Chapter: Chapter 188: Grateful, on One Knee ARIA'S POV The smoke alarm went off before the turkey even finished resting. I found Flynn standing on a kitchen chair, waving a dish towel at the ceiling like he could argue the beeping into silence, our daughter propped on his hip and shrieking with delight at the noise instead of being scared of it the way any sensible baby would be. "It's the rolls," he said, not looking at me. "I think. Or the thing in the oven. One of the things." "Which thing, Flynn." "The bread thing." "That was supposed to be dinner rolls." "They still might be edible." I climbed up next to him, silenced the alarm, and opened the oven to a tray of what could generously be called charcoal. He had the decency to look only mildly ashamed. "I'm sorry?” He said, leaning his head to one side. Then he brought Hazel up to his face and mimicked her. “Daddy said he is sorry. You should forgive him?” I let out a small laugh at his silliness “Daddy insisted on helping.” “Well… He really did try” He said in t
Last Updated: 2026-08-07
Chapter: Chapter 187: I'm ready to build something smallISABELLA'S POVMy whole body forgot how to work the second his name left my mouth. What the heck was he doing here?!!Three months of imagining this exact moment, rehearsing what I'd say if he ever stood in a room with me again, and all I managed was one syllable. “Hi” The dish towel slipped off my shoulder. My heart was too busy trying to climb up into my throat to worry about laundry.He looked the same and not the same at all. Same jaw, same steady eyes that used to make me feel like the only person in any room. But something had changed in the way he held himself, careful now, guarded, like he had learned the hard way to protect a bruise before anyone got close enough to hit it again.I did that. I put that carefulness on his shoulders.The sadness hit me first, sharp enough to steal my breath, my mind dragging me straight back to the bakery counter and the sound of my own voice calling the best thing that ever happened to me: *nothing*. Then the guilt came right behind it, very f
Last Updated: 2026-08-07
Chapter: Chapter 186: My own side of three monthsETHAN'S POV "Come on, Ethan, at least look like you're having fun. You're supposed to be the face of this whole expansion." My business partner Luke said it low, leaning toward me over his glass, nodding at the room like it was mine to enjoy. Rooftop bar, the whole city glittering out past the railing, a crowd of investors and their guests mixing brand of expensive perfume with expensive liquor. I'd been standing in the same spot for twenty minutes holding a drink I hadn't touched. "I'm having plenty of fun," I said, which was a lie neither of us believed. It's been three months of this. Three months of rooms exactly like it, cities blurring into one long string of good lighting and better small talk, my face apparently now familiar enough that some magazine had slotted me into a list of the city's most eligible bachelors a few weeks back. Luke had framed the page and hung it in his office, which he thought was hilarious. I hadn't found much of anything funny lately. A woman,
Last Updated: 2026-08-04
Chapter: Chapter 185: Starting Over Again*Three months later*ISABELLA'S POVThe kitchen smelled like cinnamon and burnt sugar, and for a second I could not remember which one I wanted to actually make.Thanksgiving was two days away and my mother had the whole house running on holiday time, sweet potatoes lined up on the counter, a turkey thawing slowly in the fridge that had swallowed up half the shelf space. I had offered to handle the desserts as it gave my hands something to do, and because saying no to my mother during the holidays has never once worked in the history of our family.Three months. That was how long it had been since the bell over my bakery door rang behind Ethan for the last time and I stood there waiting for it to ring again but it never did. Three months since he left with no calls or texts from him. I used to think this would be different from Dominic, because at least Ethan had been mine to lose for one real night at the lake but I was wrong about that matter. If anything the last three months felt
Last Updated: 2026-08-04
Chapter: Chapter 184: Leaving LeavenworthSong Recommendation: Train wreck by James Author ETHAN'S POV I almost turned around twice before I made it to her door. Five days of silence will do that to a man. Make him rehearse a hundred versions of a conversation in his car, then abandon every single one of them the second his hand actually lands on the door handle. I told myself I wasn't going to push. I told myself that the whole drive over. Somewhere between her my house and this bakery, I stopped believing it. The bell rang before I'd even finished deciding what to say. "We're closed," she called out but didn't turn. Then she did turn, and I watched every ounce of color drain sideways out of her face. "Oh. Hi, Ethan." Bright and brittle, a voice built to hold a door shut. "What.. what are you doing here?" I asked her straight out if she was avoiding me. But I already knew the answer. Some part of me had known it since her mother stood in that doorway, sighing like she'd been carrying a lie too heavy to hold anymore.
Last Updated: 2026-08-01
Chapter: Chapter 183: It's not that serious Ethan! Song Recommendation: Before you go by Lewis CapaldiISABELLA'S POVThe bell over the door was the last sound I wanted to hear that evening.I had the sign already flipped to closed, the last tray wiped down, flour dust catching gold in the low light coming through the front window. My feet ached in that good, worn out way they always did after a full day, and for one small stretch of silence before that bell rang, my head had been empty of everything except tomorrow's prep list."We're closed," I called out without turning, rag still in my hand.Then I turned anyway, out of habit more than anything, and every muscle in my body locked at once."Oh. Hi, Ethan." My voice came out too bright, too fast, like i was hoping nobody notices i was bracing for something. "What.. what are you doing here?""Izzy, are you avoiding me?" I walked past him toward the far table, I moved my rag over a surface that was already clean. "No. Never. Why would I avoid you hmm?""Isabella, I was at your house
Last Updated: 2026-07-31
Surrogate for the Lycan King
Every girl in the human territories fears the annual Breeding Lottery, a cruel tradition created to save the dying Lycan race by producing royal heirs. When my younger sister's name is drawn, I secretly takes her place, expecting to become nothing more than another disposable breeding candidate.
Instead, my blood shatters an ancient Blood Crystal, awakens the long-silent Moon Altar, and captures the attention of Zeus East—the Lycan King who has rejected every woman brought before him for two centuries. His wolf calls me its mate, the palace believes I'm the lost Sovereign Queen, and everyone suddenly sees me as the only woman capable of producing the heir that could save the kingdom.
But a prophecy doesn't earn my trust.
Zeus wants an heir to secure his people's future. I want my freedom. As conspiracies close in and a ruthless elder plots to stop the Sovereign bloodline from ever being reborn, we're forced into an impossible choice.
Because the child we're destined to create won't just inherit a crown. They'll decide the fate of an entire kingdom.
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Chapter: Chapter Twenty-One — She's Worried About UsZeus’s POVThe morning training yard was a violent mess of kicked-up dust, breathing, and the ringing clash of steel.I was going full throttle, pushing my body to the limit.Brutal physical exhaustion was the only weapon I had left to drown out the constant, relentless howling of my inner wolf.I was sparring bare-chested with Marcus, the cold morning wind biting at the sweat running down my back.We moved with insane wolf speed, our practice blades blurring through the chilly air as we traded bone-jarring blows.To anyone watching from the perimeter walls, it looked like a fight to the death. To us, it was just another casual business meeting.I parried a thrust from Marcus's blade, the steel shrieking as I spun around him."What is the status on relocating Kelsey’s family from the Lowland Village to Fullcrest?" I asked, breathing hard through my teeth.Marcus grunted, ducking low to dodge my sweeping roundhouse kick. His boots dug deep into the dry dirt as he sprang back up."The m
Last Updated: 2026-08-19
Chapter: Chapter Twenty — It's Going To Be A Total Nightmare Kelsey’s POVI woke up with the bright morning sun blinding my eyes and a dull ache in my lower back.The sheets beneath me still carried that faint, lingering smell of rain, wild pine, and embarrassment.I spent the first ten minutes just lying there flat on my back, staring up at the carved dark beams of the high ceiling.My brain kept replaying the image of King Zeus, the terrifying two-hundred-year-old ruler of this territory, losing his footing and face-planting onto my mattress while holding my bedsheets to his nose.A loud, sudden snort escaped my mouth before I could stop it.The bloodthirsty, monstrous Lycan King that the whole kingdom whispered about was actually an awkward, bumbling weirdo in the dark.My tiny moment of peace lasted for approximately four seconds.The double doors of my bedroom swung wide open without a single knock, the wood smacking against the inner wall with a bang.Enter my brand new problem.A young Lycan woman marched into the room holding a stack of
Last Updated: 2026-08-18
Chapter: Chapter Nineteen — I Needed Her Zeus’s POVI speed-walked down the private corridor like I had just barely survived a deadly ambush.My boots hit the stone floor in fast, furious strides, my mind internally screaming at myself the entire way back toward my study.I was a two-hundred-and-forty-year-old Lycan King. I was the conqueror of three brutal border wars, a ruler who had brought entire enemy packs to their knees with a single growl.And I had just face-planted straight into a human girl’s mattress while aggressively sniffing her pillow.Inside my skull, my inner wolf was rolling on its back, howling with hysterical laughter.Shut the hell up, I snarled at my wolf, my face burning with a ridiculous heat.The great conqueror, the wolf wheezed in my mind, utterly useless. Defeated by a sheet and a startled jump. She caught you red-handed, you fool."I was running security checks," I muttered out loud through clenched teeth, aggressively rubbing the back of my hand over my face to scrub her lingering lavender scen
Last Updated: 2026-08-18
Chapter: Chapter Eighteen — The Royal Wisteria?Kelsey’s POVI had spent the last three hours staring at the dark wooden beams on the ceiling, trying to force myself to sleep.It was a total failure.I tried counting sheep in my head, but by the time I hit two hundred, I was just annoyed that the imaginary sheep were jumping over an imaginary wooden fence.Then I tried tossing and turning, rolling from one end of the giant mattress all the way to the other edge. The sheets were cold, then they were too hot, then the pillows felt like giant rocks under my head.I just could not sleep no matter what I did.I even sat up in the dark and tried talking to myself in a soft, boring voice, hoping I would bore my own brain into shutting down."Okay, Kelsey, just close your eyes," I muttered to the empty walls. "Think about grass. Think about dirt. Think about Maya knitting that ugly grey sweater."Nope. Not even a tiny yawn.My eyes were wide open, and my brain was running at full speed.Finally, I tossed the blankets aside and swung my bar
Last Updated: 2026-08-18
Chapter: Chapter Seventeen — Such A CreepChapter Seventeen — Such A CreepZeus’s POVThe clock on the wall of my study ticked past two in the morning, and I was losing my mind.I sat at my new desk, staring down at a stack of border patrol reports that might as well have been written in a foreign language. I had read the exact same sentence about western supply wagons five times, and not a single word had registered in my brain.I tossed the parchment down, leaning back in my chair and rubbing both hands over my face.I couldn't focus. I couldn't work. I couldn't sleep.The worst part was her scent.It was drifting through the stone walls, sweet, and impossible to ignore. Rain, wild lavender, and sharp pine. But it wasn't just there; it was growing stronger.When she first walked into the palace four days ago, her scent was light, like a faint breeze. Now, it was so intense, filling up my private hallway and wrapping around my senses like a physical rope pulling at my chest.Why was it heightening like this? Was it because he
Last Updated: 2026-08-17
Chapter: Chapter Sixteen — A Threat? Try Again Kelsey’s POVI sat on the edge of the velvet bed, staring down at my hands.My mind wouldn't stop racing. Ever since Doctor Varian told me my blood was adapting to the King's energy, everything felt wrong. Knowing that something unnatural was shifting inside my body was messier to deal with than I cared to admit.I held my hand up to the sunlight filtering through the window. It looked ordinary. Smooth skin, short nails, no sign of claws or fur.I was human. I knew I was human.So why was my body starting to betray me?I hated that I couldn't stop checking my own skin like a paranoid lunatic every time my pulse spiked. But I couldn't help it. I couldn't help that I was terrified of waking up one morning and realizing whatever was in my veins had erased the girl who left Oakridge.Over the last two days, the changes had become impossible to ignore.Back home, I had good eyesight, but now I could distinguish individual water droplets on the leaves across the yard. I could hear the guard
Last Updated: 2026-08-16
The Assassin Alpha's Heir
Ivana Sokolov doesn't miss.
Trained since childhood into the deadliest asset her agency owns, she's spent ten years burying every soft thing about herself so deep that even she forgot it was there. When she's sent to assassinate Alpha Alfonso Rocca, head of the most powerful syndicate in the eastern territories, it's supposed to be routine. Line up the shot, collect the paycheck, disappear.
Instead, the mission changes mid-trigger and the price of refusing is her brother's life, a brother she buried four years ago and has just learned is very much alive.
The catch: Alfonso doesn't want her dead. He wants her pregnant.
Out of four thousand tested candidates, Ivana is the only biological match compatible enough to carry his heir and survive it — and thirty-two women before her didn't. As she's pulled into the Rocca family's inner war against rivals who want Alfonso's bloodline erased entirely, Ivana discovers the contract was never really about genetics. It's about a bloodline massacre from her own past that Alfonso's family had a hand in — and a wolf inside her that was never supposed to wake up at all.
She came to kill an Alpha. She's leaving as one.
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Chapter: Chapter 12 — Drunken Boss Alfonso's POVThere's a special kind of pathetic that only shows up once a man realizes he's been sitting alone in a basement bar for an hour, talking to a criminal informant, nursing a drink he stopped actually drinking a long time ago.The ice in my tumbler had melted into flat, amber water an hour back. I hadn't noticed until just now.The basement lounge sat tucked beneath an unassuming import garage in the industrial sector. Across from me sat K.He literally has no name attached to his being, and I never bothered asking for one either."She survived Callisto's baseline," K said, tapping a cigarette against a brass case. "That puts her in a category of one, Alfonso. You found the needle in four thousand haystacks.""She survived," I agreed, swirling the dead scotch. The sting on the back of my hand twitched — where her nails had opened me up while she screamed murder at the ceiling. "Barely. Spent the next six hours trying to bite the doctor's fingers off every time he checked
Last Updated: 2026-08-19
Chapter: Chapter 11 — Just Survive ItIvana’s POVMy combat boots struck the cold floor in a hard, steady rhythm as I was marched down the dimly lit corridor of the estate’s private medical wing. Two armed estate guards walked two paces behind me, their weapons unholstered and kept at a low ready. But what pissed me off far more than the guns at my back was the dark-clad shadow pacing beside me.Alfonso hadn't stayed in his suite. He hadn't sent me off with Doctor Callisto like a piece of livestock being dragged to the slaughterhouse. The moment Callisto had opened his mouth in the doorway, Alfonso had pulled on a dark jacket, stepped over the scattered autopsy files, and fallen into stride right at my elbow."You don't need to be here," I rasped through clenched teeth, my eyes glued straight ahead as we rounded a double-blast door."It's my estate, Ivy," Alfonso replied, his deep voice smooth, completely unbothered by the tension rolling off my body. "And it's my bloodline.""I don't give a damn about your estate or your
Last Updated: 2026-08-14
Chapter: Chapter 10 — Don't Make Us Drag YouIvana’s POVMy heart was hammering against my ribs like a trapped bird, the frantic rhythm echoing loudly in my ears. I stood there in the center of his dimly lit suite, my knuckles white as I dug my fingers into his skin, waiting for him to lie to me. I wanted him to deny it. I wanted him to tell me that the file was a forgery, that Doctor Callisto was out of his mind, or that thirty-two women hadn't actually drawn their last suffocating breaths in this house.He didn't.Instead of making excuses or trying to smooth it over with billionaire lies, Alfonso reached out, grabbed a plain black t-shirt from the arm of his leather chair, and pulled it over his head in one smooth, practiced motion. He stepped straight back into my personal space, towering over me, his dark eyes locked onto mine with a terrifying honesty."The previous candidates didn't just fail, Ivy," Alfonso said, his voice dropping into a low, quiet rumble that vibrated right through the soles of my combat boots. "Their c
Last Updated: 2026-08-14
Chapter: Chapter 9 — Strong Enough To Survive MeAlfonso's POVI was standing in the center of my master suite, stark naked, casually drying my damp hair with a towel while on a hands-free satellite call with an arms supplier in Milan. It was midnight. God forbid a man enjoys two minutes of basic freedom in his own home without a crisis breaking out.I’d caught her scent—that sharp, intoxicating mix of fresh rain, cold steel, and gunpowder—the exact second her combat boots hit the top step of the grand staircase. She wasn't bothering to hide her approach. She was a possessed woman, and she wasn't even making any efforts to hide it. So when my doors were violently kicked open, slamming back against the interior wall with a deafening *CRACK*, I didn't even flinch. I didn't bother to reach for the gun on my nightstand, and I certainly didn't scramble to cover myself.Because why would I?I turned around slowly, the towel still resting on my shoulders, to face the intruder.Ivana stopped dead in her tracks on the threshold, her chest h
Last Updated: 2026-08-08
Chapter: Chapter 8 — And In My Defense, He Was Butt NakedIvana’s POV I followed two paces behind Alfonso as we crossed the threshold of the Ashcroft Estate, my mind instinctively clicking into overdrive. My eyes instinctively took notes of every emergency exit and blind spot that was either publicly available or hidden behind ridiculous artworks. Any random human or wolf would miss it, sure, but not the number 1 female sniper in the south. Other than the impressive exits, the very first thing that struck me was the silence. It was so quiet, I couldn't believe people existed here. There was no domestic staff bustling through the grand hall, no footmen lurking in the corners, no security chatter echoing through the ceilings…. There was just…nothing. Hell, the only thing I could even hear at the moment was the sound of my pretty boots against the granite floor. Alfonso led me up a sweeping curved staircase to a private wing on the second floor. The layout was really amazing, it seemed like it was designed for privacy and easily def
Last Updated: 2026-08-07
Chapter: Chapter 7: THE ASSASSIN ENTERS HIS KINGDOMIvana's POVThe glass doors of the agency’s central command hub slid open, and I stepped out into the main corridor, my boots clicking sharply against the polished floor. My whole body was practically vibrating with a toxic rage that burned straight through my veins. The chemical taste of the sleeping gas was still lingering in the back of my throat, but the taste of defeat was a hundred times worse.I kept my chin up, my face locked into a blank mask as I walked down the long hallway. Operatives, tech analysts, and low-level handlers were moving back and forth between offices, their voices creating a steady, low hum of background noise. A couple of junior agents I recognized from tactical training paused as I passed, their eyes darting to the tactical gear slung over my shoulder."Hey, Solokov," one of them called out, taking a half-step toward me with a look of cautious curiosity. "How’d the hit go? We heard the central feed got yanked offline right after the secondary breach."I di
Last Updated: 2026-08-07
Chapter: Chapter 4 — The UltimatumPOV: SeleneI didn't stay in the hotel room for long.I took a quick shower, washing away the smell of cheap tequila and club sweat. When I put the oversized men's dress shirt back on, the heavy, lingering scent of cedar, rain, and dark smoke wrapped around me again. It felt like a phantom touch against my skin, making my inner wolf stir restlessly for the first time in years.I ignored it. I found my hospital sweatpants folded neatly on a chair, put them on, and ordered a cab back to the Draven estate.I was done crying. Waking up in that hotel room, completely alone but safe, something inside my chest had fundamentally shifted. For six years, I had bent over backwards trying to be the perfect Luna, the perfect wife, desperately hoping Kieran would eventually love me. I had swallowed my pride, endured his coldness, and accepted the scraps of affection he threw my way.And what did it get me? A dead son, a coma, and a husband sleeping with my sister on our living room couch.Dignity w
Last Updated: 2026-07-05
Chapter: Chapter 3 — The Breaking PointPOV: Selene"Did I hear that's right?" Amelia asked, her big eyes looking between Kieran and Jessica.My motherly instincts kicked in immediately. Despite everything Kieran had just said, despite the absolute shattering of my own heart, I couldn't let my daughter witness our family falling apart. I couldn't let her carry that trauma.I quickly stepped forward, wiping my eyes and forcing a painful, trembling smile. "Amelia, baby, listen to me. Mommy is back. Don't worry about what they are saying, we can just..."But Amelia completely ignored my outstretched hands. She brushed right past me as if I were invisible and ran straight toward the couch, her face lighting up with pure, uncontained joy."Dad, are you actually taking Mum Jessica as your mate?!" She squealed excitedly, grabbing Kieran's hand.The words hit me like a blow to the chest.Mum Jessica.My lungs completely stopped working. I stood frozen in the center of the lavish living room, the world spinning out of control."Yes,
Last Updated: 2026-07-05
Chapter: Chapter 2 — The Spare DaughterPOV: SeleneI always knew Kieran didn't love me.That wasn't a secret. Six years ago, on the night before the grand Draven-Ashcroft wedding, my beautiful older sister Jessica packed her bags and ran away. She wanted freedom to be with other men, not an arranged marriage.But our parents couldn't afford to lose the powerful alliance with the Draven pack. So, they dressed me in Jessica's leftover wedding gown, pinned my hair up, and handed me over to Kieran instead. I was nineteen, the spare daughter, the backup plan.For six long years, I swallowed my pride. I smiled through his coldness. I raised our daughter, Amelia, and tried to be the perfect Luna. I thought if I just loved him enough, if I was just loyal enough, he would eventually forget about Jessica. I stayed up late waiting for him to come home from pack meetings. I made sure the mansion was run perfectly. I tried so hard to fix our broken family.But as I stood in the doorway, staring at them on the couch, the truth finally s
Last Updated: 2026-07-05
Chapter: Chapter 1 — The Cold AwakeningSelene POV "No, please!" I screamed into the darkness, choking on my own blood. "No no...NO!!"I jolted upright.My lungs hitched, pulling in a massive, ragged gasp of freezing air. My eyes flew open, wildly scanning my surroundings. The accident. I had an accident, I was sure of that. But right now, I wasn't in a crushed car. Instead, I was in a bright, blinding white room, the frantic squeal of a heart monitor echoing in my ears."Selene? Selene!"A pair of hands grabbed my shoulders, pushing me gently back against a wall of pillows. My vision blurred, before finally settling on the face. My best friend, Nora, stood over me, her face pale and streaked with tears. She looked like she hadn't slept in weeks."Nora?" My voice cracked, sounding hoarse. "Where..."My hands moved on pure instinct, dropping instantly to my stomach.It was flat.The heavy, round life I had carried for six months was gone. My womb was completely empty.A cold, paralyzing terror gripped my chest. "Nora. My b
Last Updated: 2026-07-05
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