greatest short stories of all time

Terlahir dari seorang selir, Qing Yuwen tumbuh jauh dari istana, ditakdirkan hanya sebagai panglima perang, bukan pewaris takhta. Namun, ketika titah Kaisar memaksanya menikahi Han Jiali, mantan tunangan pangeran mahkota, Yuwen menyadari pernikahan itu hanyalah awal dari intrik yang lebih berbahaya. Dari percobaan pembunuhan hingga jebakan politik, Yuwen terpaksa menghadapi kenyataan pahit: satu-satunya cara melindungi orang-orang yang dicintainya, termasuk ibunya dan Jiali, adalah dengan merebut kekuasaan yang seharusnya tidak pernah menjadi miliknya.

Jake was the last werewolf surviving, he could not forget the moment the whole family was murdered. Amy was originally a human being, but was cursed by a werewolf, she had to fight to hide her identity. The meeting between werewolf Jake and Amy was determined to be painful. Amy loved Jake, but Jake always plotted to take revenge on her, hurting her. Because Amy's grandfather used to kill the Jake family. Love and hate alternating makes Jake and Amy always live in suffering and no happiness. In the end, will love overcome hatred?

The night I find out I'm pregnant, my family's villa suddenly goes up in flames. I endure the suffocating smoke and run the risk of being disfigured as I run to my son's bedroom. However, it's empty. Just then, I hear his excited exclamations outside the window. "Monica, you look so cool when putting out fires! I bet you'll get first place in this upcoming Firefighter Challenge!" I'm about to head downstairs to lecture him when a wall collapses and crushes me. As I drift in and out of consciousness, I hear my stern, stoic husband praise Monica Sloan for her courage. If I'm guessing correctly, my husband and son have started this fire to please her. I stare at the door, which is so close and yet so far. I send out one final text before dying of asphyxiation.

Trisha Redfern is a Vampire Lawyer who works in the court of King Damien Vandolff in a post apocalyptic New York. One of Damien's most trusted inner circle members and most talented lawyers, Trisha suddenly becomes the target for all Aristocratic Vampires when she chooses to fight against one Noble Vampire, Vandal Rudolf, when he tortures a human child. Several obstacles are led in her way as Damien himself comes after her to teach her a lesson. But Trisha is determined to stand by her decision even if it costs her, her life, for she cannot abandon a heart that was once human. When all hope seems lost, unexpected help comes in the form of Lucas Donovan, the Supreme Werewolf Alpha. But everything isn't always what it seems. Why does Lucas suddenly want to help his arch enemy? Why is Vandal so determined to get the child back at all costs? And most importantly, what's so special about that child that Trisha is willing to face the wrath of her entire race in order to protect him?

***This is the sequel to Once Upon An Alpha; please read it first.*** Once Upon a Luna continues to follow Rose, Orion, their friends, and their pack a year and a half after the Fallen Moon battle. Now that Hodges, Kroll, and Greta are dead, it's time for the Black Moon pack to move forward. Has Rose figured out her other gift? Where will her gifts lead her this time? What will Rose's premonitions show her next?

Roo has a big secret that she keeps not only from all the wolves in Winchester, but from her mate as well. Her mate who also happens to be the Alpha. While Roo is trying to keep her identity and rare abilities a secret, she suspects that the Alpha has one of his own. Can Roo keep the mate bond a secret? Can she continue avoiding the pack she wants nothing to do with? Can she find out the Alpha's secret without falling to her desires?

***This book contains violence, cursing, sexual content, and talk of suicide, enjoy at your discretion.*** I was walking through an unknown foggy forest when I spotted a field of wildflowers. My feet had a mind of their own as they led me to wander through the flowers. I nonchalantly dragged my hands over the flowers. It was a beautiful and serene sight. I deeply inhaled the sweet scent of the flower and gave a little shudder of bliss. I closed my eyes and just absorbed the moment wanting to remember it. Suddenly the sounds of paws hitting the forest floor overwhelmed me. Then the forest was ignited with flames. Everything glowed vibrant oranges and reds as heavy smoke smothered me from above. I threw myself to the ground desperate for any trace of clean air. As I attempted to crawl out of the flowers a new sound harmonized with the thunder paws, screams and howls for help terrorized me. I clawed at the ground desperate to escape the menacing choir. Fire licked my skin and I screamed for help. Sobs escaped my lips as flaming branches fell on me from above. The smell of burning flesh was the only thing that consumed me as everything went dark.

The year was 1934; I was twenty-two years old. I never thought of myself as anything special. I was barely making it through the Great Depression. There were many days I lived off of scraps. I was the king of odd jobs, just enough to get by. I had done it all, from being a field hand to a miner. It all changed one night when I stumbled across a traveling circus, Cirque du Lune. I had never seen such a sight. Instead of the usual menagerie, this circus was overrun with wolves. There was one performer who caught my eye; it was as if an angel had descended from heaven on a silk ribbon.

There has never been a female Alpha until Amani Constantine. She was once the future Alpha of the Bloodmoon pack—a pack that was completely annihilated under the order of the Alpha King. In one night, Amani lost her parents and entire pack, spared only for being the fated mate of Prince Malakai, the son of the Alpha King and heir to the throne. She despises the Alpha King and harbors equal animosity towards Malakai, who is determined to mold Amani into the most obedient mate. However, submission goes against Amani’s very nature; she is an Alpha through and through, but she is a wolf-less Alpha, unable to shift. Branded as a defect, a flaw, and an abomination to their kind, Amani struggles with her identity. When the wolf inside her finally awakens, will she stand by her mate’s side and ascend as the next Luna Queen? Or will Amani step into her role as the Alpha she was destined to be and seek her revenge for the slaughter of Bloodmoon?

Crystal Lucario Davenport is the only human in a werewolf town. Her parents were on the run from loan sharks and ended up settling down at a weird close knit community in which they had absolutely no idea was a Werewolf town. Rogues infiltrate the town on a particular night and her parents died in the process leaving her to thrive alone in the town. She grew up hating werewolves with all her might, most especially the Alpha whom she blames for the fate of her parents that night. Alpha Damien Colden is a cold, terribly cold Alpha but a wolf that every female wolf can die for and one that every woman wishes to be with for just a night. He thinks he has lived long enough not to worry about a mate because he has every woman he wants at his beck and call. But when his adviser starts to nag him about finding his mate, he gets irritated at the word Mate. And the Pack Council brings up the issue once again, he hesitantly gives in to half heartedly looking for her. He didn't even try for a long time before Crystal comes into his life. With a tub of Ice cream.