The Score Elle Kennedy

My physics teacher held up my test paper with an 18-point score in front of all the students and parents and said, “Students like this are hopeless. I don’t even know how someone like this passed the high school entrance exam. “I didn’t think there was a way to cheat on the high school entrance exam, but it turns out there is. It gives people like this a chance to cheat.” He did not just insult my intelligence but also questioned my character and family. “Well, it’s not surprising. Only a junk-collecting family could raise a kid like this.” I curled up in my seat, too scared to say anything. But my stepmom could not stand it anymore. She smacked the chalk box off his desk, pointed at him, and yelled, “Who do you think you’re talking about?! “I send my kid to school and pay all the tuition and book fees! How did it turn into us being a junk-collecting family?! “You can’t even teach properly, and I haven’t called you out for it! Have you no shame?! You don’t deserve to be called a teacher! You’re just a piece of trash!” For some reason, she suddenly seemed imposing and heroic to me.

“Landon is here?” Mabel asked, turning to look behind her, a frown forming on her face. “Are you stalking me? Huh?” She asked drunkenly and made to climb down from the stool, but she missed her footing and fell toward Landon who instinctively caught her in his arms. Upon realizing what he had done, Landon suddenly pushed her away from his body like he had touched a bag of filth, making her fall to the ground on her butt. “Ouch!” She winced as her butt came in contact with the hard floor. Landon felt a pang of pity for her but quickly masked it. Such a shameless woman isn't worth his sympathy. She was married, yet she was drunk at a bar, flirting with a random guy. ******* What happens if your wedding was never about love but about settling an old score? Mabel never wanted an arranged marriage, but honoring her father’s dying wish left her no choice. On her wedding day, her groom, Landon Ferguson, didn’t bother to show up only sending someone in his place. Humiliated and furious, she swore never to forgive him. As the truth behind their arranged marriage comes to light, Mabel realizes too late some debts demand more than just a name on a marriage certificate. Some demand a sacrifice.

On the night of the SAT exam, my childhood sweetheart, Walter Sterling, eagerly coaxed me into sleeping with him. At the height of passion, his wild and unrestrained motions hurt me. Later, thanks to a ten-points difference on the exam score, we ended up in a four-year-long-distance relationship. Walter spent all his allowance on flight tickets to see me. Whenever we got together, he would physically live out the words, “absence made the heart grow fonder.” On his birthday, I bought a flight ticket and carried a cake to surprise him. But when I entered his rental apartment, I saw him and a strange girl intensely doing the deed. The cake in my hand fell to the floor with a thud. Then, I ran out crying. Walter’s expression changed dramatically. He chased after me like a madman. To keep me, he deleted all her contact information in front of me and even dropped out of school. My heart softened, and I forgave him. After we got married, he treated me even better than before. The improvement was so drastic that I was constantly on cloud nine. But when I became pregnant, I once again saw the girl he had completely cut ties with. She was his new secretary.

'If I did anything right in my life, it was when I gave my heart to you, my love. I swear I couldn't love you more than I do right now, yet I know I will tomorrow.' For Audrey, ‘Seymour House’ is not only a house. It’s her most precious legacy. All her memories are there, still living inside those four walls. So, she needs to do everything in her power to save it. Even if it means going against a ruthless businessman like James Mayer. James came to England with one thing in his mind: avenge his father. He has a score to settle with the Seymour family. James is determined to see this matter all the way through, starting with getting his hands on ‘Seymour House’. After one meeting with Audrey Seymour, James decides he will have the house and everything in it… including the gorgeous lady of the house. Against her better judgment, Audrey is attracted to James’s powerful sensuality. He is so tempting… Still, she is saving herself for her wedding night, and the American tycoon is definitely not the marrying kind! But there’s one thing she doesn’t know about him… whatever James Mayer wants, he usually gets.

I was Alpha Damon’s Head Beta. For six years, I had been his partner in bed and his second-in-command. When he announced our mating ceremony, the entire pack celebrated. My dream was finally within reach. But then, outside his private trophy room, I heard him bragging about his “Luna trials.” And just like that, I learned the truth. I wasn’t his one and only. I was one of thirty candidates. He’d spent a month with each of us, grading our bodies, our submission, our performance. My score? Lower than an Omega’s. Lower than Lydia’s. “Fucking Lydia was incredible,” he boasted. “I could barely pull myself away. Then I look at Elysia—so stiff, so in control—and I’m just… bored.” Ice flooded my veins. My body went numb. Six years of devotion. Countless nights tangled in his sheets. It all meant less than a cheap thrill and a wolf who knew how to kneel. My heartbreak hardened into ice. I sent a message to an Alpha who had wanted me long ago. “Adrian, you once said your offer to mate was a standing one. Does it still stand? Damon and I are over now.”

Everything seemed like a dream for Nara, she was going to be mated to the love of her life. A miracle really, especially when it was widely known that she was going to be the first omega ever mated to a soon to be Alpha and her best friend, Elle was her biggest supporter but everything comes crashing down when instead of her man of four years, Xander choosing her as his mate, he calls Nara’s best friend Elle as his wife, rejecting and humiliating Nara in the process. Now things were spiraling into a chaotic mess and a night that was supposed to be a day of celebration quickly reduced into a nightmare and by the end of the night, she was running into the arms of the most notorious lycan in the world, Alpha Rhegan who happens to be her second chance mate.

After confirming I was pregnant, I suddenly heard my husband’s inner voice. “This idiot is still gloating over her pregnancy. She doesn’t even know we switched out her IVF embryo. She’s nothing more than a surrogate for Elle. If Elle weren’t worried about how childbirth might endanger her life, I would’ve kicked this worthless woman out already. Just looking at her makes me sick. “Once she delivers the baby, I’ll make sure she never gets up from the operating table. Then I’ll finally marry Elle, my one true love.” My entire body went rigid. I clenched the IVF test report in my hands and looked straight at my husband. He gazed back at me with gentle eyes. “I’ll take care of you and the baby for the next few months, honey.” However, right then, his inner voice struck again. “I’ll lock that woman in a cage like a dog. I’d like to see her escape!” Shock and heartbreak crashed over me all at once because the Elle he spoke of was none other than my sister.

In a world engulfed in blazing desires and searing conflicts, Rachel becomes a pawn in the hands of her ruthless father, sold to the fiery Alpha King, Brandon. Bound by marriage but consumed by despair, Rachel's world ignites with unexpected flames when she discovers her pregnancy. Determined to escape Brandon's fiery grip, she flees Pack Manowi, knowing she is just a breeding tool to him—a mere flicker in his blazing ambitions. Months later, as Brandon's regret scorches his soul, he realizes the inferno of memories with Rachel has sparked a love he cannot extinguish. Desperate to reclaim what he lost, he searches relentlessly, flames of remorse licking at his every step. It is under the scorching gaze of the full moon that fate fans the flames of their reunion. But as the embers of their love smolder, a new inferno rises. Kennedy, a captivating Alpha intertwined with Rachel's destiny, emerges from the flames, declaring his claim over her. "Rachel, I'm here to claim you as my mate!" his voice crackles with intensity, promising a different kind of blaze. Defying the scorching challenge, Brandon's voice cuts through the air, a defiant inferno in its own right. "No, Rachel! I am your mate. Not him! You're my fate!" His fiery determination reveals a depth of love that can't be extinguished.

"Quarterback SneakWhen Stacy Halligan is dumped by her boyfriend just before Valentine’s Day, she’s in desperate need of a date of the office party—where her ex will be front and center with his new hot babe. Max, the hot quarterback next door who secretly loves her and sees this as his chance. But he only has until Valentine’s Day to score a touchdown. Unnecessary RoughnessRyan McCabe, sexy football star, is hiding from a media disaster, while Kaitlyn Ross is trying to resurrect her career as a magazine writer. Renting side by side cottages on the Gulf of Mexico, neither is prepared for the electricity that sparks between them…until Ryan discovers Kaitlyn’s profession, and, convinced she’s there to chase him for a story, cuts her out of his life. Getting past this will take the football play of the century. Sideline InfractionSarah York has tried her best to forget her hot one night stand with football star Beau Perini. When she accepts the job as In House counsel for the Tampa Bay Sharks, the last person she expects to see is their newest hot star—none other than Beau. The spark is definitely still there but Beau has a personal life with a host of challenges. Is their love strong enough to overcome them all?Illegal Use of Hands is created by Desiree Holt, an EGlobal Creative Publishing signed author."

I was the top bounty thief in the organization. The best they had. After turning in my final score, I announced on the spot that I was done for good. Then, I stood in my studio, blending paint. A single photograph was pinned to the wall before me. Black Viper filled the doorway, the light behind him casting his face in shadow. "What's it like," he asked quietly, "pretending to be an artist?" He stepped further inside. "Does paint smell better than blood?" I placed the palette knife down and wiped my hands slowly. "I'm done. I walked away." "Old Fox didn't approve of it." "That's not my concern." Black Viper crossed the room and tapped the old photograph on the wall. "Are you certain?" I did not want to look. I told myself not to. However, my gaze shifted anyway. A young boy stared back from the photo. "The blind kid?" I had spent ten years searching for him. "Where is he?" I moved toward the wall, reaching to rip the picture down. "One last job," Black Viper said, pressing his palm against the photo. My hand stopped in midair. "What's the target?" "The final lot at next month's auction that the Gilbert Group will be holding. "It's called Mermaid's Tear."