Smoke Screen

A week after getting into a cold war with Alexander Griffin, his friends drag me to a private room. They drink and smoke inside, not caring that I have asthma. My breathing speeds up and it starts to get difficult for me. My hands tremble as I call Alexander and tell him I'm about to die. However, he's with his childhood sweetheart. He doesn't answer my calls. He finally answers when I'm about to pass out, but all he does is berate me. "You're old enough to know not to be so childish, Isabelle. Why would you think of joking around with your life? "Sasha's injured, and I'm tending to her wound—it's my duty as a doctor. Don't tell me you're jealous over that! For the last time, there's nothing between Sasha and me. It's up to you whether you believe it!" Later, I die in that private room. His friends throw my body into the sea to cover up their crimes. One day, Alexander finds my journal. That's when he loses his mind…

A wild night of reckless and careless thinking, what could possibly go wrong? -----☆----- 19-year-old Jake Miller isn't your typical everyday guy, he doesn't drink, smoke, party nor does he like girls. In fact, he's an antisocial butterfly whose wings were clipped at childhood. But what happens when his new roommate asks him to accompany him to a party? An accidental kiss with a stranger was definitely NOT on his list. The kiss rocks Jake's world and he's left questioning everything he ever thought he knew about himself and his interests. 24-year-old Liam Morgan, smart, handsome and always prepared and the next CEO of a renowned empire. He thought he had his life all planned out: he'd have the perfect wife, perfect home with his dream job as CEO and most importantly, never be like his father. But then everything took a turn for the worst and he's left to re-evaluate his life. He doesn't know what to do anymore and in a moment of self pity, decides to have a wild night out. While in his drunken state, Liam accidentally kisses a total stranger not knowing the domino effect it would create. Their encounter leaves Liam questioning himself and his values. Fear and obsession soon find themselves following hard after Liam. His first chance encounter turned him into someone he vowed never to be like. With secrets cutting deep, can Liam be the guy that Jake deserves or will their chance encounter remain only but a burning memory in Liam's mind, to look but never touch? To have but never truly be yours?

Parting his lips, Jordan placed the burning cigarette on his mouth and stood up from his seat before walking towards his shelves containing all his important documents related business, but soon there a light tug on his arm stopped his actions. It was her, he knew it cause no one other than her had the audacity to enter and exit his cabin without his permission. His wife, Hattiea. Or maybe the woman pretending to be his wife? Jordan's dark eyes landed on the culprit immediately with darkness but as soon as he found her behind him close to him... He got lost for a moment or so... The proximity rose slight tension between them. Raising her fingers up, Hattiea pulled the burning cigarette out from his mouth which was still resting on his lips. Her delicate fingers brushed his chin and lips softly. Following by the smoke, he released his minty breath in slight awe, her breath taking face was so close to his face. They both never came so close to one another actually. Even though it had been quite of time getting married with one another, they minded their boundaries well. As it was not any marriage of love for them but a marriage full of compromises. Hattiea's eyes soon travelled up from his lips back to his eyes, which were still staring at her ditching their shame. "It's dangerous for your health." Hattiea exclaimed hinting his smoking habit, while looking right into his eyes. Her hazel eyes were blank yet they held millions of emotions. "So are you!" Jordan's smoky breath caressed her face. The deepness of his voice solely made Hattiea's heart race million times faster. It was true... she was dangerous for him. Way too dangerous to handle.

I was known throughout the Shadow Pack as the perfect, obedient she-wolf. So obedient, in fact, that when my mate David left me during our eighty-eighth Bonding Ceremony, I still chose to forgive him. Until that fateful day—our eighty-ninth ceremony—when an anonymous werewolf gifted us a wedding present worth five hundred million dollars. The screen meant to play our sweet memories suddenly switched to a live broadcast: Amy, auctioning off her virginity for exactly five hundred million dollars. In our Pack, the first night symbolizes the deepest loyalty and love between true mates. If a she-wolf loses her first night to someone other than her mate, she is shunned by the entire Pack—branded with shame and rejection. Tears shimmered in Amy’s eyes as she looked straight into the camera, like it was her final goodbye. “David, if I can’t be your mate, then my purity means nothing.” “I only hope… you’ll never forget me.” David didn’t even hesitate. He threw away our moonstone ring and bolted from the ceremony hall. The Pack murmured in stunned disbelief. Everyone knew one thing: I loved David—but David only had eyes for his so-called savior, Amy. Now, the only question anyone whispered about was whether we’d make it to the ninetieth Bonding Ceremony. But I knew the truth— There would never be a ninetieth. So I left, my heart shattered in silence. But later, I heard he had regretted everything he had done— And had been desperately searching for me ever since. Because the truth was, I was the one who saved his life—not Amy.

On the day Zachary Lake stands at the pinnacle of global technology, accepting his award, I'm lying in a hospital bed, abandoned by doctors because I can't afford treatment for kidney failure. On TV, the host asks him to call the person he's most grateful for. Without hesitation, he dials my number. "Shannon, do you regret leaving me?" he asks. I clutch the astronomical medical bill in my hand, the paper crumpling beneath my fingers. Forcing a light tone, I reply, "Can you take me on as your kept woman now that you're a big deal?" On screen, his face remains expressionless as he hangs up without a word. Then, his cold voice pierces through the broadcast. "Now, I have nothing to feel grateful for." But what he doesn't know is that when he was on the brink of death years ago, I was the one who gave him my kidney.

“What do you mean? What cyst?” Sebastian blinked, staring at the small screen on his phone, feeling his heart beat faster. The emergency information he had just received made him pause in front of his door, but then he ran to the car without thinking. He knew that something serious had happened to his wife. He had to get to the hospital immediately. His voice was hoarse as he spoke to the hospital operator, trying to get a grasp of the situation as quickly as possible. “This is a complication… You need to come to the hospital immediately and sign the consent form for surgery as soon as possible.” The voice was flat but urgent.

It was finally here; the one day of the year that always filled me with excitement and anticipation: our third wedding anniversary with my beloved husband, Alpha Andrew Wright. The sharp, insistent beeping of my phone sliced through the quiet room, halting me in my tracks to find my husband. On the screen was a picture that struck me like a brutal kick. It was Andrew, lying naked and clinging to another woman whose face was blurred. My eyes widened as I stared at the screen, this was not what I wanted on my marriage anniversary. -------------------- Alicia has known her Alpha husband Andrew for years and they got married three years ago. She has tried hard to win her husband’s heart. But her husband cheated on his stepsister and dropped a bomb on their marriage. Cried and heartbroken, Alicia left her pack with her daughter and went to a new pack. She found a new secretary job here, and unexpectedly her new sexual Alpha boss Brian was her second chance mate. And soon Brian told her that they were going on a business trip to her ex-husband’s pack. The ex wanted her back but Alicia would never allow that.

"Buzz… Buzz…" Alexia's cell phone vibrated as she sniffed then reached out for her phone which was in her side pocket and when she took it out she realized it was an unknown number. She furrowed her eyebrows. "Who in the world is this?" she soliloquized then swiped her thumb across the screen taking the phone to her left ear. "Hello… am I speaking with Alexia Chaney?" A deep male voice came through the phone as Alexia sat upright. "Yes, this Is Alexia Chaney," She clears her throat. "I heard you can play the guitar and I hope you will like a day's job, you will be paid handsomely for it. Are you interested?" said the man again over the phone as Alexia blinked. "Okay, I am interested. What is the occasion and venue?" She asked. "SBE wine corporation will be launching a new wine tomorrow alongside the birthday celebration of the CEO, Richard Robertson, and there will be a night party at his Estate," The man said as Alexia's eyes popped wide open and she parted her lips. She couldn't believe she just accepted an invitation to perform for a man who just wrecked her show. "I will text you the address, first thing in the morning. Get prepared because it is a big party and Richard loves something exceptional," said the man as he hung up.

Outside the wrecked world of the Alphas, one could see the Neverseen, the light that spread about, form by the civilized world that far prime of the Alphas. The Neverseen have long been awake and far knowledgeable than the Alphas. They height above one can ever imagine. So tall that even the Alphas and its subject could comparable to nothing, not even dots. There, one could see the march of Neverseen, or what could be called as giant in the Alphas World. Amidst the march, there's this tiny planet that surround with smoke that distorted about in the outskirt of the way, and comparable only as the dots in the Neverseen's eyes. So nothing that even they were the threat if discover, they able to overcome the changes. Strangely, this dots of a planet connected, by the use of the white strand, to the tiny being that almost seem a dust that vibrated about. This tiny being as a whole that scattered around could fit at the hands of the giant, and can even form a city there and new system. Only if they were awake that they will realize everything. In this time and age, their eyes have never been once open since the beginning of time. They as if sleep for all eternity, or was curse to never awakened! But they have the blood of the Alphas, and even the curse that stop them to realize the Origin, they will to awake in no time!

I stare at the email on my screen, unable to move my fingers. Tomorrow is our company's crucial product launch, and I just learn that the patent for the algorithm I spent three years developing is now filed under Matthew Ashford's new assistant, Sophie Bennett. I storm into Matthew's office to confront him. Sophie sits on his desk with her legs crossed, looking completely innocent. She claims that she filled out the form by mistake. "It's just a clerical error. The patent still belongs to the company. What's the big deal?" Matthew stands up from his chair, positioning himself in front of Sophie. I can't believe what I am hearing. "Matthew, this is my research!" "Emma, you're thirty-five. Why are you picking a fight with a twenty-three-year-old intern?" He frowns. Then, he turns to Sophie. "Starting tomorrow, you're the new CTO. Emma needs… some time off." I'm utterly stunned. A decade of marriage and five years dedicated to building a company together have been shattered by a few casual words from him. Thirty minutes later, Sophie posts a photo on social media of herself sitting on Matthew's lap. They are both clinking champagne glasses. "So lucky to have the best boss ever. I'll make sure to be his loyal kitten." Below that, Matthew leaves a comment—three red heart emojis. I shut my laptop and pick up my phone. "Hello. Is this Mr. David Langley from Novara Group of Sundale Valley? This is Emma Whitmore. I've changed my mind. I'm ready to join you." I pause. "And by the way, about that unreleased algorithm upgrade, I have the complete technical blueprint. Make me an offer." Later, I fly to Tallisport with an eight-figure check in hand, while Matthew goes frantic trying to find me.