Stepping Stones Synonym

“Come at me, fight me. We have to pretend we don't know each other for me to save your ass from here”, His husky voice that I haven't remembered in years sent shivers down my spine. “You want me to pretend?” I growled, stepping into the pit. Damon’s eyes burned under the mask. “Rae… if you want to survive this, you’ll fight me—and you’ll make it look real.” “No, Alpha. I’ll fight you. But I won’t pretend a damn thing and I will send you to the pit of hell.”

Jamari has been through a lot since becoming the Wolf Queen. She has now found herself in the Vampire Realm and confronted with her Vampire mate who is less than thrilled about sharing her with three others. With the help of Fate, Jamari must convince Lucern that they are meant to be together, the fate of the Realms depend on it. With a new threat stepping on the scene, will Jamari be able to convince Lucern to accept her as his mate before time runs out? Or will his loyalty to another get in the way of the yearning they feel for each other? *Book 2 of the Alpha Queen Series (Book 1: Rise of the Alpha Queen)*

Two decades earlier, the realms of the Four Courts waged war against the covens of witches. Neither side would yield, though both were bleeding themselves dry in a war that spanned five brutal years. The Courts relied on their noble bloodlines, the witches on their wild and ancient spells. Each skirmish ended in ash, with neither enemy capable of breaking the other. Then a sorcerer from the Courts revealed a weapon: an octagonal crystal forged from eight different stones, each carved from the essence of a court. On the battlefield, before witches or nobles could comprehend what was happening, the crystal ignited. A blinding eruption of light burst forth, eight rays fusing into one unbearable brilliance. It was not merely sight that was torn away in that flash — but power, essence, and soul. Both Courts and witches alike fell, drained of the magic that had defined them. When the light faded, the battlefield lay silent under a sky of glittering dust. The enchantments were gone. The witches’ spellcraft, the courts’ line-born sorcery — extinguished forever. Neither side had won. Both had lost. And magic never returned.

“I bled for us. Now it’s your turn to bleed.” From impersonation, she filled the gap of a missing woman. Now she pay the price.................. Emily Vicente never imagined she'd ask herself that question until she saw the news: a $1 million reward for information on Elena Morgan, a missing pregnant woman and the ex-wife of billionaire Kelvin Edwards. The shocking revelation was that Emily looked exactly like Elena. It was almost as if she had lived a second life without knowing it. Her boyfriend, Sammy, desperate to escape poverty, sees a fast ticket out and pushes Emily to step into Elena’s life. Pretend to be a pregnant Elena. Collect the money and disappear. Emily, emotionally blackmailed and cornered by her present situation, gives in. But what she didn’t know was that she wasn’t just stepping into another woman’s life she was stepping into a storm. The lion’s den. Kelvin Edwards isn’t just a cold billionaire, he’s a desperate father trying to save his terminally ill child. And Elena is the key to that salvation. But now, she’s gone… and Emily has taken her place. What began as a lie quickly spirals into a web of secrets, danger, and emotional warfare. And just when Emily begins to lose herself in the act Kelvin finds out the truth. What follows is both heartbreaking and a solution to his problem. ...With the upper hand and nothing to lose, Kelvin gives Emily two choices one that could shatter her completely, and one that would bind her to him forever. What she thought was a way out... might be the beginning of her undoing.

Sophia D. Ark, an ordinary college student that loves reading fiction as her only way to escape the not-so-good reality. After dying in an unfortunate accident, her soul transmigrated to a world inside of a romance novel set in medieval times. She possessed the body of a young lady from the second most powerful noble family in the Asterin empire, Elizabeth White, the villainess who is destined to be doomed and die a pitiful death. Will she be going to let the plot dictate her fate? "Now that I am living in her stead. I, Sophia, refuse to be used as a stepping stone for the protagonist's advancement! I will take control of my life this time."

The day after I got engaged to my boyfriend, his best friend locked me up. He smiled as he unbuttoned his shirt, stepping closer with each passing moment. "Mich, I'm your true destiny," he said, his voice low and menacing. As I struggled to resist, I lost my footing and tumbled down the stairs. When I woke up, all my memories were gone. The handsome stranger standing before me noticed my confusion and kindly offered an explanation. "You're my fiancée, but you cheated on me," he said.

After a brutal divorce and banishment, Diana stumbles at the gates of the Lycan King’s kingdom and is mistaken for the king’s missing wife. Shocked, Diana soon realizes that King Asher is also her fated mate. Drawn to him and his children, she is torn between the undeniable bond she feels and the shadow of a life that isn’t hers. But the deeper she falls into Asher’s world, the more Diana's heart pulls her closer to the king she was never meant to love. Diana faces a choice: reveal the truth and risk losing everything, or protect her love, stepping into a role she was destined to hold.

‘It’s not that there aren’t good people in the world. It’s that the bad ones are so much easier to find.’ A teen mother raises her daughter on a looping road trip, living hand-to-mouth in motel rest stops and backwater towns, stepping occasionally into the heat and chaos of the surrounding cities. A life without permanence, filled with terrors and joys, their stability is dependent on the strangers—and strange men—they meet along the way. But what is the difference between the love of a mother, and the love of a friend? And in a world with such blurred lines, where money is tight and there’s little outside influence, when does the need to survive slide into something more sinister? ©️ Crystal Lake Publishing

Sign the contract, Maeve,” Carter Langston commanded, flinging the papers across the table with cold eyes and authority. She signed to save her family, not knowing she was stepping into a cage. Maeve married the ruthless billionaire who saw her as nothing but a pawn to secure his empire. Amidst all the humiliation her spirit refused to break. And when Carter’s younger cousin, Cameron—the man with soft eyes and dangerous kindness offered her the love Carter never could, her heart wavered. Torn between duty, betrayal, and forbidden desire, Maeve faced the impossible: which of the two men truly held her future?

When Eliana lost her job and faced a heap of debt, a lifeline event happened in an unexpected form. A marriage contract with wealth and emotions scarred Geoffrey. Geoffrey's father's life is hanging a string, and the pressure to secure his family legacy is mounting. Eliana, out of options, agrees to the agreement without hesitation, stepping into a world where love is a transaction and trust is a luxury. But their fragile agreement is threatened when Geoffrey's Ex discovers their Union and would stop at nothing to win him back. Will Geoffrey be swayed by his ex's manipulation or will he see the potential to build something genuine with Eliana? Will their reel marriage turn into a real marriage, or will it crumble when the terms expire?