The Alpha's Regret
He called me "little sister." I called him my forever.I've loved Skyler Voss since I was sixteen—my brother's best friend, my pack's most feared enforcer, and the man who looked right through me like I was invisible. For years, I watched him from the shadows, memorizing the way he laughed, the way he rode, the way he commanded every room he entered.Then came the night of my twenty-first birthday. The night the mate bond snapped into place.The night he looked at me with horror in his eyes and said the words that shattered me: "You're like a sister to me, Wren. You'll only ever be a sister."So I ran. I buried myself in my art, in a new city, in a life where Skyler Voss was nothing but a ghost I refused to let haunt me.Five years later, I'm not the same girl who cried herself to sleep over a man who didn't want her. I'm successful. I'm strong. I'm done.But when a family emergency drags me back to Ironvale, I discover that Skyler isn't done with me. The rejection that once broke me is now breaking him—slowly, painfully, driving him to the edge of madness. His wolf is feral. His control is slipping. And he's looking at me like I'm the only thing standing between him and the abyss.He wants a second chance. He wants forgiveness. He wants me.But I've spent five years learning to live without him. And I'm not sure I remember how to love someone who once made me feel so utterly worthless.
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Chapter: CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED - ForeverPresent Day - Six Years After the Mating CeremonyI woke to chaos, as usual.Luna was jumping on our bed, singing a song she'd invented about pancakes. Asher was arguing with Skyler about whether six-year-olds could have coffee. And from my very pregnant belly, baby number three was doing what felt like gymnastics."This is your life now," I told the baby. "Loud, chaotic, and completely insane. Welcome to the family."A kick in response. This one was already opinionated.Due in two months, and I still couldn't believe we were doing this again. Three kids. A full house. Constant noise.I'd never been happier.---"Mama, tell Dad I'm old enough for coffee," Asher demanded."You're six. You're not old enough for coffee.""But Dad drinks it!""Dad is thirty-two. When you're thirty-two, you can have all the coffee you want.""That's forever from now!""Exactly. Now go brush your teeth."He stomped off, muttering about unfair parents. Luna immediately took his place in the argument."I want
Last Updated: 2026-02-19
Chapter: CHAPTER NINETY-NINE - Five Years ForwardFive Years Later"Asher James Mercer-Voss, if you don't get down from that tree right now—""I'm fine, Mom!" my six-year-old son shouted from a branch that was definitely too high. "Dad lets me climb higher than this!""Your father has terrible judgment," I called back, but I was already moving to spot him.From the porch, Skyler laughed. "He's a wolf pup. Let him climb.""He's six. And that branch looks questionable."Our daughter, three-year-old Luna, tugged on my shirt. "I climb too?""Absolutely not.""But Asher—""Asher is older and has a death wish. You're staying on the ground."She pouted, bottom lip jutting out in a perfect replica of Skyler's stubborn expression.---Five years since our mating ceremony. Five years of chaos, growth, and love that kept expanding in ways I hadn't known were possible.The cottage had been renovated twice to accommodate our growing family. The nursery was now Asher's room, filled with books and drawings and rocks he insisted were "special." Luna
Last Updated: 2026-02-18
Chapter: CHAPTER NINETY-EIGHT - Passing It ForwardThe young couple stood in Marcus's office, practically vibrating with nervous energy.I recognized the look. I'd worn it myself once."This is Liam," Marcus introduced the male wolf. "And his mate, Sophie. They just completed their bonding ceremony last week."Sophie's mating mark was fresh, still slightly red against her collarbone. She kept touching it unconsciously, the way I had for months after my own ceremony."Congratulations," I said warmly. "How are you adjusting?""It's overwhelming," Sophie admitted. "The bond is so much more intense than I expected. I can feel everything he feels and it's just... a lot."Liam nodded. "We were hoping you could give us some advice. Marcus said you and Skyler might be willing to talk to us about the adjustment period."Skyler and I exchanged glances. When had we become the couple others looked to for guidance?"Of course," Skyler said. "What do you want to know?"---We met them at the cottage that weekend. Asher was napping, giving us time t
Last Updated: 2026-02-18
Chapter: CHAPTER NINETY-SEVEN - Full CircleI found myself at the clearing without consciously deciding to go there.The place where everything had started. Where Skyler had rejected me, destroying my world before slowly rebuilding it into something better.Two years ago. It felt like a lifetime.Asher was with my parents for the afternoon—his first solo visit without me hovering nearby. At fourteen months old, he was walking confidently now, chattering in his own language, getting into everything."You need a break," Mom had insisted. "Go do something for yourself."So I'd driven. And somehow ended up here.The clearing looked the same. Trees forming a natural cathedral, sunlight filtering through leaves, the stream bubbling nearby.But everything was different.I was different.---"Thought I might find you here."I turned to see Skyler emerging from the tree line."How did you know?""Bond. And logic. You've been thinking about this place lately."He was right. As Asher's first birthday had approached, I'd found my thoughts
Last Updated: 2026-02-18
Chapter: CHAPTER NINETY-SIX - One YearAsher's first birthday party was pack tradition meets Pinterest chaos.My mother had made a smash cake shaped like a wolf. Sarah had decorated with way too many balloons. The entire pack had shown up, along with half the human community."This is insane," I told Skyler, watching toddlers run wild through our yard. "He's one. He won't even remember this.""But we will. And the pack expects it.""The pack expects a lot of things."But watching Asher in his high chair, cake smeared across his face as he demolished the wolf-shaped dessert with pure joy, I had to admit—this was perfect."He's having the time of his life," Vera said, snapping photos. "Look at that face."Asher grabbed another handful of cake, squishing it between his fingers before shoving it in his mouth. Blue frosting covered everything—his face, his hair, his new birthday outfit."Bath time is going to be fun," Skyler muttered."Worth it for these photos."---One year. Twelve months. Three hundred sixty-five days since
Last Updated: 2026-02-17
Chapter: CHAPTER NINETY-FIVE - Six MonthsAsher's half-birthday arrived with chaos.He'd learned to sit up unassisted, which meant everything within reach went straight into his mouth. He babbled constantly—"ba ba ba" and "da da da" that Skyler insisted meant "dada.""He's just making sounds," I said."He's clearly saying dada. Listen.""Confirmation bias.""Denial."And then, just to spite me, Asher looked right at Skyler and said, "Da!"Skyler's triumphant grin was unbearable."Fine. You win. His first word was dada.""I'll add it to the baby book."---The six-month checkup brought good news."He's in the ninety-fifth percentile for height and weight," Dr. Rivera said. "Definitely got his father's genes.""Great. I'm growing a giant.""A healthy giant. Everything looks perfect. You can start solid foods now if you want."Solid foods. Another milestone."Rice cereal first," she instructed. "Then gradually introduce vegetables and fruits. Watch for allergies."That night, we attempted Asher's first meal.He grabbed the spoon
Last Updated: 2026-02-17
Billionaire Contract Marriage: Her Quest
They wanted to choose my husband so I bought one instead.
~~~
" You'll be meeting your soon-to-be husband at the next family dinner."
Aunt Melissa's words hit like poison. I choked, shock seizing my breath. Family dinners at my grandparents' estate were always hell- ear-shattering arguments, insults wrapped in concern, smiles hiding knives.
But this? This crossed every line.
Who the hell do they think they were, choosing my husband like I was some pawn in their twisted game?
That's never going to happen.
I built my Empire from the ruins of my inheritance and survived the accident that claimed my parents' lives. Survived Sophie's lifetime of cruelty always my shadow, so desperate to eclipse me.
I didn't survive all that to let them control who I marry.
~~~
Then I saw him.
David Kane.
Six foot three of breathtaking perfection, commanding my manufacturing floor like he was born for it. Dark hair, ice blue eyes, and a body that made me forget to breathe.
The branch manager's son. Nobody important.
That was perfect. If my family wants to force a husband on me I'd bring them one on my own terms.
They forgot who I am.
I am Sophia Ashford. I don't play by their rules and am about to make the most dangerous deal of my life.
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Chapter: CHAPTER 166: MR. THOMASDavid's POVI drove to Vermont alone in May.Not because Sophia couldn't come. She'd offered. The children had offered. But some conversations needed the specific conditions of two people who had known each other long enough that the pretenses were unnecessary and the silence was functional and you could simply sit in a room together and say the things that had been waiting to be said.Mr. Thomas and I had that.We'd been building it for twenty-five years without naming it. Which was, I'd come to understand, exactly how it was supposed to work. The things that mattered most between people rarely announced themselves. They accumulated. Visit by visit, phone call by phone call, the occasional letter he still wrote by hand in the specific cursive of someone who had learned to write when handwriting meant something.I'd kept every letter.He was eighty-one now.The Vermont property had aged with him in the way of places that were well-loved rather than well-maintained. The garden slightly
Last Updated: 2026-04-19
Chapter: CHAPTER 165: ALEX'S GARDENSophia's POVAlex didn't tell us until it was finished.That was characteristic. He'd always been the child who showed rather than announced. Who presented completed things rather than intentions. Who understood that the gap between a plan and a reality was where things went wrong and preferred to close that gap privately before anyone was watching.He called on a Saturday in April."Can you come?" he said. "Both of you. Today if you can.""What is it?""Just come." A pause. "Bring the camera. Mama's camera. The good one."He hung up before I could ask more.---David drove.We didn't know the address precisely — Alex had texted it without context — and as we followed the navigation through the city I watched the neighborhoods change. Not toward the center. Away from it. Toward the eastern part of the city where the streets were wider and the buildings lower and there was a particular quality of space that the denser center didn't have.The navigation stopped in front of a building I'
Last Updated: 2026-04-19
Chapter: CHAPTER 164: CLAUDIA'S PROGRAMSophia's POVThe board meeting was on a Thursday in February.I sat at the back of the room.Not at the head of the table where I'd sat for twenty years of foundation board meetings. At the back. In the chair against the wall that was technically for observers and had never, in the foundation's history, been occupied by me.Claudia had asked me to come."Not to present," she'd said. "Not to speak unless I ask you to. Just to be there.""Why?"She'd considered the question with the precision she brought to everything. "Because you built this. And I'm about to do something significant with it. And I want you to see it from the beginning."I'd sat at the back without argument.---The room was the London center's board room. The one with the window that looked onto the garden — a small urban garden, nothing like ours at home, but tended carefully by the center's staff and the families who used the space.Twelve board members. Dr. Adeyemi at the head. Claudia at the presentation position,
Last Updated: 2026-04-19
Chapter: CHAPTER 163: ISABELLA'S CASESophia's POVIsabella called on a Tuesday in November.Not the courthouse-steps kind of call. The other kind. The one that came when something was sitting too heavy to carry alone and she needed the specific version of help that only I provided.I knew the difference by the first word."Mama."Not *I won* or *you won't believe* or the brisk efficient opening of someone reporting good news. Just my name. The whole weight of something behind it."Tell me," I said.---She came for dinner that evening.James and Catherine stayed home. This was a conversation for the two of us and Isabella had known it and arranged accordingly without explanation. That was one of the things about her. She understood the shape of what she needed and organized toward it cleanly.She arrived at six. Sat at the kitchen table in the chair that had been hers since she was old enough to choose a preferred seat. David made dinner and then quietly found reasons to be elsewhere, which was the specific gift he'd dev
Last Updated: 2026-04-18
Chapter: CHAPTER 162: WHAT REMAINS IN THE LIGHTSophia's POVIsabella's daughter was three years old.Her name was Catherine.Not at my suggestion. Not at anyone's suggestion. Isabella had called from the hospital the morning after the birth with the specific quality of someone who had made a decision that was entirely settled and was simply sharing it."Her name is Catherine," she'd said.David had been beside me. We'd been in the car on the way. I'd put the phone on speaker without thinking.The silence in the car lasted exactly three seconds.Then David said: "That's right."That was all.That was everything.---Catherine was three in October.She had Isabella's directness and her father James's easy warmth and the particular combination of these qualities produced someone who walked into rooms and immediately identified the most interesting thing in them and went toward it without hesitation.She was currently in the garden.I watched her from the kitchen window. The September morning, the roses still holding their late-season
Last Updated: 2026-04-18
Chapter: CHAPTER 161: TEN YEARS LATERSophia's POVTime, I had decided, was not linear.It moved in accumulations. Seasons and milestones and the particular rhythm of a family growing in all directions simultaneously. It moved in the specific speed of happiness, which was faster than any other kind. It moved in the slow patient work of a foundation expanding across continents and the quick surprising arrival of grandchildren and the gradual, gentle dimming of people you loved who had been luminous for as long as you'd known them.Ten years after the vow renewal.I was fifty-eight years old.I sat at the kitchen window on a September morning and understood, without drama, that this was the best version of a life I'd been capable of imagining. Which meant the imagination had been insufficient. The life had exceeded it.---Isabella was twenty-five.A lawyer. Second year of practice at a firm that did the work she'd described at the grave five years ago — seeing people, making sure the law saw them too. She'd called two week
Last Updated: 2026-04-16
The Man I Buried
I buried him myself.
I stood at his grave with dirt on my hands and grief in my throat as I said goodbye to the only man I ever thought I would love. Kael was my betrothed, my mate, the boy who grew up beside me and became the person I built every future around. When the war took him it did not just take him — it took every version of myself that existed because of him.
Years passed. The moon goddess, in her mercy, gave me something I never asked for — a second chance. Rowan was not supposed to happen. He was patient where I was resistant, steady where I was broken, and present in every way I had convinced myself no one would ever be again. I did not want to love him. And then I did not know how to stop.
I was finally learning what it meant to choose life again.
When Kael walked back through my door.
Alive. Unchanged. And completely unable to explain where he had been.
Now I am torn between a love that was written into my soul before I was old enough to understand what souls were, and a man who chose me quietly and completely when I had nothing left to offer.
The elders say this is not a reverse harem blessing. There is no keeping both.
I have to choose.
But how do you bury someone you love twice?
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Chapter: Chapter 63 Rowan POV It wasn’t supposed to be a moment.Not the kind that stays with you, not the kind that shifts something you can’t easily name afterward. It started like everything had been starting lately—quiet, steady, without pressure. That had become our rhythm. Careful, but not strained. Close, but not overwhelming.We were by the forest again. Not deep enough for it to feel isolated, but far enough from the center of the village that the noise softened into something distant and easy to ignore. The light was low, fading slowly, the kind of evening that made everything feel a little more still than usual.Lyra stood beside me, not speaking, not restless. Just present.That alone would have been enough to hold my attention.But there was something different about her that day.Not obvious.Subtle.The way she stayed a little closer than she normally would. The way her shoulder brushed mine once and she didn’t step away immediately after. The way she looked at me like she was on the edg
Last Updated: 2026-04-19
Chapter: Chapter 62Rowan POV It caught me off guard.Not the situation itself. That part was normal. Harmless, even. Wolves talking, working, moving through their routines the way they always had. There was nothing unusual about it, nothing that should have pulled my attention the way it did.But it did.And I knew exactly why.Lyra stood near the center of the clearing, speaking with Tomas. They were going over something practical—supplies, from what I could tell, maybe patrol provisions or distribution counts. It was the kind of conversation she had been stepping back into more frequently lately, her role settling around her again in a way that felt natural, earned.She looked comfortable.Focused.Present.And Tomas was standing a little too close.It wasn’t inappropriate. Not by any real measure. He wasn’t touching her, wasn’t speaking in a way that crossed any lines. But he was there, within her space, leaning in slightly as he pointed something out on the tablet in his hands.And she wasn’t pulli
Last Updated: 2026-04-19
Chapter: Chapter 61 Lyra povIt didn’t change everything overnight.I think a part of me expected it to. Not in some dramatic, impossible way, but at least enough that things would feel clearer after speaking with the elder. Enough that I would wake up the next morning with some kind of certainty, some direction that didn’t feel like I was constantly walking a line I didn’t fully understand.That didn’t happen.But something did shift.Not in the bond. That had already settled into something steady, something I couldn’t deny even when I tried. The shift was quieter than that. It was in me. In the way I stopped fighting every moment before it even had the chance to exist.I noticed it first in the smallest ways.The way I didn’t tense immediately when I felt him nearby.The way I didn’t instinctively turn away when our paths crossed.The way silence around him didn’t feel like something I needed to fill or escape from.It wasn’t acceptance.Not fully.But it wasn’t resistance either.And that was new.I
Last Updated: 2026-04-18
Chapter: Chapter 60 Rowan POV I knew before the elder spoke.Not because anyone had told me. Not because I had overheard something or seen a sign that others hadn’t.I knew because the bond had changed.It wasn’t just awareness anymore. It wasn’t just that quiet pull that existed between us whether we acknowledged it or not. It had settled into something deeper, something more grounded, like it had taken root in a way that couldn’t be undone.Still, knowing it and hearing it confirmed were two very different things.And I wasn’t sure which one I was more prepared for.Lyra stood a few steps ahead of me in the elder’s dwelling, her posture straight, her expression composed in that careful way she used when she was holding more inside than she wanted anyone to see. I had seen that look enough times to recognize it immediately.She wasn’t calm.She was bracing.The room itself was quiet, filled with the faint scent of herbs and old wood, the kind of place that carried more history than most people ever th
Last Updated: 2026-04-16
Chapter: Chapter 59Rowan POV She didn’t move away.That was the first thing I noticed after the tears slowed, after the sharp edge of her breathing began to soften into something less frantic. She stood there, shoulders slightly hunched like she was bracing against something that hadn’t fully passed yet, her gaze unfocused, caught somewhere between here and everything she was trying to hold together.I didn’t reach for her immediately.Every instinct I had told me to.The bond stirred, not urgently, not demanding, but aware in a way that made the distance between us feel more significant than it actually was. It wasn’t pulling me forward. It was waiting.Just like I was.She let out a quiet breath, shaky at the edges, and lifted a hand to wipe at her face, though the tears had already slowed. The motion felt more like something to do than something necessary.“I’m sorry,” she said softly.The words landed wrong.“You don’t have anything to apologize for,” I said.She shook her head slightly, her hand d
Last Updated: 2026-04-15
Chapter: Chapter 58 Rowan POV I knew the moment something shifted.Not during the kiss. Not while it was happening. That had been steady, mutual, chosen in a way that left no room for doubt. It hadn’t felt forced or rushed or driven by something neither of us could control. It had felt real.That was why what came after hit harder.She pulled back slowly, like she wasn’t entirely ready to let the moment go, her breath uneven, her gaze still locked on mine as if she was trying to understand what had just happened. For a second, I thought she might say something. I almost did too. But then I saw it.The change.It was small at first. A flicker in her eyes, a tension that crept back into her expression too quickly to belong there after something like that. The softness didn’t disappear all at once, but it didn’t stay either.“Lyra,” I said quietly.She shook her head slightly before I could say anything else, like she already knew what I was about to ask.“I’m fine.”She wasn’t.I could see it.I had lear
Last Updated: 2026-04-14
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