Damien is a 19-year-old werewolf who has always felt like an outsider in his small, traditional werewolf pack. He doesn't fit in with the other werewolves, who are all rough, aggressive, and focused on maintaining their power and dominance. Damien, on the other hand, is kind, sensitive, and artistic, and he often finds himself at odds with the pack's leader, uncle Marcus. One day, Damien meets a human girl named Maya at a local art museum. She is charming, intelligent, and curious, and Damien is immediately drawn to her. They hit it off and start seeing each other, but Damien knows that he has to keep his werewolf identity a secret from Maya, as humans and werewolves don't mix. As Damien and Maya's relationship deepens, Damien finds it increasingly difficult to hide his true nature from her. He starts having strange dreams and feelings, and he knows that the full moon is coming and that he won't be able to control his transformation. He confides in Maya, telling her the truth about his werewolf identity, and to his surprise, she is understanding and accepting. Together, Damien and Maya work to find a way for Damien to control his transformations and live a normal life with her. But Marcus and the other members of the pack are not happy about Damien's relationship with a human, and they start to plot against him. Damien and Maya must fight to protect their love and their future together, even as they face danger and betrayal from all sides. Will they be able to overcome the barriers between their two worlds and build a life together?
I stood, bewildered and dumbfounded, in the plush way of the grand gallery at the Louvre.
I felt like a ghost amongst humans. I was invisible. Crowds swept past me like I was nothing.
I got hit a lot, but no one seemed to have noticed. I was either too invisible, or men were just too rude.
I was a werewolf amongst men. I constantly thirsted for blood. And now my hunger was returning.
But I had prepared for this. I wouldn't desperately need blood for at least two days.
I kept staring into open space. I was in the middle of the most famous art gallery on earth, yet I could not behold any beauty, at least for now.
I didn't like my life. I didn't like the werewolf world, and I didn't like humans either. Humans were rude and stupid and werewolves were; something I can't describe. I hated humans, except for someone; one girl: MAYA.
The thought of her made my heartbeat. She was the only reason I was still in the human world.
She always made my heart beat. It was okay for me to think I loved her. Surely, I loved her. She was beautiful, slender, and graceful.
She was the most beautiful girl I ever saw. And she was kind. We were kind of friends.
But there was a problem. I was a werewolf. And I felt guilty about it. She didn't know. And then, werewolves didn't mix with humans.
My pack of werewolves hated me because I walked and talked with a human. I wouldn't care if I could, but I had to care, as I was the smallest werewolf I kagedand simply did not have a voice of my own.
But I loved Maya. Occasionally, she was the only thing I thought and dreamt about. I wanted to be honest with her but I couldn't. I couldn't let her know I was a werewolf.
She would probably run away from me. I was an underaged werewolf, so it was deemed that I did not have the age and experience to relate with humans and even build serious relationships with them. Last night, I had a horrible dream. I was a human, on show in a zoo, held hostage in a cage. Many people were outside; women and children, especially some girls, were laughing at me.
On a large poster in the cage, there was a large inscription written in large bright bold letters "UNDER AGE WEREWOLF". I was a human in a cage in a zoo. And many humans I knew were laughing at me.
I didn't care, but what scared me the most was that Maya may have been there. I consoled myself that it was just a dream, but it seemed so real I began to think I had lost my memory.
I began to move slowly toward the artwork. I viewed a couple of them.
They were, of course, beautiful, but I did not see any beauty in them. Maybe it was because all I was thinking about was Maya.
My heart was beating fast and my feet were still. I wondered why Maya had not yet arrived. She was supposed to be here about half an hour ago and she still had not come.
She was, as I knew her, always keeping to her time. But I wanted her to stay a bit longer so I could prepare myself. I realized I had been lost, staring into open space like an idiot.
If she had caught me like this, I wondered what I would do with myself. I wondered what she would think of me. For a moment, I tried to fathom why she liked me.
Or maybe she didn't even like me, but why did she even talk to me? Because I was a werewolf, I was extremely thin and slender. I was always starving. I had muscles like I knew that girls wanted, but I had no intellect.
I wasn't extremely smart. I wasn't rich. I wasn't even handsome. Sure I wasn't ugly, but the last time I had seen myself in a mirror, I was the most average boy I knew.
In the werewolf world, I was extremely unattractive. I knew female human "girls" did not want average boys.
They wanted supermen, from what I knew. And I was the most average boy I knew. There was nothing in me above average. It had taken just one look at her and less than one conversation for her to win my heart. I had to win her heart too.
Just then, what I longed for the most and feared the most occurred. At a distance, was My Maya, approaching graciously like a princess.
I wasn't ready. I straightened my posture and tried to look confident. I tried to pretend I had not seen her, but she was too beautiful to behold. I kept on looking.
I wished I could turn back time a little. I wasn't ready yet. I realized my hair was undone and my ordinary clothes had been squeezed by the crowd. I could feel it even if I wasn't looking in the mirror. I had no taste and no style.
Nothing about me that was to be admired. Nothing to be adored. Nothing to be liked. Ashamed, I tried to slip away from her view, but at the thought of it, our eyes met each other.
At once, her face lightened up but I felt ashamed. It felt as if I was cheating her, like I was robbing her of what she deserved. She was a beautiful and nice girl and so she deserved much more.
She approached me, my heart beat with the utmost fear and speed. I knew I had to be careful.
I was a werewolf and she was human. I had to be careful. I realized I had nothing to love or die for apart from this girl.
And though it was stupid for me to think that, I realized it was kind of true. She was the only thing that gave my life some kind of meaning.
Fear rendered my legs like water, and I was determined. I was going to make it work for us, no matter how my werewolf pack felt about it.
I didn't care. If I had to be the strongest, then I would. If I had to be rich, then I would, but I would do anything to keep Maya.
"Hi, Damien," she said. " I'm sorry I was late but it is nice to see you again.
I nodded, not knowing what to say, and then I stuttered " thank you".
There was an awkward silence. I didn't want to be here now. I didn't know what to say to her. I was embarrassed.
I was at once aroused but intimidated by her sweet-smelling scent. I knew I smelled like grass.
"How is your family?" I asked awkwardly.
She smiled enthusiastically and nodded. "I can see that you are shy, but don't worry, let's go."
She grabbed my arm as I had seen many lovers do and led me along the hallway.
"Let me show you one of my favorite artworks," she said as she led me across the hallway. We passed through a lot of artwork.
She showed me the Mona Lisa and many other artifacts I didn't know about. We moved and kept talking. What I liked was the way she held me as if I was her lover.
People stared at us as we walked along the gallery. It felt as if I could read their minds. I felt strange to them all.
Maybe I was either too unattractive to Maya, or they were jealous of my gifts. But I didn't care. All you cared about was what Maya herself was thinking of me.
We kept walking, holding hands like lovers even if we weren't. I liked it.
But I knew something was not right. I could feel it. I could sense it with my werewolf sense. I didn't feel okay. Occasionally, I look around self-consciously. It felt as if someone was watching us.
I knew I was in trouble. Some of my werewolf pack members live in town too, and it was very likely that one of them would find me here too. The Louvre Museum is one of the most visited museums in France.
Not even in France alone, but the entire world.
"What is wrong with you? You are thinking about something," Maya said.
"What...... errr. I don't know" I stuttered.
"What's going on in your mind? I've been trying to show you one of my favorite artworks but your mind is somewhere else," she said.
I was still confused. I was a fool. I stood there mesmerized by her stunning beauty. She was a goddess.
I couldn't lose her no matter what. "Is there any problem? You can tell me if I can help you out. What is on your mind!" She asked.
"You," I said. "Uhhh? You said what?"
"It's you, Maya, I'm thinking of you," I said hilariously. She blushed and smiled and then she chuckled.
" Let's go," she said, holding my hand, and leading me along. I smiled too. The idea that I had brought a smile to her face made my day. I had said it spontaneously and with humor. And she liked it.
Maybe she didn't know, but I meant it. I wondered if she felt the same.
My joy was just a short bust as it only lasted a short while. My nerves began to take over once more. Something was lurking in the shadows. And then at once...
The day Raina gave birth should have been the happiest of her life. Instead, it became her worst nightmare. Moments after delivering their twins, Alexander shattered her heart-divorcing her and forcing her to sign away custody of their son, Liam. With nothing but betrayal and heartbreak to her name, Raina disappeared, raising their daughter, Ava, on her own.Years later, fate comes knocking when Liam falls gravely ill. Desperate to save his son, Alexander is forced to seek out the one person he once cast aside. Alexander finds himself face to face with the woman he underestimated, pleading for a second chance-not just for himself, but for their son. But Raina is no longer the same broken woman who once loved him.No longer the woman he left behind. She has carved out a new life-one built on strength, wealth, and a long-buried legacy she expected to uncover.Raina has spent years learning to live without him.The question is... Will she risk reopening old wounds to save the son she never got to love? or has Alexander lost her forever?
"I've warned you from the beginning. Don't marry him, but you won't listen." She stood close to me and smiled with concern. "You are not a woman worthy of a man as handsome, rich, smart, and virile as Blaze." My whole body trembled at her words. "Have you no shame?" I asked in a quivering voice. "Take a good look at yourself, Heather." She looked at me in the mirror. "You can't even look at your ugly face. Do you think Blaze can endure a lifetime of looking at that face?" Heather Bailey had a surprise from her husband that night: a divorce agreement. After a year of marriage and facing ups and downs, she couldn't believe Blaze intended to divorce her. But she was devastated when she saw him gazing lovingly at another woman because that person was closest to her. Shortly after she put her signature on their divorce papers, shock waves caught her up. Her flower shop was severely burnt, beyond repair. Her father's company collapsed, and her parents blamed her. She struggled to rebuild her life from the ground up and became more successful than ever. Having many customers who came from influential families, she started her action against Blaze. She won the very thing he wanted. But that was just the beginning.
"You're a creepy bastard." His eyes smolder me and his answering grin is nothing short of beautiful. Deadly. "Yet you hunger for me. Tell me, this appetite of yours, does it always tend toward 'creepy bastards'?" **** Widower and ex-boss to the Mafia, Zefiro Della Rocca, has an unhealthy fixation on the woman nextdoor. It began as a coincidence, growing into mere curiosity, and soon, it was an itch he couldn't ignore, like a quick fix of crack for an addict. He didn't know her name, but he knew every inch of her skin, how it flushed when she climaxed, her favourite novel and that every night she contemplated suicide. He didn't want to care, despising his rapt fascination of the woman. She was in love with her abusive husband. She was married, bound by a contract to the Bratva's hitman. She was off-limits. But when Zefiro wanted something, it was with an intensity that bordered on madness. He obsessed, possessed, owned. There'd be bloodshed if he touched her, but the sight of blood always did fascinate him. * When Susanna flees from her husband, she stumbles right into the arms of her devilishly handsome neighbour with a brooding glare. He couldn't stand her, but she needed him, if she was ever going to escape her husband who now wanted her dead. Better the devil you know than the angel you don't. She should have recalled that before hopping into Zefiro's car and letting him whisk her away to Italy. Maybe then, she wouldn't have started an affair with him. He was the only man who touched her right, and the crazy man took no small pains in ensuring he would be the last.
Janet was adopted when she was a kid -- a dream come true for orphans. However, her life was anything but happy. Her adoptive mother taunted and bullied her all her life. Janet got the love and affection of a parent from the old maid who raised her. Unfortunately, the old woman fell ill, and Janet had to marry a worthless man in place of her parents' biological daughter to meet the maid's medical expenses. Could this be a Cinderella's tale? But the man was far from a prince, except for his handsome appearance. Ethan was the illegitimate son of a wealthy family who lived a reckless life and barely made ends meet. He got married to fulfill his mother's last wish. However, on his wedding night, he had an inkling that his wife was different from what he had heard about her. Fate had united the two people with deep secrets. Was Ethan truly the man we thought he was? Surprisingly, he bore an uncanny resemblance to the impenetrable wealthiest man in the city. Would he find out that Janet married him in place of her sister? Would their marriage be a romantic tale or an utter disaster? Read on to unravel Janet and Ethan's journey.
Kallie, a mute who had been ignored by her husband for five years since their wedding, also suffered the loss of her pregnancy due to her cruel mother-in-law. After the divorce, she learned that her ex-husband had quickly gotten engaged to the woman he truly loved. Holding her slightly rounded belly, she realized that he had never really cared for her. Determined, she left him behind, treating him as a stranger. Yet, after she left, he scoured the globe in search of her. When their paths crossed once more, Kallie had already found new happiness. For the first time, he pleaded humbly, "Please don't leave me..." But Kallie's response was firm and dismissive, cutting through any lingering ties. "Get lost!"
Due to the plight of her family, Phoebe had no choice but to embark on the path of selling herself. In an accident, she had a tangled night with Alexander. Everything began to derail, and even if she fled to the ends of the earth, she would still be found by him and entangled... *** Phoebe screamed in frustration, "What do you want from me?" What was this supposed to be? He raised an eyebrow wickedly. "What do I want? You'll find out soon enough." With that, he hoisted her up and carried her back into the office. The door slammed shut with a kick, and he cleared the desk with a sweep of his arm before laying her down on it, his body pinning hers in place, completely trapping her in his grasp. Every cell in his body was telling him he wanted her. He wanted to claim her again. This time, there would be no escape for her-he wouldn't let her slip away. Never again. If he had suffered for five years, then this woman wouldn't get off easily either!