เรื่องสั้นแนว Feel-Good Story และนิยาย Mate Regret

Three days after Theodore marked me, I took the three million his mother offered. Then I aborted our pup and forced our mate bond apart. Outside the operating room, he howled until he spat blood, begging me not to be so cruel. He said he would hate me for the rest of his life. Seven years later, we met again at an auction. A beautiful, docile she-wolf was sitting beside him. I'd come to the auction for the moonlight grass. But Theodore kept raising his paddle, snatching up the very lot I was bidding on. He took the moonlight grass, dropped it in front of me, and crushed it into the dirt with his heel. He said, "Anything you want, I'll destroy." He didn't know. The moonlight grass could save my pup's life. His pup, too.

On the day of my marking ceremony, I accidentally slept through it for eight hours. By the time I made it to the altar, the ceremony was already over. My fiance, Liam Langdon, the youngest Alpha in Silver Moon Pack's history, stood hand in hand with his childhood sweetheart, Chloe Kingston. They were accepting the pack's blessings. The moment Chloe saw my pale face and disheveled state, she covered her mouth and giggled. "Sorry, Ella. I think I accidentally mixed a sleeping potion into the water I brought you at noon." Liam looked at her affectionately before glancing at me. "Chloe has dreamed of having the perfect marking ceremony ever since we were kids. It's only a ceremony. Let her have this one." He reached up and adjusted her veil. "And honestly, that dress looks better on her than it ever would have on you." My gaze landed on the white dress. I spent six months making it. I learned from the best tailor in the territory and stitched every single seam by hand. As if afraid I'd make a scene in front of everyone, Liam added casually, "Ella, if you can be reasonable about this, I'll officially mark you at the next full moon." The entire altar fell silent. Every werewolf expected me to lose control. Instead, I simply stood there and let out a sigh of relief. If he'd told me that sooner, I wouldn't have had to stay here any longer. It was finally time for me to return home and claim my throne.

On the night of my eighteenth birthday, the Lycan King came to me in a dream. He proclaimed me his fated mate and vowed to make me his queen when I turned twenty-two. Terrified, my father tried to help me escape this fate. Before he died, he entrusted me to his closest allies, a family with three powerful, wealthy sons who became my adoptive brothers. They once fought for my attention, each vying to be the one who would marry me. But that all stopped when they brought home Daisy, an orphan girl they found on the streets. They never spoke of marrying me again. Before I knew it, my twenty-second birthday arrived. A blood moon hung in the sky, and I trembled with fear, crying as I begged my eldest brother, Liam, to marry me. He had once had a million-dollar couture wedding gown designed just for me, swearing he would protect me for the rest of his life. But just before the wedding, he heard Daisy had a migraine. He abandoned me without a second thought, rushing her to a private doctor. Tears blurring my vision, I dragged the long train of my gown to find my second brother, Noah. The hot-headed brother who used to fight anyone who upset me now did not even spare me a glance. "Don't bother me," he snapped impatiently. "I'm busy preparing Daisy's medication." As the night deepened, my panic grew, and I ran to find my third brother, Caleb. He was holding Daisy, soothing her gently. "Evie, sweetie, stop playing the victim," he said with a gentle smile that didn't reach his eyes. "There was no Lycan King in your dream." "Your father was just afraid you were so spoiled that no one would ever want you, so he made up that ridiculous lie." "Once Daisy has fully recovered, we'll draw straws or something to decide which of us will marry you." My fingertips went cold as tears streamed down my face. So this is how they saw it. Marrying me was a burden. I stopped pleading. I turned, walked back to my room, and quietly waited for the Lycan King to claim me.

I was the greatest healer in the pack. There wasn't a single poisoning in the world I couldn't cure. My mate, Liam, was an Alpha suffering from wolfsbane poisoning, and his life hung by a thread. To rid himself of the toxin, he chose me as his mate. On the very night of our marking ceremony, the shewolf he truly loved, Camilla, who was also the witch who claimed her potions could save him, threw herself off a cliff. The moment I finished purging the toxin from his body, Liam turned around and plunged a dagger coated in wolfsbane straight through my heart. "You killed Camilla. You can be buried with her." His gaze was cold and devoid of even a trace of tenderness. The fur blanket we had lain on moments before became my shroud. After I died, my body was dumped in the wasteland and left for vultures to devour completely. When I opened my eyes again, I had returned to the day the old Alpha of Silver Moon Pack personally came to my cabin to ask for my hand on Liam's behalf. Looking at Liam, who sat rigidly with clear reluctance on his face, I smiled. "I may not be able to purge the toxin in Liam's body, and I have no desire to become his mate." The moment I said that, the eyes of a concerned-looking shewolf nearby lit up. "Evelyn, if you don't wish to become Liam's mate, will you consider my son instead?"

For five years, I was the Luna of the Silver Moon Pack. And for five years, every time I carried my Alpha’s pup, I miscarried before full term. After losing three babies, the Elders heavily pressured my mate, Arthur. So, he brought home an Omega. Mia. He claimed Mia wanted to be our surrogate to repay me for saving her years ago. Even though I felt guilty, the Elders backed me into a corner. And when Arthur begged me with so much love and heartbreak in his eyes, I agreed. To compensate Mia, and to pay the massive medical and IVF bills, I worked myself to the bone. I took on all the pack’s grueling duties. I gave her the ultimate luxuries and the best prenatal care. I even risked my life on the front lines, fighting like a beast to secure more territory for our pack. Finally, after three painful rounds of IVF, she got pregnant. I still remember the day the pup was born. Arthur held me in his arms, crying tears of joy as he kissed me. "We finally have an heir, Serena. You never have to suffer again." Mia stayed in the guest room of our packhouse. I swore to myself that I would treat her like my own sister. And I loved our pup, Leo, as if he were my own flesh and blood. But the day after Leo’s first birthday, he spiked a massive fever and nearly passed out. Arthur and Mia were out. Panicking, I rushed him to the pack hospital for emergency surgery. When the blood test came back, I froze. Leo was Blood Type B. He wasn't my child.