Notebook Screen Flickering

At three in the morning, I stare at the unknown transaction record on my phone screen, my fingertips turning cold. The record is for a payment of 2980 dollars, made for an executive suite at the Wisteria. The time of payment was 8:00 pm last night. My husband, Tristan Griffin, is a detective. He was on the night shift last night. I clutch my phone, my knuckles turning white as I text Tristan, "I just saw your credit card bill for a hotel stay last night. What's up with that?" His reply is instant. "Our team had to work overtime at the last minute, so they put us up at the hotel. I forgot to tell you about it." I scan the text and sputter. The Wisteria is located in the western region of the city, which is on the other end from where his squad is stationed. I don't press him for more details and click on the bank app on my phone. Having found the vendor's address through the payment record, I sent it to my best friend, Rowena Sheffield, who works as a private detective. She replies instantly with an "OK" emoji and follows up with, "Give me a second. I'll find out everything you want in a jiffy!"

Five years after I rejected my mate, Shawn, he had become the Lycan King — and most importantly, he now had a beautiful mate. During the Werewolf Alumni Reunion, someone suddenly brought me up. “What’s Kendra been busy with? She hasn’t shown up at a single reunion in years.” Someone sneered. “She’s too busy seducing alphas from other packs — on airplanes.” “On airplanes?” “Yeah. She’s a werewolf flight attendant with FullMoon Airways. They cater to alphas and lunas from all kinds of packs. I’ve seen her on board before. You wouldn’t believe how flattering she acts around those prestigious wolves.” “Really? Kendra’s a werewolf attendant? No surprise — she’s always dreamed of being claimed by some single alpha.” Hearing that, Shawn, sitting at the center of the table, flinched slightly. His fists tightened. “A werewolf attendant?” he murmured. “Yeah, Shawn... but haven’t you gotten over her by now? It’s been years.” He froze for a second, then quickly composed himself and held his mate’s hand beside him. Everyone’s attention turned to the flickering moonstone ring on her finger. “I’ve long forgotten her,” he said flatly. “Come to my bonding ceremony next month. There will be a sacred ritual at the temple.” “Wow...” Applause filled the hall. But only I, whose soul had been drifting in the air all along, slowly lowered my head upon hearing the news.

When I see someone asking for help in an assignment related to the entrepreneur course on the college forum, I join the group chat using a student account. I even help refine several financial models and market strategies because of my job's nature. Everyone in the group chat is excited, to say the least. Every day, they keep calling me a genius while urging me to improve the details of the whole assignment. Two months later, the assignment's quality is very close to perfection. But the group chat suddenly goes silent. I scroll through the chat history out of curiosity, only to find out that the students have already created another group chat. "That senior isn't an official teammate of ours. Let's not tell her about us using this assignment for an upcoming competition." "Precisely! Our names are the only ones on the list! She'd better not steal the credit during tomorrow's finals!" "With one less person involved, we each get an additional tens of thousands of dollars' worth of rewards!" As I look at the screen, I just let out a soft chuckle. It appears that this isn't an assignment at all. But unfortunately for these students, I happen to be one of the judges sitting at the judging station tomorrow.

Labeled a "Dormant Omen" and sold into a Mate-Contract to the lethal Alpha of the Montgomery Pack, Avery has spent years as a shadow in Hudson Montgomery’s glittering, cruel world. She was the mute trophy, the wife who couldn't shift, the girl who loved a man who only saw her as a political necessity. But when Hudson’s favored mistress returns and the pack turns its teeth toward her, Avery realizes that staying in the Silver Ridge will cost her more than just her pride—it will cost her the secret life growing inside her. One final signature. One last look. One clean break. "You want your freedom, Avery?" Hudson’s voice was a low, terrifying vibration against her skin, his hand bruising the small of her back. "Sign the scroll. Walk out of my den. But remember—once the bond is severed, I stop being your protector. I become your hunter." Avery’s fingers flashed in the flickering torchlight, her eyes burning with a defiance he’d never seen. I would rather be hunted in the wild than forgotten in your bed. The pain is a jagged blade. The divorce is a death sentence. But the hunger... the hunger is a fever. As the Silver Ridge teeters on the brink of war, Hudson realizes too late that the quiet girl he discarded wasn't a sheep—she was the moon that held his tides in check. Now, he’ll tear the world apart to reclaim her, but Avery is no longer playing by his rules.

"What am I?" Diana whispered, staring unbelievably at the lightning bolts flickering from her fingertips. "Why am I different?" "You aren't just different, Diana." Freya said, and she cupped Diana's face and stared into her eyes. "You are special, and you are exactly what this realm needs to restore balance." "What if I can't do it?" Diana asked worriedly, closing her palms to contain the power trying to break out. "You must try, because this is only the beginning." Freya looked to the distance, her eyes reflecting the dying light. "Enemies will arise, and they will try to destroy you." "They will have to go through us." A deep voice spoke behind them. Diana turned and her gaze connected with three handsome men. Alden, Asher and Axel. Her mates. ... Diana's world is shattered by a revelation that shakes the very foundation of her existence: Alden, Asher, and Axel, the brothers she's grown up and fallen in love with, are not her real siblings, but her destined mates. Struggling to come to terms with this unexpected discovery, Diana finds herself thrust into a dangerous game of deception and betrayal. As former allies become adversaries, and sinister plots threaten to tear apart the bonds between her and her mates, Diana must navigate a treacherous path where every step could lead to her downfall. With danger lurking around every corner, Diana's fate hangs in the balance. Can she defy destiny and carve out her own future, or will she succumb to the forces working against her, plunging into an abyss of uncertainty and despair?

"Did you really kiss the Alpha?" Gary asked me and turned to the man bathing in the darkness. "Is she the one you were telling me about?” "Yes," he coldly said and turned around, walking away. "Please," I begged, crying. "Alpha Asher, please. I'm sorry for what I did. I didn't mean to, please forgive me.” I begged, crying profusely and Gary looked at me, pity flickering in his eyes. "Please, Alpha. Let's help her. She could be useful to you one day,” he suggested and Alpha Asher stopped in his tracks. I almost shot Gary a dirty glare. What did he mean by useful? I didn't leave my pack to come here and serve another fucking Alpha! The Alpha I kissed at that! I was about to ask what he meant by useful but the pain in my leg reminded me of what was at stake. To serve him for a while and then be free, or to die and not be able to do anything again. "Useful?” Alpha Asher asked, breaking my thoughts. "Yes, yes. I'll do whatever you want. Just help me, please. I don't want to die." I begged. "Anything I want?” he asked again, smirking. ”What could this man be thinking of that's making him smirk?” I mumbled to myself, trying to distract myself from his attractive lips. ”Answer me, woman. Would you do anything I want?”

In the final year of my bond with vampire lord Saul, the curse of our pact struck, and I was overwhelmed by agony, but my lord was nowhere to be found. He had gone out. He left me to suffer. Alone. When the door finally creaked open the next morning, I looked up through bloodshot eyes—hope flickering like a dying candle. But he wasn't alone. He carried an unconscious woman in his arms, her head resting against his chest like she belonged there. Ignoring me as I curled up on the floor in pain, he first carried the woman to his room and called the old butler anxiously. "Jacinda's passed out. Hurry! Check if she's all right!" The old butler cautiously pleaded on my behalf, hoping our lord could save me first, but Saul frowned and interrupted: "Jacinda is in danger, and I have no mind to drink her blood now. She just needs to pull through herself. Believe me, she won't die. Right now, the priority is to save Jacinda." A frown and a glance in my direction was his only response to the old butler's desperate plea. With my only hope shattered, I clenched my teeth and slashed several long wounds on my arms and hands to drain blood for self-rescue. After a long period of weak convulsions, the curse of the pact finally ended. I lay in a pool of blood, sending a message with my last faint consciousness. "I promise I will leave him."

"Buzz… Buzz…" Alexia's cell phone vibrated as she sniffed then reached out for her phone which was in her side pocket and when she took it out she realized it was an unknown number. She furrowed her eyebrows. "Who in the world is this?" she soliloquized then swiped her thumb across the screen taking the phone to her left ear. "Hello… am I speaking with Alexia Chaney?" A deep male voice came through the phone as Alexia sat upright. "Yes, this Is Alexia Chaney," She clears her throat. "I heard you can play the guitar and I hope you will like a day's job, you will be paid handsomely for it. Are you interested?" said the man again over the phone as Alexia blinked. "Okay, I am interested. What is the occasion and venue?" She asked. "SBE wine corporation will be launching a new wine tomorrow alongside the birthday celebration of the CEO, Richard Robertson, and there will be a night party at his Estate," The man said as Alexia's eyes popped wide open and she parted her lips. She couldn't believe she just accepted an invitation to perform for a man who just wrecked her show. "I will text you the address, first thing in the morning. Get prepared because it is a big party and Richard loves something exceptional," said the man as he hung up.

What happens when you accidentally send a text to your best friend's dad that was not meant to be for his eyes? Elona, who is eighteen, is on the cusp of a new chapter- her final year of high school. A dream she has her sights on becoming a model. But beneath her confident exterior lies a secret crush on someone unexpected- Mr. Crane, her best friend's father. Three years ago, after the tragic loss of his wife, Mr. Crane, a painfully handsome man, stands as a hardworking billionaire, a symbol of both success and unspoken pain. His world intersects with Elona's through her best friend, their shared street, and his friendship with her dad. One fateful day, a slip of a thumb changes everything. Elona accidentally sends Mr. Crane a series of revealing photos intended for her best friend. As he sits at the boardroom table, he receives the unexpected images. His gaze lingers on the screen, he has a choice to make. Will he confront the accidental message, risking a fragile friendship and potentially igniting emotions neither anticipated? Or will he grapple with his own desires in silence, seeking a way to navigate this uncharted territory without disrupting the lives around him? This age-gap, forbidden, slow burn, suspenseful romance is filled with angst and tension.

Everyone thought Isabelle Monroe was just a washed-up actress clinging to a loveless marriage. Her husband cheated. Her own son called the other woman “Mommy.” Still, she smiled through it all, desperately trying to fix her perfect family. Until the day both her husband and son told her she was a nuisance and they didn’t want her anymore. Thrown out of her own home, humiliated and replaced, Isabelle walks away with nothing but her pride. But just when the world erased her name, he appeared. Riven Thorne, a powerful, enigmatic and far too familiar man offers her comfort, a contract, and a cold little girl who won’t speak to anyone but her. He gives Isabelle another chance. Not just at motherhood... but at revenge, fame, and love. Now she’s back on screen, headlines are begging for her name, and the same people who mocked her are clawing to be on her side. She tells herself it’s all pretend… The husband. The marriage. But then… Her new daughter clings to her hand. Her son cries and calls her “Mommy” again. And her fake husband starts feeling all too real. Isabelle starts to wonder— Is this fate’s way of rewriting her story?