Underneath The Oak Tree

Since I was running late to pick up my son, Kyrie Stone, from school, I did not have time to change out of my work clothes from the construction site inspection. Right at the preschool entrance, I ran into one of his classmates' parents. The man, Adam O'Neil, looked me up and down and asked, "You're Kyrie Stone's father, right?" I nodded politely, about to introduce myself. However, he suddenly scowled and snapped, "No wonder he acts so poorly behaved at school. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree!" I frowned immediately. "What nonsense are you talking about?" He scoffed, getting even more aggressive. "Nonsense? Kyrie shows up to school wearing weird clothes and brings all these ridiculous toys. It's distracting my daughter, Sarah, so much that her grades are slipping." I was speechless, wondering how Sarah O'Neil's declining grades were Kyrie's fault. When I stayed silent, Adam got even bolder. "Just look at those dusty clothes you're wearing. Do you even have the money to send Kyrie to an elite preschool like this, or are you just some laborer trying to keep up appearances?" I thought Adam was insane. After all, Kyrie was attending our family-owned preschool. How was that trying to keep up appearances?

Amelia, a struggling single mother, dreams of providing a better life for herself and her 4-year-old daughter, Phoebe. Unbeknownst to Amelia, Phoebe carries the blood of a unique creature inherited from her gay father, Dave. Haunted by nightmares featuring werewolves and other underworld creatures, Amelia longs to escape the city and find solace in her own home. One serene Sunday afternoon, Amelia finds herself drifting to sleep beneath the shade of a magnificent tree near her dream house. Little does she know that Martin, the charismatic leader of the Tikaluna Tribe and a werewolf with a romantic soul, is about to enter her life. Martin is instantly captivated by Amelia's beauty and falls deeply in love with her. As their bond grows stronger, Martin presents Amelia with an enticing offer - a life filled with wealth, power, and love. However, there is a condition: she must leave her daughter behind. Determined to stay with Phoebe, Amelia challenges Martin to abandon his tribe and undergo a ritual that would strip him of his immortality, allowing them to live as mortals together. Meanwhile, the townspeople desperately seek Martin's aid in protecting them from the relentless attacks orchestrated by his rival beast clan. Martin finds himself torn between his duty to his tribe and his love for Amelia. Will Martin sacrifice his immortality for the sake of love? And will Amelia prioritize wealth and power over her daughter's happiness?

A doomsday blizzard hit just before Christmas. The zombie virus exploded. Our fortress was a top-tier ski resort. Now, it was about to fall. My husband, Ethan, was a former Navy SEAL. Our head of security. He swore his defense system was foolproof. The blizzard knocked out the power. But he’d sent all the backup generator fuel to the summit. Just to light up a Christmas tree for Chloe. He even had a few guards up there with them, throwing a party. In my last life, I fought him. I herded everyone into the last bunker. But Chloe whined. A crowded Christmas was boring, she said. She stormed out of the safe room and ran right into the jaws of the horde. Ethan carved a path through the horde to secure the walls. Then he sat in silence, cradling Chloe’s bones. He pretended he wanted to start over with me. He let me get pregnant with his child. The day I gave birth, he knocked me unconscious and dumped me into a nearby zombie nest. He always rescued me just before I died. He’d inject me with a serum that kept me from turning. Nineteen times, he threw me to the zombies. I died in agony as they tore the flesh from my bones. "If you hadn't sabotaged my defenses," he’d hissed, "if you hadn't crashed our party and led the horde right to us, Chloe would still be alive!" I opened my eyes. I was back. Christmas Eve.

She was backed up against the tree and I took a branch, breaking it in half to reveal a sharp end, and going straight for his neck. It might not do much, or at least that's what I thought, but it should be enough to get him away from her.To my surprise, he plummeted to the floor. I looked at Illyria and walked towards her like a predator. With my bloodied hands, not sure if it was mine or his blood, I put them on Illyria's collarbone while dragging it up to her neck and ending up in her face, painting it just like the red rose in her hand, while she looked at me with panic in her eyes.“Don't fear me, little rose. I won't hurt you, but next time you decide to run away, make sure you do it without anyone noticing. I have eyes everywhere” I said in a low growl, that sounded even more dangerous than what I usually sound. ~~~~~~Illyria Abbot was meant to choose a husband on her 21st birthday. When her mansion is attacked by rebellious vampires, she barely escapes with her life. Lost in the woods she’s found by Kieran Moore, a brute vampire who will make her life hard while falling in love with her. But there are secrets who will keep testing them and their love. Will they be able to overcome it, or will it be their doom? Author’s Note: This story contains Latin Language. I am using a program that might not be accurate on the translation, so I apologize in advance if the translation is wrong. Thank you for reading this story and enjoy.

Noah Stark was supposed to marry Genevieve’s cousin but was forced into the arms of Genevieve because his future wife's family treated him awfully, like a criminal, and looked down on him as the dirt underneath their boots until they found out who he was. For a moment, Mr. Cornell stared at Noah, and then he looked down at the resume in his hand, it took him a while before the light bulb spiked in his head, and he shouted, “Cease him!” Immediately, a guard fist slammed into Noah's jaw, and another struck him in the face, gashing his lip and causing Leo to scream and cry louder. ‘Glenn,’ Noah thought as his jaw tightened at the sight of his future wife, sensing his only emotion for her was a feeling of annoyance. “A house help… Cousin, your standard has dropped after your husband's death… How can you degrade from a CEO and governor's nephew to this thing right here.” Glenn said, her tone full of disgust. “Can you please stop, Glenn!” Genevieve snapped at her, tired of the constant smug remark from her cousin. “Watch it, Genevieve.” Mrs. Carnell warned her coldly. “My daughter is right. While Glenn is about to get married to the only heir of the Stark family, you are here fooling around with an idler. If word gets out about this, who would want to marry you again? You are already a widow, and now you are sleeping around with a ‘nobody! You should get remarried quickly to save face before any more scandals appear in the press and ruin this family!’”

[I found out Daniel Ortega, the notorious delinquent at my high school, is actually a cat-loving gentle soul. Now, it's time to use it against him to get what I want.] Things get a lot more exciting for Logan Smith, a 17-year-old student from Skyland high school, when he catches Daniel Ortega in a vulnerable state. Logan is a scholarship boy-a genius prodigy who is expected to get into the best college once he graduates. Daniel Ortega is seen as the walking terror in high school. He is rough around the edges, tattooed, tall and muscular, and rumored to be a complete psychopath. But underneath his scarred skin hides a big heart. Daniel, however, doesn't want anyone to find out about his soft heart. His reputation as a bad boy makes people leave him alone, and he intends to keep it that way. But the problem arises when Logan finds out his secret. He threatens to expose Daniel as a secretly nice person unless Daniel beats up one of Logan's bullies on his behalf. Daniel doesn't like violence, but he has no choice but to agree since he doesn't want to lose his reputation as the high school bad boy. The sooner Daniel beats up the bully, the sooner he can return to being a lone wolf. He wants nothing to do with him after, yet, Logan seems to be attracted to him like the moth to a flame, and Danny can't seem to get rid of him!

I wheel myself into the birthday celebration that Wales Price has thrown for me. The atmosphere is originally lively, but a brief silence descends when everyone sees me. The guests are there for different purposes, but celebrating my birthday is not one of them. "Is that Mr. Price's crippled fiancée, Joey Hertza?" "Yeah, but the one he really loves is Anna Giovanni. I saw them kissing in a corner earlier." They use their wine glasses to block their mouths as they speak loudly. They think I'm still the crippled deaf I used to be. They don't know that I regained my hearing last week. I can hear every mocking comment they make. Meanwhile, Wales stands there and allows it to happen. He doesn't stop the guests from talking about me. He seems to have forgotten that I only ended up like this while protecting him. I shoved him away when the accident happened and got trapped underneath the car myself. When I was rescued, Wales swore to stay with me and care for me for life. It's only been three short years since then, but he's already changed. I receive a message on my phone. "Ms. Hertza, the lifelike corpse that you've ordered is now complete. Reply to this message with your confirmation, and your death-faking service will be immediately effective. We will send the corpse to your and Mr. Price's wedding in five days." I don't even hesitate as I reply with my confirmation. Enjoy your wedding, Wales.

Chloe Salvador a very arrogant and bitchy woman, born with a silver spoon in her mouth. Chloe thought that everything will always revolve around her, till she got betrayed by her fiancé Kelvin. He cheated on her with her best friend, out of rage Chloe ran out of the mansion with a broken heart the day she found out about his betrayal and Chloe was met with an accident and lost her life then and there. Chloe transmigrated into a book titled The Alpha is obsessed with his Luna. She can’t believe her luck as she got the role of the villainess who bears the same name as hers. Life truly sucks as destiny isn’t on her side either as Chloe realized that the villainess of the story is wolfless. In the story the villainess is jealous of the Luna. We all know that villainesses are met with a terrible misfortune. The villainess died a miserable death in the hands of the Alpha of the silver moon pack at the end of the story. After reviewing the memories of the previous host Chloe muttered “What the heck? Is he the only man alive? Why do all the bastards think too highly of themselves? he isn’t even my type.” she sneered in distaste. While struggling to survive in an unknown world she met a Lycan Alpha, A rumored killing machine. who won’t leave her alone… (sneak peak) Devin Asgard : “keep dreaming Chloe, I will make you submit to me, I will bend you and wreck your insides till you cry out my name, shivering all over, I will make you squirm underneath me!”

In the dark underbelly of Philadelphia, two opposing crime families—the Morgans and the Rinaldis—have maintained a tenuous peace. However, when a merciless Japanese gang executes the killings of their leaders to instigate turmoil, the equilibrium of power breaks, sending the city into a lethal battle of trickery, treachery, and vengeance. Sierra Morgan, the unacknowledged and overlooked daughter of the Morgan clan, is plunged into a perilous task: wed Dominic Rinaldi, the icy and strategic new Don of Il Condottiero, and deceive him for the sake of her vengeful half-siblings. It’s a task she cannot decline, but as Sierra enters the foe's lair, she realizes that Dominic is not the cold-hearted villain she thought he was. Underneath his harsh facade exists a man marked by grief, allegiance, and hidden truths. As their arranged marriage develops into an unforeseen situation, Sierra feels conflicted between her allegiance to her family and the increasing emotions she harbors for the man she was meant to ruin. But betrayal runs deep on both sides, and when shocking truths emerge—including a secret child, forbidden affairs, and an insidious mole within the Rinaldi clan—Sierra realizes the true enemy may not be who she thought. With bloodshed escalating and time running out, Sierra must make an impossible choice: protect the man she loves or betray him to save herself. Can love survive in a world where loyalty is bought with blood, and betrayal is just another business transaction? A story of forbidden love, power struggles, and shocking twists, this gripping tale will keep you on the edge of your seat until the very last page.

"From today onwards, I will take every decision of your life. What you will eat, where will you go, when will you speak, what you will wear it will be all as I wish. And if you dare to defy me then till now it must have been crystal clear to you how far I can go to keep my words," his voice unsympathetic and cold, causing a shiver down her spine. Out of fear she was not even able to raise her head and kept her eyes casted down. He lifted her head up with his forefinger, underneath her chin and stared directly into her mesmerizing hazel eyes. "Understood?" Her throat was parched and her mouth was dry. Her tongue felt heavy in her mouth. The seam of her lips was cracked and pasted with each other and she couldn't find enough courage in herself to say anything using her tongue, so she just nodded and casted down her eyes again. He raised her chin more now with his forefinger and thumb, indicating her to look in his eyes and she did so. "Understood?" He asked again and raised both his eyebrows, warning her. "Yy....ye..ss" she croaked out. Her eyes were widened with fear and hands were fisting the bedsheet. Her cheeks were imprinted with red finger marks. "Good. Now take of your clothes and fulfill your duty" he ordered. She only pleaded him with her eyes. Clearly, she didn't want her wedding night to turn out like this.