Strand Gas

Whitney Morris of the Crimson Moon Pack, I, Justin Strand, Alpha of the Crimson Moon Pack, reject you. I could feel the pain in my heart. I could hear Lance howling inside of me and sense his suffering. I could see the pain in her eyes as she was directly facing me, but she resisted showing it. Most wolves quake in pain and drop to their knees. I wanted to squat down and wriggle my chest. She didn't, though. She had her head up high as she stood there. She inhaled deeply before closing her stunning eyes. "I Whitney Morris of the Crimson Moon Pack, accept your rejection". ********************************************* When Whitney turns 18, she is shocked to learn that her mate is her pack's alpha. Her joy over having found her soulmate, however, was short-lived. Her mate left her in favor of a more powerful she-wolf. Whitney has to contend with more than just the she-wolf's hatred and desire to get rid of her. When Whitney learns that she is not a typical wolf and that some would like to use her, she is shocked. They pose a threat. To acquire what they desire, they will do anything. How will Whitney behave? Will her partner regret turning her down? Will her partner be able to protect her from others around them?

After returning home from a flight, I realize that my bottle of hair conditioner has run out in the bathroom. The thing is, my husband, Carlos Zappa, doesn't use hair conditioner at all. Seeing Carlos through the frosted glass, I decide to probe him for answers. "Did any guests stay over lately? Or have you started doing hair care?" Carlos flips through the documents, which are stamped with the Zappa family crest, impatiently at my questions. "Maybe a maid accidentally toppled the bottle over when she was cleaning the bathroom. Also, why are you annoying me with such minuscule matters?" When I put on the bathrobe, I feel a ticklish sensation coming from the collar. As soon as I look down, I notice a strand of dried yellow hair being entangled in the collar. The moment the steam dissipates, I see two pairs of intertwining handprints on the bathroom's glass door. I never thought that my home would grow this popular during my one-week trip away from home. I've been married to Carlos for three years, and yet this is my first time finding out that he's actually this wild in bed. So, I secretly text my father, the Don of the Carozza family. "Dad, Carlos has cheated on me. Does the bet we made three years ago still count?"

You are mine now! The sooner you get used to that fact, the better its gonna be for you." "I belong to no one but myself." Nicole cried, but the terrifying mafia man only laughed. "I guess we'll have to see about that."  Nicole Meyer was the only daughter of Christopher Meyer, a heartless and ruthless man whose only concern was fame, wealth and power, and he was willing to sacrifice everything to aquire those things, even at the expense of his own daughter. He had just decided to marry her off to one of his friends for a business alliance, but Nicole decided that she would rather die than marry that man. She was also tired and frustrated of living like a slave in her own father's house so on the day of her wedding, she escaped in her white dress and tried to end it all, but she was rescued by a man whom she later discovered was the head of a dangerous mafia chain. "You were going to end it anyway so clearly you didn't have any need to live. I rescued you so now your life belong to me and i'm going to do with it as i damn well please." "Please don't hurt me." Nicole begged, her lips quivering. "Hurt you?" The man asked. "And just why would i do that when you are the very thing i've been searching for?" "I...i..am?" She stamerred in confusion. "Of course you are darling." He replied, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "You are going to be my bride and the one that is going to producd me an heir."

My sister-in-law, Hannah Martinez, was eight months pregnant when someone shoved her to the ground. Due to the heavy bleeding, she was rushed to the hospital. I happened to drive past, but I rolled up my window and pretended I saw nothing, pressing down on the gas pedal. In my previous life, I had immediately taken Hannah to the hospital when I saw her pass out from the blood loss. However, the situation was critical. After the severe bleeding, she developed an amniotic fluid embolism. My wife, Lauren Martinez, was the best obstetrician in the city. I called her, begging her to hurry to the hospital. Yet, she thought I was throwing a tantrum out of jealousy because she was having dinner with her first love, Isaac Poole, and his family. She believed I was using Hannah's emergency to force her to come back. By the time her family finally arrived, Hannah had already died from the failed treatment of the amniotic fluid embolism. Her entire family blamed me for Hannah's death, convinced that I had deliberately caused Lauren to misunderstand and let Hannah die. My brother-in-law, Jacob Turner, who rushed back from out of town, believed their lies. In his overwhelming grief, he hacked me to death with a knife at Hannah's funeral. When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the day Hannah was pushed and started bleeding out.

Jada prayed and asked God to provide a miracle that would be a solution to her family’s problems. They had always been poor, but this was the worst situation they had ever been in. Her father had to be taken to the hospital two weeks ago, and she had become the sole provider for their home. Marilou had given them what money she had that she could to help, but she wasn’t exactly rolling in money herself. The young girl had a huge responsibility placed upon her shoulders, but she was determined not to lose their home or have the children sent to foster care. She had been waiting tables and using her tips to buy gas and groceries, but it was barely enough most days. Her paycheck had not been enough to pay all the bills since her father had let them get so far behind. Mrs. DeRoya cleared her throat, signaling that she would answer the girl. “Miss Pence, I only had one child, my son Brayden here. My husband was also an only child. So, unless Brayden produces an heir, our bloodline here in the United States is lost. What we need is a surrogate to carry the child. If you sign the contract, when the child is born you will receive one million dollars to take your siblings and go have a good life,” she said, staring at her without emotion.

Setelah mendaftarkan pernikahan selama lima tahun, suamiku yang seorang pemadam kebakaran selalu berkata dia tidak punya waktu untuk menggelar acara pernikahan. Akan tetapi, sekarang tiba-tiba dia mengatakan ada waktu. Namun pada hari upacara, aku sama sekali tidak bisa menghubunginya. Sampai akhirnya aku melihat sebuah video di grup keluarga .... Seorang adik junior perempuan menggandeng lengannya dan menerima langsung medali "Pahlawan Pemadam Kebakaran" yang dianugerahkan oleh wali kota. Grup keluarga pun dipenuhi rasa iri. [ Pasangan Kapten Daniel memang cantik, nggak seperti istriku yang cuma bisa mengurus rumah sampai wajahnya kusam. ] [ Iya, anggun dan tenang sekali. Pasti istri yang bijak di balik kesuksesan Kapten Daniel. ] Dengan tangan kasar yang gemetar, aku hendak berkata bahwa akulah istri Daniel. Namun, tiba-tiba terdengar dentuman keras. Terjadi ledakan gas di dapur. Sambil menahan rasa sakit seperti dipanggang suhu tinggi, aku meneleponnya untuk meminta tolong. Telepon itu malah direspons dengan nada tidak sabar, "Ribut apa sih? Aku bilang mau mengadakan pernikahan cuma supaya kamu nggak datang bikin drama." "Ayah Rania gugur demi menyelamatkanku. Aku membiarkannya menerima penghargaan sebagai istriku, itu nggak berlebihan, 'kan?" Aku tertegun sejenak. Lalu, telepon itu diputus tanpa ragu.

Kydence may be blind, but it turned out that along with her brothers, they are Shadow wolves. These Shadow wolves were blessed by the Moon Goddess herself as the most lethal protectors of all shifter kind. When her Shadow abilities began to emerge, her dad and uncle were concerned, how could the Goddess make her a Shadow Warrior? The Goddess had to have a reason for blessing her. Her mom was against her training, she was worried, but Kydence told her mom that she didn’t want to depend on her brothers or anyone else to protect her. She was blind not helpless, and she didn’t want to feel helpless. Her mom reluctantly agreed but threatened her mate and Alpha that if one single strand was missing from her head, there would be hell to pay. Even though Kydence Shadow is blind, she had a heighten sense of smell, hearing, taste and touch. Dakota BlackPaw is the nineteen-year-old Beta to the BlackPaw pack and younger brother to Alpha Drake BlackPaw. His mate and childhood sweetheart has rejected him, he recovered and a year later he, his brother and their lead warrior are heading to the Shadow Mountain pack to see if they can be a part of the Shadow Mountain training program. Beta Kydence's wolf sing songs in her human's head, Mate, mate, mate. Kydence denies that her wolf is sensing her second chance mate, she doesn't believe that they will ever have a mate that can accept her as a blind shifter. Can she get over her fears and insecurities and accept the love that her second chance mate is waiting and willing to give to her? The Moon Goddess had blessed her and has big plans for her and her future mate.

“Why does everyone assume I need a tragic backstory to justify what I am?” Adrian said, strolling slowly toward me like he had all the time in the world. His eyes locked on mine as he continued, “Oh no, honey. It isn't because mummy dearest died giving birth to me. Or because dear old dad was too busy to tuck me in at night" He stopped when he was directly in front of me. So close that his tall frame was towering intimidatingly over me. I lifted my chin stubbornly to look him in the eye, refusing to cower. He smirked at that, his hand going to swipe a stray strand of hair from my face. “Some of us,” he murmured, “are not broken.” His eyes darkened. “Some of us are just simply… evil.” ~ I was dragged to the execution block in chains, accused of being a monster the world had erased. Then the Alpha's wolf claimed me as mate and forced him to halt the execution. In a world where hybrids were hunted to extinction, I was the last mistake left alive. The last thing Lucien Dreadmoor wanted was his mate being the single weapon that could completely wipe out wolves from existence. The bond tied us together anyway, trapping me in his keep, his rules, his control. He called it protection. I called it a cage. As war stirs at the borders and a vampire prince begins circling, whispers spread that my blood could start another war… or end it. The Alpha wants to break the bond. The Vampire wants to claim me. And somewhere between fate and freedom, I must decide which monster I am willing to stand beside… and which one I am willing to become.

My crippled sister, Monica Porter, jumped from the roof of the classroom building. The day before she died, she had just been fitted with the custom prosthetic legs I had paid for with ten years of savings. She was glowing, excited to finally stand up on her own. But my wife's best friend, a guy she said was just like a brother to her, locked Monica inside an empty art room. He smashed her new legs, forced her to crawl on the floor and lick paint clean to retrieve the broken parts, and recorded everything on video. And my wife, a judge, ultimately ruled that the case could not stand. "The video cannot confirm the time it was recorded and may represent consensual performance art between both parties," she said. Sandra Pauley's final judgment was simple. "The deceased had a history of depression. The school and the defendant bear no responsibility." I smiled and cooked her a full table of food. The next day, I hung the bully, Eric Hoyles, from the school's flagpole and livestreamed it to the entire internet. "Honey, remember how you said Monica had such pretty legs?" I raised a claw hammer and brought it down on his ankle. "If you don't hand over the video evidence right now, I'll hook out his Achilles tendon one strand at a time and let him learn what it feels like to crawl!" The wind passed through. His screaming broke apart in the air, mixing with the strained creaking of the flagpole until it sounded almost like music. The live chat went insane. Meanwhile, I laughed until my eyes filled with tears.

Danielle Reyes-Callahan had one great love — and his name was Dante. From the moment he crossed a crowded fire to bring her a drink she hadn't asked for, she knew he was irreplaceable. They built a life together in the forests of the Pacific Northwest — a house, a future, dreams of children — until a violent November storm stole him in twenty minutes. He went out to protect their home and never came back. Fourteen months of grief nearly destroyed her. So she did the unthinkable. At an ancient forbidden ritual pool deep in the forest, Danielle performed the forging — pouring his wedding necklace, a strand of his hair, and every broken piece of her longing into the dark water. Something answered. What rose wore Dante's face perfectly. His voice. His smile. His memories. But it was not him. What she had forged was obsession wearing love's face — possessive, isolating, and darkening dangerously by the day. It threatened her family. It harmed the people she loved. And when it put its hands around Elena's wrist and looked at Danielle like she was something it owned rather than someone it loved — she finally faced the truth. She had not brought Dante home. She had built a monster. Now she must destroy it — surviving its attempt to kill her with her husband's own hands around her throat — and find the courage to finally let go. She kills it. And in the silence after, she begins — for the first time — to truly heal. Genre: Dark Paranormal Romance Setting: Contemporary Pacific Northwest — shifter pack community Tone: Twilight-inspired urban shifter world meets dark psychological romance Heat level: High — intense, possessive, emotionally charged