The Brief Bedford Reader 15th Edition Novels & Stories

Harold missed our fifth anniversary. He said Rogues had attacked the border, and as the Alpha, he had to fight to protect the pack. However, the she-wolf who came to fetch him was dressed in a tight little dress and heels—she looked more ready for a date than a battle. Worried for Harold, I went to the Moon Goddess's altar to pray for his safety, like I always do whenever he's called to fight. However, on the way, a witch told me there was no war at the border at all. He lied to me. At that moment, I knew it was time to walk away. "I want to break my mate bond with Harold," I said. She turned the pages of an old, dusty spellbook. "Harold won't accept this. He was even willing to give up his claim to the Alpha title just to be with you." "I don't need his permission," I said. "I'm willing to pay any price." She sighed. "If your heart is truly set on leaving, I can brew a potion for you. One sip, and your scent will vanish from the pack's memory—as if you never existed. "However, think carefully. You'll lose your title as Luna, leave behind your home, your people. You'll start over somewhere new, where no one knows your name. Not even the Moon Goddess will be able to find you." I said, "I've made up my mind, I refuse to stay in a love built on lies. "How soon can I have the potion?" "Three days." Three days. Just enough time to say goodbye to everything I once called home.

The day my husband, Reece Malcolm, reached the pole for his polar expedition, his childhood sweetheart who was sent away reappeared in his bedroom. Everyone had kept it from me. Erica Lowell had been by his side day and night. Though Reece said he didn't want her there, he still allowed her to stay by his side for four years as his assistant. "You have to believe me, Lucy. There's nothing between Erica and me," he used to say. Always so sure. Always so convincing. But when he returned, it was with Erica in his arms—heavily pregnant. "She threatened to kill herself, Lucy. I didn't have a choice," he said. "The baby's coming. I need you to raise it. You know you're the only one I've ever loved." Four years. Four years of silence, of waiting alone in a house that never felt like home. Now, the lawyer is hired. The assets are tallied. The divorce papers are signed and sealed. I'm done.

After transmigrating into a horror game, I realize I can hear ghosts' inner thoughts. "Oh, look, a human! I need to give her a pet!" "Why can't I touch her? Move! I gotta touch her!" "Humans! She's so tame that she's even letting us pet her!" My inner thoughts scream, "Damn it. Now I feel like a monkey in the zoo."

When the apocalypse descended in all its eerie chaos, I was the Vanguard Base’s only researcher specializing in supernatural abilities. I willingly handed over the honor of saving the leader to my best friend, Ruby Barrett. In my past life, Ruby, who couldn’t even fully recite the periodic table, suddenly claimed she had comprehended the Spark of Dominion for awakening powers. Every time I guided someone, I had to stay up all night analyzing data and calculating mental thresholds. Yet with a casual touch of her finger, she could flawlessly awaken survivors. Everyone began to worship her as the Mother of Abilities. Until the day Commander Alden Morris awakened a top-tier lightning ability, Ruby shoved me aside. “Faith, this isn’t the time for you to show off. Commander Morris’s safety concerns the survival of all humanity. Let me handle it.” I tried desperately to stop her, warning her of the violent nature of lightning abilities, but the survivors who idolized her tied me up. Ruby actually succeeded in stabilizing Commander Morris and became the savior of the base. Meanwhile, she framed me for conducting live human experiments, had my limbs broken, and I was thrown into a pit of zombies. Only as I was dying did I realize she had awakened a mind-reading ability, stealing the methods I used to guide others’ awakenings. When I opened my eyes again, I had returned to the very day she first claimed to have mastered the Spark of Dominion. This time, I didn’t stay up day and night analyzing data or memorizing formulas. Instead, I started humming the tune of a broadcast exercise routine.

On the day Veronica went to confront her stepbrother Bruno about their forbidden attraction, she received the most shocking surprise of her life. She discovered their secret affairs had led to an unplanned pregnancy. As if that wasn't enough, Bruno's family blamed her for seducing him, and her own family turned a blind eye. Devastated, Veronica fled the city, carrying a secret that would change their lives forever. Years later, Bruno reappears in her life, and they must confront the consequences of their past actions. All Veronica wanted was to raise their child in peace, but Bruno's return sparks a love they can no longer deny. However, their families' disapproval and the weight of their past secrets threaten to tear them apart once again. Will they find a way to make their forbidden love work, or will they give up.

I was only eleven when my life changed. My parents were gone, and my innocence was taken away. I grew up in a world where danger wore a suit and love felt like power. I learned to guard myself. But nothing prepared me for him, Lorenzo Vitalio. He is my guardian’s stepbrother. He watched me grow up. He is the man I shouldn’t want. Yet he is the only one I do. He’s 32, and I’m 20. The age difference is wrong. The feelings? Right—so painfully right that it hurts. I’ve loved him for as long as I’ve known what love is. But to him, I was just the girl he had to protect, not the woman he could claim. So I did what any heartbroken girl would do—I pushed him away. I made him notice me. I broke rules, crossed boundaries, and opened up the cracks in both of us. Just when I thought I’d finally lost him, he came back. Now the question is, can love survive the burden of secrets, danger, and years of denial? Or am I doomed to suffer for a man who knows how to protect but not how to love? This is the story of Evelyn Rose and Lorenzo Vitalio. A love too forbidden to begin. Too deep to end. And far too reckless to ignore.

"I was born on 15th of July, in my country, it was the Ghost Day, whoever was born on that day meant bad luck, a ghost turned into human. But I never thought my birthday could be the reason that brought me to my future husband. Christiano Lockwood, he had been in a vegetative state for years, his family had been searching for a virgin who was born on 15th of July to marry him, as they believed it was his only chance to wake up from the coma. I thought they wanted me to drive away the ghosts haunting him. But no. They believed only a virgin-born on the 15th of July held certain mystical magic that could save him with sex. But after marriage, the miracle happened, and a bigger secret of that family was exposed..."

Matilda, a young lady living in Oxford in 2015, sees no harm in reading a poem about true love that she finds in an antique bookstore. Matilda is confused when she wakes up and finds her self transported back in time to the 15th century. Her situation is made worse when she finds out that in this new life of hers, she has a husband. She tries to explain her predicament to him but he thinks she is his wife that lost her memory. Will Matilda find her way back to the 21st century or will she remain in the 15th century where she finds everything strange?

When Olivia Charleston was released from Bedford Women’s Correction, she was a billion dollars richer in cold cash and assets. She went home, only to receive a cold reception from the family she had sacrificed a lot for. She took the fall for her brother’s crimes, and now they want her out of their lives. Though hurt, she chose to embrace her new life in secret. Brandon Pembroke was by her side. He had plans for her, but as he got to know her---his phony concern and affection became a reality. Her complicated heart and family life revolved around money, love, and lies.

Fernando Perez a 28 years old wealthy billionaire was raped on his 15th birthday, after the unfortunate incident he had zero likeness for women and vowed not to ever fall in love with them. Then came Micaela Alvarado a popular writer who coincidentally wrote a story exactly as the past of Fernando. Fernando was curious to know more about the writer and in the process he fell in love with her. Micaela later confesses she was among the girls that sexually assaulted Fernando 13 years ago. Would Fernando forgive Micaela over his past? Read and find out!