Rice By Manuel Arguilla

The night Araya was born, the Moon refused her. Marked as wolfless, mocked and forgotten, she grew up as prey in her own pack. Even her fated mate broke the bond with a smirk and left her bleeding at the border — for rogues to finish. But they forgot one thing: Ash remembers. And so does the throne buried beneath it. The forest did not devour her. It bowed. The flame did not die. It waited. Until, in the silence between heartbeats, something older than gods whispered: “She is not blessed. She is not chosen. She is the reckoning the moon tried to silence.” Now Araya walks again — no longer mortal, no longer meek. She is Hollow-Blood reborn, daughter of the fire that swallowed fate, heir to a throne no god dares name. And fate has bound her to Dorian—Azrien—the exiled god chained to shadow and ruin. He expected to crave nothing but vengeance. Until her. Araya is the mate his immortal soul demands, the salvation he denies, and the spark that could either set him free… or burn the world to ash. But enemies stir in silence. Adira, the Luna who would claim the Alpha prince at any cost, forges a pact with a creature older than gods, a monster chained in rot and darkness. The price she pays will rip fate itself open. Betrayals. Forbidden desire. Gods who bleed. Wolves who kneel. And at the heart of it, one truth no prophecy can silence: The gods will end. She will not. And the last prophecy carved into stone whispers: “The Flame That Walks Returns. Let the gods burn first.”

Ava Woods, after getting heartbroken by her fiance, Ryan Blake, disappeared completely with her pregnancy. She returned after five years as the most powerful business mogul in the city with twins. While Ryan is willing to do everything to have her back, all she wants is revenge against those that humiliated her.

Elena Carter never thought her life could get any worse. After years of being treated as an outsider in her own family, she thought she had finally found love with her boyfriend, Brian. But everything shatters when she catches him in bed with her younger sister. Her father, a desperate gambler, sees her as nothing more than a burden. When a ruthless mafia boss, Dominic Moretti, comes to collect a debt, her father makes a horrifying decision—he offers Elena as payment. Before she can process what is happening, she is handed over to a dangerous man who sees people as nothing more than pests under his expensive shoes. Elena is taken to Dominic’s estate, where she is treated like a prisoner. But unlike the others who fear him, she refuses to submit. “I'll be a good girl," I said. "But only if you treat me right." Something crossed his face at the mention of my words. Amusement? Respect? Crossed his face. "We'll see," he said, pulling his hand away.

Jayla is an eighteen year old girl in her final year of high school. Tyler is the same age as Jayla, and in his final year of high school, too, only he is a bad boy who goes around sleeping with almost all the girls at school while Jayla is a good girl, a virgin even. On her eighteenth birthday, she bumps into Tyler, and sparks erupt on her skin, making her know that Tyler is her mate. Jayla is overjoyed at finding her mate on her birthday but her joy is cut short when he pushes her to the ground and stalks off like he didn't feel a thing between them. Despite all Jayla's efforts to win Tyler over, he still does not want anything to do with her. Will she give up on their mate bond or will she do anything in her power to get Tyler to acknowledge it? Read on to find out.

"t-they will k-kill me , pl-please save me . Please" She begged in front of him and almost fell on his knee he kept on Looking at her and inhaling on the cigar for a longer time. Red eyed fixed on her teary ones as he smoked out the nicotine stick . He scoffed at her pathetic state , so weak !! Too much innocent but that's the exact thing he hated the most . He hates weak people . "P-please , I ...I beg y-you" she started sobbing hard Looking down while he throws the cigar on his feet and stepped on it ... "She must be somewhere here , get her" they heard someone , clear as crystal . His eyes looked on the direction , of the source of sound . And her eyes got widen in horror . They are coming to kill her and there will be no one to protect her . "Come on Wifey , isn't this what married couple supposed to do on their wedding night?" Timothy said as his lips were ghosting on her neck . Every inch of her skin were shivering and hands trembling in fear. The fear which she faced years ago , when her dignity were ripping apart . Loud scream , yelling for help , when the monster was biting and feasting her like a meal . Layla tighten her lips and cleanched the bedsheets , Hoping this will end soon . "I never admire your beauty Darling , you're so beautiful . Damn I was blind all the time looking at those whores when I already have the most beautiful girl on earth. Join the journey of Laila Davis and Timothy Salvatore .

"I, Fred Upton, reject you, Sophia Rush" "I, Sophia Rush, accept your rejection, Fred Upton" What's harder? Loving a man who doesn't belong to you or watching the one who does love someone else? -------- Sophia has always been at fate’s mercy. She fell in love with Kaden but when his mate arrived, she was cast aside. Heartbroken, she ran away without so much as a goodbye. Ten years later, she meets her fated mated but he already has a family. Desperate to forget her cursed fate, she seeks solace in a club, hoping to forget everything, even if it's only for a night, in the arms of a stranger. But when a ruthless Alpha sets his sights on her, refusing to take no for an answer, she has no choice but to run. Fate is cruel enough to thrust her back into the arms of the man she ran away from years ago. The one who once shattered her heart. But this time, he’s not just cold. He’s out for revenge. Blaming her for the tragedy that followed her departure, he’s determined to make her suffer. Yet when the very enemy he’s hunted for years sets his sights on Sophia, Kaden is forced to protect her. Because no matter how much he resents her, one truth remains. He’s never been able to forget her But love is fragile in the face of a relentless enemy. And when Kaden must choose between Sophia and a hidden kingdom he never knew existed, will he follow his heart or his destiny?

Troubled and distressed that her parents wanted her to marry someone she doesn't even know, Dalmi caught herself swimming on the sea of liquors. She thought of one thing: To breach her parents' order by following her peers' prank: Get impregnated by the perilous, snobbish man of her fallen daydreams, Casimir Thompson. It was insane. He couldn't even lay his eyes on her and it was beyond impossible. But Casimir was the only man she wanted. She swore to herself that she'd rather get impregnated with someone she desired rather than a stranger. Will she be able to ran away from her ill-fated marriage? Will this prank be successful or will it gone wrong?

She has only ever experienced suffering, abuse, and hated by her family. Seraphine Valentina is the last descendant of Luna, but her father wanted her to become a slave for other Alpha. Her fated mate partner comes out late after Seraphine already mated to most dangerous Alpha Leader, Cassian Maximilian. Cassian wants Seraphine to raise their child to prevent the extinction of his pack. However, fate does not allow them to do so as Seraphine has a vision from the future that there will be an Alpha who comes to the past to kill them. An Alpha who is jealous of their relationship.

William is a young business tycoon. he never really wanted to be in a relationship dahil minsan na siyang naloko. He made himself arrogant para di lapitan ng mga social climber. While Madel, is a young independent woman. Lumuwas ng Maynila para mag-aral. Her mom can support her naman. Pero dahil na din sa kasipagan ay napag-aral nya ang sarili while working in an exclusive bar for rich people. Kayanin kayang palambutin ni Madel ang pusong bato ni William? si William na ba ang unang makaka bihag sa puso ni Madel?

"Do anyone have reasons why this couples shouldn't get married?" The priest had asked. The bride found the question not necessary because she was sure there was no one against their union, but surprisingly to her, three masked men harmed to the teeth stepped into the church and their presence alone sent shivers down the spines of everyone. "We are against this union." One of them said grumpily. "Who-who are you... And why-why are you against this union?" The priest managed to ask. "Because our boss can't stand his lady getting married to someone else" His reply left everyone dumfounded. ***** After moving out of the orphanage with her friends, Rebecca decided to start afresh and forget everything about her dark past, including everyone associated with it. Her life was the perfect definition of peacefulness, she had learned to leave peacefully and happily with her friends. She found love and everything was going smoothly, not until the day of her wedding which was supposed to be her happiest day. At the last moment of getting married, unknown gunmen stormed the church, and abducted her, leaving everyone dumfounded. When she woke up the next day, she found herself in the devil's lair, the devil who haunted her in her dreams, the devil who once took what belonged to her. Her breath seized at that instant and she had to remind herself that whatever sin she would sin now would be killing the devil, not falling for him like she did in the past. But will she be able to betray her heart? Will the devil let her kill him? And will he surrender to her vengeance, or does he have a trap waiting in the shadows?