Waited Past Tense

The day Pedro Palmer's mom was supposed to get my kidney, I ghosted. He waited outside the OR for ten hours. What did he get? A death notice. After that, he went full beast mode on his career. Five years later, his company blew up. Media darling. CEO. Power suit. And yeah, he was holding another girl's hand, all smiles for the cameras. "Do you have anything to say to Ruth Rackham? We heard she supported your early days," a reporter asked. Not even a pause. "Yeah. Thanks for vanishing. For letting my mom die with questions. For wrecking me. She taught me not to trust anyone." He stepped in closer, eyes cold. "This is what you wanted, Ruth? Too bad. Love's gone. And you? Not even worth my hate." That's when Nellie Lyon, the reporter, went pale. "Mr. Palmer... Ruth Rackham died five years ago. She was the test subject. She donated her body—before she passed..."

As the sunsets over Grey Moon, the atmosphere changes from happy and carefree to chilling and dreadful. There is a party going on to celebrate the birth of Alpha Jermey’s daughter. Most packs consider a girl as firstborn a disgrace but here it does not matter. The pack members had waited patiently for the birth of their next leader, whether it be a boy or a girl, they knew either way the baby would be strong because the Alpha was a Kolana wolf and their Luna was a Mattra wolf, they were wolves of legends as they were the last of their kind. These wolves were once feared around the world and known for their strength and quickness. They were white as snow and as big as a tractor. They also had special abilities that helped them in battle and running a pack. As most know, the Kolana wolves and the Mattra wolves were created by the moon goddess herself. No one knew exactly why they were created but after the last war with the Lycans, they had been decimated to the brink of extinction. The remaining wolves had gone into hiding and only their packs knew of their existence. The Alpha and Luna of Grey Moon had been thrown together in a union to preserve their species by their parents before they passed away.

“I, Ryker Voss, future Alpha of Silver Ridge, reject you, Elara Vance, as my mate. My pack needs a Queen, not a biological defect. I choose your sister.” Elara was the true-born daughter of the Alpha, but in the eyes of her parents, she was a mistake. They replaced her with Kaelith, an adopted Alpha-born prodigy, turning Elara into a servant in her own home. She waited for her mating bond to save her, only for her fated mate to choose her sister’s power over their soul-bond. Left for dead in the treacherous Dead Lands, Elara is found by the Shadow Vanguard. Under the brutal mentorship of Alpha Varick, she realizes she isn't a weak Omega, she is a "Wraith," a rare wolf who thrives in the dark. When her old pack faces a threat that even Kaelith’s strength can’t stop, they beg the Vanguard for help. They find Elara. She’s no longer the girl who cried in the kitchens. She is the Vanguard’s deadliest weapon, she is Alpha Varick’s equal, and she is coming to reclaim the crown they told her she was too weak to wear.

“I know him Shera, I saw him in my dreams!” After all the years she had been dreaming of that man, she finally saw that he was a real person—not just her subconscious imaginative phases. “The man in my dreams is real”. Andrea waited for four long years to prove that her future man was real but he was different from what she was thinking. The way she saw it made her feel that they have different worlds, to begin with. Andrea is a simple college girl, living in the countryside, claiming her man to be someone in her dreams. Is it possible for your dreams to come true? A question that no one can answer. Can you love a person in your dreams? An unusual question for Andrea but only she knows the answer. Looking at the man on the other side of the road made her feel something unusual—something special. Constantine Dimiscus was the man on the other side of the road, heir of Dimiscus family, a very serious person who doesn’t believe in love, faith, and destiny. Can life make him believe that destiny is real?

Everyone knew I, Isabella Marino, was Vince Moretti's greatest weakness—the one thing the mafia boss would never tolerate being touched. Years ago, when I was kidnapped, Vince disarmed himself at gunpoint, risking death to get me back, even paying his entire fortune for my ransom. To keep me from harm, he walked a razor's edge, navigating danger at every turn. After I got pregnant, he waited on me hand and foot, barely letting my feet touch the ground. There were rumors that he kept a pampered mistress outside—some woman he spoiled rotten. I never believed them. But then she flaunted herself in front of me. To beg for my forgiveness, Vince cut off his own finger. The next day, that woman slapped her pregnancy test results in my face, sneering, "Vince wanted a baby with me so badly, he just couldn't help himself!" I was already frail. The shock and rage sent me into a miscarriage.

"You belong to me!" he said in his deep, husky voice, sending shivers down my spine. "And you are mine to love, princess!" His tone was full of possessiveness. "Let me go-" I started to protest, but he silenced me by pressing his index finger to my lips. "Shh, be quiet!" he whispered softly against my lips. I looked into his eyes, which were filled with desire and longing. "It's just you and me tonight, and I want to make it special for us," his strong voice sent chills down my spine. My heart raced as I felt his fingers at the edge of my dress, ready to tear it away. *"I'm about to do the most sinful things with you now, Jaan!"* His voice echoed in my ears. "I've waited long enough!" His voice grew deeper with desire. "No, please-"before I finish my sentence, he interrupted me as air rushed around my body. He ripped my dress in two pieces.

Diana Kensington was caught up in a Web of lies and betrayal. Her long-term lover, who she had been with for seven years, cheated on her with her parent's biological child, Serena Kensington, who they had just found after she had been missing since when she was still a toddler. Diana had found out on her sick bed while receiving an IV treatment in the hospital. She got home, met him and confronted him but he denied having anything to do with her. Diana ends the relationship even though Marcel promises to marry her either way. Hurt by the fact that she had seen some things fall out of his trouser pocket that suggested he was having an affair. She insisted on breaking up. She goes straight to her friend's house, and they both go to a bar to have a drink; Diana gets drunk and decides to prove to Ciara that she can have any man she wants. She approached a man and even kissed him; unbeknownst to her, the man was the elder brother to Marcel, Raphael, a young Billionaire who wasn't interested In his parent's money. She leaves without exchanging contact or knowing his name. Their path crossed again on Marcel's grandfather's birthday. After a very dramatic and tense scenario, he offers to marry her so that the revenge plan could be more successful, as he would also become the sole òwner of Lorenzo's corps. Would everything go as planned? Would she be able to cope as the heiress of Lorenzo's dynasty?

Under the blood moon, the Crescent Hollow Pack gathers for their annual Moonbinding Ceremony, a sacred ritual where chosen wolves pledge their lives to one another to strengthen the pack. Lyra is a spirited healer’s daughter who has always dreamed of finding her true mate, not being bound by pack politics. Kael, the fierce, cold Alpha heir, bound by duty and promised to Lyra since birth. A lone wolf from an enemy pack, mysterious and untamed, who crosses paths with Lyra on the night of the Blood Moon. Lyra never believed in love at first sight until she met Rowan. One glance beneath the crimson sky, and her wolf stirred like never before. Her soul whispered, Mate. But that same night, the Alpha announced her forced betrothal to Kael, the very man who would become her pack’s leader and her husband whether she wanted it or not. Lyra and Rowan’s eyes meet during a tense encounter at the forest’s edge; they feel the mate bond instantly, their innate wolves howling for one another. Lyra is duty-bound to marry Kael to seal an alliance between families. Kael doesn’t believe in the mate bond; he sees love as weakness but is drawn to Lyra’s defiance. The mate bond with Rowan burns like fire, but the forced promise to Kael locks her to her pack’s future. When tensions between the packs rise, Lyra is obligated to follow her heart to Rowan and risk war or remain by Kael’s side and surrender to duty.

“It was him!” My father yelled out with blood filling his mouth, which he spat on the ground as he stared at my mate with contempt. “It’s him and people like him that are responsible for your mother’s death!” I looked up at August, expecting him to defend himself and deny it, but he was staring back at my father with the same look of hatred—if not worse—that my father looked at him with. Like he would kill him as well. “Is this true?” I asked, causing August to break eye contact with my father and look at me. “Did you…kill my mother?” There was tense silence as he stared at me without another word. And that was all I needed to know. My mate had killed my mother, and he would not hesitate to kill my father too. ~ Azalea never believed in the theory that a man could turn into a beast and back into a man. Her father, a werewolf bounty hunter, thinks otherwise. Things change for Azalea when she finds herself lost in the middle of the woods and is chased down by a man with immense speed. When she is trapped with the man towering over her, she soon realizes that this man is anything but a man. And he claims to be her mate. When Azalea is thrust into the supernatural world that she didn’t believe existed and finds herself as the Luna of werewolves, can she hide the existence of her new subjects from her father? And when the secrets about her mother’s death get entangled with the werewolves, where will her loyalties lie?

Eight years ago, my cousin Wendy Cooper was involved in a drunk driving hit-and-run. Yet, my parents made sure all the evidence pointed toward me. The victim's family waited outside my school every day with gasoline, threatening to die with me. Because of that, the school took away my guaranteed admission to university. That day, my parents and brother all tried to persuade me. "Wendy's terrified. Just give her your spot to make her feel better." I refused, fought back, and even tried to talk them out of it. But the next day, they handed me over to the police themselves. Lance Stewart, my fiance and a powerful business tycoon, had orchestrated it all. As he was afraid I'd run or cause trouble, he personally pinned several charges on me and sent me to an isolated island prison. He left me with no way out. When my sentence began, he made me a promise. "Esme, just endure it for a few years. I'll get you out once Wendy graduates, and then we'll get married."