Searing Searing

Four months pregnant. I was alone when a rival family came for me.. A searing pain tore through my stomach. I couldn't reach my husband, Don Lorenzo. His phone was off. I woke up in a sterile hospital bed. Three days had passed. And the baby... was gone. That’s when I heard the nurses gossiping. “Heard Don Lorenzo cleared out a block of Fifth Avenue for his mistress three days ago. Had his phone off so they wouldn't be disturbed.” Tears rolled down my cheeks, but my heart was empty. I gave up my career, my whole life, for him. The Don who promised me forever… he shattered that promise just days before our fifth anniversary. Back home, I dug out an old phone and made a call. A number I hadn't touched in five years. "The European tour you mentioned…" I said, my voice hollow. "I'm in. I can be ready in a week."

As the flames engulfed my body in the underground warehouse, I used the last of my strength to call my brother, the new Don of the Moretti family. Just as I was about to draw my last breath, Lorenzo finally answered, his voice as cold as the Sicilian winter wind. "Isabella, what the hell are you up to now?" "Brother, save me…" My voice was barely a whisper, but he cut me off without a hint of mercy. "Can't you go one day without causing trouble?" "Liliana's debutante dinner is next week. If you don't show up, I'll drag you back here myself." He hung up without a second thought, completely oblivious to the desperation in my voice. Despair mingled with the searing agony that wracked my body as the flames danced higher, and I couldn't hold on any longer. As I closed my eyes, tears still trickled from their corners. You won't have to drag me back, my brother. I'm never coming back.

I used to live my life believing that there was something corrupted within me. I had never felt comfortable walking in the searing, bright daylight. It felt as if I didn't belong there. Is that why I felt this sudden attraction to a man who seemed to be the embodiment of darkness? Ashtar Malachious resembled the sum of my sexual fantasies. The shades surrounding him were like a captivating essence. Others called him the predator, the fallen, or the death. I knew that, but my eyes saw him differently. He saved my life in more than a literal way. He seduced me, slowly enticing all my senses. He showed me what a touch could feel like. He let me taste the pleasure I had never thought existed. The one thing he wanted from me was my blood. I knew that if I gave it to him, it would be along with my body, heart, and soul. His irresistible aura blinded me to the dangers that surrounded me. Like a moth to the flame, I stepped closer until the hellfire licked my flesh. Then the wicked flames revealed the cruelest truth—this love kills. In the end, one of us will die.

Who would have known that the awakening of a powerful goddess would be through the provocations of a young wolf? The girl was shocked and hesitated to ask, "W..why are you suddenly like...this?" "What do you mean Arya?" Amaris asked as his pretty fingers played with her locks while still keeping her trapped between his arms. "You are so..." "Different?" He completed the sentence for her to which she nodded in the affirmative. Sighing, his arms fell from the wall and wrapped around her waist to drag her close. As he gazed into the eyes that he fell in love with from day one, he lowered his head to peck her on those very chatty lips causing a gasp to escape. "I've always been like this. You were just too silly to see it." he said as he beheld her beauty. "I'm a possessive wolf Arya and I really don't like seeing you with goldie locks. Are we clear?" He asked, not giving her a chance to respond as he took her breath away in a hot searing kiss. Follow Arya as her simple life turns into the complete opposite following the appearance of the big bad wolf Amaris.

My name is Allison Trueborn, I am hated and banished from my pack because I dared to fall in love with Raymond. I come from a family where our mom favors one daughter over the other. Unfortunately, I’m not the favored child. All I had to do is marry a wealthy high ranked Alpha and look pretty for him. I was not supposed to have purpose or ambition. I was expected to follow the rules and do as I’m told always. But, I wanted more. I just wanted to find love and happiness after years of bullying from my mom, my sister and many others in our pack. I planned to escape through marriage, but my plans were ruined when my sister stole my man and made me her chosen slave. To make her happy , alpha Williams had by legs broken too when he knows I couldn’t heal because I’m wolfless. He shifted into his alpha wolf and bit down on my limb, tearing through my flesh and breaking a bone before he stopped. I yelled and screamed in pain, feeling the searing pain from the fracture. I saw the look on my sisters face, she was practically living her dream, enjoying the moment and savouring it like a good meal.

“I reject you as my mate and the Luna of the pack.” Nathan gave me a bored look, the disdain on his face obvious as he pushed me away from him. My heart began beating fast, as the searing pain from the broken bond makes me slump on the ground, an ache so painful in my heart it has me looking for anything or anyone to hold on to. Alana is suddenly rejected by her mate in front of everyone after she has given him her virginity and they’ve planned their life together. Shocked by his rejection, she refuses to tell him about her pregnancy. Alana leaves the pack with a strange man much to Nathan’s dismay and disbelief. The pack she goes to and her old pack join hands suddenly due to a circumstance that makes packs close together to join hands, Nathan wants a second chance and he is sure the boy he sees with Alana is his, but she doesn’t believe him or want him anymore. “At least give me a second chance please.” He pleads, but she scoffs looking away. Will Alana accept Nathan’s apology? Will she risk having her heart broken again? Many things are exposed and Alana discovers many truths, will she accept them and face the common enemy about to break everyone down with Nathan?

I plan a family trip at my mother Lucia Sweeney's request. While avoiding the danger zones, my sister Linda Harper and I are ambushed by rogues. To protect her, I throw myself in the path of their claws and get driven into a silver mine. As I fall, my back is slashed open to the bone, and shards of silver embed deep into my right leg. The searing silver poison spreads quickly, burning through me and my wolf. My wolf is whimpering—she's close to death. However, as the pack's chief healer, Mom gathers all the healers around Linda to give her a full check-up over a few minor scrapes. I sob and beg her to save me first. "Mom, the poison has almost reached my heart. I can't hold on anymore." She turns around impatiently and yells, "Are you seriously still fighting with Linda now? Do you have any idea how close she came to getting clawed in the face by a silver claw? Our pack doesn't have a wolf as heartless as you!" And in that moment, I hear my wolf's final whimper, saying goodbye. I finally fall asleep in the cold wind, never waking up again.

Clara's life takes an unimaginably drastic turn when she wakes up next to Billionaire Derek Montenegro. **** Clara is a maid at one of New York's most renowned hotels. She works two jobs to make ends meet and to protect her family from the debt her father's drinking left behind. What occurs when she meets Derek Montenegro, the heir to the largest hotel chain in the nation, a real ladies' guy, and also her boss? What transpires when her ex-boyfriend unexpectedly walks in and knocks him out? She spends the entire night taking care of him in an effort to keep her job. But something seems off. Not only is she half nude next to him when he wakes up with a searing headache, but he has no memory of the previous night. He dismisses her from her work because he views her as a floozy who is just interested in his money. What transpires when they cross paths again two weeks later and she blurts out, "I'm pregnant." Not to mention, she could have a chance of falling in love—this might lead to a lot of unexpected complications. Can genuine love really last in the midst of so many lies?

I flinched as his breath fanned my face, my body trembled in his arms. This was the chance, but was I scared? His eyes affected me in so many ways, as they held grief, pain and regret. Our stare was our way of communicating. It was intended, emotional and agonizing. I was hiding the knife behind me, picturing the perfect place to stab him. His searing heat sent a gush of lust inside me. I shouldn't fall for that. This was a revenge plan, not a romantic show-off. "I'm engaged, and I have a child with him" I remembered, barely recognizing my cold voice which had become soft and weak. He let out a dirty smirk, lowering his eyes to my lips as we exchanged breath. "I know, but I can't stop myself from falling" he whispered, and before I could blink an eye, he captured my lips, twirling them to his taste. It was a long liquid kiss that made me wet so that I couldn't fight back. The knife slipped off my hand as my body yanked on his. We both dried up where we stood when her voice resounded in our ears. "Mom?"

On the night of the Benedetto family's Harvest Festival, my Mafia husband, Salvatore, told me to bring our son, Giuseppe, to the family gathering. He said his madre had finally accepted us into the Benedetto bloodline. I was trembling with excitement in our little cottage as I dressed Giuseppe in his finest little suit. He had carved a single wooden rose by hand, a project he'd saved for over five years. He said he would present it to his grandmother at the celebration, a plea for her to accept our place in the family. But the moment we stepped into the stone manor, I saw Carmela. Salvatore had her pinned against an oak barrel in a deep, searing kiss. In the moonlight, her hand was undoing his tie. In front of everyone, Salvatore smiled and gently pushed her away. He walked toward the family members gathered in a semicircle and raised a crystal glass. "Tonight, in addition to celebrating the harvest, I have an important announcement." "I would like to introduce you all to the woman I have married in the eyes of God and the Church." "Miss Carmela Torrino." Before I could even process his words, Giuseppe tore his hand from mine and rushed forward. "Papa, what are you saying?" "Isn't my mother your wife?"