Practicing The Way Chapters Novels & Stories

My name is Emma. At 31, I am doing well for myself. I’ve got a great job. Or at least a well paid job, my boss loves me, and my girlfriends think I’m great. More important than anyone's opinion is that of my housemate, and best friend in the world, Scott. Scott thinks the world of me and always tells me to be myself. So why do I feel the need to lie outrageously on dates? From rock-climbing to Muay Thai: when it comes to prospective boyfriends, I am compelled to embellish my C.V. with unlikely porkies that alwaysbackfire - with hilarious results. I have Craig to blame for that - he really shattered my sense of self-confidence and self-worth. But then I turn the spotlight on Scott, and he wishes he'd never brought it up. With a penchant for checked shirts and Harry Potter-style specs, I decide he needs a makeover and to experience the abysmal dating world. My friendship with Scott began in the most unconventional way. His past life had made him homeless and isolated, but he saved me. And now we are inseparable. My dating disasters began when my relationship with he-who-must-not-be-named ended. Waking up with a pounding head, a dry mouth, aching limbs and a random arm draped over my waist, I struggle to get up and then stumble to the bathroom. I rubbed my eyes and stare at the hungover, half dead panda eyed loser staring back at me. What started out as a lighthearted challenge with Scott, became something more. We were prepared. But nothing could prepare us for the surprise results! Before long, I realise that our lives will never be the same again.

The women in these stories do not apologize for their desires. They are not timid, and they are never the underdog. Fearless, intoxicating, and fully in control, they know exactly what they want and are unafraid to take it. From the sex worker chasing freedom, to the betrayed housewife rediscovering herself, to the dominatrix who thrives on power, and the daughter drawn toward dangerous temptation, these stories explore obsession, taboo, betrayal, and seduction. These women are addictive. Alluring. Impossible to resist. But be careful. Once they’ve taken what they came for, they may leave nothing behind but the memory of them.

He had lied to me sixty-six times, promising he would let go of his childhood sweetheart. But whenever she needed him, he still ran to her first. I lied to him only once. I slipped the Mate-Bond Dissolution Agreement into the ceremony documents and had him sign it. In my previous life, I stopped him from going to her one last time. Iris died under the claws of border rogues, and Damon hated me until his wolf soul shattered. This time, I chose to let him go. Today was the final day of the public notice period. With three hours left, I packed my bags and booked a private pack flight back to the border. With two hours left, I severed every moon-energy tie between us and burned our only photo. With one hour left, I left him a letter. “This is the tenth year I have loved you, and the first day I leave you.” Later, he chased me to the airport like a madman. But this time, I would not look back.

Jaxon Slater and I had lived as a married couple for five years, but we had never made it official. Every time we went to City Hall to sign the papers, Lisa Clark, Jaxon's coworker, found a way to derail it. The first time, she did not know how to format a document, so he stayed behind at the office to help her. The second time, she came down with a fever. He hung up on me mid-call and left without a backward glance. The third time, she had a performance review. He got so caught up in it that he left me at City Hall for an entire day. It happened fifteen times. Every attempt to make our marriage legal was interrupted by something involving her. I saw the pattern for what it was. A man like that was not worth keeping. Thus, I left for good. And the moment I did, he came after me as if nothing else in his life mattered.

For six years, Catherine Kingsley has been invisible. She married Ryan Brook to repay a debt her blood saved the life of the woman he truly loved. But gratitude doesn't warm a marriage bed. Ryan has never touched her. His mother and brother have treated her as a servant. And now, after half a decade of silence and cruelty, Ryan is bringing Sarah home. He wants Catherine out. But for the first time in six years, Catherine doesn't bow her head. She doesn't beg. She doesn't cry. She signs the divorce papers, takes nothing, and walks away with her dignity intact. What Ryan doesn't know is that Catherine is done being invisible. With the help of an old friend Michael and a young artist whose life she once changed, Catherine begins the painful, powerful journey of remembering who she was before she became Mrs. Brook. But as Catherine rises, Ryan begins to fall. The cold, distant husband who never looked twice at his wife suddenly can't stop seeing her everywhere. And Sarah the woman for whom he destroyed his marriage may not be the innocent victim he always believed. Dignity Over Devotion is a raw, emotional story about what happens when a woman who gave everything finally decides to take herself back.

I spent years being the perfect wife—patient, loyal, invisible. I built a home, raised a child, and loved a man who slowly stopped choosing me. When betrayal became routine and silence was expected, I realized my sacrifice meant nothing to them. Walking away wasn’t an act of revenge. It was survival. This is the story of a woman who gave everything to her family—until she finally chose herself

Everyone knew Elio Carbone, Don of the Carbone family, was a cold-hearted womanizer. He had one rule: never sleep with the same woman twice. But for me, he broke it. The first day after our breakup, he stood outside the old Bianchi estate for a day and a night, his entire security detail in tow, just to win me back. The second day, he flew to Sicily and bought the deed to my family's ancestral estate at auction for triple its value, and had it delivered to me. The third day, he tattooed my favorite flower, the lily, over his heart. The tattoo artist said he refused any anesthetic and didn't make a sound. Later, at a banquet for the Five Families, in front of all the other Dons, he sliced his palm and made a blood oath. He swore loyalty only to Eleonora Bianchi for the rest of his life; if he broke his vow, he would pay with his life. After a year of his relentless pursuit, his devotion finally wore me down, and I agreed to take him back. I truly believed him then. That Elio truly loved me. Until one night. He took me to an underground racetrack to broker a deal with an ally. But in the roaring crowd, I saw a girl, trembling and crying, her clothes in tatters. Ava was shoved to the starting line. She was the wager for the death race. One look was all it took for Elio's face to darken. The next second, he dropped his hand from my waist and, without a word, walked toward the track entrance. I stood frozen, watching his back as he disappeared into the driver's seat of a modified sports car. I used to wake up crying, terrified he would lose his life in one of these reckless races. He had smashed his trophies, burned his marker for the illegal track, and sworn to God he would never again enter such a life-or-death gamble. My hand drifted to my stomach, covering the secret I hadn't yet had the chance to share. His blood oath was broken. And so was I.

On the day of our tenth wedding anniversary, my wife, Cara Dempsey, jumped from ten thousand feet in the air after hearing that her first love's plane had crashed. It was only then that I finally understood the only man she ever truly loved all these years was Luthen Waltz. When we were both sent back in time to relive our teenage years, she wasted no time making a grand, public confession to Luthen, completely cutting ties with me. I just stood there, watching the two of them kiss like they couldn’t bear to be apart, and in that moment, my heart felt nothing. From that day on, we were over, and we lived our separate lives. Ten years later, we crossed paths again at a five-star hotel in Harbor City. She, who had become a celebrity adored by the world, was wearing a gown, laughing in Luthen’s arms. When she saw me wandering through the hotel, searching for someone, she thought I had come looking for her. “George, stop wasting your time! Even in ten years, I will never choose you!” I didn’t respond. Instead, I looked toward the little girl running toward me, calling me Dad, and gave her the warmest smile. Cara’s expression froze. Tears welled in her eyes as she choked out, “You lied to me, didn’t you? You said you hated kids and that you’d only ever love me.”

Delta Hart once ran away to keep her children safe from their abusive father. However, she ended up running into the arms of a billionaire bachelor. The catch was that... he would rather work on their private army than their billion-dollar company. As the wife of the CEO, she took post as a proxy and decided to run it the way she wanted. Now that her baby daddy lurked to enact vengeance, Delta made use of everything she had gotten to get rid of him for good. It's just that her true lineage might be a big hurdle for her happily-ever-after.

Forced to marry her abusive ex-boyfriend, Jayden Warner, future Luna Anastasia Lasko has no choice but to flee from her home. With the help of her wolf and her magical ability, which she’s kept secret her entire life, she manages to stay on the run for three long years. Everything changes on one fateful night when a horrible mistake leaves her in the clutches of the heartless Alpha Caius Blackwell. Hatred and desire blossom between the two immediately, along with a connection deeper than either could have ever anticipated. Despite their conflicted feelings, Anastasia and Alpha Caius realize they need one another. All across the country werewolves with unique abilities are going missing, and Alpha Caius needs soldiers if he’s going to uncover the truth. All Anastasia wants is to step up as Luna to her pack, but she’s forbidden from doing so until she takes a husband. The two come together and form a marriage contract that would make them husband and wife for three hundred and sixty-five days. Lives and hearts are on the line, and nothing is what it seems. Can both stay whole when secrets come to light and a mate-bond is thrown into the mix? ** Set in the same world as Alpha Nox! **