Would've Could've Should've

This book was released back when I was trying to get traction on it a very long time ago. I’ve never made a single dime from this company, but they’d like to keep my book forever. Even when I did the writing every single day thing and should’ve gotten a “publishing bonus.” It never happened. So they don’t get to keep making money off of me and my writing. This was a much older draft than what I’m currently trying to publish anyway.

Community Service. Two words I should be thankful for, but I’m not. I resent the hours it’s away from building my business. When they push the little girl into the room, her crazy curls barely held back by the barrette in her hair, and studious glasses on her face, I can tell she’s scared. Something inside of me breaks, and I want this girl to feel wanted again. What I’m unprepared for is meeting her mom. The second our hands touch, there are fireworks, bright lights, and a picture of the future I could one day have. The future I’ve never allowed myself to wish for. Community service becomes more than a chore. In the months that follow, I realize they’re just like me: they’ve been abandoned, left behind by the world, forgotten by those who should love them. Thanks to the one last hope in both our lives - we found the light in the darkness we’d been searching for.Trick is created by Laramie Briscoe, an eGlobal Creative Publishing author.

I didn't kill my asshole ex-boyfriend. I knew I might've said I would countless times in the text I sent before we broke up, and I wasn't the calmest person. But I really didn't kill him. I, however, am the number one and only suspect of his murder since to everyone else he was a sAiNt. But hey, let's not talk ill of the dead. The point is, I was stuck at the station being questioned about something I didn't do. And I thought it was the worst thing that could've possibly happened to me. That is, until I set eyes on the detective of the case. I may just play along for a while. See where this thing goes....

After Raven Fuentes's Childhood sweethearts Lyra Ross is taken by rogue wolves, Raven Fuentes hates me with everything he has. He'd rather spend his nights patrolling in the cold and drinking himself numb than face me, his mate. I care for him, try to please him, do everything I can… but all I get in return is his icy rejection. "The one you wronged is Lyra. If anyone should've been taken, it should've been you—not her." His words crush me. My heart breaks completely. And yet, when I'm attacked by a pack of rogues, it's Raven who throws himself into the fray to save me. He dies under their savage claws. Even in his final moments, he won't look at me. "If I had a choice, I'd never want to be tied to you again." At the funeral, Raven's mother faints on the stone platform holding his body, sobbing uncontrollably. "I should've never forced him into a mate bond with you. I would've rather he ended up with Lyra!" His father strokes his face one last time, his voice shaking with rage and grief. "He saved your life three times! This time, it cost him his own. You owe him three lives, and not even death can repay that debt!" Raven was the captain of the protection force. He spent his life shielding others. Everyone calls him a hero. The only tragedy, they say, is that he married me. And honestly, I agree. They forbid me from attending his funeral. They won't even let me say goodbye. Not long after, I hear the Silvermoon Pack has developed a time-travel device. Without hesitation, I pay the price so that I can go back in time. This time, I'll do what everyone wishes I had done. I'll cut all ties with Raven and stay far away from everyone.

**Hunger Games Meet Werewolves. One Mate. One Chance. No Mercy.** "Good evening, everyone. Thank you for joining us for the Luna Games. I feel immense honor that you all would sacrifice your lives to have a chance to stand by my side. The White Crescent Pack is forever growing and progressing, and we're in dire need of a Luna and an heir. One of you will lead beside me, and we'll create a better tomorrow. May the Moon Goddess watch over you, and keep you safe." *** Alpha Noah Harvey—my godfather, my protector, the man who’s loved me in every way but the one I’ve always wanted. He’s fifty. I’m turning eighteen. And I’ve been keeping a secret for years… one that ignited the moment I learned the truth: He entered the Luna Games. Not as a spectator. As the grand prize. Centuries-old and brutal, the Games are a savage tradition where unmated she-wolves fight in deadly trials for the right to claim an Alpha. I should’ve run. I should’ve looked away. Instead, I signed up the night before my birthday, without my parents’ blessing and with only one goal: Survive. Win Him. Prove I belong beside him. When our eyes locked at the ceremony, everything stilled. One whispered word cracked through the silence: “Mate.” Now I’ll have to bleed and battle my best friends to earn what fate has already declared mine. Because love isn’t a choice anymore...it's war. Read The Luna Games now if you love forbidden desire, deadly trials, and a heart-stopping age gap romance that breaks all the rules. "The Luna Games" is the sequel to "The Accused Mate" but can be read as a standalone!

It was the apocalypse. A zombie apocalypse. We should've been running for our lives, but my girlfriend, Yvonne Brown, refused to. She wanted to buy as much time as she could for her incompetent childhood friend, Yves Claude, to hop into the last helicopter that would take survivors away. But the retreat was our group's only way to survive in this apocalypse. Yves was not showing up anytime soon. I had no choice but to knock her out and drag her into the chopper. And Yves, the one she could never seem to forget, died in the swarm of undead. I, however, survived thanks to what I did. Yvonne and I lived happily in a safe zone. And then that fateful day came. I was going to take over the territory and lead humanity on an attack against the zombies. The night before that decisive strike, Yvonne spiked my water with anesthetics. When I was caught helpless, she tossed me into the horde of zombies. The swarm of undead tore my flesh open, and the pain killed me. Yvonne? She stood on the wall coldly, a sneer decorating her lips. "Yves could've lived, but you took that chance away from him! You selfish monster, you killed Yves! I will make you suffer what he suffered! You'll pay for it with your life!" Death took me, but it tossed me all the way back to the day of the retreat. The day Yvonne adamantly insisted on waiting for Yves. Well, if she was so happy to live through a world like this with her friend, who am I to say no? I would grant her that wish, even if she would end up as zombie food.

I was just supposed to drive my friend to her cabin. Drive her there, help her take a picture and go back home. Simple. But I was not supposed to meet her brother... And he was not supposed to notice me. I've sworn off men. My heart is safer that way, trust me I've been hurt before so I know. But I am not prepared for a man like my best friends brother, he's by far the richest, handsomest, and most un-attainable man I've ever come across. I know I should probably stay away from him, after all falling in love has never been part of my life plans. I know I told myself I'd sworn of love, but that was until I met A Man like Aaron Ashgroove…

“Are you crying?" She shook her head and wiped at her face as more tears were falling. “I’m so stupid.” she groaned. "Now I am truly and utterly alone. If I had just said yes to marrying him, none of this would’ve happened. I wouldn’t have dragged you into this mess.” Without warning, I turned sharp to the side, putting the car to a sudden stop close to the curb. “Don’t ever say that again. You think marrying a man you don’t love, a man who doesn’t care if he hurts you, just to please your family is the right thing to do?” I turned to her slowly. “That would’ve ruined you.” “But I would’ve had a home to go to, I would’ve been taken care of. Now I have nothing,” she looked away. I reached over and gently took her bruised hand in mine. “You did the hardest thing anyone in your position could have done. You saved yourself. That takes more guts than standing there and pretending to be happy.” I tucked a hair behind her ear. “You think you are alone? You’re not… you have me.” ___ Alina Etienne has always lived a life dictated by her parents. She is groomed to be an obedient daughter, a perfect public image, and now, a bride to a man she doesn’t know or love. On her wedding day, crushed by the weight of expectations, Alina does the unthinkable... she says “I don’t” and flees the altar. On the run and scared with nowhere to go, she crosses paths with Mikhail Antonov. A cold, guarded man with a past he doesn’t talk about. What began as a reluctant act of kindness turned into something neither of them expected.

My mother was a traitor. To my pack, I am no better. I'm used to being overlooked. I've been unwanted from the time I was born, and my pack, River Crest, made it abundantly clear every chance they could that I was not welcome. No one and nowhere was safe. I've spent my entire life alone, with no family, no friends, and now, no mate. At 24 years old, unmated and unwanted, I've accepted that I must be one of the mateless. Wretched, forsaken wolves who are cursed to live out their lives alone. Or worse. The legends and histories claim that being a mateless wolf is worse than death. They suggest choosing a mate and forming a bond before madness sets in or the pack rejects me. But I've been rejected. I'm used to the feeling. I thrive in it. Because the more they push me away, the less pain and humiliation I have to face. If I can make it another year unmated, I could face banishment, and I'll finally be free. That's my goal. And I'll be damned if I let anyone get in my way. Even my mate.  

Forced to hide because of an ability I never asked for. Would I ever live a normal life? Stop hiding? But everything changed when I was forced to run from everything I've ever known. Now in a new pack, could I some how live freely? Maybe, with the support of my new Alpha and Beta. One is my calm, and one is my storm.