Pride Calendar 2021

There's this unspoken rule in werewolf high society: no matter how tight the mate bond is, business banquets mean booking a hostess. Six years into our bond, my Alpha mate—Brian Stormclaw—met one. Louise. A scrappy Omega with too much pride and not enough sense. When he offered her his black card, she pushed it back and said, "I'm not some Alpha's pampered pet." Brian? Instantly hooked. Like the Moon Goddess herself had dropped her in his lap. He chased her like he wanted her mark on every pack crest. But he forgot something—I was the Luna he wrote ninety-nine love letters to before I said yes. I didn't beg. Didn't snap. Every time he chose her over me, I lit another letter. First one burned on our anniversary—he bailed to wait outside Louise's flower shop, just to walk her home. Letter thirty-four? He left me stranded in a dangerous hunting ground to keep her company. Said she was scared of the dark. Fifty-two? Torched the second he replaced our wedding photo with some sketch she made on. ... And when the ninety-ninth turned to ash, so did whatever was left of us. I walked away. For good.

Her pulchritudinous black pools as big as saucers were shooting daggers on him. A streak of rage, might and valor whooshes from them that flame sharp and fierce like the orbs of a tigress before it hunts its prey making him almost wet his pants. The reprobate shivers in terror by the cogency of force whizzed from her aura yet tries to conceal it using his words. "My beauty...." She is just a woman....what can a puny female do to a minacious monster like him? He thought but that was the biggest mistake the wretch has ever made. The sound of his annoying words into her ears caused a fathomless fury in the queen's existance. "You cannot do anything to my kingdom, Otaku. Your end is destined in my hands." She yelled with power and pride whirling her head towards the profligate as her long hair swayed in the air with vigor like a Goddess of victory. Amara turned around hurling in air. Raising it up in a duress she flung the sword, right into his kernel ripping the flush away off the libertine's chest. Otaku shuddered under her cold gaze turning to a ball of flesh and gazed at the dominion queen in helplessness. But the next thing that happened between them had shaken up the entire humanity. The bloodied sword dropped from the queen's hand draining the life out of her face as she succumbed to floor on her knees beside the body of Otaku. "Otaku....you are....you are...." But it was too late for the realization. Note: This book has two parts in it. Enjoy

That night, Liam served me my usual evening tea. I trusted him completely—he was my mate, after all, and a respected healer of Thornpack. I shouldn't have. When I woke up the next morning, my head was spinning. The special safe where I kept the morphing inhibitor—the one I'd spent my entire savings to import from Europe for our daughter Isla—was empty. Racing to the healing center, I found Liam celebrating. He was handing out moon-blessed wine, beaming with pride as Natalie's daughter Anna showed off her perfect transformation. My inhibitor had been used on his first love's pup instead of our own daughter. The shock triggered something in my brain. When I collapsed, they diagnosed me with the rare tumor that plagued our kind. Without inhibitors, I couldn't stop Isla's transformation that came early, her six year old body couldn't handle the massive wolf form and the force ripped through her young body. And I, for one, don't even have enough money to keep her in a treatment center. She died in my arms three days later, her little claws drawing blood as the pain overwhelmed her. Until her last breath, she kept asking why Papa hadn't come. Now, in my cold, empty home, with the white porcelain urn containing her ashes on the table, I touch her and decide to sever our partnership.

If she ever had a name, she didn't remember what it was. Cursed as a child to pay for her selfishness and pride, she was doomed to live out the rest of her life as a wolf. This was fine until local packs relented to let her live her life in solitude. It was fine until she forgot who she was and became a lonely she-wolf fending off every male in the territory. It was fine until she met him, the prince from the royal family ruling over her land. The stupid man found himself in danger and if she didn't save him, the entire royal army would be slaughtering all life in her beloved forest. So she saved him. And how everything she ever knew about who she was and who she is, is being questioned. Her body is beginning to change randomly into a human form she doesn't recognize. There is a glimmer of hope for a human life again, but does she want it? She was happy with who she was, wasn't she? And then, Prince Philip's older brother, Morgan, gives her a name... Aria. And he talks to her as if he understands her every thought. With emotions swirling, threats to her life, and a potential to love a man who is betrothed to another, Aria must decide between a human fate or eternity as a wolf.

“I am betrothed to marry you…” Esmé mumbled, shivering from her shoulders down her spine. Maybe it was because her clothes were soaked from the rain or the cold stare that the man was grazing towards her—piercing, cold, and judging. "You’re sexy underneath those already-drenched clothes. I could understand if you wanted to tempt me. But you’re crazy enough to tell me you’re marrying me,” he said with a smirk. She never thought she’d be on her knees in front of any man, crying and begging for him to take her in. Left with no options but to beg for shelter at the hands of the most dangerous mafia in their city, Esmé lets go of shame and pride just to talk to the man who is promised to her. With no parents to support her claim that she is betrothed to the billionaire mafia praised by many, she only has her words which he labeled as lies. But Esmé won’t give up that easily, especially when she has dedicated her life to honor her parent’s words before they were assassinated. It was then that Esmé knew she had to stay alive to avenge her parent’s death. But nothing comes easy, especially when it’s a forced marriage to a man who doesn’t want her. By virtue of courage, trust, and seduction—Esmé will go to the depths of hell just so she’ll get his attention, devotion, love... and never let her go.

The story revolves around two entities: a vicious and domineering human girl who hunts down dragons to extinction, and a long-lived dragon sage, who aims to reclaim what was rightfully his. Due to an unforeseen event, they accidentally created a pact that ceased them from exterminating each other, that they ended up using one another for their own benefits instead. ---And the one whose heart falters first is ought to die. One world, two races. Their distinct beliefs set a feud that caused a centuries-year-old war to begin with. Which race will play the role of the meek sheep and who will be the cunning fox? Who will be the predator and who will be the prey? -2021 by _iLied-

After a one night stand with the woman whose house Jason broke into, his life has never been the same. Like a siren's call, he can't get the nymphomaniac woman off his mind. Weeks later, while getting intel for the crew's next heist, Jason lays eyes upon the woman and follows her into a secret strip club. She appears to lead a double life. One where she's the CEO of a multimillion company and her father's golden child. The other side of her life is that she owns a strip club and is extremely erotic. Can Jason learn to live with her as she is? Will he put his pride aside to be with the woman? … especially when his crew is hired to kidnap a woman who turns out to be the love of his life.

I've been with an award-winning actor for seven years. We've been secretly married for five of those seven years. For the sake of his career, I drink so much that I get a stomach perforation. I also allow others to trample over my pride and dignity. Yet he goes on lakeside dates with another woman and kisses her underneath the fireworks. He even has the nerve to tell me not to be unreasonable. Later, I get caught in a landslide when I'm on a business trip. I make one last call to him in fear. All I hear is him singing his lover a birthday song. I ask for a divorce after losing hope in him. That's when he suddenly begs me not to leave. He even announces our relationship to the world on the day he wins an award. Our seven-year relationship is finally public, but I don't want it anymore.

She had been in love with him for practically all her life, but he only saw her as his little sister. She could only hope that he would one day look at her the way she wanted him to. She thought those dreams had come true after a passionate night together, only for him to accuse her of the most horrible and tell her he wants nothing to do with her. Heartbroken, she gathered the rest of her pride and left to reclaim her self-worth. Unknowingly, she had left with the CEO's heart as he frantically searched for her, wanting to make things right. **** “Come back to me, princess. And I'll love you the way you deserve.” I let out a laugh. “I'm sorry, big brother. I am no longer that stupid girl who had a crush on you.”

Rich. British. Hot as hell. Elizabeth Bennett has never appreciated any of these traits in a man. So when Mr. Darcy, billionaire British playboy and GQ's Bachelor of the Year, meets her at a function, she's surprised at how attracted she is to him. That is until he puts his foot in his big, arrogant mouth. The slap that she gave him got her thrown out of the biggest fundraiser of the year, but the mark she left on Mr. Darcy won't leave his mind. The second time that they meet "on accident", he turns up the arrogance even more. The third time, he tries flowers. By the fourth time, he's wearing a cup to protect himself. Mr. Darcy is the last man in the world that Elizabeth could ever be with. However, love makes fools of us all, and the one man that she can't stand is the one man she can't resist. Can Mr. Darcy's kiss win over the heart of Elizabeth Bennett? Join New York Times bestselling author Krista Lakes in this modern retelling of Jane Austen's beloved "Pride and Prejudice".