Times-tribune E Edition Today Novels & Stories

She had just one job. To fill in her mother’s role at work while her mother's boss, Jordan, searched for a replacement. Filling his head and heart wasn’t part of the bargain.

Kendrick Harrold was supposed to be dead. At least, that’s what the world believes. For two years, he’s lived like a ghost—broken, hidden, and forgotten after the accident that stole his freedom. But when a stranger with storm-grey eyes slips past his fortress walls, everything he’s buried begins to stir. Rose shouldn’t be here. Yet she is. Rose doesn’t have the luxury of distractions. With her sister’s life on the line and a debt that could crush them both, she’s bound to a future she never wanted—a loveless marriage and a cage of her own. The last thing she needs is Kendrick Harrold. But from the moment their paths collide, she can’t stay away. He’s searching for answers. She’s desperate to escape. Neither of them expected the fire that sparks between them. But secrets have a way of clawing their way to the surface. And one act of compassion could ignite a bond neither of them can control—one that’s as dangerous as it is undeniable. In the shadows of a grand estate, behind the silence of locked doors, a voice calls her name. A presence lingers between the shelves of the vast library. She should run. She should forget she ever saw him. But Kendrick has other plans. Because she found him. And now… he might never let her go.

Her name is Ruby, a girl with a mysterious background...one who was captured right from childhood and locked up in a facility. She is naive yet swift in everything she does, capturing not one but the attention of the two most feared Alphas in Asteroy! Both brothers could kill to protect one another until she came about. What happens when both brothers fall in love with her at the same time? Will they relinquish their love for her because of their Twin bond? What happens when Ruby discovers that one of the twins is her mate? That's right, one of them, not the two whom she likes!

Three years after Alpha King Damien Caldwell marks me, Drake Whitaker finally remembers I exist. Turns out he really believes I'll "wait for him forever." Twenty black SUVs clog the private road into Ridgefield pack territory, trunks crammed with moonstone jewelry, old talismans, and rare herbs. Drake steps out of the tricked-out Hummer, wearing a smug smile and clutching a stack of parchment contracts. "Aria," he calls up, like some medieval knight, "I told you once the Silvermoon Coalition was official and Kenneth's supply lines were stable, I'd bring you to my pack. "The High Council finalized five packs yesterday. I came first thing this morning to show you I mean it." I sit in the upstairs study, watching a video Damien just sent of him playing with our son, then glance through the blinds at the ridiculous scene unfolding below. Drake lifts his face toward the second floor. "I know you're upset, but Kenneth controls the biggest timber in the Eastvale region. I had to mark Isabella. It was politics. You get that. Feelings don't need a mark anyway. I'll treat you better than a Luna." His words made my skin crawl. I pressed the intercom button on the desk. "Clear the drive. Tell security someone's trespassing." What a day! I've just taken my son to the medical center for his one-month checkup. Damien sends me back to Ridgefield pack for a week to rest. Instead, I get this mess on my doorstep.

When Alexander Smith stands in front of me and says he's going to marry someone else, that's when I realize he's been reborn too. I remember our 20 years of love in our past life. A plane crash. And then, rebirth. "This is to save Sophia," he says. "In our past life, she was sold to a Vostmark oligarch after her father's political scandal. Not long after, she took her own life due to abuse. I can't let that tragedy happen again, so I need to get engaged to her." As he speaks, he hands me an orange prescription bottle. "If you take this, you'll forget me for a little while. You won't feel the pain. It's just seven days. Once her father's scandal blows over, you'll stop the medication and your memory will return. Then I'll end the engagement and officially propose to you." I stare at the bottle, knowing it's a lie. Not the part about Sophia's suicide. The lie is about the drug. He thinks it only causes temporary memory loss. But I know better. The suppressant causes permanent damage to emotional memory. The seven-day countdown isn't the time it takes for my memories to return. It's the time it takes for my love for him to die.

As Becca's past shows up at her workplace in the face of two prominent werewolves, she struggles to determine what frightens her more - the werewolves threatening her way of life or the force of her past emotions resurfacing. She worked hard to forget her childhood in a werewolf pack and how they sent her away. However, with Nate's constant presence in her life, her feelings become undeniable, and her questions multiply. When Nate finds his mate among humans, he questions his whole life and his loyalty to his pack and family.

For five years of our marriage, Matthew Spark was my entire world. I abandoned my career, severed ties with my family, and molded myself into the perfect wife for him. I believed our love was unshakable, and that our marriage certificate was the ultimate proof of it. Until the day I saw him with my own eyes—holding another woman in his arms as he stepped into our home. “Ava, let me introduce you,” he said, his tone as casual as if he were discussing the weather. “This is Sophie Spears, and her daughter, Ella. They’ll be living here from now on.” I froze. I had seen her face before—tucked in the drawer of his desk, in his wallet, even as the wallpaper on his phone. And in that instant, I realized the cruel truth: I was the unnecessary outsider. The interloper. The greater insult came when I confronted him. He calmly produced a marriage certificate—his and Sophie’s marriage was three months before ours. That was the moment I learned my marriage had been nothing but a farce. That I wasn’t even significant enough to be a mistress. And in that moment, I laughed. Oh, Matthew. Did you forget who the largest investor in Spark Enterprise was?

His blood is still on my hands when he presses me to the wall. He's not kissing me yet, just his breath at my throat and his fingers tugging the waistband of my scrubs like he owns what’s under them. "I kill for you, doctor," he growls, voice thick with threat and worship. "The least you can do is stop pretending you don’t like it." I should run, instead, I tilt my chin—and dare him to try. Dr. Elena Vance never meant to save a mafia king. One moment, she’s leaving a trauma shift. The next, she’s elbow-deep in blood, patching up a man with a gun under his belt and death in his eyes. That man is Dante Volkov. Russia’s most wanted heir. New York’s rising Pakhan. And now? Elena’s captor. His offer is simple: Marry him or disappear forever. She bargains for three months.Three months to resist the Bratva’s crown prince. Three months to prove she’s no one’s possession. But Dante doesn’t play fair. He wages war with his hands, his mouth, his voice—claiming Elena in every room, every breath, every ruined rule. And as old enemies rise and family blood spills, one thing becomes terrifyingly clear: Elena isn’t just married to the mob. She’s becoming one of them.

“You sure you wanna do this, baby girl?” His voice is a growl against my ear as he lifts me onto the cold marble island. One hand grips my thigh. The other tangles in my hair. “Because once I have you…” He leans in, breath hot, filthy. “I’m not letting you go.” This story contains explicit sexual content, profanity, morally gray characters, and themes of seduction, manipulation, and obsession. It is strictly intended for readers 18+ only. Read at your own delicious risk. Lana runs straight into heartbreak when she catches her boyfriend in her mother’s bed. Humiliated and furious, she leaves home with one goal in mind — to take back the power her mother stole from her. She finds herself at the mansion of Roman Vale, her mother’s newly married billionaire husband. Cold, controlled, and emotionally distant, Roman agrees to let her stay, believing it’s only temporary. But Lana isn’t there for comfort. She starts a dangerous game, tempting the one man she should never touch. Roman fights the attraction, determined to keep his distance, but the tension between them grows stronger with every passing day. What begins as revenge slowly turns into obsession. What begins as temptation becomes something neither of them can control. And once they cross the line, there’s no going back.

My superior, who attains his position through connections, turns out to be the high school heartthrob I once pursued—Jack Montgomery. Back then, I gave up on studying literature despite being good at it to study science instead. As a result, my grade point average dropped from 3.9 to 2.1, and I ended up attending a community college. Jack, on the other hand, earned a Master's degree in business in Ezelia. He became the director of the investment management department at a company upon his return. He mocks me for being a lovesick fool who chose to study science for his sake and now has to work for him. His words successfully provoke me into action. I work as a low-level analyst while staying up late every day to prepare for the Graduate Management Admission Test. I plan to turn my life around with this, but I end up dropping dead from overwork. When I open my eyes again, I'm back at the critical moment of course selection in my sophomore year. This time, I decisively choose to study literature and kick that scumbag, Jack, aside. "Nobody is allowed to hinder my studies!" He claims that I'm playing hard to get, and all I think is that he's ill in the head. Let's see who gets the last laugh when I make it into the prestigious Hareford University!