
My Rival, My Lover
Author Evan · Ongoing · 29.5k Words
Introduction
Chapter 1
CLINTON'S POV
I stood outside Celine’s home, clutching a bouquet of white lilies in my hands. Each bloom felt like a piece of my heart, carefully chosen to convey feelings I had kept hidden for far too long. Today, I was finally going to tell her how I felt. I had spent hours thinking about it, wondering how she'd react, imagining her smile, the way she'd thank me, and maybe—just maybe—she’d see me differently. Maybe she’d see me as more than just someone on the sidelines.
The doorbell rang, and I took a deep breath. After what felt like an eternity, the door opened. Mrs. Matthews greeted me with her usual calm, cool demeanor, her eyes briefly flicking to the bouquet in my hand before settling on my face.
“Good afternoon, Mrs. Matthews,” I greeted her with a forced smile, trying to mask the nerves bubbling inside me.
“Clinton,” she said, her tone as indifferent as ever, her gaze lingering on the flowers for a moment. “Celine’s out. She’s with Cloud Smith.”
Cloud Smith. The name hit me like a punch to the gut. A billionaire CEO, a model, and now, apparently, someone Celine was dating. It wasn’t just the name that stung. It was the way Mrs. Matthews spoke about him, as though he was the perfect match for her daughter.
“Cloud Smith?” I repeated, almost as a question, the bouquet feeling suddenly heavier in my hands.
“Yes,” Mrs. Matthews said, a proud smile tugging at her lips. “A wonderful match for Celine. He’s wealthy, successful, and his career is skyrocketing. You can’t go wrong with someone like him.” Her voice oozed satisfaction, and I could see the admiration in her eyes.
I forced myself to smile, but inside, I felt smaller by the second. I had come here hoping to offer something meaningful, something from the heart. But now, everything seemed insignificant. Cloud Smith had the money, the power, the lifestyle—everything I couldn’t offer her. I felt like a fool, a backdrop to her perfect life.
Without saying anything else, I looked down at the bouquet. The flowers, which had once felt so significant, now seemed absurd. They were beautiful, but in this moment, they felt like an insult. What did I have to offer her? Nothing like Cloud Smith. Nothing that would ever make her notice me the way she noticed him.
I tossed the bouquet into the trash can by the door, the petals spilling out, crushed and broken. Mrs. Matthews didn’t even flinch. She glanced at the flowers in the trash and then back at me, unfazed. “Well, since you're already here, come inside. Celine will be a while. I’ll make you some snacks.”
I nodded stiffly, walking past her into the house. The offer of snacks barely registered. My mind was still reeling. All I could think about was Cloud Smith—how he had everything I lacked. It made me feel even more insignificant. I was just a guy with no real money, no extravagant lifestyle to offer her. Standing in the shadow of someone like Cloud Smith, it seemed pointless to even try.
I sat at the kitchen table, absently poking at the snacks Mrs. Matthews had set before me, but I could hardly taste them. My mind kept circling back to Celine and Cloud—what they were doing, where they were. The more I thought about it, the more I felt like an outsider in my own life. Was I always going to be second place?
Time dragged on, until finally, I heard the door open. My heart skipped a beat when I saw her—Celine, walking through the door, her beauty as striking as ever. But what really caught my eye was the bouquet in her hands. It was a lavish arrangement of red roses, clearly from Cloud.
She entered with a smile, her eyes glancing over to me sitting at the table. “Clinton?” she asked, her tone light and amused. “What are you doing here?”
I stood up, trying to steady myself, but it was like the ground had shifted beneath me. I had come here with hope, but now it felt like the weight of reality was pressing down on me.
“I just missed you, Celine. I thought maybe we could grab some coffee together,” I said, my voice faltering, unsure of how to phrase it.
She raised an eyebrow, her lips curling into a slight smile. Then, she laughed—a soft chuckle at first, but then louder, almost as if she found my suggestion amusing.
“Coffee?” she repeated, her voice dripping with mockery. “You want to go to a coffee shop?” She shook her head, her eyes twinkling with amusement.
“Clinton, coffee shops are for people who don’t know any better. I just came from a five-star restaurant with Cloud Smith. The food was incredible. It’s nothing like the cheap stuff you get in a café.”
Her words stung deeper than I anticipated. There was no subtlety, no kindness in the way she spoke. It was a clear reminder of the vast difference between us. Cloud had everything I didn’t—money, success, the lifestyle she craved. And I? I had nothing but a hope that felt increasingly foolish.
She continued, her voice casual but laced with pride as she spoke of the luxury, the sophistication—everything I couldn’t offer. “You should really aim higher, Clinton,” she added, her tone dismissive. “I’m not looking for something so... ordinary.”
I felt a sharp pang in my chest. The words didn’t just sting; they cut deep. Here I was, holding onto a dream that was never meant to be. Celine was in a different world, one of wealth, glamour, and success. A world where men like Cloud Smith were the standard. I was just... ordinary. Just a guy who could never offer her what she needed.
I swallowed hard, trying to hold back the frustration that was rising within me. “Yeah,” I said quietly, my voice barely above a whisper, “I guess I’ll just... figure things out.”
She smiled at me, but it was empty. “I’m sure you will, Clinton. You’re a nice guy, but nice guys don’t get far in my world.”
She turned away to place her bouquet on the counter, dismissing me without another thought. But as I stood there, feeling like a fool, something inside me snapped.
I couldn’t hold it in any longer. “Celine,” I said, my voice trembling with a mix of frustration and hurt. “If I were rich, like Cloud Smith... would you even look at me the way you look at him?”
She froze for a moment, her back still turned to me. I could hear her breathe in deeply, but she didn’t turn around.
I waited, every second dragging by, as the question hung in the air. Would she? Would she see me if I had what he had? Or was I just a fool, clinging to a dream that would never come true?
Last Chapters
#24 Chapter 24
Last Updated: 1/17/2026#23 Chapter 23
Last Updated: 1/17/2026#22 Chapter 22
Last Updated: 1/17/2026#21 Chapter 21
Last Updated: 1/17/2026#20 Chapter 20
Last Updated: 1/17/2026#19 Chapter 19
Last Updated: 1/17/2026#18 Chapter 18
Last Updated: 1/17/2026#17 Chapter 17
Last Updated: 1/17/2026#16 Chapter 16
Last Updated: 1/17/2026#15 Chapter 15
Last Updated: 1/17/2026
You Might Like 😍
Where The Ice Gives Way
Blake Atlas scents his mate the moment Charlotte arrives. The bond hits hard and unmistakable, but Charlotte doesn’t recognise it. She doesn’t know why her chest keeps pulling toward the one boy she absolutely cannot afford to want. Blake is Charlie’s new hockey captain. Charlie’s chance at making something good. Charlie makes it clear; his sister is off-limits and Blake tries to do the right thing, but secrets don’t stay buried forever. Rogues prowl the edges of town. The ice cracks. The bond tightens. Then Charlotte’s rare white wolf awakens, the very thing that makes her powerful, also makes her a target.
Shanti needs Shakti. (Peace needs strength.)
Where the Ice Gives Way is a slow-burn YA paranormal romance filled with fated mates, protective alpha energy, fierce sibling loyalty, found family pack bonds, hurt/comfort, and quiet, aching tension. It’s a story about first belonging, learning to be cared for, and what happens when the girl who has always held everyone else up finally falls, and someone catches her.
The Alpha King's Human Mate
“I have waited nine years for you. That’s nearly a decade since I’ve felt this emptiness inside me. Part of me began to wonder if you didn’t exist or you’d already died. And then I found you, right inside my own home.”
He used one of his hands to stroke my cheek and tingles erupted everywhere.
“I’ve spent enough time without you and I will not let anything else keep us apart. Not other wolves, not my drunken father who’s barely holding himself together the past twenty years, not your family – and not even you.”
Clark Bellevue has spent her entire life as the only human in the wolf pack - literally. Eighteen years ago, Clark was the accidental result of a brief affair between one of the most powerful Alphas in the world and a human woman. Despite living with her father and her werewolf half-siblings, Clark has never felt like she really belonged in the werewolf world. But right as Clark plans to leave the werewolf world behind for good, her life gets flipped upside down by her mate: the next Alpha King, Griffin Bardot. Griffin has been waiting years for the chance to meet his mate, and he's not about to let her go anytime soon. It doesn't matter how far Clark tries to run from her destiny or her mate - Griffin intends to keep her, no matter what he has to do or who stands in his way.
Cursed Fates
Where I End and She Begins
But when a body lies at Amelia’s feet, and her hands are covered in blood that isn’t hers, one question echoes louder than the rest:
How did it come to this?
As the school year unfolds, cracks begin to show — in friendships, in family, and in Amelia’s own mind. The lines between loyalty and control blur. Between truth and perception. Between who she is… and who she thinks she needs to be.
Because some friendships don’t just shape you.
They consume you.
And when the illusion shatters, there’s always something left behind.
Cursed To Be His
At thirteen, everything changed.
After her parents were murdered, she was cursed by a powerful witch and used as a vessel for Elder magic. Saving her life came at an impossible cost; the curse was broken, but so was the wolf inside her, leaving her human.
Ten years later, Talia hides her grief behind sharp sarcasm and a smile she no longer believes. When a rogue attack proves she can no longer protect herself, or the people she loves, she leaves the only home she's ever known for the quiet human town of Ashbourne Hollow, determined to disappear.
Instead, she catches the attention of the town's most dangerous owner.
Alaric Lazarus is a vampire who rules from the black castle overlooking Ashbourne Hollow. He is cold, enigmatic, and impossible to read, but he awakens something in Talia she can't explain. She doesn't trust him. He trusts her even less.
Then vampires begin turning up dead.
Forced into an uneasy alliance, Talia and Alaric uncover a trail that leads back to the family she lost... and the curse she thought she'd escaped. As old enemies emerge from the shadows and buried secrets come to light, Talia discovers that everything she believed about her past was a lie.
Because the curse that stole her wolf was never meant to save her.
It was meant to lead her to him.
This is book 3 in the series, but it can be read as a standalone.
Book 1 - The Matchmaker
Book 2 - The Heir of Flame and Fang
Kaged In
Follow Kage's journey as he tries to heal, falls in love and faces his inner turmoil.
Iron And Glamour Just Don't Mix
Well… Sometimes you just might turn out to be right.
It turns out, the fae stole my little brother. In his place? A pixie with boundary issues and a talent for home repairs.
I’ve spent my life taking care of everyone else. So when my baby brother is taken, I don’t hesitate. I walk straight into a faerie mansion and make a bargain with its infuriatingly charming master.
Kie is everything you’d expect from a dangerous fae, beautiful, political, and entirely too amused by me. Power wrapped in a smirk. Sensual, mischievous, and far too aware of the effect he has on people. He agrees to help me find my brother.
For a price.
Now I’m bound by a faerie bargain and navigating a world of glamour, manipulation, and ancient rules I definitely should have learned sooner, enchanted forests, political games, magical contracts, and a fae lord who treats seduction like a perfectly reasonable negotiation tactic.
Iron is how I keep people out.
Glamour is how he draws them in.
And apparently, they just don’t mix.
Pregnant by My Husband's Rival Alpha
Those words should have destroyed me, but the truth was worse: I'd been used as a broodmare by the man who swore to love me, set up in a hotel room with a stranger because My husband Alexander Cross couldn't father children himself, and now I carried the secret babies of Damon Lester—the most powerful and dangerous Alpha in San Loris—while my own family replaced me with the daughter they'd always wanted. But when that same stranger's doctor appeared at my door, when twenty million dollars exchanged hands over a fake perfume bearing my secret identity, and when Damon's gray eyes locked onto mine with recognition I couldn't afford, I realized my carefully hidden life as the legendary perfumer Vera was colliding with a pregnancy that could cost me everything.
Could I protect my babies from the husband plotting my death, hide my true identity from the Alpha who's been hunting me for years, and reclaim the freedom I'd buried along with my dreams—even if it means standing alone against the wolves who see me as nothing more than a womb to be used and discarded?
My Benchwarmer Boyfriend's Secret
As the team's benchwarmer, Marco practices harder than anyone, though few seems to notice. There's something about his quiet determination that draws me in, and I find myself falling for the underdog.
But when Marco's true story starts unraveling—about that first night, about who he really is, about the future he's destined for—I realize I might have gotten in way over my head.
And there's another problem: this was always meant to be temporary. His training program has an end date, and we're both fighting against a reality that seems determined to pull us apart.
When everything is on the line, how far are we willing to go for love?
Bella and Her Beast
.
Locked in her frozen tower, Bella dreamed of warmth, of touch, of freedom and of love. Cursed with the power of ice and snow, she’s spent her life alone. A secret they tried to protect the world from. Her only escape comes in the form of the books she reads. Stories of heat, desire, and the kind of love that could melt even her frostbitten heart.
Damien is the Beast. A dragon King with a temper forged in flame and a soul hollowed by duty. The world fears him. The people call him a monster. But beneath the scales and the rage lies a man who has never been touched by love.
When frost meets fire, the world shatters. She was never meant to leave her tower. He was never meant to find her. But destiny doesn’t bow to kings or care for cages and now the question burns through them both: Can Bella have her Beast? Or will the girl of snow melt in the heat of his desire?
.
"I’m keeping her."
"What?"
Before I can react, he scoops her up. Her small body fits easily in the cradle of his talons. For a split second, she looks startled, but not afraid. Her hand rests against one scaled finger, and she stares up at him with that same curious wonder, as though she’s already forgotten she was ever meant to fear me.
"Put her down," I try to command, panic threading through my thoughts. "You’ll hurt her."
"She’s ours," the beast insists, possessive and fierce. "Our snowflake."
The Blackthorn Saga: The Heir (Book 1 & 2)
Pulled into a hidden world he never knew existed, Kruz is forced to face the truth—he isn’t just different.
He’s a vampire.
The transformation is only the beginning. Thrust from a life of survival into one of power, wealth, and expectation, Kruz is given a position no one his age should hold: District Elder.
With it comes authority. Responsibility. And enemies he doesn’t yet understand.
And then there’s the bond.
Forced into a connection he didn’t choose, Kruz is tied to a girl—whether he wants it or not. She’s a complication. A problem. A constant reminder that his life is no longer his own.
Because the one person he wants… is the one he can’t have.
As pressure builds and danger closes in, Kruz is forced to walk a line few survive—between duty and desire, control and instinct, the life he had and the one being forced upon him.
Because in this world, power isn’t earned slowly.
It’s given.
And if you’re not ready for it—
It will destroy you.
The Pack: Rule Number 1 - No Mates
"Let me go," I whimper, my body trembling with need. "I don't want you touching me."
I fall forward onto the bed then turn around to stare at him. The dark tattoos of Domonic's chiseled shoulders, quiver and and expand with the heave of his chest. His deep dimpled smile is full of arrogance as he reaches behind himself to lock the door.
Biting his lip, he stalks toward me, his hand going to the seam of his pants and the thickening bulge there.
"Are you sure you don't want me to touch you?" He whispers, untying the knot and slipping a hand inside. "Because I swear to God, that is all I have been wanting to do. Every single day from the moment you stepped in our bar and I smelled your perfect flavor from across the room."
New to the world of shifters, Draven is human on the run. A beautiful girl who no one could protect. Domonic is the cold Alpha of the Red Wolf Pack. A brotherhood of twelve wolves that live by twelve rules. Rules which they vowed could NEVER be broken.
Especially - Rule Number One - No Mates
When Draven meets Domonic, he knows that she is his mate, but Draven has no idea what a mate is, only that she has fallen in love with a shifter. An Alpha that will break her heart to make her leave. Promising herself, she will never forgive him, she disappears.
But she doesn’t know about the child she’s carrying or that the moment she left, Domonic decided rules were made to be broken - and now will he ever find her again? Will she forgive him?












