

Before turning 25, the pack elders use the mind-link 99 times to forcibly summon me. I have to bond with a mate before my 25th birthday or face an arranged marriage to serve the pack. When I tell Jacob Fulton, our patrol captain, he just scoffs. "I've never heard of any pack having a rule like that. Wendy, you don't need such a pathetic tactic to test me. I was going to mark you, but seeing how desperate you are, I've changed my mind." He tosses the protection necklace I hand-crafted for him to his childhood friend, Yelena Shaw, and walks off without a second glance. Yelena blushes as she offers the necklace back to me. A triumphant glint flashes in her eyes. I step back, refusing it with a soft voice. "You can keep my trash." Ignoring her sudden paleness, I turn and walk away. I don't want the necklace anymore, and I don't want Jacob, either. What Jacob doesn't know is that I'm the sole heir to the Darkmoon pack. Once I turn 25, I must return to fulfill my duty—to take my place as Alpha Female and bond with a mate. Only this time, Jacob won't be the one I choose.

Christina's adoptive mother gives her a brutal choice: Christina can give her virginity to a 70-year-old rich man, or watch her brother be killed. She chooses the former, but those plans are jeopardized when the old man seeks pleasure elsewhere. Who would have thought his son, Logan, would become her Mr. Right? "Sleep with me, right now!" Christina begs...

In a snowbound train, Shirley flees her wedding. Under the influence of medication, she spends a night with a stranger and gets pregnant. Ten months later, she enters a marriage of convenience with the third son of the Lowe family—unaware that the family's formidable head, Henry,is the man from that fateful night. Believing himself infertile due to a misdiagnosis, Henry treads a torturous path between abstinence and longing, secretly shielding Shirley while concealing his own devotion. What began in that snowstorm is a bond he would defy any taboo to protect. He thought himself an isolated island in winter,until she became the only warmth capable of melting his ice—the one he wished to claim forever.

I had been in a secret relationship with my mafia boyfriend, Dante Castellano, for seven years. No public contact. No photos together. No proof I had ever stood by his side. He told me, "Once I'm powerful enough that no one dares touch you, I'll make it official." I believed him. The day before our seventh anniversary, I found a ten-carat diamond ring in his suit jacket. I cried with joy, thinking seven years of hiding were finally over. The next morning, I wore my most expensive dress and sprayed on the only perfume he had ever given me. I practiced my smile in the mirror, the one I would give when he proposed. Then, my phone lit up with a breaking news alert. [Breaking News: Seven-Year Love Story Reaches Perfect Ending—Romance Blogger Alessia Romano Accepts Boyfriend's 100th Proposal!] In the photo, the influencer with eight million followers stood on her tiptoes, kissing a man. His hand rested on the back of her neck. On that hand was a scar I would never mistake. It was the scar Dante got when he took a knife for me.

Vertical superstars Tess Dinerstein and Lottie Guidi test their unbreakable friendship and discuss everything being a girlboss in the entertainment industry entails. From Shakespearean origins to modern day mantras (plus a surprise special guest), you won’t want to miss the insight these titans of vertical entertainment have to offer!

Ten years ago, I was harassed by thugs and saved by a stranger. I always believed that man was Travis. I fell in love with him, and we were together for a decade, yet he never proposed, always entangled with his first love instead. So I let go and married my childhood sweetheart, Jason, who adored me beyond measure. When Travis learned of my marriage, he went mad with regret. And then I discovered the truth, the man who saved me that night was never Travis. It was Jason.

On her wedding day, Megan's fiancé Mark vanishes without a trace. After four years of investigation, the police still turn up no leads whatsoever. Consumed by her relentless obsession, Megan is taken by her best friend Jennifer to a hidden underground store that sells so-called hyper-realistic ""shared boyfriend"" companion robots. She is horrified to discover that ""Robot No. 07"" is none other than Mark, missing for four years. He is kept subdued with drugs and electric shocks, disguised as merchandise to be exploited for profit. To save her beloved, Megan swallows her humiliation and feigns compliance, secretly gathering evidence. Step by step, she uncovers the shocking truth: her best friend, driven by hatred born from scorned love, was the one who ""donated"" Mark to the store owner. In the final showdown, Megan collaborates with the police from the inside to raid and shut down the illegal operation. The two lean on each other through the long aftermath of trauma, moving steadily toward healing and a new beginning.

I have a possessive boyfriend. After seven years together, Jared Jackman's favorite thing to say is, "Do you know how cute my girlfriend is? If you do, you're in trouble." "Babe, you're so beautiful. Whoever sees you will fall for you. If someone looks at you for even a second longer, I'll get jealous." That's why he never lets me step into his world. Until one day, I use an alternate account and stumble upon his social media. Three years, and over 600 posts. Every single one is about his moments with another woman. They stroll through Pilton Palace, make wishes atop snowy mountains, and kiss on the streets of Sidwell City. His latest post shows him kissing that woman on the beach while their friends cheer and shout around them. The caption reads, "Loving someone means you can't help but show them off to the world." My fingers tremble as I quietly close the page and book a flight to Northram. It turns out that after seven years of love, letting go only takes a moment.

In my previous life, my girlfriend's childhood friend impersonated a rich heir and messed around with the fake power he had. I exposed him, and he crashed his car into me. In my final moments, my girlfriend's sister begged on her knees, pleading for my girlfriend's aid, hoping she could save me, but my girlfriend did nothing. "He wouldn't do that. Zacharias is beyond this. He would never dirty his hands for a nobody like this guy. He might be my boyfriend, but that doesn't mean he can do anything he wants. He'd better know his place." My girlfriend's sister remained on the ground for three days. In the end, Zacharias dragged her away, violated her, and killed her. Even at my dying breath, my girlfriend was still covering up for her childhood friend. She refused to believe Zacharias hit someone with a car and violated her sister. And then I was reborn. This time, I did not beg and plead for my girlfriend to give me a moment of her time. I called my brother instead. "Hey? Yeah, it's me. Some bastard impersonated me and is dragging my name through the mud. I need you to take that guy out. Also, I'm not marrying Annabelle Lawson. I'm taking her sister instead." I gave the Lawsons a lot of resources so they could grow, and what did I get in the end? An ungrateful woman who would leave me stranded and dying all for another man. With all their resources pulled, Annabelle and her childhood friend would be saying goodbye to their good old days and hello to their personal hell.