This Was A Man

"Has anyone heard of this city?! No one seems to remember it, and something horrific might have happened to it."

Elena and Holden's story is told in the novel. Two people who are destined to spend their whole lives together aside their differences. Before they are husband and wife, they meet each other. They do not even manage to impress one someone because they're lost in their own worlds.

“If you leave here now, consider this marriage over!” “Anna.” Davy gasped, his eyes searching mine, but I folded my arms, my resolve unwavering. “You don’t mean this. Look, I will only spend a day, and I will be back to you.” “If you walk out that door, you might as well call a lawyer, because the next time you see me will be in court.” I repeated slowly, firmly, staring straight into his eyes so he knew I wasn’t bluffing. “It’s your choice.” The air between us was thick, almost suffocating and I held my breath, waiting for him to choose. But I should have known this was Davy. There was no hesitation in his eyes as he turned his back on me and walked away. *** There was one thing Anna Sinclair hated more than the color yellow: her husband’s profession. And there was one thing Davy Hale Walton loved more than his wife: that same profession. But how will they coexist?

A group of high school girls was in the middle of doing their sacrificial rite to their make belief goddess when Audrey barged right into the scene and freed their 'sacrificado'. The ritual-gone-bad incident eventually led the girl to fall to her early demise. But to her utter surprise, when she opened her eyes again, she found herself transcending into a different world. Eventually, her complicated fate forced her to cross-dress and live with five young men under the same roof. But would she be able to hide her identity until the end?

My boyfriend was crippled when he saved me, while his adoptive sister suffered from heart failure after protecting us from misfortune. She had to depend on the expensive imported medicines to sustain life. To pay for their treatment, I sold myself as a lifecasting model on the black market. Not only were my hands and feet coated in the heated silicon, but I also needed to endure strangers touching me without flinching. I needed to pay if the replica was damaged. I begged through my tears, only to receive a few slaps to my face in return. They scolded, "You signed up for this. Don't act innocent now." Humiliated, exhausted, and aching, I still took the money straight to the hospital to buy medicine for his sister. When I passed by the VIP lounge, I heard a familiar laughter. "Chris, this is the 998th test, isn't it? Are you really marrying her once she passes the 999th test?" With a slight frown, Christopher answered, "Yeah. Although testing her is a family tradition, and they're having you to supervise, don't overdo it. I won't have another bride." I froze. Every sacrifice. Every humiliation. Every bit of pain I had endured—it had all been a test. A game to see whether I was worthy of marrying him. Staring at my bruised reflection in the fire-resistant glass, I let out a sudden chuckle. Then, with trembling hands, I turned on the old phone I hadn't touched in two years. I felt tears roll down my cheeks when I told the other person on the line, "Declan, take me home. I regret everything."

Adrian Moretti’s adopted sister—She knew perfectly well that I suffered from severe asthma and could not be exposed to smoke or strong scents. Yet during the yacht reception, she deliberately dragged me onto the open deck, where cigars burned nonstop and the wind howled. Within seconds, my chest tightened. When I reached for my inhaler, my blood ran cold. It was empty. I collapsed against the railing, gasping violently, my lungs burning as if they were collapsing in on themselves. She crouched beside me and smiled. “You’re always so dramatic. It’s just a little smoke. You don’t need to act like you’re dying,” she said softly. “You’re too weak. You need to build some tolerance.” I looked toward Adrian, my vision already blurring. “Adrian,” I choked. “Give me my inhaler. If I don’t use it right now, I’m going to suffocate.” He frowned slightly. “Don’t you think you’re overreacting?” he said coldly. “I’ve never heard of anyone dying from a bit of smoke. She’s right—you’re always seeking attention. We finally gathered tonight, and you’re ruining it.” My heart dropped. I fumbled for my phone and called my mother. “Mom,” I sobbed, barely able to breathe. “I’m being bullied… and I can’t breathe.” My voice shook violently.

For five years, Gideon—my brother's Beta—and I had a secret. We were supposed to announce our mating at the pack's Winter Solstice festival. Instead, he breathed hot against my ear. "Babe, we've been sleeping together for five years. I'm bored with you. Find someone else for the marking ceremony, alright?" I didn't cry. I just gave a calm, simple nod. "Alright." Only because in my last life, I had begged him through tears to complete the bond. After he finally marked me, he grew cold. He never again woke me by rubbing his stubbled chin against my forehead. Even when we made love, he kept his eyes shut, as if he were with someone else, just using my body. When I was in agony giving birth to our pup, fighting for my life, he left me. He was going to comfort his savior, Aveline. The old wound she suffered saving him had relapsed, sending her into a mental spiral. In that moment, I finally understood. A mark I had to beg for was nothing but a curse, a wound that would never heal. This time, I pulled away with a smile, removing his hand from my waist. "You're right. I'm tired of it, too. We're done."

Raven Valkhor never fit the mold, she wasn't slim and petite like most girls in the pack and could flip over guys twice her age without blinking. Her biggest tormentor was her adoptive brother and the Alpha's son, Dante. But at sixteen their relationship took a HUGE shift when he spent most nights between her legs She tried to let him go because he was in a situationship with her bestie, but he stuck on harder than glue until it was finally time to inherit the alpha's title, and he decided that he had ‘outgrown’ her. He rejects her and the baby, and she still has to go to school with the pointing fingers, but a new student transfers in, and one look is enough to tell her that her heart is about to go on another tumultuous rollercoaster. Dante doesn't want her to move on and now she's stuck in entanglement and passion. Will she move on to a fresh flame or back to the one that burnt her?

"Here's 1 million dollars. Take it, leave the Star Moon Pack, and go somewhere my son will never find you." My boyfriend's mother looked at me with scorn as she handed over a check. If this had happened in the past, I would have told her that I loved her son—not because he was an Alpha, not for the title of Luna, and certainly not for his family's vast fortune. I loved him because of the deep bond we shared. I was carrying his pup. We were supposed to become mates and build a happy life together. But now, he was about to hold a bonding ceremony with another woman. He was planning to mark her and let her bear his pup. He said it was all just to appease the Pack's elders and his parents. What they didn't know was that as the daughter of the Alpha of the Golden River Pack, I'd never need a bond to gain status, power, or wealth. So now that he'd chosen someone else, the only thing left for me to do was to walk away with dignity.

Our blood-oath ceremony was on the horizon. But my fated mate, Darius, told me he had to forge a blood bond with another woman. Livia. He claimed her life force was unraveling. That without his blood, she would fade to nothing. I fought him. But the next day, he moved Livia directly into the Prince's Chambers in the Coven’s castle. That was the suite reserved for the future Prince’s mate. My suite. He tried to soothe me, sinking to his knees, his crimson eyes pleading. “Once she’s stable, I swear I’ll break the bond. You are my only eternity. You always will be.” But then Livia found me. She showed me the fresh, golden mark on her wrist—the symbol of an Eternal Bond. They had already completed the sacred rite. Long before Darius ever confessed to me. My heart shattered to ash. I dragged my nail across the calendar, carving a vicious X over the date that was supposed to be our blood-oath ceremony. Then I opened the encrypted message from the Vienna Coven Academy. “I accept. I’ll leave on the day of our ceremony.”