The Seven Year Slip

Seven years ago, I signed a mate contract as Luna. For my mother’s dying wish and for the Pack’s stability, I personally pushed a man with nothing to his name onto the Alpha throne. I held the Pack together for him, expanded our businesses, and handled the filthy negotiations and the deals no one wanted to see in the light. Everyone said— I was calm, I was formidable, I was qualified. Just… not much like a “gentle mate.” Until that day. I stood in the bedroom and watched my Alpha husband lay his hand over my paralyzed stepsister’s slightly rounded belly. They told me it was for the greater good of the Pack. That child would be registered under my name. He would call me Mother. I didn’t cry. I didn’t scream. I just waited for the seven-year term to hit its end and activated the trust clause my mother left behind. Accounts frozen. Capital withdrawn. The wolf empire I built with my own hands collapsed overnight. By the time he knelt in the ruins and finally understood what he’d lost— I had already taken back my mother’s last name, dissolved the mate bond, and stepped onto a new territory.

On our seventh wedding anniversary, I was straddling my Mafia husband, Lucian, kissing him deeply. My fingers fumbled in the pocket of my expensive silk dress, searching for the pregnancy test I'd hidden there. I wanted to save the news of my unexpected pregnancy for the end of the evening. Lucian's right-hand man, Marco, asked with a suggestive smile in Italian: "Don, your new little canary, Sophia. How does she taste?" Lucian's mocking laughter vibrated through my chest, sending a chill down my spine. He replied, also in Italian: "Like an unripe peach. Fresh and tender." His hand was still caressing my waist, but his gaze was distant. "Just keep this between us. If my Donna finds out, I'm a dead man." His men chuckled knowingly, raising their glasses and swearing their silence. The warmth in my blood turned to ice, inch by inch. The one thing they didn’t know was that my grandmother was from Sicily, so I understood every word. I forced myself to remain calm, keeping the perfect smile of a Donna fixed in place, but the hand holding my champagne flute trembled. Instead of making a scene, I opened my phone, found the invitation I had received a few days ago for a private international medical research project, and tapped "Accept." In three days, I would disappear from Lucian's world completely.

When a child mysteriously disappears from a small town and even his mother seems indifferent, it’s time for the new sheriff to step in. Meet Chris Baker, the new sheriff of the quiet Adirondack town of Clifton Heights. As one inexplicable case after another forces him to confront the townsfolk in The Skylark Diner, it’s the furtive Gavin Patchett that hands Chris a collection of not-so-fictional short stories that tumbles him into a world of monsters, ageless demons, and vengeful citizens. As Chris reads through the stories the veil starts to lift, and he soon questions what is real and what’s not, and whether he really wants to know. Nothing will ever be the same again. ©️ Crystal Lake Publishing

Seven times, I bonded with the same Alpha. And seven times, he tore our bond apart for his childhood flame. The first time, he swore it under the moon. “Astrid, my Luna. From this day forward, my heart and my wolf are yours alone.” But the moment his precious Liana returned, his promises turned to ash. “Can’t you just be patient? You’re making her uncomfortable, making it look like she’s seducing a mated male.” The first time he rejected me, the searing pain of the bond breaking nearly killed my wolf. They sent me to the pack healers, but he never came. Not once. The third time, I swallowed my pride as an Alpha’s daughter. I joined his pack as a nobody, just to be near his scent. By the sixth time, I knew the drill. I packed my bags and walked out of our penthouse without a word. My breakdowns. My compromises. My surrender. All I got for my pain were his clockwork apologies and the same betrayal. Over and over again. Until now. The moment I heard Liana was coming back, I handed him the papers to sever our bond myself. He just set a date for our next bonding ceremony, as if nothing had happened. He has no idea. This time, I’m not just breaking the bond. I’m shattering the heart that beat for him seven times, only to be crushed by his own hands, seven times.

I'd loved Jeffrey for seven years. When I was kidnapped, Jeffrey didn't pay the ransom because of Joanna. He wanted me to behave myself. After I endured hellish torture, I gave up Jeffrey as he wished. But he begged me to give him a second chance.

This is a story containing three points of views; the protagonist, Alex, her unrequited love, Cole and the new student, Asher. Alex planned to go on with her unrequited love for Cole till she graduated high school but Asher figures out her secret and says he can help her get Cole. Alex accepted this offer without a second thought as to why he wanted to help her and they become close friends, partners-in-crime; She finally has Cole, living the life she's only dreamed about but why does she feel unsatisfied and it doesn't help matters that Asher confesses to her.