
Introduction
Taylor Taft is ready to make big changes. After breaking free from an abusive relationship, the twenty-something has finally sworn off bad boys. So the selfless party girl leaps at the chance to do some good when her best friends beg her to act as their surrogate.
Fully committed to her beloved pals, Taylor stubbornly tackles all the medical, financial, and personal hurdles head-on. But with tempting fantasies swirling about the father of the child she’s carrying, she wonders if she’s made a terrible mistake.
Will this baby destroy their inseparable bond or become their lifelong forever?
Contains: explicit sex scenes, memories of abuse and assault
Suggested Age 18+
Third Wheel is created by Haley Rhoades, an eGlobal Creative Publishing signed author.
Chapter 1
Taylor
A text alert ping startles me from my candlelight meditation. I reach from the soothing bubbles for my cell phone. Where did I put it? I crane my neck left then right around the entire master bathroom.
"Crap!"
Tiny white bubbles race down my torso as I rise from the tub. I run through the hall to the kitchen. When I hit the tile floor, my feet slip out from under me.
"Shit!" I shout as my feet fly up, and my head falls down.
Slowly, I assess myself.
Legs, feet, and ankles? No pain.
Arms, wrists, back, and neck? No pain.
Butt? Smarts a bit, but not broken.
I can just hear it now. The doctor at Urgent Care asking how I fell. Me explaining I was covered in bubbles, running naked through my house to find my cell phone because I received a text.
I am such an idiot. I was relaxing in the tub, washing away all my stress. I was enjoying a moment of long-needed self care. Why do I care if I miss a text? Cell phone in hand, I return to the master suite.
Deciding to read the text later, I lay my iPhone on the edge of the tub.
My to-do list for the first week of July enters my mind. As I mentally organize my priorities for the day and week, I wonder if I might be able to buy a new plant for the apartment. My mind moves to the items on my ‘This Month’ to-do list. I vow to check some tasks off my list while I run my errands today.
I slap my cheeks. I’m in a bubble bath. I need to relax. Now is not the time to think of all my lists. I need this break.
I focus on lying back, submerged in warm bliss. As I slip under the bubbles, I am distracted by tingles on my bare breasts. The warm bubbles pop in the cooler open air; a pleasant prickle floods the surface of my skin. I lightly trace my index finger from my chin down my collarbone. This heightens the sensitivity of my skin, and goosebumps appear. My finger finds my hard nipple just as my phone rings beside me.
“It’s your best friend...dah, dah, dah...Best friend...” My assigned ringtone for Kennedy blasts.
Startled, I knock the phone from the tub’s edge to the tile floor below. Water splashes over the side. Before I finally grasp the phone, my ringtone ends, sending the call to voicemail.
Caller ID displays Kennedy Hayes. I quickly scroll to favorites and tap her name.
"Hey, you!" I greet.
"How is my dearest and oldest friend doing today?" Kennedy asks.
"I'm fine," I lie. "I’m just soaking in my tub." Without any toys, I pout to myself.
"Good." Kennedy's voice nervously shakes a bit on the other end of the line. "At least you're taking care of yourself."
"A girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do," I tease.
"Jackson and I have a present for you.” She pauses for a moment. I am about to speak when she continues, “We have a plane ticket in your name waiting at the ticket counter. We arranged for you to fly to Kansas City. We'll meet you at the airport." Speaking fast, she must pause to catch her breath. "We'd like you to fly down for some rest and relaxation." Her voice sounds more relaxed now that she’s made her announcement. "Jackson says we won't take no as an answer." Kennedy waits for my reply.
"Wow! You guys." Tears threaten to stream down my cheeks. "I am doing okay. You really don't need to look after me."
"It's not a pity gift. Jackson and I miss you. It’s been over two years since we last got together. I miss my best friend. Besides, you have no reason not to come now." From Kennedy’s tone, I imagine her lower lip juts out in a pout.
I run my hand back and forth across the dwindling bubbles floating in the water. My first reaction is to pack now and go. But I wonder... If I go, am I running from all my problems?
"Here's the deal." Kennedy's voice slices the silence. "If you don't use the ticket, tomorrow, I am flying up and dragging you to Missouri kicking and screaming." She’s serious, but there is laughter in her voice. "You can do this the easy way or the hard way."
"Okay!" I answer. "I will fly down for a few days." I attempt to conceal my excitement. For the first time in the past year, I’m actually looking forward to something.
"Pack light. I have a shopping trip planned." Her excitement is contagious. "How soon can you be at the airport?"
"What?"
"Well, there is a flight leaving in four hours. You could be here in time for dinner." Kennedy pauses, hoping I’ll take the bait.
"I guess I could make it."
What am I thinking? This is crazy. I’m soaking in a tub of bubbles, planning to fly to Missouri in less than four hours.
"But I've gotta let you go now. I'll call you when I get checked in at the airport.” My thoughts are already shifting to the many things I must do and pack before leaving. "Kennedy, are you sure Jackson won't mind?"
She assures me Jackson purchased my ticket before he shared this plan with her. She urges me to hang up the phone, pull myself out of my bubbles, and pack.
I try to gather my thoughts before I hop from the warmth of the tub. Maybe a break from my surroundings will help me make plans. A break could be good. With my right foot, I release the stopper. I lay motionless as the warm, soapy water level retreats. Relaxing waves flow over my entire body. My skin prickles with the sensation of the tiny white bubbles exploding and the cool air connecting with my warm flesh.
I slowly skim my fingers over my bare breasts, down my abdomen, and between my thighs. I don’t have time for this, but it feels divine. My sensitive clit assures me I can quickly award myself with an orgasm before I rush to the airport. I press my thumb against the swollen bud as I delve my fingers into my warm heat. Pop. Pop. Pop. The soapy bubbles explode upon my heated skin as the water retreats. My thumb circles, and my index finger thrusts over and over. Soon, my muscles clench as I climb closer and closer...
My cell phone’s generic ringtone sounds, interrupting my sensual moment.
Ignore it.
Two fingers now working; I increase my thrusts. I grind against the palm of my hand, and my hips lift off the bottom of the tub.
Ignore the ringing.
The moment is lost...
Ruined.
Last Chapters
#93 Chapter 93
Last Updated: 3/3/2025#92 Chapter 92
Last Updated: 3/3/2025#91 Chapter 91
Last Updated: 3/3/2025#90 Chapter 90
Last Updated: 3/3/2025#89 Chapter 89
Last Updated: 3/3/2025#88 Chapter 88
Last Updated: 3/3/2025#87 Chapter 87
Last Updated: 3/3/2025#86 Chapter 86
Last Updated: 3/3/2025#85 Chapter 85
Last Updated: 3/3/2025#84 Chapter 84
Last Updated: 3/3/2025
You Might Like 😍
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
Tango with the Alpha's Heart
“He met her at the Alpha training camp,” he said. “She is a perfect suitor for him. It snowed last night, indicating that his wolf is happy with his choice.”
My heart sank, and tears made their way down my cheeks.
Alexander took my innocence last night, and now he is taking that thing in his office as his Luna.
Emily became the laughingstock of the pack on her 18th birthday and never expected the Alpha's son to be her mate.
After a night of passionate love, Emily finds out that her mate has taken a chosen mate. Heartbroken and humiliated, she disappears from the pack.
Now, five years later, Emily is a respected high-ranking warrior in King Alpha’s army.
When her best friend invites her to a night of music and laughter, she never expects to run into her mate.
Will her mate figure out it is her?
Will he chase after her, and most of all, will Emily be able to keep her secrets safe?
The Ice Between Us.
Then comes Jax Miller.
Jax is a hotheaded rookie with a lightning-fast puck and a reputation for burning bridges. He doesn't follow playbooks, he doesn't respect authority, and he’s determined to melt Julian’s icy composure. When a viral video of their on-ice collision threatens to bankrupt the program, Coach Clain delivers an ultimatum that feels like a death sentence: they must live together in a cramped, two-bed dorm for the duration of the season.
Forced to navigate the high-stakes world of sports fame, "forbidden" locker-room tension, and the mysterious blackmailer who caught their first mistake on camera, Julian and Jax must decide what’s more dangerous: losing their careers, or losing themselves to the person they were supposed to hate.
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?
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.
Human Capture (Up North #2)
Raised in a starving settlement choked by a vast, unforgiving forest, Lara learned early that survival has a price. To keep her family alive, she became a master hunter—agile, silent, and deadly with an array of mismatched blades. But the forest has eyes, and one evening, the shadows dragged her away.
Nine months later, Lara breaks free from a concrete dungeon, only to find herself stranded in the lawless, rogue-infested wilds of Avers Land alongside four captured werewolf girls. Seeking refuge in the neighboring territory of Illyen, she expects to find a way back to her human life. Instead, she is brought face-to-face with Alpha Rowan, the terrifying, ruthless ruler of the frozen North.
One look into Lara’s eyes, and the Alpha’s world shatters. His eyes turn an absolute shade of black. The bond is undeniable. She is his fated mate.
But a human cannot survive the brutal political landscape of the North, and Rowan openly rejects the bond, dragging her onto a warship bound for a kingdom that views her as a fragile liability. Trapped between a mate who refuses to love her and a court of monsters waiting for her to break, Lara must use every hunter's instinct she possesses. Because in the realm of wolves, a human must either grow claws of her own—or perish in the snow.
Taste of Fate: The Vampire King's Human Mate
He reached for the back of my head and pulled me up just enough to reach my neck. When his fangs slid into me, the pain was instant, electric. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t think. My hands found his shoulders, clawing for something to hold. My legs kicked. Tears streamed down my cheeks.
He moaned against my throat as he drank, and the sound was devastating.
The Princess's Revenge
Alpha Logan is an illegitimate son whose mother disappeared when he was 10 years old. He grew up suffering from humiliation and lacking maternal love.
Alpha Logan saves Valencia at Marcus's funeral, which seems to be destined by fate—part of the Moon Goddess's grand plan.
As Valencia accidentally discovers prophecies in Logan's mother's diary that seem to be related to her, the truth gradually surfaces. Valencia appears to be merely a tool in a princess's revenge plot. How will Logan and Valencia navigate their path amid the national war and pack politics?
Mated to Her Alpha Instructor
Weeks later, our new Alpha combat instructor walks in. Regis. The guy from the woods. His eyes lock on mine, and I know he recognizes me. Then the secret I've been hiding hits me like a punch: I'm pregnant.
He has an offer that binds us tighter than ever. Protection… or a cage? Whispers turn ugly, darkness closes in. Why am I the one without a wolf? Is he my salvation… or will he drag me to ruin?
The Spy Who Left
"I still can't believe she actually did it. Aria Hart, filing for divorce. Who saw that coming?"
"How long do we think it'll take before she comes crawling back?" Another voice joins the conversation.
"Three days," Victoria declares. "Five at most. She has no money, no skills, no family. Where's she going to go?"
When Aria Chen divorced billionaire Leon Hart, New York's elite sneered, betting she'd crawl back within days. She never did.
Three years later, the world is rocked when Dr. Aria Vale, CEO of a revolutionary cybersecurity empire, steps into the spotlight. The mysterious genius who built a billion-dollar company from nothing is none other than Leon's discarded wife, the woman everyone thought was just a pretty ornament.
Now, every powerful man wants the queen Leon threw away a renowned scientist seeking partnership, a financial titan proposing an empire, and an actor offering devotion. Each sees the brilliance Leon ignored.
Then Leon discovers the truth: Aria's sacrifices, her secret double life, and the daughter she's been raising without him. For the first time, the man who once took her for granted must fight for her love. But can he compete with men who valued her from the beginning?
A story of love, betrayal, and power where the king must kneel before the queen who never needed saving.
After One Night with the Alpha
I thought I was waiting for love. Instead, I got fucked by a beast.
My world was supposed to bloom at the Moonshade Bay Full Moon Festival—champagne buzzing in my veins, a hotel room booked for Jason and me to finally cross that line after two years. I’d slipped into lacy lingerie, left the door unlocked, and lay on the bed, heart pounding with nervous excitement.
But the man who climbed into my bed wasn’t Jason.
In the pitch-black room, drowned in a heady, spicy scent that made my head spin, I felt hands—urgent, scorching—searing my skin. His thick, pulsing cock pressed against my dripping cunt, and before I could gasp, he thrust hard, tearing through my innocence with ruthless force. Pain burned, my walls clenching as I clawed at his iron shoulders, stifling sobs. Wet, slick sounds echoed with every brutal stroke, his body unrelenting until he shuddered, spilling hot and deep inside me.
"That was amazing, Jason," I managed to say.
"Who the fuck is Jason?"
My blood turned to ice. Light slashed across his face—Brad Rayne, Alpha of Moonshade Pack, a werewolf, not my boyfriend. Horror choked me as I realized what I’d done.
I ran away for my life!
But weeks later, I woke up pregnant with his heir!
They say my heterochromatic eyes mark me as a rare true mate. But I’m no wolf. I’m just Elle, a nobody from the human district, now trapped in Brad's world.
Brad’s cold gaze pins me: “You carry my blood. You’re mine.”
There is no other choice for me but to chose this cage. My body also betrays me, craving the beast who ruined me.
WARNING: Mature Readers Only












