Novel & Cerita Pick A Number

Where do you want me to touch you?” he asked with a mischievous glint in his blue eyes. “Please, touch me here,” I said as I took his hand and slowly guided his fingers beneath my panties. I moaned deliriously when I felt the heat of his fingers caressing my wet slit directly. **** I almost had a one-night stand with a stranger at my graduation after-party once. Almost broke a promise I made to my dead mother. He wasn’t like any other guy I’d come across. He had this sadness and arrogance hidden behind his beautiful eyes that made me fall for him. But within minutes of meeting each other, things changed drastically between us. He said words that made me feel humiliated, but that wasn’t the worst part. Neither was it the way he pulled away from me like I was something dangerous. It wasn’t even the fact that I couldn’t stop thinking about him afterward. The worst part was seeing him again nine months later, standing inside my 'house' while my father smiled and said: “This is your new stepbrother.” Zephyr Knox was never supposed to become my family. He was cold, cruel, self-destructive, and completely addicted to pushing people away before they could leave him first. Loving him was like holding fire in my bare hands and convincing myself the burns were worth it. I thought they were. Until secrets started destroying us. Until our parents found out about us. Until the smoke around us stopped being romantic and started becoming deadly. People say forbidden love ruins lives. I’ve come to the conclusion that they were right. Because loving my stepbrother didn’t just break my heart. It almost killed me.

When she was 18, Helen met Manzitti, the man of her dreams. Two weeks later he proposed and she was thrilled, until she learned from her father that he apparently had ulterior motives for wanting to marry her. She ran away and went on with her life. Two years later, a supposed business trip with her boss turns into a nightmare when she realizes that Manzitti, still wanting revenge for the wrong her father did, and for her leaving him, arranged her trip and is now forcing her to stay and marry him.

Michael lost his job and everything else, losing his purpose for living and ready to blame the entire world for whatever may befall him afterward, but he picks up a stray and injured dog on his way home that day. Coincidentally, that dog happened to be a wolf as well as a shapeshifter, and thus, it became a man. An alpha. And one with no memories too. That was how they started living together. With no memories, Noah, the Alpha, has to depend on Micheal. During their time together, sparks fly and ‘things’ happen, leading to a chapter neither of them expected to open. What happens when Micheal discovers that he has feelings for this shapeshifter and other secrets are let out in the open? Will Noah reciprocate his feelings? Will Micheal ever really confess and make his feelings known? Will he be able to let Noah go from his heart, despite finding out a secret deceit was in play? Find out!

My mother had always favored my younger sister, Alora Caine. In the previous timeline, Alora had acted first and selected the spirit deer that was far more compatible with me. I had no choice but to settle for a carp that had not yet taken human form. One day, the spirit deer suddenly went berserk and nearly killed Alora, turning her into a laughingstock within the school. Meanwhile, my carp came across a rare opportunity and transformed into a lucky carp beloved by everyone. In a fit of madness, Alora drove a blade into my stomach. When I opened my eyes and saw Alora choosing the carp without hesitation, I immediately knew she had also returned to the past. Little did she know that the carp’s transformation into a lucky carp had never been a matter of luck. I had gone to great lengths to set it down that path.

While I was driving my bus, I spotted my boyfriend's car ahead. He was kissing the woman he had always been hung up on. I could not help tapping the horn. That was all it took. He and his dream girl stepped out and blocked my bus in the middle of the road. I glanced at the passengers behind me. I could not afford to delay everyone, so I swallowed my pride and asked him to move his car. She lifted her chin, her voice dripping with arrogance. “Not happening. Unless you get off that bus and apologize to me right here, you're not going anywhere.” Traffic was completely jammed. There was no way forward and no way back. My face went pale, but I had no choice except to lower my head and prepare to apologize. My boyfriend grew impatient. "Why are you still standing there? Get down and apologize to Sally. Right now." Humiliated, I inched my way towards the door. However, the doors unexpectedly swung open and the passengers rushed out of the bus. “Do you think we have time for this? I'm already late for school. Are you going to take responsibility?” “My perfect attendance this month is ruined because of you. You two are unbelievable!” “If you shameless idiots want to act like this, don't blame us for getting physical!”

Juliana Anderson once enjoyed a happy life until her mother passed away. To compensate for the Beta who sacrificed his life to save him, her father, Alpha Anderson, married the Beta's widow and treated their daughter, Arlene, as his biological daughter. Thanks to Arlene's sham, everyone thought she was an innocent victim who had to suffer her stepsister Juliana's bullying. But no one knew Juliana had lost everything she cherished because of Arlene. Father, happy childhood, the chance to be admitted to her dream college, and her boyfriend, Carl. Arlene took all of them from Juliana, leaving Juliana no choice but to leave the home she had been living in for eighteen years. However, the nightmare didn't stop, and Juliana was kidnapped by a group of rogues. When she thought it was impossible to survive, she encountered a young man. He gave her the protection and love she hadn't experienced for ten years; then he went missing in a fight. No one knew whether he was dead. Juliana didn't give up hope and kept searching for him. Finally, she saw him again. But this one, who had the same face as her lover, was wearing a king's crown. So, was there any possibility that her missing lover was the legendary tyrant, the Alpha King? Picking Up an Alpha King is created by Cara TaleSmith, an eGlobal Creative Publishing signed author.

End of the year. I was gonna use my bonus to treat Mom to a quick getaway. Instead? No bonus. Four hundred bucks sliced off my paycheck. I shot the HR supervisor a notice—three days to pay up. She laughed. Called me dramatic. Fired me right then. Coworkers backed her. Said I brought it on myself. Said I didn't care about the company. What they didn't see? I laughed the second I got that termination letter. Double severance? Come to mama.

My mother-in-law and I were traveling together. We'd just checked into the Solenne Hotel in Rivera City and decided to hit the pool. Then this woman—dressed like money and attitude—pinched her nose like we stank. "This is a luxury hotel. How did you people even get in? Sneak in just for the pool? Ugh, I need a test after this." Buzzkill. I snapped, "It's a hotel pool. Guests swim. If that's a problem, go build your own." Her face twisted. "Excuse me? Do you even know who I am? My husband owns this place. We always stay in the top suite. So get out. You reek of broke. You're contaminating the water." Georgina and I traded a look. Ice cold. This was her son's hotel. My husband's. Since when did he come with a second wife?

When my parents got old, they needed someone to take care of them. Katerina—my younger sister—was off to Amiraka with her smug husband Chris. Meanwhile, I was crammed into a two-bedroom in Bellavaro with my husband Pavel, who drove a taxi. Mom had no retirement savings, so guess who she dumped herself on? Yep—me. Dad took the cash and ran straight to Katerina. Our place was tiny, but we still gave Mom the master bedroom. She hated it. Constant complaints, constant drama. According to her, life with me was pure misery. Every night, she'd hop on video call with Katerina, gushing about Amiraka like it was heaven, while throwing shade at me for not "taking care of her properly." Meanwhile, I was drowning—trying to hold it together for Mom, help my daughter prep for exams, support a husband with spine problems, and check in on aging in-laws. Mom didn't care. She wanted a plane ticket to Amiraka to party for Katerina's birthday. I snapped. We had a blowout fight, and she collapsed—brain hemorrhage. Even in her hospital bed, she stared me down, whining Katerina's name like a broken record. Then she spat out, "I should've never picked a useless daughter like you!" My chest cracked in half. I blacked out. When I woke up—I was ten years younger. Back to the day they decided who'd get stuck taking care of them. This time, Mom didn't wait. "I want Katerina to take care of me. It's my turn to enjoy life!"

I'd been bonded to my mate, Brandon Blackstone, the Alpha heir of the Blackstone pack, for three years. But I'd never been allowed to attend his family dinners. Every full moon, I could only stay home alone. Brandon said it was a centuries-old tradition of the Blackstone pack. Only after passing a long probationary period, proving absolute loyalty to the pack and one's mate, would someone be allowed to attend the Alpha's family dinners. I'd believed him for three whole years. But now, I'd found three photos in his car. In the background, I could see a long table laden with a variety of fruits and delectable dishes. The Alpha and Luna raised their glasses beside the statue of the Moon Goddess, standing quietly to the side. And beside Brandon stood a beautiful she-wolf. Moonlight spilled down, and I could clearly see how close they were standing, their fingers tightly interlaced. That was when I finally understood. Not being allowed to attend the dinners was never about some probationary period. It was because Brandon, or rather the entire Blackstone pack, believed that the person qualified to stand beside the future Alpha would never be me.