เรื่องสั้นแนว Tragic Love และนิยาย Alpha Marriage

After Vanessa moved into the estate, Mommy stopped fighting with Daddy. Her wolf was getting weaker. I think Mommy was going to the moon. Grandma had left me that way too. Daddy saw us in the hall, his face dark. His voice came out flat. “Fiona, you don't want Serena growing up in a broken home, do you?” Mommy didn't cry and shout at him the way she used to. She just held me, her voice soft. “Wire me a hundred million and I'll stay out of your way.” Daddy froze for a second. Then he transferred the money. After that, Daddy slept in Vanessa's room most nights, and Mommy kept asking him for more. She got so thin, and she wouldn't eat. She took my hand and brought me to a dozen different offices and made me sign papers. She said she was leaving everything to me. I buried my face in her chest. “Mommy, if you're tired, go find Grandma. I'll be good.”

The healer told me I might not survive childbirth. I was eight months pregnant with Damian’s pup, and the cancer in my body was spreading faster than anyone expected. I walked out of the healer’s room with the report shaking in my hand, hoping my mate would finally come to one checkup with me. Instead, I saw him kneeling in front of another pregnant she-wolf. Lydia. His childhood love. She touched her stomach and whispered, “Damian, if Selene finds out you came with me, she’ll be hurt. She’s about to give birth too.” Damian kissed her belly and said, “She won’t find out. I’ve hidden it this long.” Then he added, “The pup you’re carrying is mine too. If Selene makes trouble, I’ll break the bond.” The report slipped from my fingers. For months, I had believed his lies. I thought he was only busy as the strongest Alpha. I thought he loved me, even if he kept missing my checkups. But he had never been too busy. He had simply chosen her. That night, when I started bleeding, Damian carried Lydia away for a minor burn and left me on the floor with our unborn pup. So I called the only wolf who could help me. A witch. “Break the mate-bond between Damian and me,” I whispered. And before Damian realized what he had lost, I took my newborn pup and disappeared.

In my last life, Kyle Ravenwood and I were the mate pair every wolf in Ravenwood Pack envied. He was the Alpha of our pack. I was Alia Blackthorn, his fated mate and the Luna he had chosen in front of the Moon Council. Under the full-moon bonfire, he went down on one knee, took my hand, and swore he would never recognize anyone but me as his Luna. After that, we led Ravenwood together until our hair turned silver. So when I opened my eyes and found myself back at the beginning, before his public Luna announcement, I thought he would come for me again. Instead, I heard him in the healer's back room, speaking in a low voice to his most trusted guard. "In my last life, Lila was sent to the Frostfang Pack as an alliance bride. She didn't survive a year there. I can't watch that happen again." "I’ll complete the mate contract with Lila first. Two days from now, once she gets past that death trap, I’ll break the contract and go back for Alia." His guard sounded uneasy. "And Miss Alia? She’s your fated mate." Kyle fell silent for a moment. When he answered, his voice was so low it seemed pressed down by the dark. "The witch’s forgetting potion will make her forget me for a while. When this is over, I’ll bring her the antidote and make her remember. She loves me. She’ll understand." He didn’t know I was standing right outside the door. He didn’t know the witch’s forgetting potion had never had a true antidote. Two days from now, I’ll forget him completely.

I had lost count of how many times Aaron and I had dissolved our mate bond. He always said it was temporary. Vivian was the only she-wolf from Blackridge Pack who had made it into Hollywood. Her father had died saving Aaron during a rogue ambush. From then on, Aaron treated Vivian like a debt he could never repay, and I became the easiest thing to sacrifice for that debt. Whenever Vivian returned, Aaron took me to the Bonding Hall and dissolved our bond. Whenever she left, he came back and let the elders write our names into the bond ledger again. In Blackridge Pack, Aaron could take me to the Bonding Hall, dissolve our sanctioned bond, and come back for me when Vivian no longer needed him. At first, I cried and begged. Later, I learned to pack quietly, sign quietly, and hand back the Luna position along with whatever tenderness he had left for me. But this time, when Aaron waited at the Bonding Hall to renew our mate bond, I never came.

On the night of the blood moon, I seduced the Alpha every she-wolf dreamed about. I only wanted to see what Cain looked like when he lost control. I never thought that after that one night he'd hold me through every full moon, lock me against his chest, and murmur the same three words into my ear, over and over: my little wolf. Then his first love came back. And I got thrown out like garbage. He tore the wolf out of me, drove me from my pack, and left me with nothing but the open road and a rogue's name. I held on for three years. What I got at the end of them was the Luna sash that should have been mine, tied around Seraphine's waist by his own hands. So this time, I let go. I cut my bloodline, rode north, and agreed to marry a wolf who would treat me like something precious. Yet it was this very moment that the proud, cold Alpha who never bowed to anyone dropped to his knees in front of the whole pack and begged me to come back.

I'm an Omega, and I turned out to be the fated mate of the Silvermoon Pack's Alpha. For three years, I walked on eggshells as Luna. I threw myself into studying, night and day. Asked permission for everything. And still, it wasn't enough. "You always lean on me for everything," he said. "How can you ever be a real Luna? Try to be more like Sonya." Sonya Smith. His childhood friend. The gold standard I was supposed to measure up to. So I stopped leaning. When I got hurt protecting the pack, even when the wound ran deep, I bandaged it myself and let it heal on its own. Didn't go crying to him. When the pain hit, I curled up alone and rode it out. Didn't go looking for comfort. And when rogues jumped me and I lost the pup—I went to the pack healer myself and handled it. But my mate regretted it. He used to dream of the day I wouldn't need him anymore. When that day finally came, he realized— it was destroying him.

Being locked away by my parents as a child left me with severe claustrophobia. Every time it flared up, I not only lost my voice but also lost my ability to use the mind-link with anyone in the pack. In my parents' eyes, a strong werewolf should have gotten over something that happened so long ago. Each time I lost my voice, only Alpha Caius Thorne stayed by my side. He kept notepads and pens throughout the estate and kept our conversation pinned to the top of his messages. He even learned sign language just for me. When another episode struck, I signed to him with trembling hands. "Does this ever make you tired of me?" My mate's scent enveloped me, calming my restless wolf. "Never. If anything, I'm glad we have a language that's just ours." Then Sage Mercer returned. She was a human healer and one of my closest friends. She tricked me into entering an underground stone chamber and locked me inside. The sealed space triggered another episode. I couldn't call for Caius, even though he was standing right outside the door. All I could do was sign frantically. But he acted like he didn't understand and stood there as Sage sealed the heavy stone door. Panic took over. I shifted into my wolf form and threw myself against the door with everything I had. Again and again, I slammed into it until my body was drenched in blood, yet not a single cry for help escaped my throat. Then I heard Sage speaking to Caius on the other side of the door. "Elara has to face her trauma head-on. Protecting her every time this happens won't help her get better. "A Luna represents her pack. With a condition like hers, she'll only hold you back. "Once she can call out for help on her own, we'll let her out." Caius said nothing. I understood his silence for what it was: agreement. So that was how Caius really saw me. A burden. But they had forgotten this underground chamber was designed to hold untamable beasts. Once the heavy door was sealed, almost no fresh air could get inside. No matter

My mating ceremony with Chris kept getting interrupted, one reason after another. The first time, his adopted sister Lucy threw him a bachelor party. He drank too much and missed our slot. The second time, right before we set out, Lucy twisted her ankle. Chris took her to the hospital and missed it again. The third time, we were already standing at the vow platform when Lucy cried until she fainted below. Once again, Chris left me standing there. The fourth time, the fifth time... Lucy, every single time. "Hurry up, Sheila! This is the eighth time! There are only fifteen minutes left to receive the Moon Goddess's blessing. If you miss it again, the Moon Goddess will take it as proof the two of you were never meant to be mates!" My best friend Vivian shouted frantically. I took Chris's hand, and I had just started up the steps when Lucy's cry rang out behind us. "Chris, wait, my moonstone bracelet just snapped. It was your coming-of-age gift to me." Chris jerked his foot back mid-step. "Don't rush. I'll wait for you." The buzzing crowd went dead silent. Everyone exchanged looks. I looked at Chris, swallowing my anger. "Chris, there are only fifteen minutes left for the Moon Goddess's blessing." Chris glanced at Lucy, his tone indulgent. "We're already at the door. A few more minutes won't hurt." Watching Chris crouch down beside Lucy to gather her moonstone beads, I suddenly smiled. Then I opened my phone and pulled up a number I'd blocked three years ago. [Didn't you tell me three years ago to give you a chance?] [You have fifteen minutes. Come to Grayfang Pack's Moon Goddess Altar.]

I fell asleep in Silas Gray's study. When I woke up, I found my hair had been hacked into uneven chunks. The floor was covered in my long hair. Vivian Hayes, Silas's secretary, waved the scissors at me with a taunting smile. "Your split ends were terrible, so I trimmed them for you. No need to thank me." I lunged at her like a woman possessed, claws shooting from my fingertips. My wolf roared inside my chest. But Silas grabbed my wrist before I could reach her. "Vivian was nice enough to trim your hair. Was that really worth losing your temper over?" A sickly sweet scent crept into my nose. It wasn't my usual light fragrance. And it wasn't Silas's cologne, either. He hadn't been home in three days. Vivian turned from the window and tapped the desk lightly. "Silas was worried I wasn't skilled enough to cut the children's hair at the charity event, so he had me practice on you. "You've always been so easygoing. You wouldn't get mad over something so small, would you?"

I was the Female Alpha of the Stormlands pack. But gave up my position to my brother. All so I could stay by the side of Adrian, the Alpha of the Valley pack, the man I had loved in secret for six years. My brother couldn't bear to watch me wait any longer. On Valentine's Day, he went so far as to slip a potion into Adrian's drink and send him to my bed. When Adrian woke, he refused to accept me as his second-chance mate. But he didn't reject the bond either. He simply agreed to marry me, cold as ice. Shortly after the wedding, he dumped all pack affairs on me and left for five years. I gave birth to our daughter Ivy alone and waited for him to come back. Five years later, I pushed aside an important pack meeting and took Ivy to the airport to pick him up. My daughter reached for him, begging to be held. He glanced down and said flatly, "Sorry. I'm a germaphobe." After that, Ivy and I bathed three times a day. I scrubbed the house until it was spotless as a sterile ward. But he still wouldn't come home, and he never once held either of us. Everything changed when I saw an interview. Someone asked, "Alpha Adrian, when were you happiest?" He smiled carelessly. "Last week, I guess. I put Mia to sleep, then pulled Selena into the bathroom." Selena was the mate who had rejected him. She had run off with another wolf and had Mia. Rumor had it they had been living together for the entire five years he was gone. So the rumors were true all along... That night, I stopped hoping he would ever accept me as his second-chance mate. I decided to take my daughter and leave the Valley for good. I reclaimed my title as Female Alpha of the Stormlands, absorbed the entire Valley pack into my territory, and took my daughter out of his life forever!

My best friend, Lena, and I were dragged into an ancient werewolf kingdom. The Moon Goddess gave us one chance to return home, back to our pack and fated mate: Earn the trust of the ruthless Lycan Prince and the savage Rogue King. But the mission became a nightmare. The Lycan Prince shattered my ribs and threw me into a rogue prison. The Rogue King bound Lena’s legs with silver chains and burned away her voice. For two years, we lived like stray. Then, when the Moon Goddess finally announced our failure, the Lycan prince standing before me removed his mask. It was my fated mate all along, Jace. The Rogue King revealed himself as Rowan—Lena’s fated mate as well. “It was only a punishment,” Jace said. “You two hurt Selene and caused her to lose her pup. Now we’re even.” The kingdom was fake. The cruelty was an act. But they didn’t knew, the Moon Goddess had truly appeared in our minds. And when Lena and I were on the brink of death, we made a REAL bargain with her. Our wolf souls…in exchange for our loved one’s happiness. When the sun rises, Lena and I will disappear forever.

When my best friend was being beaten by her ex, I was the one who paid off her treatment, bought her an apartment, and put up the money for her to open a clothing boutique. Six months later, she was pregnant with my fated mate's child. She knelt in front of me and cried. "You've had him for ten years. Just let me have him this once." My mate told me she would be the pack's new Luna. As for me, I could stay on at the company, making money for them and cleaning up their messes. He said it like it was obvious, because for five years I had been the one closing the clients and holding the team together, the one who turned a nearly bankrupt Blackpine Group into the leader of its industry. But a woman like me never allows a single crack in her own relationship, and as for those two, I was going to show them exactly what regret feels like!

Lorenzo Blackwood called off the mating ceremony. The reason was that I had smiled at another male werewolf at the bonfire party. For the Alpha of the Moonlight Pack, his version of the silent treatment was almost laughably childish. He stopped bringing me with him and deliberately took his assistant Anna Reed's hand instead. He deliberately bid one million dollars on a ruby for Anna at an Imperial auction, then fastened it around her neck himself. He made a point of guiding Anna through hand-to-hand combat drills on the training ground, lingering far too close as he corrected her stance. He made a point of answering every word Anna said with endless patience while ignoring every look I sent him. I had already written the apology letter. "Lorenzo, I was wrong. I swear you're the only one I love. Please don't be mad anymore, okay?" I was on my way to apologize when I heard Anna laughing outside the door of Lorenzo's study. "You gave me the pack's heirloom moonstone pendant just to get under your mate's skin. "I don't mind playing along. Chloe always caves first anyway." I looked at the pendant sitting against her throat. That was the symbol of the Moonlight Pack's Luna. Calmly, I turned and walked away. Then I canceled everything, one item at a time: the ceremony venue, the banquet, and the officiating priest.

My mate, Ryan Carter, and I took in a young rogue Omega named Nina Reed, and I raised her myself. But once she grew up, she tried every trick she could think of to seduce Ryan. He said he would send her to another pack and never let her come back. Nina threw a fit and ran out of the house. During the argument, she shoved me down the stairs even though I was seven months pregnant. The fall left me badly injured. I lost the baby and had to undergo a hysterectomy. Ryan hated her deeply. He forced her into the pack's lowest rank, making her clean up after everyone, and even tied her up in the basement to torment her day and night. But when she pressed a poisoned silver blade to her own throat and offered me a life for a life, he panicked. He grabbed the blade, blood streaming between his fingers, and said in a voice hoarse with fear, "You don't have the right to die until you've given me another child to make up for the one we lost!" She threw herself into his arms, and this time Ryan stroked her hair gently with his clean left hand. I leaned against the wall outside the door as a violent pain tore through my heart. Once it passed, I mind-linked my older brother, Lucian Bennett, the Alpha who led our pack. "I need a different mate."