Starbound How To Breathe Underwater

Three months since my husband, Julian Moretti, disappeared. I walked into his favorite den, the grief so deep it stole the air from my lungs. I just wanted to breathe him in, to find any trace of him that was left. Then I heard it. A familiar laugh. And the soft moan of a woman. Through a crack in the door, I saw him. My husband, the man "missing" for three months, had his hand tangled in another woman's hair. "Baby, just a little longer," he said. "Soon as I siphon enough cash from the family's books, we're gone. You and me." In his arms was Bianca, from the Rosso family. "What about your wife?" she purred. "Let her play the grieving widow. She's nothing without me anyway." My fists clenched. The world went quiet, my blood turning to ice. The next day, I put the word out to the entire Family. "I'm holding a memorial mass for my husband." At the service, he stormed in, a ghost returned from the grave, roaring that he was alive and there to take back what was his. But I was standing next to his uncle, Dante Moretti, and all I did was stare him down. "Then explain," I said, my voice cutting through the silence. "Explain the woman. Explain the money. Explain your betrayal... to the Family. And to me."

Mira Whitlock gave everything to her mate—her heart, her loyalty, her future. He repaid her by crawling into bed with her own sister. When she begged him to break their sacred bond, he smiled and denied her. Trapped in a loveless nightmare, Mira did the only thing left to do: she ran. Her escape led her straight into the path of Rowan Cade, the ruthless Alpha King—wild, unchained, and deep in the throes of a rut that could kill him. Their collision was explosive. Her dormant wolf, silent for years, roared to life. And in one fevered, desperate night, a new mate bond blazed between them—hotter and more dangerous than anything she'd ever known. But morning brought no mercy. Rowan rejected her coldly, like yesterday's trash. And before Mira could even breathe, her husband Finn dragged her back and locked her away. His price for her freedom? She must let him claim her unborn child as his own. Now Mira is trapped between two alphas: the cruel husband who owns her body and the brutal king who owns her soul. One wants to use her. The other refuses to want her at all. But Mira is done begging. Done running. Done surrendering. She will fight for her freedom. She will protect her child. And if the Alphas want war—she'll give them one neither of them survives.

"I'm Aiden Hart's secretary!" I shrieked over the phone. "Calm down, Charlie. It can't be that bad." I heard amusement in Emily's voice. My roommate's attitude did nothing to soothe my nerves. "It's not bad; it's a disaster!" I convinced. "I can't work for someone as hot as him! I can't breathe around him!" I might have been on the verge of a panic attack. I was supposed to work for his father, the well-respected sixty-eight-year-old Alexander Hart, not his youngest son! This wasn't what I agreed to! Less than a month ago, my dear friend died while working at Hart Global Corporation as the CEO's secretary. Now, I was about to replace her while investigating the truth behind her death. I thought I was prepared to enter the snake's nest, but I clearly underestimated the enemy… Aiden Hart was the purest embodiment of my sexual fantasies, and believe me, after four sexless years, I had more than too many of them twirling inside my brain. Every day, I found my boss more and more alluring, and I could only protect my weak heart by repeating my newly created mantra... "Don't fall for Mr. Hart... Don't fall for Mr. Hart... Don't fall for Mr. Hart."

"Why did you put me through that?" I asked, taking a moment to delve into his intense gaze. "Do you really despise me that much?" Dimitri hissed, his voice sharp like a knife. "Isabelle, be careful with what you say." "Why should I even try?" I shot back, matching his intensity. "That’s enough!" Dimitri growled, his voice low and menacing. Before I could respond, he roared, halting my words in their tracks. He seized my arms, pushing me against the wall. My heart raced, and the fire in his gaze intensified. This is unbearable! There’s no escaping destiny anymore. His lips crashed onto mine, stealing my breath and breaking through all my defenses. --- Isabella Rosa Santacruz is a witch on the run, her blood linked to a prophecy that positions her as the key to the universe. Throughout her life, she has evaded monsters and myths, always staying a step ahead—until now. Dimitri Axel Castellan, known as the Blood Alpha, is feared, ruthless, and weighed down by a cursed pack fated to perish on the eleventh blood moon. However, when he encounters Isabella—the one person he never expected—everything shifts. She becomes the air he can’t breathe without, even if loving her means sacrificing everything, including his own life. Will their connection protect them from the impending chaos, or will it pull them apart?

I had just been discharged from surgery for a collapsed lung when my boyfriend took me to a childhood friend’s birthday party. At the party, he yanked off my ventilator and used it to inflate party balloons. My chest seized violently, as if my lung had been torn open. Justin Miller turned to Sophie Shaw proudly and said, “See? This is so much easier than blowing them up with your mouth.” I gripped the doorframe. I was gasping as my vision blurred. “Justin, I need that to survive! I can’t breathe!” His expression darkened. “Sophie was kind enough to invite you to her birthday party. Know your place! Besides, she put in a lot of effort for this day and spent hours preparing for it. Are you really going to ruin the celebration?” I struggled to speak through the pain. “Is her surprise more important than my life?” I extended a trembling hand toward the ventilator, but Justin waved it aside. He said impatiently, “I already checked. You won’t die from holding your breath for just a moment. Don’t be so selfish!” At that moment, pain stabbed me in the chest, and I used every ounce of my strength to press the emergency call button my brother had given me.

My son accidentally ate peanuts and suffered a severe allergic reaction. I threw away all the anti-allergy medication in the house and even hung up when he called 911 for help. I watched helplessly as his airway swelled shut and he suffocated to death. In my previous life, when my son struggled to breathe, I immediately drove him to the hospital. After an intense rescue effort, he survived, and I finally breathed a sigh of relief. However, my mother-in-law stormed in, furious, accusing me of being a monster and blaming me for nearly killing him. I hurried to explain that he was fine. Yet, when I presented the doctor's report and discharge paperwork, I was horrified to discover that they had turned into a death certificate. My son, who had been resting safely in the ICU, was gone. He had somehow appeared in the morgue. Refusing to accept it, I checked the surveillance footage. However, the footage clearly showed that my son never left the operating room. Instead, it was just me, talking to myself the entire time. I had no idea what was happening. No one believed me. They locked me in a psychiatric hospital. In the end, as my condition worsened, a swarm of frenzied patients attacked me and tore me apart alive.

After being reborn, I make up my mind to stop chasing after my childhood crush, Emil McLaren. When he puts up a sign banning my presence at his birthday party, I pack my bags and decide to go to Wanoki Island. When he says my scent makes his house feel nauseating, I quietly move out without complaint. When he says he doesn't want to breathe the same city air as me after our graduation, I leave and never look back. Then he tells me my existence might make his beloved first love uncomfortable. I nod and soon go public with someone else. In this life, I do the opposite of everything I did before. Because in my past life, I got what I wanted—I married Emil. But then his first love jumped off a cliff. He called me her murderer and tormented me. In the end, I jumped into the sea in a state of mental confusion and died. This time, all I want is to live. So, I find myself someone new. However, Emil blocks my path, his eyes bloodshot as he glares at me. "Penelope, I'll forgive this little joke of yours if you come with me right now."

"I, Torey Black, Alpha of the Black Moon reject you." His rejection hit me instantly. I couldn't breathe, unable to catch my breath as my chest heaved up and down, my stomach churning, unable to hold myself together as I watched his car speed down the driveway and away from me. I couldn't even comfort my wolf, she immediately retreated to the back of my mind, prohibiting me from speaking to her. I felt my lips wobble, my face scrunching up as I attempted to hold myself together but failing miserably. Weeks had passed since I last saw Torey my heart seeming to break a little bit more as the days went by. But lately, I found that I was pregnant. Werewolves pregnancies were much shorter than a human's. With Torey being an Alpha, it cut the time down to four months, whereas a Beta would be five, Third in Command would be six and a regular wolf would be between seven and eight. As suggested, I headed to bed, my mind full of questions and wonders. Tomorrow was going to be intense, there were a lot of decisions to be made. *Only for ages 18 and older.*---Two teenagers, a party and the unmistakable mate.

He destroyed her life in a heartbeat. Now he wants her heart to beat for him. On her wedding day, Elena Robertson wore red for love. It ended in blood. Her parents, slaughtered before her eyes. Her fiancé, gunned down with a smile on his lips. Her freedom, stolen by the man who thought she was someone else. Thorne Del Roi. The Mafia King feared across continents. Cold. Merciless. Godless. He took everything from her to avenge a crime she never committed. He broke her, used her, poisoned her soul with vengeance. But truth cuts deeper than any blade. Now, the devil who destroyed her is the only one who can’t stop craving her. Not for her body, but for the heart he never meant to feel beating in his chest. And Elena? She wants to hate him. She should hate him. But what do you do when your enemy becomes the air you breathe? He’s power. She’s fury. He’s fire. She’s the match. And when love ignites between them, it won’t just burn, it will explode. So much twist you can't imagine. Dive and enjoy the ride.

They say there is a fine line between love and hate, but where does one end and the other begin? When does something so pure become something so toxic that even you yourself cannot fathom when things changed? This story starts on the day that my parents were killed. That was the day that I felt like my entire life had ended. If only I knew then that it was only the beginning of the storm I would be made to endure. Struggling to grasp onto the threads of my unraveling life, I found comfort in the arms of someone I didn't truly know. His dangerously handsome looks and his lethal allure consumed me, and, despite my every instinct, I fell. He became my world, the very air I needed to breathe, the only one that I thought I could rely on... but then, in the blink of an eye, everything changed. When the truth of my very existence and reality was revealed, he cast me aside and lit my world ablaze, leaving me to burn in the flames of his hatred. Even then, we were still intertwined together by one fate. My name is Yileyna De'Lacor, and this is my story. For updates, character aesthetics and more follow me on author.muse on IG and author muse on