Whispering Vine

Love does not always follow the rules—it thrives in corners where no one dares to look. Kaelin Verain returns to the palace after years in exile, carrying secrets, scars, and a purpose only she understands. The kingdom teeters on the edge of political chaos, and she is the strategist tasked with restoring order. But power is not the only force she must navigate. Lord Riven, the crown’s unyielding protector, stands between her and her mission. Tall, disciplined, and impossibly magnetic, he is sworn to duty—and forbidden to desire her. Yet every glance, every brush of skin, every shared moment pulls them closer. The tension between them is like dancing on the edge of a cliff: intoxicating, dangerous, and impossible to resist. Bound by identities, oaths, and unspoken rules, Kaelin and Riven discover that desire is a silent vine, quietly entwining their hearts and igniting a fire neither can ignore. Every step they take together threatens the crown, their reputations, and the fragile line between loyalty and passion. In a palace of whispers, secret alliances, and hidden truths, some love is meant to be forbidden, and some desire is impossible to deny. Will they survive the stakes of duty while surrendering to the fire that consumes them both?

Right after I die, my wife goes on a date with her first love. I once told her, "If I die, I swear I won't love you in the next life." She scoffs. "Gladly. But people like you live forever, don't they?" Just as she wishes, I die. However, right then, she holds my urn close, whispering, "Are you still mad at me?"

"I will not be your mistress." She spoke, whispering, with her mouth a sigh away from his. He swallowed hard and nodded, agreeing with her even as he closed the distance between them, kissing her to madness, leaving nothing to sanity. Bethany Fitzgerald hated the very idea of marriage and stood against it with everything she was. Charles de Norcrosse had to marry the insufferable Lady Cossington, for it was the will of his late father and he must abide by it. But when fate moved in favour of the Duke of Carlisle and the daughter of an impoverished Land Baron, very little can be done to fight against it.

Unloved. Unwanted. Abandoned. Those words have followed Kayla since birth. Abandoned by her pack as a pup and left for dead in the woods she was taken in by the Cedar Wood pack. Raised as their servant and deemed a runt too weak to hunt with the pack, her life is one of servitude and that's all it'll ever be. That's all she's worth. Or at least that's what people keep telling her. So why does the visiting Alpha of the most powerful pack ever to roam the land keep looking at her and what is he whispering about?

He is the most cold and domineering man in the entire empire, never getting close to women, but an accident bound him to her in marriage. During the day, he's cold and irritable, but at night, he holds her tightly, backing her into a corner with a mix of dominance and tenderness, whispering soft demands and kissing her lips as if he wants to engrave her into his very soul. “Baby, tell me you love me.” “For the rest of your life, be only mine, alright?” Once a man who looked down on everything, now his heart and eyes are filled with only her.

Everyone thought I was just an Omega clinging to Alpha Pheisar— gentle, silent, unworthy of love. In his eyes, I was nothing more than a burden the Moon Goddess tossed his way. But the moment he held Selene’s hand and vowed a mate-bond at the Moonlit Altar, I finally understood — I had never mattered. He never kept a promise, never cared about the wolf-soul I burned to keep him alive. So I rejected him. He thought I was being dramatic—until I bonded with the “comatose Alpha” everyone believed would never wake. When he knelt at my ceremony and roared “I only want you,” I simply replied: “Too late.” What they never knew was this— I was never a vine to be pulled or broken. I can stitch a wedding gown with devotion, and cut off a rotting love just as cleanly. I can be soft— and I can be resolute. The day I married Alpha Zander, no one expected him to wake—much less fall for me. But the first time I whispered “Mate” in his arms, the ice around him melted into pure devotion. And in the quiet dark, his hand firm on my waist, he murmured: “Pheisar is downstairs begging again…I’m feeling jealous. You’ll have to make it up to me.” This time— Pheisar will learn what kind of treasure he threw away. And Zander will know the partner in his hands is worth a lifetime of love.

Three years ago, I drugged the mafia heir, Vincent. After that one wild night, he didn’t kill me. Instead, he fucked me until my legs went weak, gripping my waist and whispering the same word over and over: “Principessa.” Just as I was about to propose, his first love, Isabella, returned. To keep her happy, Vincent let a car hit me, had my mother’s heirlooms thrown to stray dogs, and sent me to prison… But when I was finally broken, flying to Boston to marry someone else, Vincent tore New York City apart to find me.

“Trust me, when money is involved, I can do anything except impregnate a person… I could even kill” she told him, blowing the gum out of proportion. “Then tell me, can you melt my cold heart” he asked as he leaned in to her ear, whispering, “make me fall for you and I’ll pay you hundred million dollars……. In cash” he said. . When a cold and ruthless mafia in the form of Daniel Lopez meets a hit girl hired to kill him, he falls for her and proposes an offer she can’t resist to get her for himself.

"Daniel!!" i shout, the word tearing out of me . my voice bounces of the walls. Everyone turns. The room goes quiet instantly. He looks up. Our eyes meet. His smile falters as he looks at me from head to toes in bewilderment. he stands , straightens his suit , still puzzled. "what is this?" he says , his voice low but sharp with warning . The receptionist rushes behind me , whispering frantically. "Sir, i told her to wait..." I pull out the condom, and lift it high enough for him and everyone else in his office to see "Who is she ....!!" I say cutting her off,"..you bastard!, you've been fucking someone else!!!"Someone gasps. The air shifts.

He was my best friend. My everything. Until he left me broken and humiliated. Now, everyone around me is whispering, “I told you so.” But I won’t let heartbreak define me. So I made a deal. A fake relationship with Adrian—the rich elder brother everyone respects, the one my ex envies up to. What could go wrong? Except, the more we pretend, the more real it feels. And soon, I’m torn between the past that broke me and a future I never saw coming. “The Wrong Brother” is a story of heartbreak, revenge, and the messy, thrilling way love finds you when you least expect it.