Cerita Pendek Melodramatic Werewolf & Novel Homewrecker Regret

Charles Hale wanted to prove he could succeed without inheriting the Alpha position, so he devoted almost all his time to his work on cruise ships. For ten years, I watched him work his way up from deckhand to captain. I was happy to support him and take care of him whenever he needed me. I asked him once, "When are you going to take me out on the water? I want to see the gulls and the huge waves with you." He rolled over, turning his back to me. "There are so many passengers on that ship. It's not exactly a place for a date." I didn't say anything. I filed it away and never brought it up again. Then one day, I stumbled across the private photo album he'd kept hidden for years. Thousands of photos, every one taken on deck, with waves and the sunrise in the background. And the same woman in all of them. She had her arms thrown wide, like she was trying to hold the whole ocean. Charles had written little diary entries on the backs of the photos, all the things he wanted to say to her. "I cherish every day I get to watch the sea with you. I hope it stays like this forever. The ocean, and you." The most recent photo was dated last week. In it, the sea breeze was tossing her long hair. I quietly shut the cabinet door and locked it again. Then I sat alone on the living room couch and stared at nothing until dawn. I picked up my phone and bought a ticket on an Alaska cruise. After ten years, I thought I could finally stop letting my life revolve around waiting for him to come home. No more crossing days off a calendar. No more checking the weather at sea to make sure he was safe. He didn't want to share his stars and his ocean with me. Fine. I'd go see them on my own, and the wind out there would be mine.

Kieran Blackwood hated two things: being slow and waiting. As the youngest Alpha in the Blackwood Pack, he expected everything to be done fast. I was his fated mate—and the slowest wolf in the pack. My wolf didn't awaken until I was nineteen. While others needed five seconds to shift, I needed ten. Kieran never yelled at me. He just kept telling me to hurry up, to keep up, to be more like Valerie. Valerie Blackwood was the widow of Kieran's older brother, Marcus. Five months ago, Marcus died saving Kieran at the border. With his dying breath, he made Kieran promise to take care of Valerie and their unborn pup. Soon, Valerie could do no wrong, and I could never do anything fast enough. Still, I believed Kieran loved me. During the first three months of my pregnancy, he never missed a single Healer's appointment. He even promised he'd never miss an important moment in our pup's life. Then the Blood Moon came. Valerie and I went into labor on the same night, and there was only one dose of Moonveil Elixir left—the potion that could protect a mother and her pup during a dangerous Blood Moon birth. My daughter's heartbeat was failing. I begged Kieran to save her. He gave the Moonveil to Valerie. He stayed by her side while she delivered Marcus's son. I gave birth alone. My daughter didn't breathe for ninety seconds, and I nearly died. Kieran never came to see us. That was the night I finally stopped waiting for him.

I am the only daughter of the Alpha King. When I was eight, I rescued a starving rogue pup named Alex from the border. I begged my father to take him in, and we grew up together. At eighteen, I discovered he was my fated mate. My father happily gave me to him in marriage, carved out a stretch of territory, and made him an Alpha. Everyone said we were a perfect match. Until a year ago — while I was pregnant — the boy who had always protected me and adored me fell in love with a Healer named Vivian. He told me that he'd always seen me as a little sister. He got on his knees and begged me to let him go. He was willing to give up the entire territory and his Alpha title. My hands trembled as I signed the Mate Bond dissolution agreement. But before it could take effect, that healer slipped wolfsbane into my medicine. I miscarried. When I finally opened my eyes, Alex rushed to my side with bloodshot eyes, held me tight like he was terrified of losing me, and apologized over and over. He said he was wrong. He swore he would devote himself to me completely. I was consumed by hatred. I ordered Vivian's execution. But Alex grabbed my hand and stopped me. He told me he'd already banished her permanently. For the next year, Alex was perfectly devoted — attentive to my every need. Then, seven months into my second pregnancy, I stumbled upon the woman who should have been long banished — Vivian, quietly settled at the edge of the territory. And Alex, leaning down to kiss her tenderly. If he loves Vivian that much, then I'll take back everything I ever gave him — and let him have his "true love." But if that's what he wanted... then why is he on his knees again, begging me to come back?

On the day of my marking ceremony, I arrived at the Moon Goddess altar clutching the silver crest meant for Blackridge's future Luna, only to find the place completely deserted. My mother was laughing so hard over the phone she could barely speak. "Selena, you actually went? We're all in Riverbend Valley with Leah." The video shifted. Leah was sitting by the fireplace in Kane's coat, with my father and my brother Rowan nearby. The moment Kane saw how red my face was from the snow, his smile faded. "Where's your cloak?" He turned and ordered a guard to go get me before looking back at the screen. "Selena, I just wanted to know whether you'd still choose me if fate hadn't already chosen for us." "So you tricked me into coming here alone just to test me?" Laughter broke out again on the other end of the call. Kane's voice dropped. "I was never going to choose anyone else. I just wanted to hear you say, for once, that you wanted me too." They had all known I would cross the snow to get there. Not one of them had stopped to think that the whole thing might humiliate me. I looked down and unclasped the silver crest that marked me as Blackridge's future Luna. "Fine." The next day, I canceled the marking ceremony, resigned from every position I held in Silverpine, and left both packs behind. At first, they all thought I was simply angry. It took them much longer to understand that this time, I was done with all of them.

The day Kellan Reed became Alpha, the pack historian asked him who he was most grateful to. Everyone looked at me, the Luna who had given everything to help him get there. But Kellan's gaze landed on the Omega in the very last seat. "The person I'm most grateful to is Serena Morgan." The historian froze for a second and gave me an awkward glance. Then he handed Serena the white moonstone necklace that had been passed down for generations. It was an old White Moon tradition: whenever a new Alpha took power, he presented his Luna with the necklace as a symbol of the White Moon Pack. Every Alpha before him had given it to his mate. Until me. That was where the tradition ended. Serena looked flustered. "Kellan, I can't accept this. It belongs to your Luna." But Kellan fastened the moonstone around Serena's neck himself. "Evelyn is my Luna, but she came into my life after I was already whole. You saved me when I couldn't even control my own wolf. I'll never forget that windowless treatment room, or how we had to share the only bed. You were the only one who could calm my wolf enough to let me sleep." Serena's eyes went red, and she threw her arms around him. Her 10-year-old son, Leon, came over and asked quietly, "Uncle Kellan, does that make us your family too?" Kellan bent down and ruffled the boy's hair. The pack said nothing. Everyone watched to see how I, his Luna, would handle my husband's other "responsibility." I turned, took off my ring, and handed it to the guard behind me. "Send this back to the Blackcliff Pack. "Send a message from me. Tell them to recall every warrior stationed at the Ashford border and cut off all military aid between our two packs." Kellan thought Serena was the one who saved him. Then let her keep protecting his pack.

The Alliance's Awakening Trials were finally over. The proctors from the Capital called me a fighting prodigy. I shattered the all-time pack record. That alone scored me an exceptional admission offer to the Royal Elite Academy. I ran home, screaming with excitement. "I can finally go to the Royal Elite Academy! I can go to the Capital to see Rowan and Julian!" Dead silence answered me. Four stuffed wolves sat on my creaky bed. I sewed them myself. Dad, Mom, my brother Rowan, and my childhood crush and fated Mate, Julian. Their button eyes stared at me coldly. They kept me silent company, just like they had for countless suffocating nights. I looked down. A year ago, my twin sister Willow got terribly sick. Everyone said it was my fault. My awakened power was too aggressive. My dominant aura crushed her weak inner wolf. So, I was banished. Sent to this drafty, broken shack on the edge of the territory. The first night here, a rogue wolf howled and almost broke my door down. I curled up under the bed, hiding my scent. I was too terrified to even whimper. I desperately reached out through the pack mind-link to my parents, my brother, and Julian. Over and over again. I called their phones. No one answered. At dawn, Mom finally texted back. "Stop calling. Hearing your name makes Willow's wolf sick." I made these four stuffed wolves. One for each of them. They slept with me on freezing nights when the fire died out. They listened to my progress in every trial. They listened to me swallow my unheard heartbreak. But right now, hot tears rolled down my face, and I didn't hug them. After being abandoned for so long, I was finally ready to cut ties. No looking back.

My Alpha mate's childhood sweetheart was a witch. She told everyone my blood carried a Cursed Bloodline — that bonding with Damon would kill him. On our anniversary, she drew a Curse Circle outside my door, claiming it would suppress my dark energy. At our Mating Ceremony, she disguised herself as a server and swapped our Bonding Tokens for a Curse Rune. Every single time, she'd kneel in front of Damon and cry: "I'm only trying to protect you from the curse. Everything I do is for you!" And every single time, Damon went soft. He said she just cared about him too much. Until the eve of our Marking Ceremony, when she drugged me, put on my Luna ceremonial gown, and crawled into Damon's bed. I woke up just in time and reported her to the Pack Enforcers. Damon went straight to the Enforcers' station to get her out, then turned to me and said coldly: "Serena was just trying to protect me. Do you really have to make such a big deal out of this?" Until I bled out during labor and fell into a coma, and she stood over me with tears in her eyes, telling Damon: "Choose me and let her go — this is the will of the Moon Goddess.." I left this world together with the child still in my belly. Then I opened my eyes again. I was back on the day of the Mating Ceremony, and she was about to slip the Hex Rune into our token box. This time, I didn't hold back. I ripped open the box in front of everyone and slapped the rune onto her forehead: "I think the one who needs cleansing is you!"

To save my unconscious Alpha fiancé, I got trapped in a glacial crevasse on the frozen mountain. I tried to reach him through our bond ninety-nine times, but he blocked me out completely. When he finally found me seven days later, his first words were an accusation. "Elara damaged her eyes trying to save me, and you just had to cause trouble right now!" "You're a trained mountain warrior. How could you get trapped in a small crevasse for seven days?" "I've had enough of your games. Let's break off our engagement." He thought I would cry and argue like before. But I just nodded. "Okay." He didn't know I hit my head when I fell trying to save him. In seven days, I would completely forget him. But when I finally left him completely as he'd promised, he went crazy, searching the world and begging me back.