1945 Pulitzer Winning

On my wedding day, my boyfriend, Theodore Gunther, suddenly stops the wedding ceremony—all because Gwen Lithgow has updated her social media to say she's back. Theodore throws away the wedding ring he designed. He leaves me at the altar without another look back. I'm dumbfounded as I stand there in my wedding dress. My brother, Alvin Chilton, who's supporting me, lets go. "You've always been strong, Joycelyn. I know you can handle this alone. Gwen needs me more now." With that, he also leaves. He and Theodore have both left me for the same woman. They abandon me alone. That night, after dealing with the fallout of the failed wedding, Gwen sends me a photo. In it, Theodore and Alvin are standing by her bedside. She wears the necklace Theodore made himself and the wedding dress Alvin designed. Those were supposed to be mine. The image makes me lose hope in them. Tears stream down my face as I make a call. "Mom, Dad, I've changed my mind. I want to go home."

At my mating ceremony, Alpha Derek's stepsister Victoria arrived wearing the $30 million Luna ceremonial gown he claimed our pack couldn't afford. Victoria pushed me into the ceremonial fire, and as the flames scorched my skin, Derek shouted at me for ruining the ceremony and embarrassing him in front of everyone. They left for our honeymoon together—the one I paid for with my own money. Wolves from the rival pack surrounded me. My wolf couldn't shift because of pregnancy. Through our mind link, I begged Derek for help. He blocked me while kissing Victoria on a Maldives beach. As the rival Alpha's claws tore into my womb, my unborn child died in pieces. Derek returned with tears, begging forgiveness. Like a fool, I gave it. What he doesn't know: I am the Alpha heiress of the Northern Territories' most powerful pack. Severing our mate bond isn't enough. I will take everything from him.

Randy’s mother, Monica, was on her dying bed. Her only wish before she died was for him, my alpha boyfriend, to perform our marking ceremony before she passed. When Monica looked at him eagerly, Randy agreed to mark me. But after we left her room, Randy said that he was going to marry Alina. “Alina’s mother is critically ill. She also wants to watch her undergo the marking ceremony before she passes. We can wait a little longer before we conduct our own marking ceremony, Emma.” “But what about your mother? She wants to witness us undergo the marking ceremony too!” “My mother can hang in there a little longer. Don’t worry.” Randy then grabbed the ring that Monica had given to me. It had acted as a symbol of me being her daughter-in-law, but Randy gave it to Alina. Unbeknownst to him, Monica was already at Death’s door, and she was feigning a picture of health in front of him. On the day Monica passed away, Randy performed the marking ceremony with another woman. After I made preparations for Monica’s funeral, I vanished from Randy’s world. To my surprise, he started begging me to become his mate after I left.

"I'm sorry, Anna. I've made a mistake that can never be forgiven." My Alpha mate, Alan Thorne, is drugged with a powerful aphrodisiac—one only a she-wolf's touch can neutralize. His assistant, Leah Hawke, takes advantage and sleeps with him. Alan and I have been bound by a mate bond for eight years. His heartfelt apologies make me believe it is nothing more than a tragic accident. But six months later, everything falls apart. When I hear Alan is caught in a landslide during a business trip, I rush to his side without hesitation. I find him lying in the hospital bed, staring at Leah, guilt weighing heavily in his eyes. "Leah is three months along with my pups. She risked everything to save me, clawing through mud and rocks with bare hands until they were raw and bleeding. "Baby, I swear, you're the one and only Luna. But please... Let me make this right. Let me take care of her until the pups are born." Leah breaks down in tears, pleading, "These pups are innocent. Please don't punish them." At that moment, I feel like the villain tearing a family apart. With bitterness burning in my throat, I rasp, "Alan, you have to choose. Either end our mate bond or banish Leah from the pack." Alan shakes his head, anguish deepening his expression. "I can't break our mate bond, but I also can't turn my back on Leah. That's not who I am." In the end, Leah gives birth to twin pups. The entire pack celebrates, but not me. I already know my time here has come to an end. "Well, Alan, since you can't decide, I'll be the one to vanish from your world."

My husband,Yves Gordon, got a diamond necklace at an auction. It was my birthday. The next day, I saw another woman wearing that necklace. She was Joyce Cherny, my husband's new sales director. That woman posted a dozen shorts on TikTok to show off her necklace. I commented, 'Nice necklace, but the outfit doesn't match.' Half an hour later, Yves called me. He berated, "I bought Joyce that necklace! She deserves it! She doesn't need you mocking her for it!"

The night my husband, William Costello, was assassinated by his enemies was supposed to be a celebration—our wedding anniversary. I was dressed in his favorite red dress, waiting for him, when the phone rang. "Mr. Costello was shot at the harbor. The bullet went through the back of his head. He died on the spot." I collapsed to the floor. I clung to his belongings, mourning for a week straight. We even lost our unborn child during this time. Everyone said William and I were true love. Even the Don himself came to the funeral, resting a heavy hand on my shoulder with a sigh. He said, "All of Blackhaven knows you were the only woman he ever loved." Grief nearly destroyed me. I stood at the river's edge, ready to follow William into the afterlife. However, I overheard my sister-in-law, Emily Hawkins, leaning into my brother-in-law, Jones Costello, her voice dripping with a twisted affection. She purred, "William, I love you so much. Between Nina and me, who do you think is sexier?" "Of course it's you, babe!" came the husky reply. I stood frozen, my eyes wide and my body trembling. Why was Emily calling my brother-in-law by my husband's name?

My boyfriend found my menstruation disgusting and forced me to undergo subdermal implantation. From then on, I no longer had periods and couldn’t conceive. One day, I had a fever reaching 40°C and couldn’t contact him. I went to the hospital alone, only to stumble upon him attending a prenatal checkup with his secretary. He told her: “Baby, don’t worry about Claire. She only listens to me here, doesn’t she?” “We can postpone the wedding for another five years. She’s loyal to me like a dog anyway.” “In the meantime, keep fulfilling your end of the arrangement I’ve promised you.” “Of course, I’ll continue loving you... until I’m tired of you.” My heart shattered. I’d proposed to him 43 times in seven years, only to fail every single time. It turned out he just hadn’t gotten bored of me yet? This time, I decided not to wait any longer. I turned my back on him and agreed to the marriage my mother arranged in the countryside. On the day my ex was supposed to accompany me to try on wedding dresses, he found an empty room and a wedding invitation I left for him to celebrate my marriage to someone else. Panic consumed him as his world fell apart...

I've been married to Ryan Hardin for nine years. He's a pureblood and the Alpha of Silverfang Pack. And I'm just a "temporary Luna" picked for a political alliance within the pack. In those nine years, he's brought home 199 women. Tonight makes it 200. She's a freshly turned Omega who flirted with Ryan at a party. He didn't turn her down. Instead, he brought her back to the home we share. When the woman walks through the door and sees me sitting on the living room couch, she doesn't bother hiding the mockery in her eyes. "Alpha Ryan, so this is the Luna you still haven't bothered to mark?" she asks with a smirk. Ryan leans back in his chair and answers lazily, "Yeah." She strolls over, looks down at me, and smiles smugly. Then, she reaches out and pats my face. Her voice is soft, but every word drips with provocation. "Make sure you listen tonight. I'll show you what it really takes to drive Alpha Ryan wild." That night, I'm forced to sit outside their door, listening to every sound as they sleep together. It feels like a ritual meant to strip me of every last shred of dignity. By morning, Ryan comes downstairs like nothing happened. His expression is cold as he orders, "Make breakfast. I want raw meat and coffee." I tell him no. Maybe he's forgotten, but we're only bound by an agreement. We've never officially been marked as mates. And today is the third-to-last day before that agreement ends.

My fiancée is a forensic doctor, and I'm a detective in the major crimes unit. I love her more than life itself, but she only cares about her first love. To help him wash his hands of a murder, she helps him deal with a corpse. What she doesn't know is that it's my corpse. When she learns the truth, she breaks down…

As Christmas approached, my fiancé Marcus Shadowhowl, the next-in-line Alpha of the Shadowhowl pack, rejected my invitation for a date and instead planned to take his assistant Sienna Nightsky to the beach on a vacation. Known as the perfect Luna-to-be, I didn’t cry or beg. I even thoughtfully helped him plan the trip. He kissed me gently and said, “Lorelei, you’re the most understanding werewolf in the world.” I smiled as I saw them off—then turned around and went to have an abortion. Why? Because in my past life, I had begged him to stay with me using the pup in me. But in the end, Sienna was brutally murdered at the beach. Outwardly, Marcus still treated me tenderly, but in his heart, he blamed me for her death. When I was about to give birth, he tricked me into going to the beach and issued a ruthless order to his subordinates. “Are we really going to dissolve the Luna’s child with silver? That’s too cruel!” “Yes. She killed Sienna. This is the punishment she deserves!” It was only then, in utter agony, that I realized Marcus had always held a grudge against me. Now that I’ve returned to the time before everything happened, I didn’t stop him from going on vacation with his assistant. Everyone laughs at my foolishness. But what they don’t know is that Marcus will eventually regret it and beg me to come back to him.