Receiving Gifts

Isabella Dean was uprooted from her life north of Atlanta at the beginning of her senior year of high school after a tragic accident that killed her father. Her mother took her to live with her aunt, Linda, in Asheville, NC where she was welcomed immediately by the school bully. This encounter got Isabella immediately recognized by a group of girls who befriended her and took her in as one of their friends. As she adjusted to her new life, she continued to have to protect herself from the bully, Lucy Upshaw, and recover from a hidden brain injury sustained in the accident. While in the hospital, she died and returned changed and with gifts she had to learn to live with. She discovered along with her new friend, Amber Collins, that her house was haunted by a mysterious girl. She and Amber also rescued a group of girls from sex traffickers and helped the victims flee. She and her friends helped get them adopted by local families, but they also had to deal with the bigotry of some people who didn’t like that some of the girls were transgender and genetically modified by their assailants. Isabella, meanwhile, had to deal with her own problems with her mother and recover from her surgery while still being attacked by Lucy. This is just the beginning for these girls who learn how to fight ghosts and demons with the help of their Native American friend, Winona. They learn to use their talents to help others deal with things that go bump in night.

At the pack's anniversary dinner party, the Alpha, Matt White, told us to write down the gifts we wanted. He would make sure every request was fulfilled. When it was my turn, the newly arrived intern suddenly snatched the paper and pen out of my hands. "Mr. White works so hard managing the pack. We can't let him spend money on us! You shouldn't write down your dream gift," she said. I ignored her, grabbed the list back, and calmly wrote down one item: a washing machine. Peyton immediately flew into a rage and splashed the champagne on the table straight onto me. "I told you not to write anything down! As a Beta, how can you be so inconsiderate of Mr. White?" My coat was completely soaked, and I looked utterly disheveled. I couldn't hold back my anger anymore. I flung the list straight at her face without mercy. She instantly covered her face and screamed, "How dare you hit me! Do you know who my father is? He's the Alpha King! Even Mr. White has to be polite to him. I'll have you kicked out of the pack for laying a hand on me!" I froze. I was the Alpha King's biological niece. My uncle didn't even have a partner, so how would he have a grown daughter?

I had just won the Hawthorne Scientific Laureate on the international stage when my father called me back home. "Bring the betrothal gifts to the Hayes family. That childhood engagement should finally be fulfilled." Afraid of getting stuck in traffic, I took my modified motorcycle, carried the national heritage porcelain obtained through generations of the Keane family's military merits, and headed toward their house. Just as I arrived at the community gate, a Porsche suddenly cut across the lane, nearly knocking me over. A heavily made-up woman, Zoey Mercer, stepped out of the car, raised one sharp high heel, and kicked the top box off my motorcycle. "You rode this junk motorcycle yet dared block my way? If you dent my car, your whole family won't be able to afford the compensation!" My heart sank. I quickly opened the case, only to see the entire box of celadon porcelain shattered. "So you’re just some delivery guy. Think this pile of trash is worth even one of my shoes? "You even know whose neighborhood this is? It belongs to Kingshore's Hayes family! My best friend’s family developed this place! Believe it or not, I can have you thrown out right now!" Right then, my fiancee, Lauren Hayes, called me. "Where are you? My friend just messaged me saying there’s a delivery guy causing trouble at the entrance."

On the day of our engagement, my girlfriend, Jean Sullivan, is nowhere to be found until late at night. Beside myself with worry, I, Seth Lloyd, frantically reach out to our mutual friends and even consider calling the police. Suddenly, I come across a post about her from her assistant, Callum Cox. "My manager came over to discuss some plans, but the door lock suddenly broke. Does this mean we're going to be stuck in the same room tonight? I can't help feeling a little excited." When I like the post, Jean immediately calls me, furious. "Don't you have any idea how much I earn in a year? Just one day of my lost income would cover what you make in a whole week. "All I did was skip that stupid engagement party, and you start acting all snide. I don't have time to deal with your stingy relatives." My mom, Teresa Whitfield, stays silent, her eyes sweeping over the gold, eight sets of haute couture jewelry, and several property transfer deeds in the private room. With a forced smile, she asks, "Seth, have all these wedding gifts we've prepared embarrassed you?" I sneer, caressing the keys to the luxury car I'm about to give Jean. "No, it's me who's being too generous to her."

A medical report shows me my husband's true colors. I've been diagnosed with late-stage stomach cancer. Yet, my husband gives our life savings to someone else. I lunge at him to take my anger out on him, but he shoves me to the floor. "Lillian needs the money to open up a shop, you madwoman! So what if I've given her the money? "You have late-stage stomach cancer, so it's the end of the line for you! Why are you trying to compete with someone who has a long life ahead when you already have one foot in the grave? You can't expect Mom and I to lose everything because of you, right?" I sit dazedly on the floor. I've never found him more unfamiliar. After that, I sneak all my wedding gifts out, wanting to sell them for money. However, I'm told they're all fakes. My husband sneers. "I'm glad I had the foresight to switch them out for the real deal. You would've taken all the money if not for that!" Later, the hospital called to say there was an issue with their system. The names on the medical reports were wrongly indicated. I ask my husband, "Why are you competing with someone who has a long life ahead when you already have one foot in the grave?"

Born a "Latent" into a lineage of apex Alphas, Emily is a ghost in her own home. To her parents, she is a failed investment. To her twin brother, Ryan, she is a social stain to be scrubbed away by the boots of his cruel pack. At the Lycan Academy of Runes and Warfare, she is "The Hollowed"—a girl without a wolf, a student with a brilliant mind trapped in a body the Moonlight Law deems worthless. She has learned to survive in the shadows, nursing her bruises and burying her heart in ancient scrolls. Until the shadows start looking back. First come the messages. Cryptic. Protective. Signed by The Watcher. Then come the gifts—a flask of hot chocolate to dull the pain, a mountain-runner to escape a beating. For the first time in nineteen winters, someone isn't looking at Emily’s lack of a scent. They are looking at her. But the Academy is a meat grinder, and the Alphas are getting hungry. When Lucas Montgomery, the lethally handsome high-tier Alpha, corners her in the campus infirmary, the air doesn't just turn cold—it ignites. He is everything she should fear: rich, ruthless, and radiating a dominant Essence-Aura that makes her knees weak. He claims he wants her for her mind, but the way his hands bruise her waist and his teeth graze her pulse points tells a much darker, hungrier story. Trapped between a secret protector who haunts her phone and a silver-eyed predator who wants to break her on his bed, Emily is caught in a jagged crossfire of ancient pack rivalries and forbidden heat.

"You look like my wife, but something tells me you're not her." Betrayed. Poisoned. Forgotten. Luna Hale thought the worst pain a mate could bring was rejection — until the night her own husband and twin sister ended her life in a hospital room that reeked of betrayal. Her last breath was a promise whispered to the Moon Goddess: “If I ever return, I will never forgive them.” But fate had other plans. Reborn in another body — that of Alara, the missing Luna of a rival pack — she wakes beneath a silver moon with no memory of how or why she’s there. The only thing she knows is survival. Yet the world she’s thrust into is darker than the one she left behind. Shadows whisper her name, and every heartbeat feels like someone else’s. When she’s brought before Alpha Ryder, her new husband, she senses danger beneath his calm gaze. And when her former mate, Alpha Damon, appears at a grand ball, the air itself crackles with an impossible truth — her soul still burns for him. The mate bond hasn’t died. It’s only changed. Now, two Alphas want her. One for love. One for redemption. But the Moon Goddess doesn’t give gifts — she trades souls. And to escape her curse, Luna must face the cruelest fate of all: Loving the man who killed her… or killing the man she still loves.

He is Lt. Col. Adrian Drake Rodriguez, a member of a military force abroad. Two significant things happened to him upon his return to the Philippines. First, the woman who ended up with him inside his car. They were trapped in the vehicle due to a violent storm and the fierce blows of the wind. It was a night of enchantment between the two of them. But the next morning, she was gone—leaving behind no trace except her name, Faye, and the beautiful memory of what transpired between them that stormy night inside his car. Second, his attempt to reconcile with his own father ended in another heated argument. The fight pushed him to return overseas and accept a mission where survival was uncertain. Two years later, he received a call from his uncle, asking him to become the head of security at his father’s mansion and serve as his personal bodyguard, after receiving numerous death threats. Even his father pleaded for his help—for the safety of his only grandchild. Only then did Adrian discover that the mother of the grandchild was none other than Faye—the same woman he had shared that unforgettable night with, and now the wife of the man he despised the most. He accepted his father’s request for one reason—Faye. An intense obsession grew inside him, fueled by the memory of their past. He fell for her in the darkest part of their intertwined fates. Until he discovered something that intensified his desire to take Faye away from the man she married. He was willing to face death itself just to reclaim what he believed was rightfully his.

The soft lapel gently slid off the shoulder, deftly showing off the heavenly charm. Her beautiful little feet are decorated with extremely delicate jewelry, that foot of hers is placed in a pair of hands. When she took her crown off, it fell to the ground and rolled around a few times before finally coming to a halt. She finally opened her eyes, her gaze resting on the man who knelt in front of her. "Are you still as in love with me as you were when we first met?" The concubine who was receiving the emperor's favor suddenly questioned her knight. The other knight looked up at the concubine, his beautiful red eyes containing only her image. He bowed his head, planted a respectful kiss on the concubine's feet, and answered the question seriously. "I love you, with all the love I possess. No one in this world will love you more than me." The concubine's red lips curved into a beautiful curve. The knight's answer made her feel very comfortable. She wrapped her arms around the knight's neck, replying sweetly. "I love you too with all my heart beating in my chest." Together, the two of them. The image of the two lovers was visible under the silver moonlight of a cool summer night. She is the most favored concubine of the vampire king. He was the knight closest to her. The construction of a secret plan is underway. It won't be long before the days of tranquility are gone, and this place will be overrun by chaos and suffering.

After receiving the report for an STD test, I went back to the barbeque restaurant, and there I ran into a young woman who was about three months pregnant. She asked me to let her cut in line, and, feeling sorry for her, I agreed to help her out. I quickly made arrangements for her and made sure she had a seat. But to my shock, after she finished her meal, she had a miscarriage. The girl posted about the incident online, and before I knew it, I was trending on social media, facing a wave of cyberbullying. The internet users went even further, digging up my health records and finding that everything came back positive. [She's positive for everything—she's clearly a woman with a messy private life!] [No wonder she caused the woman's miscarriage just by being near her—she's a biological hazard!] The cyberbullying got so bad that it pushed me into depression. Even my fiancé turned against me, accusing me of being filthy and breaking up with me. The emotional weight became too much, and in my pain, I drove straight into a reservoir. Meanwhile, the girl gained millions of followers online and skyrocketed to fame as a popular influencer. It was only after I died that I learned the shocking truth—this girl was my fiancé's first love. To boost her own popularity, she and my fiancé had come up with this entire scheme together. When I opened my eyes again, I found myself back on the day when she asked me to let her cut in line.