On Turning Ten By Billy Collins

During a critical heart transplant, my doctor husband insisted his intern assist despite her garish nail art compromising the sterile field. When I called her out, he abandoned the patient mid-surgery to comfort her. I begged him to return, but he snapped, "Giselle is upset. Can't you wait? This is nothing compared to her feelings." 40 minutes later, the patient bled out and died. Later, they discovered that he was our highly respected mayor and placed the blame on me. "If it weren't for you causing a scene and kicking us out of the operating room, the mayor wouldn't have bled to death. This is all your fault!" Defenseless, I was sentenced to life in prison, tortured, and died in agony. My husband and his intern walked down the aisle, enjoying their happy life. When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the day of that fateful surgery.

After six years together, Hansel Johnson comes to Miranda Sutton with an arm around his new lover and tells her he wants to break up. Miranda doesn't kick up a fuss. She packs her things, takes the exorbitant sum of money he gives her as compensation, and moves out without hesitation. Hansel's friends make bets on how long Miranda can stick it out this time—everyone in Jandersville knows that Miranda is madly in love with Hansel, after all. She loves him so much that she can cast aside her pride, dignity, and temper. They're sure she'll come begging for him to take her back in three days, at most. But when three days come and go… Hansel's the first to lose his composure. It's his first time giving in to Miranda. He calls her and says, "Have you had enough of this nonsense? If you have, you'd better come back." Unfortunately for him, he only hears a man chuckle on the other end of the line. "It's too late to change something once it's done, Mr. Johnson. There isn't anything in this world that can turn back time." "I'm looking for Miranda. Pass the phone to her!" Hansel snaps. "Sorry, but my girlfriend's too tired. She's just fallen asleep."

"Maybe you should spank me. I've been very, very, very naughty, sir." He chuckled, watching me go on all fours, in the middle of his office as he sat at his desk, typing away on an electronic keyboard. "You have, Miss Lenora," he smirked. "And I'm beginning to think my punishment has been too light Biting my lips like a puppy begging for a treat, I loved the sound of his voice dripping like honey. He leaned back into his chair and returned to his work, "Now get out. I've got test scripts to mark." Lenora's world crumbles when the man she has a sizzling passion for rejects her for her sister. Heartbroken, she escapes the painful situation by enrolling at Eldridge College, a distant university where she wouldn't have to face her backstabbing sister and the sexy-as-hell Professor CJ who tore her heart into shreds. What will happen when she's in her lecture hall and sees the new professor walk in, the same man who shattered her heart? Ignore her uncontrollable lust for him by pretending that he doesn't exist, or risk everything, defying the grave consequences and surrendering to the irresistible charm that CJ possesses.

"Go to hell, Richard." Karen Andrews thought those would be the last words she ever spoke to the man who destroyed her. The husband who called their unborn child "that thing" and threw her out like yesterday's trash. But three years later, she's no longer the broke housewife he discarded. She's Karen Andrews. CEO. Millionaire. A mother. And she just stole the biggest contract of Richard Palmer's career right from under his nose. Now Richard wants her back. He's seen their daughter. He knows what he lost. But Karen has rebuilt her life with Jason, a man who loves Sophie as his own and treats Karen like she deserves. She's finally found peace. Then Lena strikes. Richard's mistress-turned-obsession won't let Karen have her happy ending. Lena will burn down everything Karen built just to keep Richard's attention on the past instead of moving forward. When Karen's company teeters on the edge of collapse and her engagement falls apart under the pressure, she must decide: does she fight back with the same ruthless tactics that nearly destroyed her, or does she prove she's better than everyone who underestimated her? Because this time, it's not just about revenge. It's about protecting her daughter, saving her company, and proving that the woman Richard Palmer threw away was the best thing that ever happened to him.

“Where’s your fight now, wife?” Dominic's breath ghosted across my bare skin. “Let me go. I’m warning you,” I hissed, struggling against his wrist that held both my hands above my head. “Funny... Your upper and lower lips seem to be contradicting each other. I don’t know which to trust… maybe I should kiss both, see which one’s lying.” “Fuck you!” I spat—only it came out more like a moan I couldn’t control. “Yeah…” His hand tightened, holding me just enough to make my pulse pound. “Yeah… you will. You’ll beg for it.” “You'll scream it out to the world. Tell them who you belong to,” And it should’ve been a joke. A sick one. Because Dominic Cantrell wasn’t someone girls like me belonged to. He was the billionaire’s heir with a reputation that could ruin cities and rebuild them. I was a mere cleaner with a brother in debt. But when a series of mistakes; one fight, one night, one kiss; pulls us into a contract that binds me to him for 365 days, survival becomes something I have to earn… under him. The devil thinks I’m a pawn. He thinks he can own me, bend me, break me. He’s so wrong. Because I'm not one of his bimbos. I'm his Kryptonite. And one day? I’ll make the devil kneel. WARNING: Contains high R-rated explicit scenes.

Noah’s a rising hockey star with a mouth that gets him in trouble and a body built to break rules. Sterling is the team's billionaire owner—older, untouchable, and dangerously in control. They were never supposed to cross that line. But one reckless moment changes everything. Now, Noah can’t stop thinking about the man who sees right through him. And Sterling? He’s losing control in ways he swore he never would. It was supposed to be a mistake. It’s starting to feel like an obsession.

Fiona thinks she has it all-love, loyalty, and a secured life-until her mate, Alpha Kael, leaves her for his first love, Laila. Abandoning her at the altar on the day of their bond reaffirmation before the moon goddess, Fiona watches helplessly as Kael dotes on Laila from the shadows without knowing how else to claim back her mate. Fiona soon discovers she's pregnant and hopes the news will finally bring Kael back to her. But her world shatters when Laila, also carrying Kael's child, pushes Fiona down a hill during a heated fight, causing her to have a miscarriage that left her broken and desperate for revenge. Just when all hopes seems lost, Fiona crosses path with Alpha Derek, the blind yet most powerful Alpha in the Eastern region. He offers revenge against her unfaithful mate and his mistress in exchange for becoming his Luna for a year. She agrees. But Derek is no savior. He hides behind his dark shades and darker secrets. Worse still, he’s the very architect of her pains. Yet the closer she gets to him, the more her heart betrays her...because the most dangerous thing about Derek isn't his power or his schemes but the way he makes her want him, even when she swore she'd never risk her heart again.

That had to be the happiest day of Daliah's life: meeting her mate, the pack's future alpha. But he rejected her, humiliated her and ordered Daliah to be locked in a cage during the moon ceremony. Daliah had given up hope. Trapped, hungry and cold, she didn't see a way out for herself. But fate had one more surprise for Daliah: a second-chance mate. The Lycan King!

One steamy night together. That’s all it takes for him to turn the entire world upside down in search of her. *** Lovett Olivia Lice’s world shatters when she discovers that her adorable little niece is her husband’s child. The betrayal is compounded by divorce papers and her grandfather's sudden passing. With no one and nowhere to turn to, she decides to end it all. However, she’s rescued by a Good Samaritan. Five years later, she returns to her hometown as a successful chef and a devoted mother. She has two things in mind. Revenge and the man from that night, five years ago. However, when she finally gets to meet him again... “Give me just one reason why I shouldn’t have you skinned alive. Right. Now?” He growled. ‘Who. Is. This. Man?’ Lovett is speechless.

"I, Alpha Dylan Langley, Alpha of the waterside pack, reject you, Esme West, pack member of Waterside West, to be my mate and Luna" On Esme's 18th birthday, she figured that the Alpha of the pack was her true mate, which meant she would be Luna to the waterside pack. She felt the mate bond breaking, and it hurt so much. She didn't know if she was strong enough to handle the rejection completely. She was holding back her tears to show him no weakness and no emotion towards his rejection. "I, Esme West of the waterside pack, accept your rejection to be your mate and Luna of this pack" I turn towards the entrance of the pack gates and slowly walk towards our home, where my brother waits for me. I didn't want to cry. I heard of the tales of being 'Rejected' and the pain it causes to fated mates, but I never thought I would be rejected. I especially didn't think the moon goddess would have the Alpha to be my mate. I'm nothing but a lowly omega. I know my place, and it isn't by his side. I work for nothing, and I am the pack's punching bag. Especially the queen bee herself, who has always wanted Alpha Dylan to be her mate...Adeline Carter... Some wolves who have been rejected have often left the pack and survive, but others haven't been so lucky and have managed to find a new pack that is willing to take them in within the time frame of 2 weeks, and they are automatically classed as rogues. Rogues are wolves who have no packs. Some are nice, but the thing I have heard is that some rogues will kill to get what and where they want to be in the chain.