Tenderness

Brenda’s world ended the night her father sold her to a monster. To protect his pack from destruction, her father traded her to Alpha Aaron, the cruel ruler of the Northern wolves — a man who never spent more than one night with any woman… because none of them survived. But Brenda did. That became her curse. For three years, she endured his brutality — his control, his obsession, his endless hunger for power. She prayed for rescue, for her father, for anyone. But no one came. Until one mistake changed everything. A blindfold. A wrong room. A night with a stranger who touched her with tenderness instead of pain. That stranger was Alpha Leon, Aaron’s business partner and unknowingly, her destined mate. When Leon discovered the truth, he struck a dangerous bargain to take her away. But by then, Brenda was no longer the girl she once was. She was a shell, numb, broken, and incapable of love. Now, Leon must battle not only Aaron’s shadow but also the darkness inside Brenda herself. Can love heal what cruelty destroyed? Or will her pain consume them both?

Valerie is a Beta wolf who had everything going on well for her until she came home one night to find her parents brutally murdered. Her world turned upside down from that night. Her mate rejects her, and she is accused by the Pack's council of being responsible for the death of her parents. Because of that, she is demoted to the rank of an omega and subjected to daily torture. Two days to her 18th birthday, she is sold off to a vicious alpha Victor to be his breeder. There at Alpha Victor's Pack, her fate didn't become much better in any way as he derives pleasure from seeing Valerie in pain. But then, as tough as alpha Victor may be, the disruptive feeling of tenderness towards Valerie crept up on him and he finds himself falling for the demoted omega he so much despised. What happens when Valerie finds out that alpha Victor might have a hand in the death of her parents? Why did alpha Victor despise Valerie so much to the point of wanting her dead? How does she navigate the much planned route of revenge for the death of her parents?

My best friend passed away from postpartum hemorrhage. Ethan said he didn't want his child to grow up without a mother. To repay my best friend for saving my life years ago, I became the child's mother. I gave up my career and ambitions, willingly becoming a full-time housewife. For seven years, I cared for both father and son as if it were my life's mission. Yet, he always remained distant, his tenderness surfacing only in the quiet intensity of late nights. Afterward, he would hand me a few birth control pills. On New Year's Eve, my throat felt strange. I swallowed the pills, only to immediately vomit them all out. Ethan was furious and accused me of harboring ulterior motives. As punishment, he locked me outside on the open balcony in the rain. Our son came running with an umbrella in hand. But he walked past me without a glance and handed it to the housekeeper who was heading out. In that moment, I made up my mind—I would leave.

My mate, Alpha Ryan, started skipping my healer's appointments after I got pregnant. He always blamed pack business. But I found him at the clinic anyway. He was with another pregnant she-wolf—his childhood friend, Bonnie. He held her with a tenderness he no longer gave me. "I'll take responsibility for this child," he promised her. "He'll be safe." His words shattered my world. Their child? I stormed in to confront them and saw it: his temporary mark on her neck. He swore the pup wasn't his. He claimed a rogue attacked her and the mark was only for protection. His lie was a knife twisting in our mate bond. I was carrying his pure-blooded heir. But he let the pack brand my child a bastard, while hailing her half-blood pup as his true heir. To protect Bonnie, he locked me in a silver-laced cell. The silver was a living death. He didn't realize his mistake until I took the forbidden herbs, sacrificing our child and collapsing in a pool of my own blood. Only then did he cradle my broken body, begging for a forgiveness I would never give.

In Wetopia, Kira finds herself embarking on a treacherous journey that will forever change her fate. Seeking solace from an easy life, she goes to a neighboring werewolf pack to stay with her best friend. Under the watchful eye of her dearest friend, Tonya, Kira's guard seems to fade away as a newfound love blossoms in her heart. The impressive Alpha, Nate, captivates her with his aura of power and false tenderness, leading Kira towards the path he desires. But her world comes crashing down when Tonya and Alpha Nate betray her trust, orchestrating a ruthless betrayal that shatters everything Kira believed in. Falsely condemned for treason against the pack, she is forced to face a gruesome death, powerless to fight back. Marshall, the Gamma of the pack, tries to save her but his efforts are futile. Kira is executed and Marshall resigns himself to save her nosy sister from facing a similar fate But as the wheel of destiny turns, Kira's spirit is reborn, reincarnating into the vessel of Willa, Tonya's sickly older sister. Armed with the memories of her past life, Willa's innocent layer conceals a burning desire for vengeance against those who wronged her.

Your freedom is not yours to bargain with,” his deep voice growled as he closed the distance between us. My body trembled, helpless against the fear of what awaited me. His fingers traced my check with cruel tenderness, his breath warm against my skin as I leaned in. A shiver ran through me as his lips brushed my neck. "You're mine forever," he whispered. "That's all you shall ever be–a breeder." That one word shattered my world. I never wished this fate, least of all to him, the ruthless Lycan King who sees Omegas as nothing more than his sexual plaything. I wanted him to be my first, though love isn't for someone like me–a discarded Omega with no worth. Rejected by her Alpha mate, who chose her twin sister over her, Morwenna is sold to the Lycan King, Leofric Thaddeus, as his breeder. Heartbroken and filled with anger, she vowed to resist him, yet her body betrayed her, wanting the Lycan King's touch. But when her first mate returned, pleading for her forgiveness, Morwenna faced an impossible choice: the love she once dreamed of or the ruthless Lycan King who now claims her body. Perhaps even her heart.

I had been married for eight years when I inherited a fortune worth hundreds of millions that my grandfather left to me and my mafia boss husband. However, just as the lawyer was finalizing the transfer, we discovered my marriage certificate was fake. That meant the entire inheritance could only go to me. “Ms. Rivers, according to the system, you were divorced a year ago. Your husband, Zayn Levine, is legally married to… Whitney Sanders. According to the papers, you're single. In other words, Mr. Levine has no right to claim the inheritance.” Whitney, the woman Zayn had once loved before she went abroad, the one he never forgot. I stared at the lawyer’s message, unable to accept it. All of Zayn’s affection and tenderness over the years had been nothing but a lie. I had planned to tell him on our anniversary that after eight long years of marriage, I was pregnant. It was the miracle we had both been waiting for. Yet it seemed like he had never really been looking forward to it at all. As I gently rested my hand on my belly, I told myself that even if my twins grew up without a father, they would be just fine. In this place built on nothing but lies, the only thing left for me to do was run away.

"Are you sure you want to deregister everything that has to do with you, Ms. Shaw? Once it's all settled, you will essentially cease to exist. No one will be able to trace you." Nancy Shaw looks at the clock pointing to midnight before saying firmly, "Yes, I'm sure." Hansen Holland's lover has won the wager. He spends his and Nancy's first wedding anniversary with his lover. That's why Nancy doesn't want him anymore. … Hansen thinks Nancy will never leave him, no matter how out of line he acts. He sinks deeper into his lover's tenderness and turns a blind eye to her provocation of Nancy… until Nancy disappears. That's when he panics and descends into terror. When he finally finds Nancy, he sees her in the arms of a man who only has eyes for her. Hansen falls to his knees before her, looking humbled. "I'm sorry, Nance. I know I did you wrong. Let's go back to how things used to be." Nancy links arms with the man beside her and smiles winningly. "It's too late for that. You're out, Mr. Holland."

DARK ROMANCE! "I-I love him," she stammered, shivering under his intense gaze. But his whisper sent shivers down her spine. "But I love you," he said, his smirk hinting at a dark intention that left her numb. "Leave me! I'm not yours!" she protested, her brown eyes wide with fear, shock, and sadness. Yet, her sparkling tears only drew him in. He leaned in closer, gently brushing a strand of hair behind her ear, his touch a mix of tenderness and menace. "How can I, kitten, when you're already mine? Trapped with me, sinfully," he whispered, his breath sending shivers down her spine. Her throat constricted in fear as she realized escape was impossible. But his next words crushed her world. "Punishment time, kitten," he growled, his voice dripping with lust and obsession. His dark eyes seemed to devour her, leaving her knees weak. A lone tear escaped her eye as she realized she was trapped. He would cage her, sinfully. She was a bright doll, but his darkness shattered her hopes. She was a vast ocean, and he was a pirate who'd found his treasure in her - a treasure he'd claim by any means. @2024darkoceanfics

"Marriage was never meant to be a love story. It was simply a transaction. But the heart doesn’t follow the rules." Eliza Foster thought she had no choice. With a sick mother and debts swallowing her family whole, she sees a marriage to Maximilian Grey, a ruthless billionaire, as the only way to survive. Cold, calculating, and emotionally closed off, Maximilian has no use for love. To him, Eliza is nothing more than a pawn in his high-stakes game, a tool to further his empire. But as they begin to live under the same roof, something unexpected stirs between them. Eliza, initially weak and defeated, slowly uncovers a hidden strength that even Maximilian can’t ignore. He begins to see more in her than the fragile woman he thought she was—her tenderness, resilience, and the quiet love she offers without expecting anything in return. As Eliza begins to understand the layers of pain Maximilian hides beneath his cold exterior, questioning everything. Can she continue loving a man who may never return her feelings? Or will Maximilian’s painful past shatter what they are beginning to build? Their marriage was never meant to be about love—but sometimes, the heart has a way of rewriting the rules. Will Maximilian allow himself to love, or will his dark past destroy their chance at happiness? Read now to discover whether love will win or if Eliza’s heart will be left broken.