Off Game The Batter

Our family road trip ended in a cliffside plunge. The Moon Goddess told us that to survive, we must enter the werewolf world and conquer the cruelest Alpha in existence. Only by obtaining the Alpha’s "Token of the Blood Oath" could our family be reborn. My cousin Chloe, brimming with confidence, chose the identity of the "Savior." She attempted to replicate the "White Moonlight"—the lost love—from the Alpha's memories. Meanwhile, the "Spectators" from this world were blowing up the chat stream: "This family is interesting. Much smarter than the last batch." "As long as one of them gets the Token, they all resurrect. I’m betting on the blonde hottie." "For sure. The way that Alpha looks at her? His favorability is already maxed out." Just when we thought victory was in the bag, the next day brought devastating news. The first batch of family members who entered the instance were wiped out. And Cousin Chloe died the most gruesome death of them all. The tone of the chat instantly shifted to mockery and ridicule: "LMAO. Did they really think this was some fluffy romance novel? That’s the Rogue King who crawled out of a pile of corpses." "Forget his 'White Moonlight.' He wouldn't hesitate to kill his own Fated Mate."

Zaire Gibson spent years hating Sebastian Burkhart - the arrogant, charming captain of Milton Academy's football team. Their rivalry has always been explosive, from locker-room brawls to public fights that nearly got them suspended. But beneath Zaire's fury lies something he refuses to name... something that scares him more than losing a game. Sebastian, on the other hand, knows exactly what he feels, and it's killing him. He's been in love with Zaire for years, forced to hide it behind smirks, taunts, and bruised knuckles. Every fight, every insult, every stolen glance only pulls him deeper into the boy who will never love him back. But when one charged night tears the line between enemies and something else entirely, both boys are forced to face the truth: maybe what's between them was never hate at all.

GUIECO CLAN SERIES #3 Kenshane Guieco, an International School teacher and a secret agent from the Guieco Clan, finds herself facing karma for having once played dirty to achieve her desires. Unbeknownst to everyone, years ago in New York City, she was betrayed by her ex-boyfriend, who got involved with her best friend. In response, she sought revenge by using the most attractive guy from her college, Faller Coleman. She successfully executed her plan and, subsequently, returned to the Philippines to put it all behind her. However, fate, with its mischievous twists, reunited her with Faller Coleman, this time as colleagues and co-agents. It was in this new context that she began to fall deeply in love with him. She understood that she might never be forgiven, and Faller might never want her again due to her past college mistake. Yet, she continued to pursue him. How far is she willing to go to win back his heart? Will she persevere in her feelings, or will she give up?

Heartbreak is supposed to kill a wolf’s spirit, but Aria Vale refuses to die quietly. Humiliated before her entire pack when her fated mate publicly rejects her, Aria returns home, shattered and furious, only to find a black envelope waiting on her bed. Inside lies an invitation to a deadly challenge known only as The Game: “Survive, and win what your heart desires most.” With nothing left to lose, Aria enters a realm beyond her world, an ancient castle suspended between life and death, where each dawn brings a new trial of survival. Competitors vanish one by one, hunted by the magic that governs the Game. But not everyone is what they seem. One contestant, a charming, infuriatingly optimistic wolf named Kael, seems more interested in keeping her alive than winning himself. His warmth disarms her, his smiles irritate her, and his secrets could destroy them both. Now Aria must survive the trials, outsmart the goddess who created them, and decide what freedom truly means: breaking her bond to the mate who betrayed her, or risking everything for the wolf who was never supposed to love her.

“Why did you buy me, especially for such a huge amount? There is no way you could possibly want me when I am carrying the child of another man. Wait…. You could not possibly want me because…” the last words remained stuck in Kyra’s throat. She swallowed thickly and dread curled in the pit of her stomach as she stared at the handsome face of a rumored ruthless Alpha Anton. *** It is one thing to find your mate, it is another for your mate to want you back. All of Kyra’s life, she has been the rejected one and thought that things would be different when she finally finds her mate. Except that the moon goddess is one who likes to play games, Kyra gets mated to the enemy of her pack, Tristan. Kyra is shocked when her mate accepts her despite knowing she is the enemy's daughter, so she starts going out with him secretly, but that won’t last for long because she falls pregnant, and her father finds out about her escapades with Tristan. Tristan rejects her in the presence of her father and denies their child, leaving Kyra broken-hearted. He was only with her to destroy her father because of the feud between both packs. In anger, her father who has never cared for her decides to auction her off to the highest bidder. Broken, pregnant and in shame, Kyra is sold off to Alpha Anton. Kyra has never left home all her life and the first time she does, it is with a stranger who bought her. Kyra looks on her future with dread, not knowing what it holds for a pregnant and rejected woman like her.

She gave her submission to a stranger. He was never a stranger at all. Vivian Ashworth is the perfect executive assistant. Polished. Professional. Unflappable. Nobody knows about her secret life: the anonymous platform where she kneels for a Dom who calls himself Sir. For six months, he's commanded her through screens and encrypted messages, pushing her limits, learning her body, knowing things about her desires she's never told anyone. By day, she works for Alexander Kane—CEO of Kane Industries, demanding perfectionist, the kind of boss who makes assistants cry and competitors tremble. She hates him. She respects him. She definitely doesn't dream about him. Then Alexander says four words that shatter her world: "Or should I say... Velvet?" Her anonymous Dom. Her impossible boss. The same man. He's known who she was from the beginning. Every confession she typed in the dark. Every fantasy she whispered through her phone at 2 AM. Every time she begged for permission to come. He was testing her. Training her. Waiting. Now he wants to formalize everything. A contract. Total power exchange—at work and in his bed. No more hiding. No more pretending. Complete submission in exchange for complete care. She should refuse. She should run. She should report him to HR and never look back. Instead, she's kneeling in his penthouse, reading the contract, and realizing her body has already signed. But Alexander has enemies. His bitter ex-submissive knows their secret and wants revenge. The lines between professional and personal are blurring dangerously. And Vivian is discovering that surrender isn't the same as weakness—it's the most terrifying kind of strength. The contract is about to become a problem. Will she sign away her heart along with her submission? Or will the man behind the mask prove that control and love aren't mutually exclusive?

A secret society of widows. A cold billionaire with a deadly past. One woman sent to seduce him... and destroy him. When Genevieve Holloway buries her husband, she thinks the worst is behind her. But the black-veiled woman at the funeral of her husband says otherwise. “You’ve been chosen.” Drawn into a shadowy society of grieving wives turned silent assassins, Genevieve is given one final task before she can walk free: infiltrate the life of Dominic Rourke—the enigmatic tech billionaire tied to her husband’s mysterious death—and expose the truth. Her mission is clear: seduce him. Infiltrate him. Ruin him. But Dominic Rourke is nothing like she expected. Cold. Calculating. Unreachable. And he’s never let any woman get close—until her. Worse still, his five-year-old daughter clings to Genevieve like a lost soul, whispering secrets she shouldn’t know. Secrets about her dead mother… and the club Genevieve now serves. The deeper Genevieve sinks into Dominic’s world, the more dangerous her own becomes. The women she trusted have blood on their hands. The man she was sent to destroy might be innocent. And the lies that bind them all go deeper than any grave. Genevieve begins to develop feelings for the man she’s sent to ruin, and he sees himself letting go of his cold nature to make her happy and find her husband’s killer. In a game of power, seduction, and betrayal, only one can survive. And Genevieve must decide: Is she the hunter or the hunted? Will she be Dominic’s ruin, or will she become his everything?

To afford train tickets home for New Year's Eve, I searched for a part-time job and stumbled into a livestream that was practically throwing money at the chat. A young woman in a silk robe rested her chin on her hand. Behind her, a villa glowed under expensive lighting that reflected off polished marble floors. "Being kept in here is suffocating," she said in a voice that mixed boredom with sweetness. "My sponsor gives me more money than I can spend. Help me out. Take some off my hands." Cash drops flashed across the screen one after another. I tapped as fast as I could, my heart hammering. A few large ones landed in my account. I was close. One more would cover both my ticket and my boyfriend's. The streamer leaned closer to the camera. "He keeps saying my tear mole looks like his girlfriend's," she said, her mouth twisting with disgust. "So unlucky. Of all things, I had to match with some broke girl." My finger slipped. I had a tear mole under my eye in the same spot. The live chat flooded with questions. [How is the sponsor's girlfriend broke?] The streamer gave a short snort and reapplied her lipstick, as if correcting a minor flaw. "He's just messing around. He tricked her into 200,000 dollars in debt. She's so stupid she works multiple jobs to help him pay it off." A chill settled in my chest. My boyfriend also owed 200,000 dollars. She continued, her tone light, "The funniest part? He slept with me for three days. When he left, I asked if he was giving her a taste of honey." She smiled cruelly. "He said all he has to do is claim he's going to work a construction site hauling rebar. The idiot will feel guilty and deliver food all night. So he won't need to please her." Another large cash drop flashed across the screen. The total reached the exact amount I needed. My phone rang. Benjamin's name lit up the display. When I answered, his voice sounded worn down, as if it had scraped against concrete. "Via, we still don't have enough for the tickets," he said. "I hauled rebar and made a little over 40 dollars. I'm heading home now."

Interior designer Isla Moretti has always been invisible to billionaire Kai Westbrook, or so she thought. When danger from her past resurfaces, Kai makes her an offer she can't refuse: marry him. It's purely practical. A business arrangement with an expiration date. But the more time they spend together, the more Isla realizes Kai's been keeping secrets. And some of them involve her.

During a family dinner, I, Ingrid Sutherland, bring up divorce. My husband, Samuel Ziegler, lets out a cold laugh in exasperation. "Are you mad just because I peeled a banana for Whitney two days ago? I can't believe you're still throwing a tantrum over that now! She's my sister-in-law. What's wrong if I show her a little bit more care?" He did the same thing in my past life. Ever since his older brother, Charles Ziegler, got seriously hurt, Samuel always put me last and prioritized taking care of the supposedly weaker Whitney Lovette. Whenever I voiced my dissatisfaction, he would criticize me while standing on an irrefutable moral high ground. He would say, "Why can't you be more understanding and cut Whitney some slack?" When it was Whitney's birthday, she proposed going on a skiing trip. But then, an avalanche hit us. Samuel protected her the whole time and led her down the mountain. However, he left me to die in the avalanche. It was then I realized that Whitney was not just his sister-in-law, but also the one he loved. When I remain silent, Samuel chuckles derisively. "You'd better not regret it." It's like he's sure I'm just throwing a tantrum. In one fluid movement, he glides a pen across the bottom of the page, confident and composed. But this time, I'm really giving up on him for good.