Melodramatic Werewolf Short Stories & Childhood Sweethearts Regret Novels

The witch's prophecy crystal showed me my future. My fated mate, Alpha Adam, would betray me before our bond was ever sealed. The one he chose instead? My own sister. And me? I gave up my healer trials for him. Became nothing. Lost every right to ever stand as this pack's Luna. In the end, my sister shoved me off a cliff with her own two hands. I didn't want to believe it, until I saw them at the border. Tangled. Kissing. Unmistakable. Then it all clicked. Adam made me quit the healer trials just to keep me trapped in this pack, where he could control me. And he used that pathetic excuse, "protecting the pack," "calming your sister's wolf," to screw around behind my back. The sister I spoiled rotten. The one who wanted what was mine. I took a breath, turned, and walked away. The healer trials came right on schedule. I walked into that hall, calm and ready— I was going to become the Chief Healer. And I was never, ever giving myself up for anyone again.

I was the daughter of the Ashford Pack Alpha — the most beautiful she-wolf in the entire southern territory. Alphas lined up to pursue me, and I couldn't be bothered to give any of them a second glance. Until my best friend dared me: "Sera, I've got a bet for you. Think you can make my brother Kieran fall for you? Win, and I'll give you my mother's healing moonstone necklace. Lose, and you hand over that limited-edition sports car you love so much." Countless beautiful she-wolves had tried to get into his bed. Every last one of them had been turned away cold. The very first night after I took the bet, I saved Kieran from a silver poisoning, and spent the rest of that night tangled up with him while he burned through his heat. For the two years that followed, he grew more and more obsessed with me. On the long conference table in the pack meeting room, he pinned me down against the papers. In every room of his private estate, we left traces of ourselves behind. I gradually fell in love with him during countless intimate moments. Until the night only to overhear his conversation with the pack elder. "Alpha, it's time to announce who will be Luna." The Elder's voice was low and deliberate. "Miss Seraphina has been by your side for two years now. According to pack tradition—" "Enough." Kieran cut him off. "She and I were just having fun." The Elder was quiet for a moment. "And your first love? When you two separated, she asked for two years apart to try other partners. Those two years are up now. Isn't it time for her to come back?" "Yes." Warmth finally crept into Kieran's voice. "It's time for her to come back." That was when I realized — his so-called true love was my half-sister. The person I hated most in the world. For two years, I had been just his experiment while he "tried someone else". I turned and walked away without a second thought. But this powerful Alpha went mad — tearing through the entire wolf world searching for me.

Lena Fields was my best friend. When I found out her boyfriend had cheated on her, my mate and I rushed straight over to back her up. Lena and I clawed at that homewrecker’s face while my mate, Garrett Blackwood, held the cheating jerk down. On the way back to the pack, the three of us looked one another over. We were covered in claw marks, and we burst out laughing. Lena laughed until she started crying. “You two had better never break your mate bond. Otherwise, who am I supposed to tag along with?” Garrett rolled his eyes at her. “We’re fated mates chosen by the Moon Goddess. Only death can separate us.” After that, I helped Lena settle in the Windwolf pack. I stayed by her side through the pain of breaking her mate bond and encouraged her to start a new life. I was so busy helping her that I even neglected my mate. Every time Garrett got jealous, he’d pull me into his arms and complain, “Elise, do you even remember that I’m your mate?” Then Alpha Rowan Blackwood sent Garrett to the border for three months. When he came back, we couldn’t wait to throw our arms around each other. The moment I sank into his arms, I felt a sharp sting where he’d marked me. I also caught another werewolf’s scent on him. I shoved Garrett away, furious. “You cheated on me! I’m breaking our mate bond!” Then I grabbed Lena, who was standing behind Garrett. “Come on, Lena! You stayed in the Windwolf pack for me, so now you’re leaving with me!” But the second I said it, she shook me off. I turned around, stunned, and saw Lena step back to Garrett’s side, her eyes full of guilt.

After the four others in my group forgot my birthday three years running, they finally promised to join me for a stand-up show this year. On the day, I arrived early with five pricey tickets I’d bought. All I needed was to wait and pass them out: one for my fiancé, one for my best friend, one for my childhood friend, one for my adopted sister. I was holding the last ticket for myself when a hand stretched toward it. I spotted a strange werewolf behind my adopted sister Marian. “This is Leah, a classmate. She just split with her boyfriend and wants the show to cheer up,” My childhood friend Noah said cheerfully. “We’ve got extra tickets. Della won’t mind, she hates seeing Leah hurt.” My best friend Lisa linked arms with me. “I got your favorite chestnut cake. You can go collect it now.” Marian hesitated and offered to give Leah her own ticket, but Noah and Lisa cut her off at once. “No, you’ve been looking forward to this forever. We planned to watch together.” My fiancé Victor snatched the ticket from my grasp and handed it to Leah. “Let Leah take it. You aren’t that into stand-up. It’s freezing out here. Go get the cake and head home. We’ll celebrate your birthday after the show.” Marian had to go in as we’d arranged, Leah had to go in to mend her broken heart. I was the only one with no place inside. They forgot I planned this whole outing and paid for every ticket. This was meant to be my birthday, yet I ended up locked out. I stood there watching the five of them file forward for ticket checks. It dawned on me: in our little group, only four seats were permanent. The fifth was never guaranteed to be me. It could be anyone. Right then, I knew I didn’t need them for my birthday. And I didn’t need them in my life at all.

I grew up with James Brown, the Alpha of the Blackwood Pack. We were inseparable. I thought I was going to be his Luna. Then I brought home an abandoned female wolf from the border. After that, she lived in James's eyes. He couldn't see through her act, and he kept pinning her mistakes on me. After countless heartbreaks, I finally woke up. "Olivia, the bonding ceremony we arranged for you and Lucas Johnson, the Alpha of the Silver Moon Pack, is in a week. Do you... want to go through with it? If you still don't want to, I'll go to the Johnson family and call the whole thing off." It was the eighth time my mom had brought it up. Just when she thought I'd turn her down again, I spoke. "I'll do it. I'll bond with Lucas." Mom froze. "You... you will?" "I will." My voice was calm. "But I have some loose ends to tie up in the Blackwood Pack. I'll be back in time for the ceremony."

Right before graduation, my three childhood friends, Xavier Reid, Silas Moore, and Caspian Ward, asked me to play Truth or Dare with them. I drew a dare in the very first round. My adopted sister, Vivian Sloane, asked if I'd be willing to give up the job offer I already had and go work in another city with them. Xavier, the childhood friend I'd been secretly in love with for years, even promised that if I came with them, we'd become mates once we were settled in our jobs. I said yes. That night, with everyone watching, I turned down my dream job. Xavier kissed my forehead and promised he would never let me down. On graduation day, once the ceremony was over, I'd meant to go tell them that I'd already found a new job. But before I could, I heard them around a corner, talking in low voices. "Is Vivian's job a done deal?" "It's official. HR called me right after Flora turned down the offer." "Good. This way she won't keep clinging to us and upsetting Vivian." "Poor Xavier, though. He's a werewolf, and yet he's had to spend all that time dating a girl he doesn't even like." The four voices drew closer. I stood frozen as my three childhood friends and Vivian met my eyes.

The day my college acceptance letter arrived, I found a post on Mom's phone asking strangers for advice. [I promised my older daughter I'd pay for her college, but now my younger daughter wants to apply too. How can I give the tuition I saved for my older daughter to my younger one without the older one holding it against me?] Every reply said the same thing. [You already promised your older daughter. Why would you betray her? Can't you find some other way?] Dazed, I accidentally hit refresh, and a familiar profile picture popped up. It belonged to my brother. [That's not really betrayal. It's your money, and you can spend it on whoever you want!] [I'm family, so I'll be honest. The older daughter is an Omega, the lowest rank there is. She's been slow since she was little, her grades are average at best, and whatever school she gets into is bound to be terrible.] [But the younger daughter is different. She's a noble Beta, just like the rest of us, and she's always had excellent grades. Plenty of colleges will want her, and our whole family is happy to spend the money on her.] My mate chimed in under my brother's comment. [He's right. Once the younger one gets in, we can all go stay with her and take care of her so she can focus on her studies.] I gripped my phone, my heart aching. My family and my future mate had always favored my Beta sister. They bought my sister expensive makeup and told me I was plain, not a tenth as pretty as her, so makeup would be wasted on me. They took my sister to all kinds of parties and told me I was too awkward, not bubbly and outgoing like her, and I'd just kill the mood. Even now, when it came to college, they thought I wasn't as good as my sister. I looked at the acceptance letter on my computer. Then I chose the university more than 600 miles from home because it had offered me a full tuition waiver. I was done with this home where I'd never been anyone's favorite.

I used to think the Moon Goddess had given me three mates to choose from. Cyrus Vance was sharp-tongued, but he was always the first to come running when I got hurt. Draven Locke was quiet, but he would guard my door late into the night. Knox Hollis was gentle. He once promised to stay by my side for the rest of his life. They were the strongest warriors of the Frostmoon pack. And I was the Alpha's only daughter. From the day I was born, they protected and spoiled me as if I were their most precious treasure. Then Nara came into our lives. She had no family or allies, and she brought along a pup everyone shunned. All she had to do was show up, and suddenly, I was invisible. They said that aside from being the Alpha's daughter, I had nothing going for me. Nara, on the other hand, was strong and independent, and far more worth following. Cyrus stopped watching over me. Instead, he started protecting Nara, even treating me coldly for the first time because of her. Draven stopped coming to my door, too. To protect Nara and her pup, he volunteered for a near-suicidal mission in rogue territory. And Knox was the one who changed the most. He stopped answering when I called for him, and then, right to my face, he announced his decision. "I'm going to mark Nara." He said I had a father, a pack, and countless wolves to choose from. He said I wouldn't really lose anything. If that was how they felt, I would give them what they wanted. The night before the marking ceremony Cyrus had planned for Nara, I went to my father's office. "I'm willing to form a mating alliance with the Northern Snow Wolf Pack."

I was a mermaid fostered within the Silverwood Pack. By the laws of my kin, on the day I came of age, I had to swallow a Tide Pearl fed to me by a male. Only then could I fully shed my tail and truly join the wolf pack, remaining on land. And whoever fed me the pearl would become my mate. Miss that window, and my legs would turn back into a tail, forcing me to return to the deep sea. Before my mother died, she left behind three Tide Pearls, entrusting them to the three wolf boys I grew up with—each desperate to become my mate. But just as I was about to come of age, a lone wolf mother named Chloe arrived at the pack with her young pup, Leo. Alpha Lucas, Beta Kane, and Gamma Aiden became convinced that Chloe was the widow of the wolf who had saved their lives, and they showered mother and son with care. They knew full well what the Tide Pearls meant to me—yet choice after choice, they handed those pearls over to Chloe and her child, one by one. Their protection of Chloe was built on my sacrifice. With every pearl gone, I had no reason left to stay in the pack. At midnight on my coming-of-age day, the tide surged over the cliffs. I returned to the sea.