Places We've Never Been

"I will make you wish for death," he spat wickedly, his eyes blazing into mine. "But death... will be too far away." ***** Rita Maxwell was hated by all, including her mum and her twin sister, Becky, due to the birth scar on her face, the same scar that was termed a curse and had condemned her. What could be more cruel than having fate take a twist into one’s worst nightmare? Rita’s kindness was mistaken for treason and attempted murder, and she was reduced from a despised daughter to a rejected and hated maid in the packhouse. But on her eighteenth birthday, the tables turned so cruelly that she wished they never had. All she ever asked for was love, a perfect life with a mate who cherished her, not the other way around. As the hands of time ticked and broken hearts bled, what becomes of the bond that was once termed a curse, a taboo… manipulated? What becomes of Rita, the cursed and hated pack omega?

When my cousin died, my aunt forced me to marry her husband in order to take care of the child she left behind. She said that it was a way to pay her back for raising me after the death of my mom. For eight years of being in the marriage, I was bullied by my cousin's son, accusing me killing his mom in order to take over her home. And my husband? He never defended me. To them, I was nothing more than a mere house help. And the day I had looked forward finally came, when I could walk away from the marriage. But fate had other plans—I died in pain that very day. Now, with a second chance at life, I made one thing clear: I was done with that miserable family, for good.

After five long years of dating, Winona Shaw finally said yes. I was elated, like a scavenger who'd struck gold. I put everything I had into the engagement party, but out of the blue, Winona embraced Claude Landton instead. She even tried to frame me and boot me to jail. I canceled the party and called the cops instead. That made Winona mad, and Claude started panicking. Icily, I said, "Now, calm down. We have a lot of trials to go through. See you in court."

My fiance, Dante de Rossi, is the heir to a mafia family in Manhorne, and he loves me dearly. Yet, a month before our wedding, he says his family has arranged for him to have a baby with his childhood friend, Isobel de Luca. Despite my refusal to agree to it, he brings it up daily and tries to push me into it. Half a month before the wedding, I receive a pregnancy report. I find out that Isobel is over a month pregnant. I have yet to give Dante my permission. This is when I realize just how fragile our years-long relationship is. I cancel the wedding and destroy everything he has ever given me. On the day of the wedding, I set off for Etolia to further my medical career. I accept a role with an international medical organization, severing all ties with the mafia. From that moment onward, he and I no longer have anything to do with each other!

.... Mali ba na mag mahal? Lalo na kung parehas kayo ng kasarian? Mali nga siguro, dahil nagmahal tayo ng hindi naman dapat at hindi nakaayon sa batas. Ngunit mas mali sigurong mag mahal kung panay panghuhusga lang ang natatanggap. Dahil kailan man hindi naging mali ang pagmamahal kahit na sa iba... ito ay kasalanan? Kasalanan na wala namang may kagustuhan. Pero hindi naman natin kasalanan na sa maling kasarian tayo nagmahal. Dahil kailan man hindi naging mali ang pagmamahal...

Naiinis si Shaun Dale kay Dahlia. Hayagan kasi ang pagkagusto nito sa kanya at kulang na lang ay haranahin siya. Para kay Dahlia ay hindi niya dapat ikahiya ang kung anumang nararamdaman niya para kay Shaun Dale. She’s in love kaya ano’ng magagawa niya kundi iparamdam at ipakita iyon. Kahit na palagi siya nitong sungitan hindi niya talaga mapigilan ang nararamdaman. Mas mabuti ng masabi kaysa manahimik siya sa isang tabi. Mas lalong nadagdagan ang inis ni Shaun Dale nang itakda silang dalawa para magpakasal. Tuwang-tuwa naman si Dahlia. At dahil pursigido si Dahlia sa ‘panliligaw’ ay hindi na rin napigilan ni Shaun ang tablan sa taglay nitong kapilyahan. Kung kailan naman tila nahulog na siya, saka siya tinakbuhan ni Dahlia sa araw ng kasal nila at hindi na nagpakita pa. After a couple of years muli silang nagtagpo. Is he still longing for her? Iyon ang tanong niya sa sarili. Hindi dapat. Dahil kung totoo ang ipinaramdam nitong pagmamahal bakit siya nito tinakbuhan sa kasal?

Our blood-oath ceremony was on the horizon. But my fated mate, Darius, told me he had to forge a blood bond with another woman. Livia. He claimed her life force was unraveling. That without his blood, she would fade to nothing. I fought him. But the next day, he moved Livia directly into the Prince's Chambers in the Coven’s castle. That was the suite reserved for the future Prince’s mate. My suite. He tried to soothe me, sinking to his knees, his crimson eyes pleading. “Once she’s stable, I swear I’ll break the bond. You are my only eternity. You always will be.” But then Livia found me. She showed me the fresh, golden mark on her wrist—the symbol of an Eternal Bond. They had already completed the sacred rite. Long before Darius ever confessed to me. My heart shattered to ash. I dragged my nail across the calendar, carving a vicious X over the date that was supposed to be our blood-oath ceremony. Then I opened the encrypted message from the Vienna Coven Academy. “I accept. I’ll leave on the day of our ceremony.”

Antonia Finn doesn't wish for much, just for one thing, her Husband's love. Yet it seems that love will never be hers no matter how much she tries. Humiliated and betrayed by the man she has loved for three years; Antonia makes a decision. She's going to divorce him and go start her life elsewhere. But too many things are left in the shadows unsolved, and Antonia is right in the middle of all of it. What really is her true identity? Is she just destined to be the divorced wife of a billionaire or is she more than that? How will the world react when she becomes the woman she's always dreamt she'd be? And Malachi, who won't let her go yet wants her back for all the wrong reasons, will he ever change and become a man she can love, or will she have to take the very enticing option that's presented itself to her?

Amara Lewis never believed marriage should be a business transaction—until desperation forced her into one. To save her mother’s life, Amara signs a one-year marriage contract with billionaire CEO Adrian Blackwood, a man who sees love as nothing more than a weakness. To him, marriage is a tool—nothing more than a means to secure his empire and silence his board of directors. Their agreement is simple: no love, no expectations, no emotions. But living under the same roof blurs the lines neither of them intended to cross. Behind Adrian’s cold exterior hides a man haunted by betrayal, while Amara’s quiet strength begins to crack the walls he built around his heart. When secrets from the past resurface and feelings grow impossible to deny, Amara must decide whether love born from a contract can ever be real—or if she was never meant to be more than the bride he never wanted.

My fated mate, Alpha Kaelen, rejected me seven times. The first time we bonded, he whispered against my ear, his breath hot. “From now on, my soul sings only for you.” But then his first love, the Omega Seraphina, came back for him. And just like that, he rejected me. They shared a mate’s mark from their past. It left her hopelessly addicted to his scent. “I’m sorry,” he’d said. “I have to be with Seraphina. The scent addiction is destroying her. She can’t even shift. Her wolf is weakening.” The first time he rejected me, I slashed a silver dagger across my wrist. I let the blood flow, hoping the pain would make him look at me. It worked. Kaelen was horrified. He left Seraphina for a moment and rushed to my side, holding me, comforting me. The third time, I disguised myself as an ordinary pack wolf. I got an internship at his pack headquarters, just to breathe in the air he breathed. But this time, he looked right through me, as if we were strangers. By the sixth rejection, I had learned how to calmly erase my scent from his suite. I left without a sound. My screams. My surrender. My begging. And what I got in return? Every time he was with her, the full moon would rise, and he’d call me back. Just to play the same sick game all over again. Until now. I heard Seraphina was coming back again. So I handed him the ceremonial dagger myself. He set the date for my return, just like always. He had no idea. This time, I'm the one severing the bond for good. And I am never coming back.