The Mountains

My younger sister Avery Denning's fiance, Timothy Lane, is injured by a raging bull on the eve of their wedding. Timothy ends up impotent because of the incident. Refusing to marry an impotent man, Avery flees from the wedding. I gaze at Timothy, abandoned, along with my humiliated parents. My parents then beg me to marry Timothy instead, to which I agree. Since marrying Timothy, I've shouldered the burden of juggling household chores and outside work, working tirelessly from morning till night. He miraculously recovers from his impotence and even becomes the wealthiest man in town. But Avery suddenly returns on the day Timothy is officially announced as the wealthiest man in Greenwood Vale. She sobs as she explains that she didn't flee the wedding of her own will. Instead, Avery claims that I had tricked her into going into the mountains to search for a miraculous berry that could cure Timothy's impotence. She also claims that I had struck her unconscious on said mountain range. Timothy immediately believes Avery's lies. He angrily slaps me and even tosses me into a river to drown. My words fall on deaf ears, and I swiftly pull Timothy and Avery down into the river with me. When I next wake up, I am back to the day of my wedding to Timothy. This time, Avery shows up, too. But what they don't know is that without me, Timothy will never recover from his impotence nor become the wealthiest man in Greenwood Vale.

I get sent away to the countryside because my parents fear that I'll use my privileged background to lord over others. In turn, they're taking in Tina from that family to the city for her upbringing and schooling. In the countryside, I get up at 4:00 am daily to feed the pigs, then it's a grueling three-hour trek through the mountains to school. I'm also barely surviving due to constant malnutrition. I reach out to my parents for a mere 300 dollars for tuition, only for them to accuse me of spending recklessly. In the meantime, they're donating an entire building just to secure a spot for Tina at her preferred school. I finally make it into Tina's high school and earn a guaranteed university admission spot, only for my parents to order me to hand it over to her as they unleash their fury on me, yelling, "You're clearly bad to the bone, always trying to take things that belong to Tina." "Tina almost gave up on life because of what you did. You're indebted to her for the rest of your life." They, using their parental rights, forfeit my guaranteed university admission spot to fulfill Tina's wish. They then transfer all company shares and real estate to her for her future security, while the whole family makes arrangements to move abroad together. I take in everything before me, no longer feeling hurt. I calmly pack my belongings and walk away from the place where I don't belong.

Sarah is a dominating CEO who has a dark mysterious past. She was born in an unchartered island in Southeast Asia. Having experienced poverty at a very young age, she vowed to be the first female in their place to be successful in life. Lucky enough, a benefactor supported her financially so she can get into college and achieve her dreams. This is where she met Mark, the lone heir to a multi-million dollar company based in the Philippines. Their relationship went sour when Mark got depressed and broke up with her brought by jealousy since Sarah was able was able to graduate and he did not because of his carefree attitude. In spite of what transpired, Sarah continued pursuing her dreams. It is at this time that her past starts haunting her each time there is a blood moon. At nights like this, she transforms into a creature known as a manananggal, a half-woman with the wings of a bat who sucks blood out of her victims. Unfortunately, Mark’s mom and dad became one of them. Mark promised to kill Sarah and avenge the death of his parents. He even went to the extent of hiring a group called the ghost hunters to try and track her down. He also posted a price on the head of Sarah so the bounty hunters would go after her too. In one of their skirmishes, Sarah was captured. Mark devised a plan to save her and was successful. They both ran away into the mountains to escape their inevitable demise. But fate has its way of unfolding. Sarah bore a son out of her relationship with Mark. At first, they were not sure if their son inherited the curse of the manananggal. Their son inherited the curse of the blood thirst.

Carmenta Bloom’s life is the epitome of gilded misery, and she is no stranger to controversy. With wealth and glory as her inheritance, she has everything but the freedom to live on her own terms. When a scandal threatens her family’s ironclad reputation, Carmenta is cast into a prison of her own making under the watchful eye of her bodyguard, Perion. Perion is her captor in every sense. He moves mountains and pounds them to ground again. He controls her, isolates her, and refuses to allow any escape—except one she never anticipated: his presence begins to consume her. Perion isn’t who he claims to be. He isn’t just a hired hand—he’s tied to a powerful mafia syndicate, his motives shrouded in secrecy. To him, Carmenta is a key piece in a high-stakes war his syndicate is waging. As Carmenta’s fiery spirit challenges Perion’s icy resolve, the line between duty and love begins to blur. Perion starts to see the woman behind the façade, and Carmenta, despite her mistrust, feels drawn to the man she thinks is her protector. He begins to question everything—his loyalty and the woman who has somehow gotten under his skin. Torn between duty and desire, Perion must face the consequences of his lies, while Carmenta must decide if she’s willing to risk everything—her heart, her life, and her very soul—for the man who was never meant to protect her. As war closes in and trust crumbles, they must confront what they’ve both been running from or be destroyed by it.

On the day the Cole family went bankrupt, Adrian Cole left behind a suicide note and went alone to the snow mountains to end his life. I chased after him without hesitation, searching for him in the snow for a full ten hours. Just as despair hollowed me out completely, I saw his secretary, Zoe Bennett, livestreaming Adrian's proposal on social media. One of his friends joked in the comments, "You're about to be a groom. Aren't you afraid your woman will get mad?" His reply was icy cold. "I only promised her the title of Mrs. Cole. She shouldn't even think about anything else." Another comment followed. "She's marrying in with ten billion in investment. Is she really willing to swallow that kind of grievance?" I could almost see Adrian sneering as he typed, "She got ten billion for the position of Mrs. Cole. She's not losing out. If it weren't for her, Zoe wouldn't have been forced to go abroad. These last few days are my compensation to Zoe." My fingernails dug deep into my flesh. Calmly, I burned everything that had anything to do with him. On the day of the wedding, he went mad searching for me everywhere. In the upscale venue across the street, I had just slipped on a diamond ring given to me by another man, Julian Cross. Unbeknownst to him, while he was calculating the countdown to our breakup, I was also preparing to marry someone else.

Renko (Ren) Watson was your average high school senior. She had good grades, was best friends with Ashlyn, and in a relationship with Vance, who was one of the star basketball players. Their relationship was more off than on most days. She was trying to get her last year of high school all in order with less partying and more time studying. Of course, not wanting to be the party pooper, and also wanting to make sure that Vance didn’t do anything to jeopardize their relationship once again, she agreed to one last event. One final night that was supposed to be fun-filled, one last night that changed the course of everything. Max Hemming was a future alpha. His father, the appointed alpha of the pack of shifters that controlled thousands of acres in the Appalachian Mountains, taught him since the day he could walk of how to take control of a situation, never take shit from anyone, even your own mate…that was until Ren entered the picture. Max had one more year before claiming his mate became the main priority, the only thing was no female, in the pack or at school, had sparked any type of interest. With his good looks and charm, he could have anyone he wanted, and in most instances, he did, but no one ever filled that void his wolf felt without having a mate. That was until Renko came along. She filled that space that he always had. She made him laugh, cry, feel all the things he never thought he’d ever feel again…but most of all she made him love. Max’s only problem now was getting Renko to feel the same way.

After being pushed down the stairs by my husband's first love, I suffered a difficult labor with our second child and died in a corner of their family's private hospital. Before I died, my six-year-old son cried and begged for his father to save me. The first time, Shawn sneered. "Your mom's gotten smarter, using you to play the victim and trick people." After that, he flung my son's hand away and left heartlessly. The second time, my son told him I was bleeding uncontrollably. Shawn was clearly impatient. "She's being so dramatic, it's just a miscarriage, nothing serious. She's always made mountains out of molehills!" After chasing my son away, he even told the doctors not to care for me. "It's my fault for spoiling her. She'll know what she did wrong once I let her have a hard time for a few days." The last time, my son went to my husband's first love Jasmine, kneeling in front of her and knocking his head on the ground, begging her. Shawn flew into a rage and ordered bodyguards to throw my battered and bruised son out of the hospital room, allowing others to laugh at his misfortune. "If you come bother Jasmine while she's resting again, I'll kick your mom out of our family! She'll never see you again!" My son crawled to my side, leaving behind a long trail of blood. And so, I laid there helplessly as I felt the warmth escape both my son and I. 'Are you happy now, Shawn? You'll never see us again.'

"As long as you're this wet for me, you can hate me all you want." He whispered into my ear. "I will never forgive you for this, Reid." I angrily spat at him. Without warning, he gripped my chin, only to kiss me with a bruising intensity. There was nothing sweet about the way he kissed me. It felt like he was branding me all over again. He roughly pushed my panties aside. I gasped, giving him full access to my mouth. A growl that came from deep within his chest vibrated through me. "Forgive me?" he echoed against my lips before sliding a finger through my slick folds. A breathy whimper escaped my lips as his finger started circling my entrance. "This wet little cunt belongs to me. You belong to me. And I will fuck you until you understand that, little slave," he promised, the rough pad of his finger slowly circling my throbbing clit. ×× I was just a hiker who took a wrong turn. I didn't know these mountains belonged to him. Alpha Reid was a beast in human skin. CRUEL, POSSESSIVE, and STARVING for a toy to break. He gave me a five-minute head start. I lost. Now, I'm his captive. His "SLAVE." And the worst part wasn't the cold marble of his mansion or his dark demands... it was the way my body betrayed me every time he touched me. WARNING: MATURE CONTENT READERS 18+ ONLY. This story is a DARK WEREWOLF ROMANCE and contains explicit themes like graphic sexual content and language. Extreme power imbalances and ownership themes.

The new intern claimed she had clairvoyant sight. With just one look, she could tell exactly where the underground gold deposits were. As the institute’s chief gold prospector, I was deeply embarrassed. Every time I went through hell to locate a vein, she somehow managed to report it to the institute before I could. Even the engineering crew working under me was full of complaints. “What kind of chief prospector is she? Following her means panning in the river one day and digging holes in the mountains the next. We work ourselves half to death and get nothing to show for it!” “Exactly. Look at Jane. She just joined the institute and has already found two major gold mines. The crews working with her have already earned first-class commendations.” While the crew complained about me, I began to suspect that someone among them was leaking information. So the next time I went out to search for gold, I worked alone and finally found a major deposit. But just as I was about to report it to the institute, I discovered that Jane had beaten me to it again. That time, I couldn’t hold back anymore. I openly questioned her and accused her of stealing my work. She fired back, claiming her clairvoyant sight had shown her that I had been secretly pocketing gold from the mine. Even my fiancé stepped forward and testified against me. In the end, I was sent to prison on false charges and died there, never able to clear my name. When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the day my fiancé’s junior apprentice first claimed she had clairvoyant sight.

Even knowing that wailing at an Eravalen aristocratic funeral was considered disrespectful to the deceased, I let my husband's adopted sister make a scene anyway. In my previous life, my husband, Robert Baker, had a distant relative among the Eravalen aristocracy who passed away. A lawyer informed him that he stood to inherit the estate and invited him to attend the funeral. His adopted sister, Mia Carter, insisted on tagging along to see how the privileged few in another country lived. She wanted to rub shoulders with nobles and make herself look important, even planning to wail dramatically in front of everyone. I rushed to stop her. "Public mourning is taboo among Eravalen nobility. Forget inheriting anything. We'll all be thrown out!" Yet she burst into tears, accusing me of looking down on her and thinking she was not good enough to mingle with aristocrats. She stormed out and was killed by street thugs in a random attack. I thought Robert would fall apart, but he stayed silent through the entire funeral and collected his inheritance without a hitch. Six months later, on our wedding anniversary, he took me to the snowy mountains for a photoshoot. The moment we reached the peak, he shoved me into a sleeping bag and tied it shut. "If you hadn't blown everything out of proportion, Mia never would've run off and gotten herself shot." He buried me alive in the snow. I froze to death, and he used that aristocratic fortune to become the CEO of a publicly traded company. When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the day Mia insisted on wailing at the funeral.