Sound Absorbing Blankets

It was the third anniversary of my registration of a mate bond with Xavier Ashford, the alpha of Shadowcrest Pack. My gift to him was a positive pregnancy test, but his gift to me was a contract terminating our bond as mates. I froze, too distraught to reach out and take it from him. Xavier cleared his throat awkwardly. "A wolf tricked Talia into getting pregnant. A pup born out of mate bond can't get the rights to live in the pack. My plan is to terminate our bond as mates and become mates with Talia for the time being so that her pup can have a legal identity. After she gives birth to her pup, then you and I can become mates again. How does that sound?" He passed me a bond termination contract. It had clearly been prepared a long time ago. He noticed my hesitation and explained gently, "You're my one true love. I'm only helping her as a friend. Even after we split up, I can guarantee that you won't be mistreated." I looked up at him with a smile and stayed silent. Then, I reached into my pocket and felt the pregnancy test under my fingers. The two red lines on the screen were as clear as day.

In a daring game she never expected, Larissa Justice finds herself compelled to kiss the twentieth male she sees at school. Little did she know that this challenge would lead her straight into the arms of the one person she'd secretly admired for years. But as thrilling as it may sound, locking lips with the most enigmatic and callous guy in school comes with its own set of consequences. Terrified of the consequences of her actions, Larissa tried to hide her identity from him, hoping to avoid his wrath. It seemed like a foolproof plan until fate intervened when they were paired together for a crucial assignment. And just when she thought things couldn't get any worse, her math teacher appointed him as her personal tutor. Zayne Verlice, the youngest son of a wealthy family, thought he had closed off his heart forever. But when a mysterious girl unexpectedly kisses him and vanishes, his curiosity is ignited. Little does he know, this enigmatic beauty is none other than his first love, the one who shattered his world years ago. Determined to win her back, Zayne embarks on a quest to make her his own and once for all. Can he win her heart, or will their past consume them both?

On the road, I met a woman unlike anyone I had ever seen before. Her name was Janet Smith. She seemed slow and almost childlike, yet she had been wandering alone for two years without ever going home. Even with one leg crippled, she had forced herself to climb the Highveil Mountains. This time, however, she was caught in a blizzard. Injured and stranded, she could no longer make her way down. As her vision blurred and her strength slipped away, tears covered her face. She placed a pair of small handmade clay dolls in my hands. "I'm probably going to die here," she murmured. "Please give these to my adoptive brother, Chester Graham." She was clearly at death's door, yet her smile was soft and unexpectedly serene. "Tell him I've seen enough of the world. I don't love him anymore. And tell him he doesn't need to worry. I'm not so foolish now. I won't cause trouble for anyone again." Chester? At the sound of his name, I stood rooted to the spot. In Riverton City, everyone who worked at the harbor knew him, the so-called Ship King. Right before I left for the mountains, news of his engagement had been everywhere.

For five years, Marco Falcone was the perfect man. Or so I thought. The illusion shattered on the night of our engagement party, when his mistress crashed it, a five-year-old boy in tow. The boy ran straight to Marco, crying, "Daddy! Daddy, I finally found you!" It had to be some kind of sick joke. But then Marco turned to me, his voice stripped of all warmth. "This is my son, Leo. A… mistake Sofia and I made five years ago." "Leo is the Falcone heir. I have to legitimize them. That means I'll be engaged to Sofia first." "But Lydia, believe me, I still love you. We can have our engagement party in six months. You're going to be the Donna of the Falcone family. I expect you to be generous and understanding. This is non-negotiable." I laughed, a cold, sharp sound, and slid the engagement ring off my finger. My eyes scanned the room and locked on the man in the corner—Lorenzo Moretti, the most powerful Don in New York. He held another title, one only I knew: the man who’d been trying to make me his. "Don Moretti," I called out, my voice clear and steady. "I find myself in need of a new fiancé. Are you interested?"

Karen had invested her last penny in the business she had recently established and was eagerly awaiting the promised funds from her benefactor to take it to the next level. "Maybe he forgot. I should remind him," she thought, and promptly sent a text message: ‘I hate to sound desperate, but my finances are tight.’ After sending the message, she realized she had used the wrong number. She quickly started typing, ‘Please ignore the...’ when an alert popped up on her phone: ‘Five billion dollars transferred to you by Roger Dawson.’ Roger? The first name sent a chill down her spine, but the last name left her puzzled. "Roger? Could it be Tonia's bodyguard?" That was his number, but when did his name change? Her phone rang immediately, and the name she had feared for months echoed in her ears, his voice filled with emotion yet calm like a winter breeze. "Karen, stay put, I'm on my way to you." The call ended before she could process it. He was the reason she had fled, refusing to sign the divorce papers. Her love for him was unrequited, his heart belonging to her adopted sister, but what hurt more was the feeling of being traded between friends like a commodity. She would rather die than return.

How much of a chance is there for someone napping on a plane, woking up finding himself lying on a giant bird nest? Lei was on his way home from visiting his mom when the plane he was in, out of nowhere encountered a giant black hole. What's a black hole doing on Earth? The pilot himself wants to know. It swallowed the entire plane in an instant- crushing and obliterating everything inside. The passengers were not even given the time to react. Lei, who was sound asleep during the entirety of event, was completely oblivious to all of this. He was sleeping so soundly it made one's tooth ache. However, even among the hundreds of passengers and crews on the plane, he was actually the only person who survive. Was this the will of heaven at work? Or was it just him taking all the luck in the world? Either way, the most immediate matter for Lei who was finally awake at this moment to resolve was.. "Ah-why the hell does this bird keep on following me?!" The adorable 'little' bird was looking at Lei with its adorable, big, round eyes, following him on his track. "Also, where did that book I brought with me go?! I haven't finished reading it yet!" The pitiful book on the void with not even a speck of its dust left was sad: ..Master, I'm sorry! I already went ahead huhu

Kai Tanaka is Seattle’s best rescue swimmer, the man they send into black water when the storm decides to take a life. He’s built for cold, built for chaos, built to bring people back. Until one rescue goes wrong. A body disappears. The footage goes missing. And Kai becomes the quiet scapegoat the Coast Guard can sacrifice to keep the institution clean. Suspended and watched, he’s barely holding on when Luca Reyes drags his name into the light. Luca is a true-crime podcaster chasing the truth behind that same night, because his younger brother was on the boat that never came home. Luca thinks Kai is hiding something. Kai thinks Luca is feeding off tragedy. Their first meeting is sharp and ugly. Then Luca is nearly killed for asking the right questions. Kai pulls him from the wreckage and realizes this isn’t internet noise. Someone is laundering bodies through the sea, and they’re using Kai as the fall guy. The only way to keep Luca alive is to disappear with him to an off-grid cabin on the San Juan Islands, where the wind never stops and secrets sound louder. Forced proximity turns into hunger. Suspicion turns into heat. And the closer they get to the truth, the more they realize the storm isn’t the worst thing chasing them.

The sound of glass crashing against a hard surface echoed in the room as I aimed for Ethan’s head, missing by an inch. “Get away from me!” I screamed, but that didn’t seem to do anything as he only rushed towards me before I could grab anything else to chuck at him and hugged me as an attempt to calm me down. Just when I thought things couldn’t get any worse, my husband walked into the room, watching the scene before him, and there was one thing that I knew for sure – he would think I was cheating on him with my ex-husband. ~ Angela Diaz has always dreamed of not just the perfect wedding, but the perfect marriage to her childhood crush – Ethan Ambrose. She always knew that Ethan never liked her back, and he wouldn’t even spare her a glance if she was two feet away from him, but she is shocked when Ethan Ambrose turns around all of a sudden and confesses his hidden feelings for her. Ignoring her parents’ continuous warnings and taking the risk of going from the flamboyant comfort of her parents’ home to Ethan’s family house, Angela is only about to realize that everything about her relationship with Ethan has been a lie, and her “perfect marriage” is nothing but a nightmare in disguise.

“Mine,” I heard him say, as his eyes turned a bright shade of red. Maybe I should've shouted for help. Or hit one of his men, who was holding me in place. Instead, my heart stirred at the sound of his voice. “I always get what I want.” He continued. “And I'm taking you with me.” He stared directly into my eyes, and my breath turned raspy. He looked scary, yet I wasn't afraid of him. I turned back towards the dark alley. If I didn't go with him, I'd be caught by those killers sent by my father. But this man didn't look human. I took a deep breath, and made my decision quickly. “Yes, I'm yours.” *** On her wedding day, Mirabella Aurel eloped, only to be captured by a strange man. Danger. That was what came to mind, once she locked gazes with Zeke Elliott. Plunged into a world of darkness, power, and abnormality, Mirabella discovers that she might have just jumped from frying pan to fire. In the midst of all, she finds herself falling for a vampire whom she never thought existed. And he might be the only one who can protect her, and help her enact revenge on her…father.

"Maybe you should spank me. I've been very, very, very naughty, sir." He chuckled, watching me go on all fours, in the middle of his office as he sat at his desk, typing away on an electronic keyboard. "You have, Miss Lenora," he smirked. "And I'm beginning to think my punishment has been too light Biting my lips like a puppy begging for a treat, I loved the sound of his voice dripping like honey. He leaned back into his chair and returned to his work, "Now get out. I've got test scripts to mark." Lenora's world crumbles when the man she has a sizzling passion for rejects her for her sister. Heartbroken, she escapes the painful situation by enrolling at Eldridge College, a distant university where she wouldn't have to face her backstabbing sister and the sexy-as-hell Professor CJ who tore her heart into shreds. What will happen when she's in her lecture hall and sees the new professor walk in, the same man who shattered her heart? Ignore her uncontrollable lust for him by pretending that he doesn't exist, or risk everything, defying the grave consequences and surrendering to the irresistible charm that CJ possesses.