The last thing Stella Morgan is looking to add to her life is more drama or heartache. But with one wrong turn, that's exactly what she gets. When she finally meets face to fang with her mysterious new neighbor. Billionaire real estate mogul Bennett Orloff is a welcomed addition to the newly gentrified neighborhood of the greater Seattle area. Of course, it doesn't hurt that he's tall, dark and gorgeous. When he meets his new neighbor, the hair on his neck raises as if fate itself is meddling in his affairs. Finding for him that which he'd never been able to find for himself. A mate for life. It's a bond that can't be broken. Ever. If only she'll say yes. The Alpha Next Door is created by Jessie King, an eGlobal Creative Publishing author.
No one believed in love at first sight anymore. But that's only because they hadn't met her new neighbor. Stella was sure of it.
"The new neighbor is a hottie?" Mandy asked coyly. Her perfect profile jutted towards the house next door.
Stella, not ready to part with all the details, simply nodded. Her bouncy curls toppling over themselves in agreement. She half-heartedly attempted to wrangle them into submission by tucking a few loose strands behind each ear. They instantly broke free. Typical.
Bennett Orloff was drop dead gorgeous. It took only a single glance from his steely eyes to cut Stella to the quick. Heart and soul. Her walls cracked. The floodgates opened. He'd only said hello, but it was enough to render her speechless.
That was a first for her. Stella never reacted to anyone that way. Not once. But around Bennett her usual grace had failed her. What she'd come to rely on most about herself, her own self ease, felt like it was slipping away. That was a surprise. She wasn't sure if she liked it or not.
What was it about Bennett that made her feel this way? And so quickly! Of course, it probably didn't hurt that the six-foot four demigod living next door, had an athletic build made of pure muscle, and shoulders that begged to carry the weight of all her troubles.
Boy, did she have troubles. Lately it seemed something new and horrible popped up every day. Not that she couldn't handle them herself. She always had before.
"Seriously, you've got to tell me everything!" Mandy insisted.
Stella shrugged. Truth was, she didn't know anything about the man who at that very moment could be lying in bed, a mere hundred feet from her own bedroom door. Give or take. It was more of an estimate.
It's not like she'd counted. Not yet anyway. A secret confidence stirred inside her. Someday... It seemed to promise. She felt her cheeks flush a vibrant red.
"He's more of a night owl." Stella told her friend, half-heartedly explaining her silence. "I've barely said hello to him." She finally admitted.
Sure, they shared a driveway and an amazing view of Seattle's pride and joy, Mt. Rainier. But so far, not much else.
"Sounds mysterious." Mandy said, her mouth twisted into a knowing smirk.
Typical Mandy.
"You have to promise to keep me updated," Mandy winked. "With all the details of you getting to know him better." Her face clouded slightly, "Since I won't be around for you to tell me."
Stella's heart panged, suddenly heavy in her chest. "I can't believe you're going to leave me all alone here." She reached out, grabbing onto her friend's hand.
"By this time tomorrow, I'll be halfway to Paris." Mandy brightened with the thought of it.
"For a whole year!" Stella chimed in. Refusing to make this moment about herself. Mandy was a hard worker who deserved the internship of a lifetime, a position at one of the most prestigious art museums in the world.
"It'll go quickly, mon amie," Mandy reassured Stella. Her brown eyes glistened with fresh sadness.
Stella held back her own tears. The friendship they had was special. In so many ways.
It was no secret between them, how few people Stella let get close to her.
Naturally she had friends. She was young, smart, pretty. But they both knew, how she kept people at a distance. Protected herself. With everyone.
Well, everyone except Mandy. Of course.
Mandy, her out-going opposite. Whose curious brown eyes glowed with mischief. Always.
Mandy squinted in the direction of the house next door. "Maybe we should just go introduce ourselves?" She asked teasingly, rising to her feet.
Stella inhaled sharply. The thought too overwhelming. Speechless. Again.
Now, her heart was racing. What was that about? The memory of his glinting blue eyes tickled through her brain making her skin feel itchy. Her palms sweaty. Not sure if she liked that or not, Stella made a mental note to get to the bottom of it.
The door to Bennett's house opened. A handsome man about six feet tall, with broad shoulders and gleaming black hair emerged. A tall, lithe woman with auburn hair, her eyes hidden behind Chanel sunglasses, confidently held onto his arm.
"Is that him?" Mandy breathed.
"No."
At least Stella didn't think so. Sure, her new neighbor was tall, well-built, and definitely swoon worthy, but even from this distance, she didn't feel that tell-tale jolt of electricity she'd felt the first time she saw him. And had felt repeatedly each time she'd seen him since. Or thought about him. Or even heard him mentioned. Apparently.
It wasn't him. Couldn't be.
"Who's that woman?"
Exactly. Stella thought inwardly. Uncomfortable and full of jealousy. That wasn't like her. Definitely not.
Outwardly she simply shrugged. "People are always coming and going from that house."
"Guess he's got a lot of friends."
They watched as the glamorous couple walked all the way down the driveway to a sleek black BMW parked on the street.
"Rich friends." Mandy added.
"I'm pretty sure he's wealthy too," Stella said, volunteering more of what she knew about the man next door. "That Queen Anne is almost fully restored. In record time."
"You should know, Ms. Top of the Dean's List." Mandy beamed.
"Seattle has a good program. I've learned a lot about design, enough to know it costs quite a lot to make something this beautiful in such a short amount of time." Stella continued good-naturedly, shrugging off her friend's praise.
"You still planning on fixing this place up?" Mandy asked. Glancing around the meager living room where they'd sat drinking coffee, eating yesterday's half off doughnuts from the café down the street.
Stella looked around at the unfinished room. She'd managed to remove all the wallpaper and patch the walls, but she'd barely begun to strip the wooden trim when she'd run out of money. Completely run out.
"Someday" she admitted sadly.
"I'm sorry," Mandy faltered.
Stella understood her friend's clumsy apology. Of course, she knew how much Stella wanted to restore her own beautiful home to its former extravagant self.
"The pandemic has been hard for everyone." Stella barely managed to get the words out before her voice broke. Her hazel eyes filled with compassion for her friend.
There really wasn't any need for apologies. They'd both lost friends, acquaintances, colleagues while in lockdown. They both knew all too well about the deadly virus that spread quickly, stealthily. Taking once healthy, vibrant people from their lives, much too soon.
"I wasn't thinking." Mandy stumbled over the words. Her eyes brimmed with tears.
"It's okay." She squeezed Mandy's hand. "Really."
Before everything changed, Stella had enough money tucked away to put herself through graduate school. She'd put in extra shifts as a waitress and saved every penny for school and the house remodel.
But with the pandemic, it's safety requirements that sent everyone into lockdown, and everyone avoiding restaurants for over a year, the money ran out. All of Stella's savings had been used up, with no extra money coming in.
At that moment, she had only two weeks of money left for food and utilities. After that, she didn't know what she was going to do.
"What if I canceled Paris, cashed in my ticket, and split the money with you? Mandy asked. "We always said it would be fun to be roommates, right?"
"I can't let you do that." Stella said. Paris was Mandy's dream. "It crushed you when you couldn't go last year." Stella reminded. "Besides, the Louvre won't last much longer without their future appraiser." She smiled.
"Yeah," Mandy agreed. "And someone has to taste test all that pain au chocolat." She took a deliberately large bite of a stale blueberry glaze for emphasis.
"Don't worry about me." Stella reassured. "I will figure something out. I always do."
Mandy nodded, encouragingly. "Promise you'll tell me every dirty little detail about your hot new neighbor."
Stella felt heat rising to her cheeks at the mention of the man next door.
"Of course." She promised easily. After all, it was one she fully intended to keep. "We've never kept any secrets. Why should this be any different?"
"Then it's settled." Mandy said. "Besides, I like seeing how you smile every time I mention him."
No one could have known what secrets truly lay next door with the handsome neighbor.
All Stella herself knew was that she couldn't stop thinking about him. And what thinking about him did to her heart. Her mind. And what shape it set her mouth to.
"Sign the divorce papers and get out!" Leanna got married to pay a debt, but she was betrayed by her husband and shunned by her in-laws. Seeing that her efforts were in vain, she agreed to divorce and claimed her half of the properties. With her purse plump from the settlement, Leanna enjoyed her newfound freedom. The constant harassment from her ex's mistress never fazed her. She took back her identities as top hacker, champion racer, medical professor, and renowned jewelry designer. Then someone discovered her secret. Matthew smiled. "Will you have me as your next husband?"
On their wedding night, Rogelio wrapped his fingers around Marian's neck and spat at her, "Congratulations! From now on, you live in hell!" The reason for his wrath was that he believed she was responsible for the death of his elder brother. So, he married her but refused to touch her, determined to make her suffer for the rest of her pitiful life! However, due to an unforeseen accident, Marian was forced to sleep with Rogelio in order to save him, and she ended up getting pregnant. Concealing her pregnancy, Marian lived cautiously under Rogelio's watchful eyes. He hated her and relentlessly humiliated her, yet he would never allow anyone else to lay a finger on her— "Mr. Bailey, your wife got into a fight with someone!" Rogelio secretly took action, eliminating that person completely. "Sir, your wife claimed that all of your family's wealth belongs to her!" Rogelio quietly transferred all the shares to her. Unaware of all this, Marian only wanted to escape, but Rogelio pulled her into his warm embrace, whispering, "Mrs. Bailey, where do you intend to go with our unborn child?"
After three years of loveless marriage, Kira was slapped with divorce papers. She has shown him her unrequited love throughout her entire marriage with him, but he decided to turn blind eyes all because of his lover. Distraught and heartbroken, Kira choose to sign the divorce papers with bitter heart. But then and there, she promised herself that when she's back, he will come crawling to her, but she will make him pay for hurting her. Join Kira as she transform to a wealthy heiress and soared as the CEO of a multi-billion-dollar empire, a remarkable healer and make her ex-husband pay!
It was supposed to be a marriage of convenience, but Carrie made the mistake of falling in love with Kristopher. When the time came that she needed him the most, her husband was in the company of another woman. Enough was enough. Carrie chose to divorce Kristopher and move on with her life. Only when she left did Kristopher realize how important she was to him. In the face of his ex-wife’s countless admirers, Kristopher offered her 20 million dollars and proposed a new deal. “Let’s get married again.”
⚠️ WARNING ⚠️ This Book Contains Matured Contents, reader's discretion is advised. *** "Do you have any idea how much I want to be inside you right now?" he asked as he stood to his feet. "Then why aren't you?" I responded, loving the feel of him pressed so close, my back to the mirror, my front to him. But even still, in some far corner of my lust-fogged mind, I realized that we were still in a bathroom. Anyone could walk in and see us. The thought of getting discovered was scary and erotic at the same time. "Oh, we're not done. Spread your legs a bit for me, Kitten." He commanded. When I did as he instructed, he settled between my legs again. "Now close your eyes. And try not to move." Dominic Rutherford murmured. I drew in a sharp breath as his fingers slipped into me with a silky, wet ease. First one. Then another. A feverish tide rose inside me, and I groaned. I jerked in response, causing me to unconsciously move my hips towards his teasing, clever hand, seeking more. "Ohh-" My body trembled under his touch. "Please..." *** Ruby escapes a stifling marriage filled with betrayal, eager to reclaim her freedom. At a masquerade ball, she meets Dominic, a mysterious older man always wearing a mask and has a complex past. Their intense attraction ignites a passionate and dangerous affair. Dominic, who was tasked by Ruby's unknown brother to find her, is captivated by her defiant spirit. As Ruby gets entangled in Dominic's dark world and faces threats from her vengeful former husband and an enemy within, she struggles with her fear of love. Will Ruby and Dominic overcome their pasts and the secrets that threaten to tear them apart? Can Ruby submit to love even after the truth is revealed?
She was a diamond covered by ashes.... King Dakota was known as the most Powerful Alpha King of all times - more powerful than any other King that had ruled from his lineage. He was cold hearted, introverted and dangerous in anger. Cursed by the Moon goddess, King Dakota had to get married to three wives all in search of a male child that would become his heir, but it was impossible as the curse would only let his wives bear she -wolves. But on a different day, the King meets a lady who offends him and as a punishment, he took her home as his fourth wife. Her name was Shilah. Shilah was a powerless wolf and as a result, was disregarded and intimidated by all. But, when she begins to do things that the King had never felt for years, he began to wonder who she really was. Slowly, she crawled her way into his icy heart and turned out to be something nobody ever expected - a storm.