling ang binata. Dala ng kuryusidad ay natuklasan ng binata na ang babaeng napupusuhan niya ay siya rin ang babaeng iniwan at sinaktan niya sampung taon na ang nakalipas. Pano makukuhang muli ni Joseph ang puso ni Clariza? May pangalawang pagkakataon pa ba ang kanilang magmamahalan gayong hindi na handang muling umibig ang dalaga?