Winter Games Chapter 4

Sophia Lancaster has spent years hiding her true identity, seeking love that sees her for who she truly is, not for her family's wealth. After a devastating betrayal by her fiancé, Ethan, she impulsively accepts a marriage proposal from a powerful stranger, Alexander Reid. What begins as a vengeful arrangement quickly turns into a dangerous game of attraction, power, and secrets. As their contract nears its end, both Sophia and Alexander must decide if they would continue playing games, or will they embrace the unexpected love that’s grown between them?

At 4:30 in the morning, my husband answered a call from his ex-girlfriend and accidentally put it on speaker. "Jason, my daughter, Alison, has a fever—over 104. I can't get a ride..." The sudden sound of sobbing jolted me awake. Jason hurriedly turned off the speaker and lowered his voice. "Send me your location. I'll come right away." It seemed he had forgotten that today was my first prenatal checkup.

I knew my husband, Josh Perkins, had faked his death and taken on his younger twin brother's identity—but I never said a word. Instead, I went straight to the commander of the military district and filed an official report of my husband's death, requesting his name be permanently removed from the service rolls. In my last life, my brother-in-law died in an accident. Josh gave up his rank as regimental commander, abandoned his own name, and stepped into his brother's shoes—all to spare his fragile sister-in-law from becoming a widow. Back then, I recognized him immediately. I confronted him and demanded to know why he was pretending to be a dead man. But Josh just looked through me, cold as a winter morning. "Riley, I know you're grieving Josh. But I'm not him. Don't mistake me for my brother." He shielded that delicate sister-in-law of his behind him, then shoved me into the icy river and warned me not to harbor delusions. Later, our five-year-old daughter cried, asking why her daddy didn't want her anymore. For that, she was dragged to the cowshed for "reflection"—left there, starving, for three days and nights. My mother-in-law called me a curse, a jinx who'd killed her son, and threw my daughter and me out with nothing but the clothes on our backs. Josh made sure everyone knew I'd "gone mad"—that I was lusting after my brother-in-law before my husband was even cold in the ground. The whole town turned their backs on us. That last winter, I wandered the streets with my girl, dazed and numb, until the cold finally took us both. But when I opened my eyes again, I was back. Back to the very day Josh buried his old life and stole his brother's.

When desire knows no boundaries, every moment counts. Untamed Desire brings you a collection of provocative short stories exploring forbidden touches, secret cravings, and unexpected connections. From strangers trapped in a storm to tangled love triangles and power plays, these tales explore lust and longing in all their raw, intoxicating forms. Each chapter is a standalone story—perfect for quick, sultry reads that ignite your imagination and leave you wanting more.

"I, Alpha Aiden of the Moonclaw Pack, reject you as my mate." On her eighteenth birthday, Rayna expected her life to begin and turn into something beautiful - instead, it shattered. Aiden rejects her in front of the entire pack. Now hunted and heartbroken, Rayna flees into the wilds… only to be rescued by Damon, a rogue Alpha with eyes like winter frost and a soul forged in shadows. He doesn’t want her. Doesn’t believe in mates. But fate doesn’t care. As her buried bloodline awakens, Rayna discovers she’s more than a cast-off - she’s the last heir to a forgotten royal legacy. One that could unite the packs… or burn them to ash.

My husband forces me to donate my remaining kidney to his true love. He wants to save her from death by uremia. I try to tell him that I have kidney failure—I'll die if I donate my kidney. However, he roars, "Stop playing your jealous games when Shawna is so gravely ill! Don't you have a heart?" Under his forcefulness, I'm taken to the hospital to get my kidney removed. Ultimately, I die in a corner of the hospital.

After losing her mother to royal games and securing her revenge, Alba Crane leaves Ketria after her eighteenth birthday, carrying two dangerous secrets. Eight years pass, and a coincidental meeting with her stepbrother, the new Lycan king, has her back where she lost everything, chained and bound for his revenge as he unravels all her hidden secrets. Marko Ivanov desires to be the greatest ruler of Ketria. He would do anything for his dream to come to fruition; right the wrongs of his father, marry the perfect queen that would strengthen his Kingdom, and live a repressive scandal-free life. However, all his efforts shatter at the realisation that the person he hated most in the world, his irresponsible 'runaway' stepsister, is his mate. Blinded by his desire for revenge for the havoc she wreaked before her departure, Marko keeps Alba bound to Ketria using everything he can, including their mate bond. When using the lust between them as revenge spirals beyond their control, blurring the lines between love and hate, their inevitability dawns. Will the two enemies in heat reconcile their differences to find a way for the existence of their scandalous happy-ever-after, or will they settle for dragging each other to ruin at the cost of everything? ** "Which part of him aroused you? Or was it that you played naughty games under the table?” "Is that something you should ask your sister?” "Step.” The Lycan King growls in correction.

Winter break was supposed to be quiet. A chance to recover from the battles that fractured Obscura Arcanum’s fall semester. Instead, Iris Wren comes home to find her mother soul-bound to a Stormhollow werewolf, and her calm, structured life about to collide with something wild. Something loud. Something named Kaia. The daughters of fated mates, they’re now step-sisters by magic and mistake. Neither asked for this. Both are fighting it. But when the spring semester brings whispers of corrupted packs, broken sigils, and shadowed disappearances across Ember Hills, their unwilling bond may be the only thing strong enough to survive what's coming. Because bloodlines make enemies. But found family? That makes warriors.

Alexis Wood was dismissed in her last teaching position in California due to a scandal. Now, she goes back to London where she gets the chance to redeem herself. She gets a job at Auburn University, a prestigious school in London known for its excellence and academic virtues. She works under Ashton Thomas, a strict Algebra Professor who has his own story to tell. Will Alexis survive the next chapter of her life without running into trouble?

"You really think you can seduce the Alpha looking like that?" The mischievous grey wolf beside me whispered. He was trying to make me give up, but I had to come out the victor in these games for my pack and my family. He slowly took one clawed finger and slipped the strap of my silk burgundy floor length gown off my shoulder in front of the whole table of wolf royalty. "That's a little more like it," He coaxed, "Look at him with all of those other attractive wolves to choose from. You'll never catch his attention like this." I stared at the end of the table where the Alpha sat. He was dark of hair and broad of chest and always had a smile and was willing to lend a paw to a wolf in need. He was laughing at something the stunning blonde she-wolf beside him had said and that cheerful couple drew a sharp contrast from the unknown man on his other side. I couldn't even be sure that man was a wolf at all, he was pale and lean but his eyes were dark, cold and...and never seemed to leave my face. "Just give up the games now," the grey wolf continues, "fall into my arms instead I can take care of you just as well as some fancy Alpha can. Close your eyes, you won't even notice the difference." I felt his tongue from my collar bone to my jaw.