18th Candle Message

The day we were meant to be mated, my Alpha, Ford, was ambushed. Silver bullets shredded his car, sending it plunging off a bridge and into the river below. He was pronounced dead. Drowned. I was left pregnant with his heir, shattered by the raw agony of our severed mate bond. Then Ford's twin, Aiden, returned from abroad with his mate, Kyra. His identical face and a scent so similar to my mate's nearly drove me mad. A desperate part of me swore Ford was still alive. I told myself it was just grief. A widow's delusion. Until I overheard a hushed conversation and the horrifying truth slammed into me: the man pretending to be Aiden was Ford. He had faked his death. He'd let his own brother die in his place, all for Kyra—the other woman carrying his child. The grief that had crippled me instantly morphed into a cold, sharp rage. Ford didn't just break our bond; he shattered it. And I would make him pay. I wiped my tears and sent a single message to my brother, Billy, the Alpha of the Winterstone Pack. "Brother, I need a plane crash. He loves faking his death? Fine. Let him feel what it's like to truly lose a mate." Only when the news of my "death" spread did Ford reclaim his name. He knelt for seven days and nights in the ashes of the home we once shared, consumed by a grief of his own making.

"You just shifted," was how the King responded, a fire in his eyes that seemed to make Kendra feel like she was melting. "Y-yes sir," she stammered before standing up fully, though she kept her eyes down again. She wasn't sure where to look. "I was confirming, not asking," he says, though his voice is not unkind, but curious. "Incredible. A female Alpha. A thing not even of legends." He stood up, and crossed the space between them in an instant. The mouthwatering scent was now overwhelming her. He lifted her chin with the tips of his fingers. Electricity spread from the spots where his fingers touched, and her breath hitched. Their eyes met, and his was now as wide as hers. She finally heard her wolf, confirming what was starting to dawn on her. Mate. Kendra was the daughter of the Beta of her Pack, and while she had that strong wolf blood in her veins, she hadn’t shifted at 13. Rather than despairing, she threw herself into her future, where she would be an Advocate amongst humans, asking for wolf rights and hoping that being unable to shift would put them at ease. However, on her 18th birthday, something unheard of happened- she shifted. Now, she has to juggle handling her newfound responsibilities, her conflicting feelings with the former Gamma’s son, Derek, and on top of all of it, her mate bond with Lycan King Kenzo, who despite being cold and distant to many, grew to be warm and kind to her. Will she be able to disregard her feelings for Derek and live happily with Kenzo, or will she reject her mate bond, and risk losing everything, to be with a man who seems to be hiding a secret from her?

À seulement 19 ans, Alayna vit un véritable cauchemar. Depuis la mort de son père, sa mère s’est remariée avec un homme violent, manipulateur et tyrannique. Leur maison est devenue une prison. Sa mère, aveuglée par l’argent de ce nouveau mari, ferme les yeux sur les abus, laissant sa fille se débrouiller seule dans l’enfer domestique. Un soir, après une nouvelle dispute, Alayna tombe par hasard sur un forum anonyme de luxure et de confidences. Elle y lit une histoire similaire à la sienne : une fille qui a vendu sa virginité à un inconnu pour s’enfuir. L’idée germe… et devient obsession. Prête à tout pour échapper à sa vie, Alayna poste un message : “Je vends ma virginité au plus offrant. Pas pour le plaisir, pas pour le vice. Juste pour m’acheter une nouvelle vie.” Contre toute attente, un seul message lui est envoyé. Court, direct : "Je paie le double de ce que tu attends. Mais je fixe les règles." Signé : W.W