1945 Pulitzer Winning

To save Zander Lewis, I lost the ability to walk. As a result, my dream of dancing was shattered forever. Yet, Zander went on to marry Jenna Walsh—the same woman who stole my spot in the dance program. The betrayal cut so deep that I suffered from severe depression. That was when Jenna's uncle in name, Sean Walsh, appeared and pulled me out of the darkness. He stayed by my side for a long time, helping me heal and even working tirelessly to treat my legs.   Just when I thought I could stand on my own again, I discovered the awful truth—it had all been part of his and Zander's plan. They never wanted me to reclaim my place; they wanted to ensure Jenna's glory remained untouched. They were even planning to use the same ruthless methods to make sure I could never walk again. My heart shattered as I watched them, two despicable men plotting everything for Jenna's sake. At that moment, I gave up on love completely. I did not scream or cry. I simply played along, letting them believe I was still trapped in their game. When I finally broke free from that deceitful marriage, he came after me, begging in tears for another chance. 

I'm abducted the day before my wedding. My abductors lock me in a dark cellar and repeatedly violate me. My legs are snapped, and I'm thrown out with a pile of trash while undressed. Someone takes a photo of me and shares it online. My family finds me a disgrace, so they send me to a hospital in the suburbs and hide me there. After half a year of treatment, my ovaries are removed due to extensive damage. My broken legs can't recover, and I lose the ability to walk. I'm supposed to be a rising star in dancing. Now, however, I'm forced to spend the rest of my life in a wheelchair. I can't even have children anymore. The Levy family sees photos of me online and immediately calls off my engagement to their son, Quentin Levy. They call me a shameless woman. Then, they make Quentin marry my sister, Laura Sorensen. I think my family will pity me, but my grandfather calls me a disgrace. He wants to disown me. At that moment, Quentin's brother, Elias Levy, proposes to me. "You've only had eyes for my brother in the past. Now that he's married, will you give me a chance to care for you?" He sounds determined, and the heartache in his eyes moves me. I agree to marry him. After we're married, Elias gives me the love and care I need. He doesn't allow anyone to harm me. A year later, I complete my treatment earlier than expected and return home to surprise him for our anniversary. That's when I overhear his conversation with my brother. "Elias, I helped you trick Jean out of the house two years ago, leading to her abduction and torture. That's why she's like this now. So you can't let her down." "I did all of this for Laura's happiness. As for Jean, I'll make sure she doesn't have to worry about survival for the rest of her life…"

The train to Centraford was about to depart. That was the ride we'd spent our entire life savings—30 thousand bucks—to get a ticket for. I was gripping my mate, Byron Reynolds's, hand tightly, trying to pull him onto the last train to Centraford. This was the chance I'd waited three long years for. Once we entered Centraford, we could rise from being low-tier civilian werewolves to official Silvren Talons workers—registered, salaried, and numbered. If we missed this train, we'd be stuck forever in Sidersville, a chaotic melting pot, never able to enter the heart of the werewolf city-state. But Byron held us back, refusing to leave without Lisa Peters, who was still down by the river, washing her face. In the very last second before the train took off, I had our friends forcibly drag Byron aboard. We made it to Centraford and became Silvren Talons workers. But Lisa missed her chance. She was left behind in Sidersville and became a rogue, a plaything passed around by countless men. A few years later, she was tortured to death. Byron looked fine on the surface. But on the day of our marking ceremony, he drove a silver blade into my stomach, killing the pup growing inside me, and tore out my heart. His eyes burned red as he growled through clenched teeth, "This is all your fault. You're the reason Lisa never made it to Centraford. "She suffered so much before she died. Why do you get to be happy?" After killing me, he chopped my body up and fed it to the stray dogs. Then I opened my eyes—and found myself right back at the train station, before it departed. This time, I'd wait with him for the woman he loved so much. And I'd make him pay for everything he did to me and my pup.

Alpha Liam and I were never fated mates. However, to win me over, he did countless reckless things. Because of that, his body now bore sixty-six scars, each from a battle he fought for me. He finally moved my heart on the sixty-seventh time. During our marking ceremony, I swore before the Moon Goddess that I would grant him sixty-six favors, no matter what. Throughout our seven years together, he never misused that privilege. That was until my stepsister, Isabella, returned six months ago. Suddenly, he burned through sixty-four of them. For Isabella, he humiliated me in public and skipped the birthday celebration I spent weeks planning. Now, only two remain. Once Liam used them up, that was when I’d leave him for good.

A month before Wendy Johnson and I are set to marry, she tells me she wants to have another man's baby. Following my refusal, she keeps bringing it up daily. Half a month till the wedding, I see her pregnancy report. Just like that, I find out she is almost a month pregnant. It turns out she has no intention of seeking my agreement on this matter. At that very moment, my love for her for so many years dissipates for good. I'm calling off the wedding and destroying all our shared memories. On the day we are supposed to get married, I join a sealed-off research lab without a second thought. From now on, Wendy and I no longer have anything to do with each other!

It is 9:00 pm, and a soft glow still lights the master bedroom on the Lowe residence's second floor. "Helena, there's only a month left before the marriage agreement ends. Once it's up, I'll go ahead and arrange the fake death." Sitting at her vanity, Bianca Lane types the message and sends it to her mother-in-law, Helena Johnson. A reply comes back almost instantly. "Bianca, you've worked so hard these past ten years. You've taken such good care of Sebastian and even gave birth to a child for our family. "To me, you've always been my daughter-in-law. Why not just forget about the agreement?" Reading the message, Bianca unconsciously tightens her grip on her phone before quickly typing her response. "No, Helena. Let's just stick to the agreement."

After I was reborn, I dumped the cheating bastard and married his older twin brother. But as it turns out, I still picked the wrong man. In my past life, I married Maxwell Vaughan, the younger twin. Not long after our wedding, he started sleeping with Kelly Sloan, the maid's daughter. For her, he set the house on fire while I was sleeping. I woke up burned beyond recognition. Amoura, the world-famous lingerie brand, dropped me overnight. Just like that, my modeling career was over. This time, I chose Charlie Vaughan, the older twin. We were in sync and deeply in love. I thought I'd finally made it, that I'd rise to the top and become the supermodel I was meant to be. But the night before my Amoura runway show, my face was burned again. Charlie uncovered the truth quickly and had Maxwell arrested. For a moment, I thought I'd made the right choice this time. Six years later, I overhear something I was never meant to hear as Charlie tucks our sons, Declan and Dylan Vaughan, into bed. "Dad, Uncle Max already took the fall for Kelly. So why did she have to leave the country? Couldn't she have stayed here with us?" "Yeah, Dad. We still want Kelly to be our mom. We hate that freak!" Charlie pulls Declan and Dylan into his arms. His gaze softens with sorrow, then hardens with quiet resolve. "I already betrayed your mom once for Kelly. I'll spend the rest of my life to make it right." A rush of emotion surged through me, the pain cutting deeper than the fire ever did. For six years of marriage and eight years of love, I've been nothing more than a joke. Only now do I see it—Charlie loved Kelly all along, just like Maxwell did. Our marriage was nothing more than a matter of convenience. Even Declan and Dylan call me a freak and wish Kelly were their mother. If that's how it is, then so be it. I'm done with all three of them.

I've been mated to Alpha Alaric Goremane for five years, and I'm still a virgin. On the night he claims me, I stand before him, naked. With my heart pounding against my chest, I muster the courage to step forward and wrap my arms around him. But he pulls away, and then comes the words that lingered in my head for years like a devil's whisper. "I'm sorry, Kyna. I have severe germaphobia and can't handle physical intimacy. Please give me some time." In that moment, my heart plunges into the abyss. But when I see the torment in his eyes, I convince myself that he doesn't love me any less. He's just sick, and all I have to do is wait. So, I wait for five long years. On our fifth mating anniversary, I cross thousands of miles in a raging storm just to see the look of delight on his face when I surprise him. Sure enough, I see the warmth in his eyes and gentleness in his expression. But what a pity… it isn't for me. The Alpha, who claims to be an obsessive clean freak, is on one knee before his childhood sweetheart. He gently slips off her rain-soaked heels, dries her feet, and warms her cold toes with the heat of his palm. It's as if that's the most natural thing in the world, and as if his world holds no one else. He sighs. "Serene, how many times have I told you that you'll catch a cold? What would you do without me?" In that instant, the last of my delusions shatters. I finally realize that his germaphobia is selective, and I'm simply the one he can't bear to touch. Instead of making a fuss, I slip off the ring I've worn for five years and walk into the storm without looking back. Later, I hear he tries to win me back with the most expensive roses in the city. But the Kyna Lupen who loves him is long gone.

After I fainted from the pain, I learned the truth about my mate Kaelen’s position as Alpha of the Grayswood pack. He had inherited it from his older brother, who had died in battle. Not only did Kaelen take his brother's power, but he also inherited his brother's widow, the former Luna, Lydia. I wanted to reject him and break free from our mate bond, but Kaelen wouldn’t let me. He begged me with tears in his eyes and promised, "I have to bear a pup with Lydia to truly inherit the pack. Violetta, I swear that you're the only one I love. Once Lydia is with pup, you and I can finally be together openly!" That year, Kaelen spent 54 nights in Lydia’s bed. At first, it was once a month, but soon it became nearly every two days. Finally, after the 54th night, the news came that Lydia was carrying his pup. And that was when I finally gave up hope. But when I faked my death and escaped with our pup, Kaelen went mad. He didn't care about the Alpha title he had just obtained. He searched the world over for us, desperate to find me and our pup.

The Luther Pack believed that the mate bond between twin sisters and twin Alphas was the greatest blessing from the Moon Goddess. Up until I was seven months pregnant, I never doubted that belief. Everything changed when I was kidnapped by the Cassa Pack, the Luther Pack’s sworn enemy. Meanwhile, my mate was busy performing a blessing ritual for the pup of his puphood sweetheart. He ignored my eighth attempt at mindlinking him and severed the connection entirely by the ninth. Kaden’s actions enraged the Cassa Pack’s Alpha, who fired rounds of silver-coated bullets into my belly. My wolf howled in agony while my unborn pup was killed instantly. The silver poison destroyed my ability to heal, and the loss of my pup drained me of all will to live. At the brink of death, my sister, Lucia, found me. In a desperate bid to save me, she crashed into my abductors and perished with them in the resulting explosion. I had no time to grieve, nor did I reach out to our mates. Silently, I erased all traces of our existence within the pack and built a grave for Lucia and me in the Dark Forest. I was dying. Once I completed this final task, I could join my sister. Even after my death, our mates assumed we were merely acting out of jealousy. They had no idea that their mates and pup were already six feet underground.