The Martyr By Nick Joaquin

Kendra Hayes lives by one rule, stay invisible. Straight A’s, no drama, no mistakes. But when Professor West, the man who controls her grades and her future, starts blurring the lines between mentorship and something far more dangerous, her silence becomes a cage she can’t escape. Then Axel Cross storms in. The campus golden boy. Star quarterback. Infuriatingly confident and the last person she expects to notice the cracks in her perfect facade. One glance changes everything. He sees what no one else dares to, and suddenly Kendra has something she’s never had before… an ally. But West plays a long game and he never loses. With every step Axel takes toward her, the professor’s hold tightens. Rumors ignite. Secrets surface. Loyalties shatter. And Kendra is caught in a deadly tug-of-war between the boy willing to risk it all for her, and the man determined to own her completely. She can stay silent and survive… Or speak up and lose everything, except maybe her heart. If West doesn’t destroy them both first.

Raven Knight is a journalist who lives for the truth, even when it comes wrapped in danger. When her latest investigation leads her to Club Eden, the notorious upscale strip club tied to underground crime, she goes undercover, armed with nothing but fake credentials and a steel spine. Her goal? Expose Jaxon Morreau, the billionaire Don said to be behind a global criminal empire. But nothing could prepare her for Jaxon himself. Jaxon Morreau rules with silence, dominance, and control. He built Club Eden as a front, but it became his kingdom. Cold, calculating, and feared by all, Jaxon doesn’t make mistakes… until he spots the one woman who dares defy him. Raven is a threat. She’s also magnetic. Instead of exposing her, he pulls her closer, offering her protection, power, and submission. Their chemistry is fire. Their secrets, fatal. As Raven falls deeper into Jaxon’s world, and into his bed, lines blur between truth and desire. Their relationship burns hot, twisted with bondage, dominance, and a hunger neither of them can ignore. But when Raven’s best friend is kidnapped, and a child is planted to destroy them, the darkness inside Jaxon threatens to consume them both. Worse, Jaxon’s younger brother, Zane, isn’t just jealous, he’s obsessed. Zane doesn’t want to share Raven. He wants to own her. In a world where loyalty is blood and betrayal is deadly, love may be the riskiest game of all. Owned by the Don is a 150-chapter epic of passion, vengeance, possession, and submission. Perfect for fans of dark romance, mafia empires, and BDSM stories that mix power with heart.

I suffered a bloodline rejection. On the day I was forcibly pushed into labor, Serena Cole happened to be giving birth as well. She was the mate of Adrian Cole’s late older brother, Marcus Cole. As the contractions rose and fell like lunar tides, crashing over my body again and again, I begged Adrian to find a midwife for me. What I received instead was his furious scolding. "Stop pretending. Your due date is in a month. Today is Serena’s due date, yet you insist on choosing this moment to compete with her for attention." Clenching his clothes and enduring the searing contractions, I pleaded through the pain, "The pup is coming now. Please, I’m in agony. I’m going to die from the pain. Just find a midwife. Anyone will do…" The pup inside me was too strong. It tore relentlessly through my mixed-blood body. Adrian, however, coldly pried my fingers away. "Stop lying to me. Your body is very strong. How could pregnancy possibly cause you this much pain? "Before Marcus died, he made me swear to take good care of Serena. The pup she is carrying is his only bloodline. Nothing can go wrong." He locked me inside the room and reassigned every single midwife away. The servants tied me to the bed and force-fed me labor-delaying agents. My lower abdomen was crushed repeatedly with wooden rods. Edgar Hawkins, the butler, looked at me without a trace of emotion and said flatly, "The Alpha has given his order. Only the first pup of the family may become the pack’s heir. You are not allowed to give birth before Serena and steal the heir’s position."

I was performing the hundredth "restoration" surgery on my mafia husband's latest mistress when I finally decided to leave him. For five years, I, Isabella Rossi, have lived a double life: the respected wife of a powerful Don, and the personal physician tasked with "purifying" the women he discards. Vincent's twisted religious conviction is his law: only a wife untouched by any other man can bear his legitimate heir. I was that pure wife, yet he treated me as his most unclean possession. My love for him died a slow death. A thousand empty nights. It was killed by the cold steel of my own operating table. By the sounds of other women boasting about his touch. The five-year prenuptial agreement that bound me to this hell was set to expire at midnight. I had already called my grandfather, the only man Vincent truly fears. My escape was hours away. By the time he realized his mistake, it was too late.

Zacharias Goldman's second-in-command was a young and beautiful Beta. His friends, thinking he had never done anything to the Beta, often laughed at his incompetence. "She's a cute female. Are you sure you can hold it back?" Zacharias leaned into the back of the couch lazily. His voice was oozing with nonchalance. "I can't. She's… delicious." That shocked the crowd. Mikhail Crosswing, his best friend, whistled. "And I thought you were loyal to the end. Loyal to Lucilla. She's going to raise hell if she finds out." Zacharias chortled. "Ah, yes, she can be a headache when she does that. That's why you boys need to cover for me. The bonding ceremony is in three days. I don't want anything to go wrong." The boys cackled and promised they would keep their mouths sealed. I was standing right outside the door. I heard everything, but all I did was leave in silence. The mate ring was still in my hand, but the bonding ceremony was not going to happen.

Everyone in the Titanus region would have heard the older generation tell them this—during sky burials, the vultures wouldn't eat the corpses of people who'd committed heinous crimes. My husband is the sky burial practitioner who buries me. The vultures circle my corpse in the air above the burial site, but they don't prey on me. My husband frowns at the sight. "It looks like this person must have committed crimes when alive. They deserve this." Suddenly, I remembered him pointing at me, his eyes ablaze with flames of rage as he shouted, "Nancy wouldn't have lost her baby if not for you! Someone like you doesn't even deserve to get a sky burial!" It looks like his words are coming true. But later, he falls to his knees before my grave and weeps. He begs me to forgive him.

He was there during her healing phase, he helped her to heal the pain inside her, pain caused by her own family. But now, she's more broken than she was before, knowing that the one who healed here, also hurts her. The feeling if emptiness and drained. Mind's full untold thoughts while unfamiliar voices keep shouting inside her head. Shouting about not being worthy enough to receive someone's care and love. That she achieve nothing make someone proud of her and her efforts. Thinking that no one can love her the way she wanted to be love. Now that she doesn't want that love and attention anymore. All she want now is to live with peace. She want to live her life without dealing anything but peace, where all she wanted to feel within the day is peace, and where can she peacefully sleep at night without facing the ceiling for an hour. But behind her walking unto peace, there's something from her past pulling her back. Past where she's running away before until then. But how can she run away from the past when the past already got her back?

Luca Castillo is a name that strikes fear across every pack. Ruthless, powerful, and cold-blooded, he rules with an iron fist, never hesitating to eliminate threats. Mates are a weakness, and love is a luxury he can’t afford. His only loyalty is to his pack—until the night he hunts down a rogue and everything changes. Raven was never meant to exist. Marked by a forbidden prophecy and hunted since birth, she’s spent her life running, hiding the dangerous secret buried in her blood. When she crosses into Luca’s territory, she knows she won’t leave alive. But she doesn’t expect him to hesitate. She doesn’t expect him to claim her. The bond between them is instant, raw, and impossible to ignore. But Luca refuses to be ruled by fate, and Raven refuses to be owned. As enemies rise and secrets unravel, they’ll be forced to choose -betray their hearts, or destroy everything they’ve ever known. Because some bonds aren’t just made by the moon. Some are forged in blood, fire, and destiny.

Adrasteia Meranza has always been fascinated to blood sucking vampires. Her fantasy is to be love by one of it. She found out that his long time schoolmate, Asmodeus Vointeroz, the majestic, serious, stout and masculine guy is one of them. It's her chance to finally lost in love and fulfill her fantasy, will the billionaire vampire, Asmodeus agree on what she wants?

Emily believed in the Moon Goddess’s promise—that mates are meant to protect, love, and complete one another. But when the Alpha she was destined to bond with rejected her, her world shattered, leaving her broken, humiliated, and trapped in a life of servitude. Alpha Jake has ruled his pack with strength and honor, yet one vital piece of his soul is missing: his mate. When fate brings Emily into his path, the bond is undeniable, a fiery connection that refuses to be ignored. But trust is fragile, and Emily’s heart bears scars too deep for easy healing. In a world of danger, deceit, and rival packs, can two souls destined to be together overcome betrayal, fear, and the shadows of their past? Or will the bonds meant to unite them tear them apart forever?