Healing Short Stories & Childhood Sweethearts Face Slapping Novels

After Nathan Seville stands me up for the seventh time we're supposed to register our marriage, I finally cut all ties with him—completely and on my own terms. If he shows up at a gathering, I don't go. If he's invited to perform at the college anniversary, I leave early. The moment my company decides to work with him, I resign on the spot. Even on Christmas Eve, when he shows up at my house with gifts, I make up an excuse about needing to visit someone. Calls? Blocked. Socials? Deleted. My strategy is simple—cut it all off. I don't reach out, and he has no way of finding me. For the first 30 years of my life, I spent most of it loving him with everything I had. I cared for him, supported him, and waited for him. But after being left hanging for the seventh time at the City Hall, I finally wake up. I don't want to live like this anymore. Even if I end up alone, it's still better than spending night after night waiting in an empty house that never feels like home!

A year after Easton Carter turns down my 99th proposal, he calls me in the middle of the night, crying like his world's falling apart. He says his grandmother is dying and her last wish is to see him married. He tells me he's finally ready. He's already ordered the dress and booked the venue. But when I show up at the venue in my wedding dress, his friends burst out laughing. "You actually believed that? And you even swapped the cheap dress he ordered for a custom-made one? You're the queen of pathetic!" Then one of them yells, "Look, the groom's side piece showed up to crash the wedding!" "Security, come get this homewrecker!" Guests turn to stare like they're watching a joke unfold. Easton doesn't even look at me. He turns to the woman he loves and says, "I told you I'd ruin this wedding for you. I meant it. If you can't have him, no one will!" She gives him a satisfactory smile. Then, he finally glances at me. "Tina said you did her a favor today. When we get married, you can be the bridesmaid, and you can still spend time with us after that." So, he brought me here just to help his sweetheart ruin her crush's wedding. But when Easton finally looks up at the wedding banner and realizes that I'm the bride, his eyes flare with rage.

We were having Full Moon Festival dinner at my apartment. The three guys I'd grown up with arrived with nothing but cheap beer and their friend, Chloe Sutton. Chloe said the smell of raw, bloody meat made her sick. I'd spent all day preparing 12 grilled dishes for the traditional feast. I was setting down the last platter of roast venison when Chloe got a text. She turned to us and asked timidly, "Mia just got kicked out of her pack, and she has nowhere to go. Can I invite her over?" Before I could say a word, Ethan Walsh pulled my chair away from the table. "Aria, don't you have border patrol tonight? You might as well head out now." Liam Porter leaned against the doorframe and laughed. "You eat your own cooking every day anyway. Missing one meal won't kill you." Chloe waved her hands, flustered. "No, forget it. I'll just tell Mia to go hunt in the woods by herself." All three men rushed over to comfort her. "Who sends a guest back out into the cold?" My fated mate, Caleb Mercer, who was also our pack's Alpha, cut off a piece of lightly charred venison and put it in a food container for me. "Be good. I saved you your favorite part. Heat it up later if you get hungry. And lose the attitude. A future Luna should be more gracious." I stood there in silence. They sat around the table I'd bought with my own savings and ate from the dishes I'd picked out so carefully, as if everything belonged to them. So they knew perfectly well you didn't turn away a guest who'd come a long way. They had just forgotten whose apartment this was. I didn't scream or cry. I just reached over and took the spare key to my apartment from Caleb's belt. "None of you are staying here tonight." Caleb's face froze. Even I could hear how cold my voice was. This was my apartment. I was never the one who should have been shown the door.

I was in a temporary shock from an allergic reaction. The two guys I had grown up with didn't even look my way. One of them was busy helping Vivian Byrd carry a pile of gifts, while the other was snapping pictures of her at some popular social media spot. It was a stranger passing by who called an ambulance and got me to the hospital, saving my life. The next day, Vivian called, her tone almost smug. "Trish, Zeke and Hendrick were so exhausted after shopping with me yesterday. I heard you threw a tantrum and ended up in the hospital. Should I come visit you?" I simply replied, "No need." Zeke Benson and Hendrick Peay were my childhood friends. They once treated me like I was everything to them—promising to pluck the moon and stars from the sky and to protect me forever. But ever since Vivian came into the picture, their world no longer revolved around me. I thought for a moment and then dialed my mother's number. "Mom, I'll accept the marriage arrangement."