expecting better

War. War is all we know. War for peace, war to take, war to protect. War for resources. It is impossible to avoid war because your neighbors won’t. If you are perceived as weak, you will be targeted. Your land and wealth stolen, your people killed, sons enslaved and daughters raped. To survive in this world, more important than oxygen; is strength and a cold heart. The only source of strength are mana veins. He who owns mana veins has the right to live and the right to rule. He who owns mana veins better have the strength to keep it or long life is but a pipe dream. Xasha hated war. War had taken everything from him and gave nothing in return. He hated that all wars were over petty things like pride and pocket change. He always looked to the vast wilderness with longing. He wondered why all the warmongers hadn’t turned their spears there. Where vast lands and untapped wealth were. Once he became a father. Xasha, the naïve, knowledge-loving merchant, decided he did not want his child growing up in the same world he did. He decided to change the world, end all war and unite the abandoned region. How will he do it? By starting a war, a war that will end all wars. Not a war with his neighbors over pride or a few mana veins. No. He will rage against the wilderness and the world beyond.

My adopted sister, Jasmine, lost a million dollars in a bad investment scheme. On that fateful day, a disgruntled client showed up before us, furious that his entire life's savings had disappeared overnight and desperate to exact his revenge. When my boyfriend, Connor Sanders, showed up to rescue us, both of us reached a pleading hand to him in fear, but he swatted mine away and snarled, "Rosie, cut the crap! I know you're just faking, and you better stop, or else karma will come back to you! Jasmine has a heart condition, so I'll need to send her to the hospital right away!" Faking it? If only he knew the truth—that the unfortunate daughter born with a congenital heart disease was, in fact, me! On the day of my funeral, my boyfriend Connor wept upon my grave and blinded himself out of remorse. From that day onwards, Connor "Hawk-Eye" Sanders would live in eternal darkness.

Shean thought she has sexual dysfunction. She has done everything to feel the orgasm but failed to have it. She thought she was a hopeless case. One night, raging testosterone named Randall approached her and preached her about how she writes her novel. Their heated arguments brought them into fiery lovemaking. Shean finds out that Randall is the one she needed to fill in her desire and worldly needs. She better gave him a great offer he wouldn't dare to decline.

Can a cursed Alpha find salvation in a broken omega? When at eighteen, Chantelle’s childhood crush chooses her as his mate, she never dreamt things would go wrong. After five years of being mated to the Alpha of her dreams, Chantelle is unable to conceive and gets ridiculed as a barren woman. While she desperately tries to bear a child, her mate impregnates her stepsister and kicks her out of her pack. Hearatbroken and destitute, she runs into her predestined mate; the cursed Alpha Valens. Of all things to inherit, Valens has inherited his father’s curse. Driven by the curse, he invades packs, desperate to meet his mate and curse breaker. Then he runs into Chantelle, his salvation. One night is all it takes; one night between two strangers. When Chantelle wakes the morning after that pivotal night, she picks her shoes and flees, terrified of the man whose bed she dared to share. For Valens, he wakes the next morning to see colours for the first time in decades but the woman responsible for his colourful world has fled his side. In a panic, he sets out to find her, going as far as declaring her wanted. After five years of trying for a child, Chantelle is pregnant. She goes from a woman mocked for being barren to an expecting mother, from a destitute wolf to the cursed Alpha's curse breaker. Her life changes in the blink of an eye but with a jealous sister, an ex claiming her child and a foe masquerading as a friend, how long can she enjoy her new status? A relationship between two people who see the world differently is bound to be rocky but can the alpha and his omega find even ground?

Lottie just knows that her boyfriend is going to propose, but then his big question involves a trip abroad—not a trip down the aisle. Completely crushed, Lottie reconnects with an old flame, and they decide to take drastic action. No dates, no moving in together, they’ll just get married . . . right now. Her sister, Fliss, thinks Lottie is making a terrible mistake, and will do anything to stop her. But Lottie is determined to say “I do,” for better, or for worse.

Lexi has always been different than others. She is faster, stronger, can see better and heals quickly. And she has an odd birthmark in the shape of a wolf's paw. But she never thought of herself as special. Until she gets close to het twentieth birthday. She notices all of her oddities get stronger. She knows nothing about the super natural world or mates. Until the birthmark starts to burn. Suddenly she finds herself involved with werewolves that think she is the prophesied one that is supposed to unite the packs against a vampire that wants her dead. She has to learn how to handle her new powers as well as not one but two mates. One wanted to reject her because he thought she was human. The other accepts her completely. The prophecy says she has to have both. Wha twill she do. Will she accept both or reject one and hope for a second chance mate? Will she be able to handle shifting and her powers before it is too late?

"Are you okay, did I hurt you?" he whispers, gently running his thumb on my flushed cheek. His eyes are so tender and the way they stare down at me, makes my heart swell with immense joy. I can't believe I just did it, and it was amazing. "No" I shake my head leaning into his touch. Fuck! I love him so much. I want this man to myself all days of my life. "Thank you for trusting me, baby. I..I...i" he quickly looks away when he couldn't complete his sentence, and I know why. "You don't have to tell me anything" I whisper pulling his head to my lips. "It doesn't matter to me, Rico. You are all I want, with your every flaw and the darkness that surrounds you" "But you deserve so much better sweetheart, you deserve the world" "Then be my world. I don't want to exist in a place you aren't " I sincerely murmur and it silences him. For the first time since I met rico, his eyes hold a different emotion other than the obvious ones. Determination. They are both lonely with troubling pasts, they both have walls built up so high and won't allow anyone to notice the pain behind their eyes. Can Mia Vulcan and Rico Moreno help each other overcome the demons hunting them? Find out.

Katherine thought no one could love her higher than the king of witches, Acan. The man she had been married to for ten years, and who she thought loved her despite being unable to perform any sort of spells. She rose up to the responsibility of being queen, and showed everyone why she deserved the crown, but one night at the festival of elements a horrible accident occurs, flames catching on, and trapping Katherine. Trapped and all alone, her husband appears, thinking she is saved, but who is a better fire witch than her husband? He leaves her again, making her feel utterly betrayed, but from the shadows, her hero appears. Darius is the half brother of the king, born with dark powers that he has done everything he could to control. Only Katherine can touch him without feeling sick, and her smile makes his day brighter than ever. But she has never looked at him with desire in her eyes. That is until he turns back time in order to save his queen, this time changing a small thing in her past: getting her to marry him. Will Darius ever make Katherine fall for him truly? Or will her thirst for revenge consume her being?

Sia Milton is in desperate need of a bodyguard. Once she was no better than a slave, sold to an older man by her father to do as he pleased, but after she had her freedom, she had promised her son to always protect him. But when the threat returns, she has no choice but to turn to Julian Turner. Julian is a proud playboy with a disastrous reputation that might very well lead to the end of his career. Rightfully nicknamed Hades, he's a devil of a bodyguard and an even bigger devil in . But he now had one chance to redeem himself or say goodbye to his inheritance. Imagining an easy job, he accepts to help Sia, only to be smitten by her the very instant he lays eyes on her. But with danger lurking at every corner, will Julian and Sia be able to realize their love for each other before it is too late? Or will danger strike before they have a chance to be together?

"Do you think I'm beautiful?"Anderson's back stiffened.Undoubtedly, she was beautiful.After a while, he said uneasily, "Yeah."Clarissa moved closer to him. She whispered in his ear and she thought that her voice was very low, "If I want to sleep with you, will you agree?"He narrowed his eyes slightly and said with meaningful eyes, "You have to pay the price for sleeping with me. Are you sure?""Money? I have money." Clarissa laughed, "Aren't they looking down on me? I'm going to find someone who is much better than him. I want to piss them off!"She then put her arms around his neck and kissed his lips.It was a torrid night.The next morning, however, he handed her a copy of the marriage application she had signed.********************Clarissa Chapman, one day, when delivering condoms to a hotel room, she found her client was her... fiance?She caught her fiance and half-sister in bed! Only then did Clarissa realize that her six-year-relationship boyfriend had cheated on her!What's more ridiculous? Her father said it was because she wasn't attractive and her sister's more deserving of him. Dumped her douchebag fiance, she bumped into her Mr. Right by a one-night stand! Wait... why was this man looked exactly like the Billionaire CEO - Anderson Jordan on TV?!Anderson was of many things, handsome, considerate, and loyal. She'd never imagine a gorgeous like Anderson would fall in love with her, until that day... Her nightmarish family found her, trying to drag her to the miserable past...again...