Words To Against The Wind

At a company party, Taylor Kennedy plays a game of mouth-to-mouth cookie biting with his female assistant as everyone watches. I blend into the crowd and laugh along. The room instantly falls silent. The assistant bursts into tears and plays the victim. Taylor lets go of her, turns to me, and coldly scolds me in front of the entire company. He berates me for not knowing how to read the room and being a buzzkill. Then, without hesitation, he wraps his arm around the assistant and kisses her deeply as I watch. If this were before, I would've stormed over in a rage and ripped them apart. Then, I would've humiliated her in front of everyone, not caring whose pride I trampled. But now, I feel nothing. Not even as I watch them kiss. Not even though today marks my ten-year anniversary with Taylor.

Mula sa masakit na karanasan sa unang pag-ibig, tatlong taon ang lumipas nang mapagpasyahan ni Celestine na ituon na lang ang sarili sa kompanyang naman mula sa nagretiradong ama. Sa mga papeles at tanging sa trabaho na lamang niya ibinuhos ang buong atensyon upang makalimutan ang masalimuot na karanasan mula sa dating nobyo na nangloko at ginamit lang siya para sa pera niya. Hindi naging madali para sa kaniya ang lahat ngunit minabuti niyang huwag nang pagtuunan pa ng pansin ang paghanap ng lalaki na para sa kaniya o kung meron ba talaga. Ngunit nagbago ang lahat nang makilala niya ang isang lalaki na bigla na lamang sumulpot sa kaniyang buhay. Hindi niya inaasahan na makakatagpo ng isang gwapo at matipunong nilalang na kahit ang ipis ay maaring mahumaling rito. Sa bawat araw na magkasama sila sa isla ay hindi mapigilang mas nahulog pa ang kaniyang loob sa lalaki. Paano na niya mapipigilan ang malalim na nararamdaman gayung alam naman niyang hindi rin magtatagal ay maghihiwalay rin sila ng landas dahil aalis rin siya sa lugar na iyon matapos magbakasyon? Kakayanin niya kayang mawalay sa piling nito o hahayaan na lamang ang kung anuman ang nararamdaman para sa binata?

Imagine my shock when I found out that my husband, a professor who had proudly embraced a childless life for half of his years, had an affair with one of his own students. She even had his six-year-old son. The day I planned to report him to the university, Zia Thompson came to my door with the child and knelt in front of me. "Maybe you and Zeke were in love once," she said. "But he's over forty now. Who doesn't want to have a child? A legacy?" "I don't need a title," she went on. "I can give up the child too. I just beg you, don't tear our family apart." I looked at my husband, who stood protectively in front of them. I felt terrifyingly calm. "Cut ties with them," I said, my voice flat, "or prepare to be reported to the university. You choose." Without a moment's hesitation, he tore the report letter into shreds. I thought that was his answer. But on the fifty-second night of a bed grown cold and a home echoing with silence, he still hadn't returned. Instead, I received news that Zia was pregnant again. She had graduated by then. The report I never sent no longer posed any threat to them. Zeke didn't bother to hide his fatigue and irritation anymore. "Treat Zia and the kids well," he said, "or keep living alone in that empty house. It's your choice." My heart was already a wasteland. "I have one more option," I said. "I choose divorce."

We have been dating for ten years, but Vincent Carter has never been romantic toward me. However, before our wedding, he has someone deliver a delicate bracelet and an elegant dress to me. I take photos of them happily, only to find a card tucked inside the dress that's not addressed to me. Just as I'm about to contact Vincent, I see a post from Emily Foster, his childhood sweetheart, on her social media. "Someone stole something that belongs to me!" That's also how I find out Vincent has also bought her an apartment. The address stated on the card is for the unit downstairs. The gift is meant for unit 701, but it's delivered to me by mistake. I pick up the items and go downstairs, just in time to see Vincent gently comforting her in his arms. The moment he sees me, his face darkens with irritation. "Can you stop overreacting? You're always suspicious for no reason. Emily and I grew up together. If we were going to be together, you wouldn't even be in the picture!" If it were before, I would've been furious and demanded an explanation. But now, I simply let out a chuckle and toss the gifts onto him. "I wish you both the best, then."

My wife, Charlene Everett, and I used to work in the same hospital. I was known for being a kind doctor as well as a passionate teacher, while she was known for being a smart, fiery, and protective professional. All was well for the both of us until Charlene started caring about a clumsy trainee doctor called Zachary Wordsworth. I underestimated their relationship until the day he made a grave medical error, and she threw me to the wolves to protect him from his own mistakes. Indeed, Zachary cut a patient's womb out of her body mistakenly. The patient committed suicide not long after finding out. To avoid him being disciplined by the hospital, Charlene had the nurse in charge modify the records to have me as the surgery’s lead doctor. The patient’s family thought I was the one at fault and sued me. Everyone cursed me for being an unqualified doctor. Netizens made a huge ruckus online and started pressuring the hospital director to fire me. Helpless and in pain, I confronted Charlene, but she casually said, “Zach can’t handle the responsibility of failing the surgery. You’re more experienced, so you’ll be able to weather this storm.” When I later stumbled upon Charlene tangled up with Zachary, I could only let out a bitter laugh. I thus decided it was time for me to stop being kind.

“I, Derek Foster, claim Austin Gray as my mate.” The words rang through the clearing. At twenty-three, I thought the Moon Goddess had finally seen me. An Omega of the feared Blood Moon Pack, invisible and expendable, I discovered my fated mate was Adrian Foster the Alpha’s younger brother. But there was one problem. He was male. Just like me. In the Blood Kingdom, same-sex mates are forbidden. Cursed. Punishable by death. Adrian rejected me without hesitation… and ordered my execution before the bond could be exposed. I ran. But fate wasn’t done with me. As I tried to escape the pack’s borders, I collided with the one man more dangerous than Adrian — Alpha Derek Foster. The ruthless ruler of Blood Moon. The strongest Alpha in the Kingdom. Adrian’s older brother. He looked into my eyes… and claimed me as his second chance mate before the entire pack. Now the kingdom is in chaos. Packs are forming secret alliances. Enemies are rising. And the mission is clear: Kill the Omega. Break the Alpha. Destroy the Blood Moon Pack. But they forgot one thing. When an Alpha goes to war for his mate… He doesn’t lose.

I'm bound to a rebound system by nature. Everyone who has come up with rumors about me will receive backlash in return. When I was in high school, a male classmate had spread rumors about me being a prostitute who had intimate relations with a few old men. That very same day, he was taken away by a dozen or so old men and was modified into a gigolo himself. When I was in college, my boyfriend's childhood friend spread rumors about me being the female lead in porno videos. That night, all of the available porno videos on the Internet featured her as the female lead. Since then, no one dares to gossip about me. That is, until I'm reunited with the wealthy Hartley family, which happens to be my biological family. The fake heiress, Claire Hartley, takes my hand while adopting a friendly expression. "Hey Amanda, I heard that you got pregnant out of wedlock and gave birth to a murderer's child. Now that you're back, why didn't you bring the baby home with you? "We're a family, after all. We won't look down on you."

Lucas Bennet is the heir to the Bennet family, who fell in love with a single mother Emily Foster. Emily's life revolves around her precious daughter Lily only, and due to her past, she is hesitant to open up and move forward in her life. Even faces trust issues. After Lucas's long struggle to get into her heart, she managed to give him a chance and start a new life, but it didn't last very long when her ex-husband returned and lots of hidden secrets were revealed. Now it's up to Emily and Lucas to fight through these obstacles to have their Happily Ever After.

Living as a human in werewolf territory means surviving by staying invisible. She has no wolf, no pack, and no protection—only a fragile agreement that keeps her alive on the outskirts of Alpha rule. That fragile peace shatters the night she is taken during a territorial conflict and forcibly marked by the most feared Alpha in the region. The mark binds her against her will, flooding her body with a bond she never asked for and tethering her to a man who sees the connection as a necessary claim, not a choice. To the pack, she becomes Alpha property overnight—watched, judged, and expected to submit. To him, she is a complication he cannot undo without risking his authority and the stability of his territory. She refuses to bend. As the bond tightens, her resistance brings consequences. Pain follows defiance. Distance becomes impossible. Every attempt to escape only strengthens the invisible chain between them. While the Alpha enforces control publicly, cracks begin to form in his certainty as her defiance challenges everything he believes about power, dominance, and loyalty. Enemies circle, drawn by rumors of a human mate and a bond formed under blood and coercion. Pack politics turn dangerous, and her existence becomes leverage in a larger war she never chose to be part of. Bound by force, surrounded by wolves who expect her obedience, she must decide whether survival means submission—or whether breaking the Alpha who claimed her is the only way to reclaim herself.

“Don't fucking call me that, I'm a god-damn-striaght-guy” Garvin muttered. Oh, the nickname he hated so much. “Relax princess, it's not that deep.” I said, as I moved closer to him. “Your whole body wants me, just a matter of time, you would beg for it.” I added. Liam is known for his mischievous, fearless, and always pushing boundaries. When his stepsister Olivia is humiliated by the boy she loved, Liam makes a vow to make him pay for hurting her. Garvin is the perfect son everyone admires, yet, known as a player who never stays long enough to care about emotions. He believes that love has no place in his life. Garvin wasn't an easy target. He's straight, or at least that's what he tells himself. As Liam gets closer to Garvin, the lies start to feel real. Every moment begins to mean something. Before Liam realizes it, revenge turns into guilt, and guilt turns into forbidden love. Will Liam fulfil his promise to his step-sister or betray her and follow his heart against all rules.