Quietly Hostile

I was the belle of the school, good grades and all. But I wasn't the nerd they thought I was. I had been secretly dating my adopted brother's sworn enemy for three years. Lucian Palma had a strong desire for intimacy, so I went along with him in unlocking countless places to make love. He promised that he would marry me after graduation. Once he took over the family business from his wealthy father, he would make me the happiest woman alive. I believed him, even indulging him in his kink of recording us sleeping together. Lucian assured me that those videos were for his eyes only, and that no one else would ever see them. But then, I accidentally overheard a conversation between Lucian and his friends. "Lucian, you had deliberately staged a hero saving the damsel in distress situation to make Nina Etienne fall for you, all just to get it back at your archnemesis, Aaron North. If he found out his little sister had been sleeping with you, wouldn't it kill him with rage? "You've filmed hundreds of intimate videos, haven't you? When do you plan to release them? We'd love to see the nerd stripped bare under you." I didn't confront him about this. Instead, I quietly walked away and agreed to meet the fiance my father had arranged for me.

On our fifth anniversary, I came across the Instagram page of a stranger named Serena Reed. The girl lay sideways on a hospital bed, her bandage-wrapped hand intertwined with a man's larger hand. On the man's ring finger was a moonstone ring, with Vincent Carter's name and my own name clearly engraved on the band. Below the photo, the girl had written: "It's just a tiny scratch, but he was so worried he insisted I stay in the hospital. Being loved like this feels incredible!" An hour earlier, Vincent had apologized to me over the phone. "Nina, there's an urgent matter with the patrol team. Don't wait for me for dinner. When I come back, I'll bring you a gift." He was not coming home for our anniversary because he was with another woman. I silently melted down the moonstone ring and sent it to Vincent as a gift. Then I packed all my belongings, including the pup in my womb, and left the Shadow pack quietly, never to return.

When I went to the hospital for a checkup to see if my fourth IVF attempt had succeeded, I saw Daniel Cooper, who was supposed to be on a business trip. He was carefully supporting a young, beautiful woman as they walked out of the obstetrics and gynecology department. Her belly was unmistakably round, and she looked like she was ready to give birth at any moment. Daniel froze for just a second before stepping in front of her, shielding her from me. He explained, "Abby, the Cooper family needs an heir to carry on the lineage. Once the baby is born, everything will go back to the way it was." I heard the certainty in his words. So I smiled, nodded, and quietly tucked my test results away as he stared at me in surprise. On the day she gave birth, I left the divorce papers on the kitchen table and walked out of his life for good.

“I want a different kind of meal from Arya,” Juan teased. “What’s that?” “Why don’t you sit on my face and you’ll know.” *+*++**++* Arya was never meant to stand out. With a deceased mother, an abusive father, and only a high school certificate to her name, she lived quietly and worked as a waitress in a bar, but one night she got just one look from Juan Moreno, the most feared mafia lord in Sicily and things went south. Sold like property to a man she didn’t know, Arya thought the worst had already happened. Until Juan came for her. He didn’t save her only, he claimed her just to have owner ship of her and then locked her in a prison disguised as a mansion. Now, she’s the most wanted woman—not for a crime, but for her beauty. And two ruthless mafia kings are at a cold war for ownership of her body. Juan, believes Dominic—his longtime rival who wants Arya is the only threat. But when he faces several attacks from an enemy he once thought was dead, he realizes his empire might fall. Can Juan protect the woman he would burn the world for, or will he be forced to hand her to the only man who might keep her alive?

"We should just kill her, Kathrina. I can sense she has a wolf counterpart," My father, Alpha Fredrick, quietly demanded so that the other wolves wouldn't hear. "What the fuck are you saying!? No! She is still our daughter, Fred. Your own flesh and blood!" Mother defended and shielded herself in front of me. Alpha Fredrick gripped her arm. His claws elongated as it dug into her skin while he sneered, "We are always going circles, Kathrina!" Alpha Fredrick yanked his mate towards him to furiously whisper those words. He then stared at me as he spoke, "Well, since it has come to this, we might as well kill her now and just deal with her mate later on." He growled ferociously and was about to slash me with his thick claws. I instantly braced for impact and defended myself with my arms out front, but then I felt warm hands wrapping me up in a tight embrace and jumped from the ground to the branch at once. "Why don't you just deal with me right now?" A low and deep voice loomed over the forest. I can feel his breath and his sweet, intoxicating scent. It made my heart pound so loudly, and I felt shivers and tingles all over my body. In that instant, I knew I was already his. "MATE!" Kath yipped, and I felt her happily rolling around in my head. "Mate," I whispered, and our eyes met. I gasped when I saw how beautiful his eyes were.

The harassment that Nara experienced during OSPEK made her half hate her died with a man named gnats. The senior brother who doubles as the head of the BEM took the opportunity when he lay unconscious due to the heat. He's a stranger pervert! Living quietly as an ordinary student failed miserably. Nara was horrified by feeling has a tail named gnats. The man turned into a paparazzi and crazy psychopath with a handsome face. Before the girl had the chance to go to the shaman asking for a magic charm To stop getting annoying annoyances, Gnats first offered him a surprising deal. But the thing that made Nara even more surprised was the fact that he was willing to accept the offer that Gnats made.

At the wedding I've spent months planning, my usually stoic fiancé, Anthony Scott, is about to run off with his assistant, Erica Jones. To top it all off, she is wearing a wedding gown. Out of nowhere, his younger brother, Christopher Scott, grabs my hand and plans to pull me straight to City Hall. He disregards my panicking eyes. "Let's get married," he says, as if it's the most normal thing in the world. Then, the stage decorations suddenly collapse, revealing a room full of guests mocking and laughing at me. The two men who once swore to love me forever do all just to make Erica smile. The three of them clink glasses and drink a love toast on stage, completely lost in their own moment. "The wedding you planned was way too outdated. You should thank Erica for turning it into a bachelorette party!" "The real wedding will be this Sunday. Isn't Erica's idea amazing?" Anthony and Christopher were confident that I wouldn't dare leave them. But I quietly pick up my phone and type a message. "Let's set the wedding date for this Sunday, Levi."

Blind date? Why Not! That was Lea's first thought when offered by her sister. However, who would have thought that the blind date would end in a mess? The complications at the beginning of the meeting made Lea even more hostile to Shane, even though, in their hearts, they loved each other.

When I was reborn, returning back to the day of filling out the mate registration form, I decided to write my sister Sophia Harrington's name on the form. I would help her achieve her dreams with Adrian Northgate in this lifetime. Without waiting for Adrian to ask, I gave the wedding dress to my sister ahead of time and placed the ring that symbolized our mate bond into her hands. I did not argue or make a fuss. Instead, I facilitated every opportunity for them to spend time together. When he took my sister to fight in the southern territories, I quietly packed everything up and went to university in the northern grasslands. This was because, in my previous life, I devoted myself to caring for our family. Yet, after Adrian was promoted to the pack's first warrior, he and our son knelt before me, begging me to dissolve our mate bond so that he could fulfill his love for Sophia. Living this life again, I decided not to become mates with Adrian. I wanted to pursue my dreams — to study at the Northern Grassland Werewolf University, become a medical doctor, and live the free life I had always desired!

Sated from their passionate deed, Jonathan Sheffield rises and gently scoops the worn-out Eloise Carter into his arms. He cleans her in the bathroom, carries her back to bed, and lets her settle in. Normally, Eloise will have fallen asleep by now. But she won't allow herself to doze off tonight, not before she takes out the birthday present she's carefully prepared for Jonathan. Jonathan is making a phone call out on the balcony when Eloise quietly takes out the present she has hidden. It's a red velvet box, containing the ring she plans to give him when she proposes. She inches closer to the balcony and is about to speak when she freezes. A shocked, male voice rings out from the other end of Jonathan's phone, which he's casually left on the balcony ledge. "What the hell? You must be out of your mind, Jonathan! You're planning to take Eloise's heart and give it to Sonia?"