76th hunger games

When a reluctant event planner Aurora Thompson is forced into marrying the ruthless billionaire mafia Alessandro De Luca to serve as a pawn in her father's game of power, she's thrown into a deadly underworld. As she navigates Alessandro's empire, she begins to unravel dark truths and hidden agendas that forces her to confront her feelings towards the captivating yet ruthless Alessandro. As she falls deeper for him, Aurora must find a way to survive the deadly games of the mafia elite without being pulled into the darkness.

“Crawl to me, Jo,” his voice was a low, dangerous command. I crossed my arms, glaring at him, trying to ignore the pulse of my blood and the heat pooling between my legs. “Make me,” I shot back. His smirk was the only warning I got. I knew I was in deep trouble. --- Joan Madison has always despised Aaron Thompson, her best friend's arrogant, insufferable brother. The feeling was mutual—until it wasn't. A vacation meant to be a getaway with her friend Rhoda takes a sharp turn when Joan finds herself tangled in a steamy, reckless encounter with the one man she swore she’d never want. What should’ve been a fleeting mistake becomes something far more dangerous as Aaron refuses to let her go—and his hunger for her only deepens. Jo’s trapped between desire and defiance, but one thing is clear: this game they’ve started could burn them both.

When we were only kids, Sam Harris and I made a promise we'd marry each other if we were still single when we turned thirty. Well, my thirtieth birthday has come and gone and I'm still as single as ever. And as far as I know, so is Sam. But it's been ages since we've seen each other, and after what he did to me our senior year of college, I wouldn't put his ring on my finger even if he begged me to marry him. Never mind his devilish good looks. Or the fact that the playboy partier is a doctor now. Nope, I'm sticking to my guns with this, and when I go back to my hometown of Silver Ridge for the first time in years, I won't pay him the slightest bit of attention. Well...until he convinces me to go out for drinks to catch up. I knew it was a bad idea the moment I agreed to it. And then he brings up our childhood promise. It might be fun and games to him, but it's not to me. Because as much a I don't want to admit it, Sam has always been my first choice. And I don't want to be nothing more than his backup plan.

Mia was cursed by her mother from birth for fear of her daughter living in pain just like she had but will this curse destroy her daughter or will it save her Rejected publicly by her lover on the day of their mating ceremony, she decided to move on, taking another male as her mate, only for him to die suddenly a few days after their mateship. Deciding to search for a cure to her curse or risk loneliness forever, Mia left the pack she had lived in all her life, only to fall into bed with her estranged half-brother Aaron, who decided to offer her a contract she has no option but to refuse. But Aaron is determined not to take No for an answer. Not when his wolf wants Mia with an unquencing hunger and sees her as a mate and not a sister. Now, Mia is pregnant and secrets come flying out, putting her and all she loves in danger. And one of these secrets might just be the solution Mia and Aaron need for their forbidden love to flourish.

"You're soaking wet for me," He murmured, his warm breath dancing across my skin, sending shivers down my spine. His thumb traced a gentle path along my jaw, his touch igniting a spark within me. His eyes gleamed with a raw hunger, their intensity making my heart skip a beat. I felt a flutter in my chest, despite the warning bells ringing in my mind. "Say it" he whispered, his lips inches from mine. 'Say you want me, Maya.' I hated him. I knew I shouldn't be doing this. He had hurt me before, and I shouldn't be giving him the power to hurt me again. But I couldn't deny that I still had some feelings for him. After all, I had loved him before I even knew what love meant. I was certain he'd hurt me again. This time, I wasn't sure I'd ever recover from it. I closed my eyes and whispered the words that would certainly lead to my doom " I want you" . . . After being humiliated and abandoned by her in-laws, Maya found herself working as a stripper to make ends meet for herself and her baby. A few years later, she came back determined to exert revenge on all those who wronged her. But she was faced with some conflicted emotions. How would she deal with this? Will she let go of her grudges and forgive the people who hurt her? Or will she make them pay at all costs?

In my dormitory, there was a poor student. With all the good intentions in the world, my roommates and I were eager to help her, not realizing how much our help would cost. She wasn't impressed by the hairdryer we offered, insisting on borrowing a branded one instead. The skincare products we gave her? They were applied to her feet. And, as if that wasn't enough, she specifically demanded luxury face cream. One day, I lent her my tablet to look up some information, and to my surprise, she secretly opened up my gaming app, spent all the diamonds and reward tickets I had saved for half a year, and left me empty-handed. When I asked her to pay me back, she turned the tables and posted a public message online, accusing me. "I'm just a poor student from the countryside, never played games before. Are the materials in the game really worth this much?" Before I knew it, the comment section was flooded with criticisms of me. In a fit of frustration, I fired back with a post of my own, throwing her into the spotlight. "Well, I suppose you've never tasted the bitterness of being cyberbullied, have you?"