The Scorch Trials

When I was trapped by large columns of fire alongside Reya, my firefighter husband appeared and chose to only rescue her. I got on my knees inside the sea of fire and begged him to save me, too. He jabbed a merciless kick at me. “You are evil through and through, Amaranth. Are you not going to give Reya a chance to live at least? I will never forgive you for starting this fire to kill her!” At this point, his forgiveness no longer mattered. After he rescued his former lover from the scene, I was burned to a crisp alongside the baby inside me.

Warning... or Invitation? That choice is yours. This isn’t a fairytale. This isn’t about sweet kisses beneath cherry blossoms or soft smiles under the stars. No. This is raw, This is reckless, This is “Burning Embers: Scorching Tales of Desire” A collection of BL short stories carved from lust, laced with obsession, and kissed by chaos. Each chapter stands on its own, a world where strangers become addictions, roommates cross lines, enemies blur into lovers, and the line between want and need snaps without warning. These men don’t fall in love. They fall into temptation. They crash into each other like lightning against the sea, loud, unforgiving, and beautiful in their destruction. You’ll find no gentle romance here. Only the ache of fingertips brushing where they shouldn't, the weight of glances held too long, the gasp before the plunge. This is for the ones who know love isn’t always tender. That sometimes, the most unforgettable stories are the ones written in bruises and longing. This is for those who crave stories that leave a mark, who don’t flinch when desire gets messy, when hearts bleed a little before they beat as one. Not for the faint-hearted. Not for the clean-handed. This is for the bold, the brave, the ones who dare to touch the flame even if it burns. So turn the page. Step into the fire. But don’t say I didn’t warn you--- Because once the embers catch, they never go out.

When I was six, I spilled hot water, slipped, and burned my face. My face was ruined. My parents learned their lesson and never let my younger sister do housework. To everyone they met, they praised her beauty, her charm. They turned to me with nothing but disdain. When I was ten, I had a high fever. They didn't think much of it and let it drag on until my brain was damaged, leaving me slow and dull. They learned their lesson again. From then on, if my sister so much as coughed, they would rush her to the hospital in the dead of night, showering her with care. I was like a failed experiment. Every mistake they made with me, they corrected for her. I was ugly, silent, dim-witted, unwanted. She was beautiful, sweet-talking, clever, adored by all. When I was diagnosed with depression, I gathered what little courage I had and told them. Mom lashed out, called me sick in the head, and accused me of being petty. If I was so capable, she said, I might as well die. It wasn't until my sister pushed me off a high-rise that they found out, by sheer accident, that she wasn't their child at all. I was their one and only biological child.

Xiania Irish Flint, a wild and seductive twenty five year old woman who never had any boyfriends and boyfriend in her whole existence. However, it doesn't make her innocent though. It's actually the opposite. Dahil sa pananaw nito at mga prinsipyong ayaw tibagin tungkol sa mga kalalakihan, natutunan niyang mamuhay ng dalawamput-limang taon nang walang umaaligid sa kanyang lalaki. Well, aside from her cousins. Her life was simple—working on the Organization that was lead by her Family. An organization that helps people in a not so good and bad way. Iyon lamang ang pinagka kaabalahan niya, nang aakit ng mga lalaki bago ito papatayin. O kaya naman ay tutulungan ang mga kababaihang wina-walanghiya na ng iba. Career is way better than Men. That was her Motto. Mas yayaman daw siya doon, mas matututo, mas sasaya, mas may mapapala, not until her parents suddenly pushed her to marry someone she doesn't even know. Ang mga prinsipyong matagal nang hindi natibag nino man ay siyang susubukin nito. She badly wants to disobey her parents, but the Commander of the Organization, which is her Uncle —would never let her. Aalisin raw siya nito sa Organisasyong minahal niya kapag hindi pinakasalan ang lalaking naipakilala. And just like in some cliche stories, her principles were successfully broken by her soon to be husband, none other than Vraxx Caldwell. But well, that's what she thought.

It is the third year of the apocalypse. All water sources have been thoroughly polluted, making even a single bottle of clean water extremely rare. Every base has to send out search teams to find new water sources for all. My husband, Jasper Curran, is a geologist, and so, he is able to locate water sources that are still pure and unpolluted. However, when someone holds a knife to my throat for the last bottle of water—thinking that he will do anything to stop them—he hands the only bottle of clean water to Avery Grayson, the person who claimed she was my parents' real daughter instead of me. "Ave is thirsty. She's been suffering since she was little and she even had her parents taken by you, Arianne Grayson," Jasper says. "Just let her have the water." Jasper's expression is too calm and collected, as if my life is not on the line because of him. "They're just trying to scare you. You've enjoyed so many years of being spoiled with a luxurious lifestyle anyway. So what if you get bullied a little?" The people then kick me to the ground in a fit of rage as I watch Jasper huddle Avery into his arms and disappear into the desert. I get beaten up so hard that my chapped lips crack and start bleeding once again. I look at the menacing faces around me and quickly exclaim, "Wait, wait! I can help you find clean water too!"

Angelina Winterbourne vowed her union with Alpha Nathaniel Byrne would be eternal. It lasted just long enough to cost her everything—most cruelly, her daughter. When dawn raids left Angelina and Iona bleeding out, Nathaniel chose them again, his dearest friend, her golden son. Survival became her rebellion. Now, divorced and disgraced, Angelina has returned to the Black Widow Pack—and to Alpha Malcolm’s audacious offer, redeem her shattered legacy by revolutionising their famine-ravaged farmlands. But as whispers of sabotage spread, Angelina must decide—will she rebuild the soil, or scorch the lies that poisoned her life?

Mackayla has had a few trials in her life already and moves to Texas to live with her uncle. She finds friendships and falls in love with Blake who has also had some trials. They undergo some more trials both separately and together which scares Mackayla and she runs again but is that the whole story

He’s outlaw danger. She’s sworn to save lives. Their collision is anything but clean. Dr. Sienna Blake’s quiet night shift explodes into chaos when a gunshot biker crashes into her ER—bleeding, armed, and refusing to die. Breaking every rule, she saves the nameless outlaw with nothing but her skill and a reckless need to keep him breathing. But Jax Maddox, Vice President of the brutal Hellborn MC, never forgets the woman who defied logic and law to pull him back from the edge. He disappears into the night… Only to return—bloodied, armed, and standing at her door. “You saved me. Now you’re mine.” Thrown into the heart of a ruthless biker war, Sienna’s life spirals into a world of danger, secrets, and brutal loyalty. Jax doesn’t just want protection—he wants possession. And he’ll scorch the earth to claim it. He’s everything she’s trained to fight. But what if her heart craves the very thing that could destroy her?

Eliana Hunter was the perfect Luna to Lucas Williams, her husband and the alpha of the pack until he betrayed her with his stepsister, framing her for stealing from the Lycan King, and left her to bleed out and die while pregnant. But fate had other plans. When Eliana wakes in silver cuffs at the Lycan court, bruised, broken, and sentenced to death, three powerful Alpha brothers interrupt the execution. Not to save her, but to claim her. Axel, Damon, Rylan, the three billionaire triplets were every woman’s dream yet every person’s nightmare, and they were her new mates. But there’s a catch: they already have a mate and Eliana must survive the brutal Luna Trials to earn her place. Trials that killed the last two women who tried. As secrets unravel and passions ignite, Eliana discovers a cursed mark on her skin, one that ties her to an ancient prophecy and a bloodline long buried. As Eliana tries to win the trials and possibly get back her pack, she must strive with everything in her while she surviving enemies that were struggling to see her downfall.

Atacia Montreal, known as Death, is a woman whose life is not normal. It got even more chaotic when she entered Heather Academy: School of Fighters where fighters and charmers attend. She and her best friend Cassie Santos came in here to protect themselves, as well as the Normans. More trials came to her. The dark queen is one of them. The Dark Queen chases her to kill. She stayed here to hone and learn to use her charms. Here she formed a group of friends that she did not expect. Here she formed a new family. They promised to protect each other. They promised nothing to leave, until the end together to face the trials to come.