1945 Pulitzer Winning

At our Thanksgiving family dinner, my stepbrother brought his beautiful girlfriend to meet the family for the first time. She held up her wine glass and flashed me a malicious smirk. “I heard you had a first love you can’t forget, Summer.” I kept my head low and focused on my food, unsure how to respond. After all, my first love… was her boyfriend. When I was seventeen, my stepbrother Ethan Cole tricked me into crossing the line we should never have crossed, while our parents were blissfully unaware. Even right now, under the table, his foot was rubbing mine sensually. He did not bother holding back. On the table, he held his girlfriend’s hand tenderly as he mocked me with a smirk, “You’re twenty-seven, sis. Your shelf life is running out, and you’re such a plain Jane. Who would ever want you?” I stood up abruptly and looked at him, my tone calm and resolute. “I’m married, Ethan.”

I'm the Moonlight pack's Luna. Today is my tenth wedding anniversary with my Alpha, Aaron Renfield. To my surprise, I find out he has a pair of twin pups. He says to me matter-of-factly, "Don't overthink this, Ruth. I'm an Alpha, so I need an heir. With this, the elders won't keep complaining about you failing to give birth to an Alpha heir. You'll still be my Luna forever." I can't believe my ears. As the pack's Luna, I've given it my all for the past decade. My uterus was permanently damaged by a knife covered in wolfsbane when trying to save Aaron, and the healer diagnosed that I would never be able to have my own pups. Yet now, the elders are using that to reprimand me. I turn to leave this wolf I've loved for years—I reject our mate bond. But later, Aaron begs me not to go.

I did three things when I had made a decision to leave Alpha James. The first thing I did was throw all the precious gifts he had given to me. The second thing I did was secretly donate the wooden house he had built for our future and tear up the ceremonial dress that was custom-made for me on our marking day. The third thing I did was go to the Northern Territory to guard our pack, so I cast all ties with the entire pack and disappeared into the tribe. What he didn’t know was that I had quietly planned my departure while he was out hunting and spending countless nights at the Moon River with Doris, his childhood sweetheart. I became the ideal Luna he was hoping for, considerate and tolerant. Later, he lost control and asked me: “Why aren’t you angry? Don’t you love me anymore?” I lowered my head in silence and announced my decision to leave after seeing the ambiguous messages Doris, James's sweetheart, had sent to me.

Our seventh wedding anniversary. I sat at the dining table—alone. My phone buzzed, lighting up with two messages. First, from Tom: [Working late at the office tonight.] Second, anonymous: [Tom is incredible. Can you even keep up?] Attached was a picture of him, lips locked with a woman I didn't recognize. I blew out the candles on the anniversary cake. Eyes shut, I typed back: [Let's divorce.]

Her laughter cascaded through the air, a seductive melody that intertwined with her mischievous gaze. "You underestimate yourself, Nathan. Behind that haughty mask lies a man consumed by desires he can't control." His eyes smoldered with a mixture of longing and determination, stepping closer, he drew her into his embrace, their bodies pulsating with an electric current. His voice, a velvet caress, dripped with untamed sensuality. "You're playing with fire, Brixlee. But know this, I always emerge victorious." . . Nathan Grey is a powerful and wealthy businessman known for his commanding presence. When Brixlee, a humble country girl, embarrasses him at a fancy party, Nathan's wounded pride fuels a strong desire for revenge. Little does he know that seeking vengeance won't be straightforward. Determined to make Brixlee pay for her audacity, Nathan devises a clever plan. With the support of his friend Lucas, he proposes a bet that requires him to get close to the mysterious Brixlee. As the stakes rise, Nathan embarks on a journey filled with unexpected challenges and surprising discoveries. As the story unfolds, Nathan finds himself caught in a tangle of love and passion, where the rules of the game blur and desires become entwined. Balancing his quest for revenge with growing emotions he can't deny, he must confront a startling truth – sometimes, winning the game means losing what truly matters. In the midst of this dangerous game of love, where trust is fragile and hearts are vulnerable, Nathan and Brixlee must navigate a treacherous path. Will they surrender to the irresistible connection between them? Or will their hidden secrets and unfulfilled desires bring them crashing down, leaving them both vulnerable and broken? It is a captivating tale of passion, redemption, and the tumultuous dance between two souls who must confront their vulnerabilities to find happiness.

It's my birthday, but my Alpha mate, Jackson Daveed, has a church wedding with his first love. When I question him about it, he says, "Laila's been poisoned with wolfsbane. I was just giving her a wedding per her final wishes. You think so lowly of us—can't you tell whether or not I've cheated?" He knows better than anyone that I lost my wolf after saving him—he and I no longer have the mind-link between mates. I've long since become a regular person who's worthless. I don't cry or cause a fuss. Instead, I make an appointment with a healer to have an abortion. But for some reason, Jackson, who's always scorned me, goes out of his mind as he tries to track me down.

Just before my wedding, my fate mate, my Alpha fiancé, Micheal, stripped me of my wedding dress—our wedding dress—and handed it to his mistress, Becky Porter. Not only that, but he locked me in the dressing room like some rabid wolf he needed to contain. "Becky has a terminal illness.She just wants to experience being a bride before she dies." I lunged forward, my wolf howling inside me. Alpha's strength pressed against mine, his dominance forcing my muscles to lock. My claws twitched, itching to break free. "You bastard!" I snarled, my breath ragged. Micheal barely blinked. Instead, he let out an exasperated sigh, shaking his head . "She’s dying, and you can’t even show a little compassion?" His tone dripped with disappointment, as if I were the villain here. "You’re only losing a wedding, but Becky… Becky is losing her dreams and her life."

I was five months along, carrying the pup of my fiancé, Ryan Hebert. On our marking day, Ryan rejected me and marked Daisy, also with pup. He claimed my pup wasn’t his, a bastard of unknown origin. Worse, he called my father a traitor in front of everyone. At the banquet entrance, my father collapsed, and I miscarried. I knelt in blood, begging him to save us. “Daisy can’t handle stress. Stay away from her.” Then he walked off, holding her close. Later, my childhood friend Andrew saved me. He brought in the most skilled wolf healers for my father, and stayed by my side, night and day. A week later, my father had another heart attack. Before he passed, his only wish was for me to be protected. Andrew knelt by the bedside, and solemnly swore to my father’s lifeless body that he would marry me,that he would protect me for the rest of my life. And I believed him. After the funeral, I ended things with Ryan and married Andrew instead. But five years later, I overheard a conversation between Ryan and Andrew. “If Eleanor ever finds out that it was you and me who traded her purity for Daisy’s happiness on the day of the ceremony… do you think she’d still love you?” So Andrew’s love was a lie too. But when I left, why did the one who broke me beg to have me back?

Johanna Thorne and her sister, Allison Thorne, marry into the Silverplume family, the most prestigious werewolf family in the Northern Wolflands, on the same day. Their husbands are the only pair of pureblood Alpha twins in the family—Carlin Silverplume and Uriel Silverplume. Throughout the continent's long history, fewer than ten such twin pairs have ever been born. They are seen as blessings from the Moon Goddess herself, a source of pride for the entire family. Johanna is wed to the calm and stoic younger brother, Carlin. Her sister becomes the mate of the elder twin, Uriel, the family's strongest warrior Alpha. But during a mission to hunt down rebel wolves, Uriel is tragically killed. His body is never recovered. With his death, his bloodline ends. The news devastates the matriarch. She weeps before the altar, crying that this is punishment for the Silverplume family. With Uriel gone and no heir left behind, one of the family's two remaining pureblood lines is now severed. The future of their legacy hangs by a thread. Three days later, the matriarch summons Carlin and Johanna to the council hall. Before the gathered elders and priests, she solemnly proposes a solution. "Carlin shares the same blood and bone as Uriel... In the name of our ancestral spirits, I ask that Carlin form a breeding pact with Allison to fulfill Uriel's unfinished duty." Johanna's hands clench tightly. She turns to look at Carlin. In that moment, she doesn't know whether she's still his Luna or just a sacrifice offered up to preserve the family's bloodline.

Before the wedding, Alpha Kevin’s first love, Sandra Barlow, was betrothed to none other than David Wright—the most infamous rogue Alpha along the Mississippi River. A wolf so ruthless, even the werewolf Council preferred to pretend he didn’t exist. Alpha Kevin, ever the noble hero, couldn't bear to see his precious white moonlight thrown into the fire pit. So, what did he do? With the werewolf army of the Midnight Ridge Pack, he stormed into the rogue den and snatched her away from Alpha David. That very night, they registered their marriage and held a wedding. And me? Oh, the entire Midnight Ridge Pack was practically at the thought of watching Gamma Diana Gilbert—the strongest female warrior in the pack—get humiliated. After all, my years of loyalty, my unmatched skills, my blood spilled for this pack? Worthless. Why? Because their beloved Alpha had chosen another. I braced myself for the whispers, the pitying glances. But then— The very next day, Alpha David, the same rogue who’d been so cruelly robbed of his mate, climbed onto my villa’s security wall like a damn cat burglar. He perched there, arms crossed, watching me with an infuriatingly lazy smirk. “Wife pays for her husband’s debt,” he drawled, his voice carrying the rough edge of a wolf who lived lawless and free. “Alpha Kevin stole my mate. So I figured—you should compensate me by becoming my rogue Luna.” He grinned, canines flashing. “ That’s fair, isn’t it?” I nodded. “Fair.”