1945 Pulitzer Winning

My mate, Luther Evans, had spent 20 thousand dollars on two first-class tickets for the Moonlight Express to Vespera Coast. Just as we were about to board, he pulled me aside and gave my seat to my foster sister, Zoey Turner. He explained, "There's only one empty seat left on the train, and Zoey's son has never seen the ocean before. This is the perfect chance. Kids can't be separated from their mothers, so I'll take them first and get them settled, then come back for you." I nodded and stepped off the train, watching it disappear into the distance. Once they reached the beach, a friend asked Luther why I hadn't come along. He was busy inflating a pool float for Zoey, answering casually without looking up. "The Moonlight Express runs every three days. Avery Smith can just buy her own ticket and come later. I'll pick up some gifts to make it up to her. She's really understanding and won't stay mad at me." A bitter smile tugged at the corners of my mouth. The whole family had always favored Zoey, and now even my own mate was no different. Since nobody wanted to see me anyway, I decided I would leave in three days.

I was pregnant. On my way to deliver documents to Tristan Goldberg, a flash flood struck. Desperate, I dialed his number, praying he’d answer. After a few rings, the call connected. But instead of Tristan, a woman’s voice answered. "Tristan, whose number is this? Do you want to answer it?" There was a brief pause, and then Tristan’s voice, cold and indifferent, cut through. "It’s just my maid. Ignore it. Hang up." And just like that, the call disconnected. Staring at the torrent rising around me, my pulse quickened. I texted him, begging for him to send a rescue team. Minutes passed as the waters climbed to my waist, churning and relentless. Then, a message from Tristan finally appeared. Tristan: [What kind of ridiculous story are you making up now?] Tristan: [Emily, do you think you're eighteen, playing these childish games? I want that document in my hands within thirty minutes, or we're getting divorced.] A surge of terror shot through me as I looked up, catching sight of a heavy branch snapping loose and crashing down. In an instant, everything went dark.

We’d been together for seven years, but during that entire time, my fiancée rejected the idea of getting married ninety-nine times, all because of a male intern. The first time, she canceled our vacation at the last minute, saying the intern was stuck on a night shift and afraid of the dark. She got on a flight that very night and rushed back to the hospital. The second time, we were already halfway through the doors of the courthouse to get our marriage registered. But just then, she got word that the intern had collapsed from exhaustion. Without a second thought, she left me standing alone in the snow for the entire day. After that, it became a pattern. Every time we were together, the intern would find some excuse to pull her away. Eventually, I made up my mind to let go. I stopped dreaming about a happy marriage with her. However, just when I announced I was transferring to another city, she broke down, begging me, almost hysterically, not to leave.

I had been married for eight years when I inherited a fortune worth hundreds of millions that my grandfather left to me and my mafia boss husband. However, just as the lawyer was finalizing the transfer, we discovered my marriage certificate was fake. That meant the entire inheritance could only go to me. “Ms. Rivers, according to the system, you were divorced a year ago. Your husband, Zayn Levine, is legally married to… Whitney Sanders. According to the papers, you're single. In other words, Mr. Levine has no right to claim the inheritance.” Whitney, the woman Zayn had once loved before she went abroad, the one he never forgot. I stared at the lawyer’s message, unable to accept it. All of Zayn’s affection and tenderness over the years had been nothing but a lie. I had planned to tell him on our anniversary that after eight long years of marriage, I was pregnant. It was the miracle we had both been waiting for. Yet it seemed like he had never really been looking forward to it at all. As I gently rested my hand on my belly, I told myself that even if my twins grew up without a father, they would be just fine. In this place built on nothing but lies, the only thing left for me to do was run away.

My husband, Henry Luther, never loved me.He's always loved my younger sister instead.I chose to step aside and fulfill their love.But no one believed my sincere sacrifice..."Are you trying to act pitiful again?" Henry stared at me with a hostile look in his eyes.

I'm an Omega born without a wolf, the lowest existence in the werewolf pack. However, I can hear the voice of my Alpha mate's wolf, Jack. As an Alpha, Dante Wagner is steady and reserved, and he's not good with words. However, by listening to Jack speak, I know that he loves me deeply, along with many of his little secrets. I hear his wolf ask him, "Is the bonding ceremony the day after tomorrow ready? Remember to use blue roses for decoration at the bonding ceremony. She loves blue roses the most!" It's no wonder he has been working late so often recently. He's preparing for this. I'm overjoyed. But just two nights before the bonding ceremony, Dante brings his longtime friend back instead. Before I can even react to why he'd bring another she-wolf home, I already hear Jack roaring in fury. "What the hell are you doing? Isn't Ember supposed to be your mate in the bonding ceremony? Why is it Nova now? "Have you even considered Ember's feelings? If she finds out that you're bonding with someone else after years of you two dating, she'll become angry and leave! "Even if you mark her, I won't acknowledge it. Your fated mate and Luna can only be Ember!" Only then do I realize that I've been deluding myself. The surprise isn't prepared for me at all. In that case, there's no need for me to tell him that I'm with pup either. I pretend to know nothing. On the day of the bonding ceremony, I leave the pack completely.

At our anniversary party, the rose-covered arch suddenly gave way, crashing down in a storm of shattered glass and scattered petals. Raya and I were both knocked to the floor beneath the wreckage. I braced myself on my elbows, a sharp pain twisting deep in my abdomen, and looked up, straight into Asher’s icy stare. “Never thought your jealousy ran so deep. You actually tried to hurt Raya.” His voice was calm, but it sent a chill down my spine. “I didn’t touch her…” I muttered, panic rising as I hurriedly shoved the pregnancy test report beneath the pocket. But his eyes only grew colder. “Taking my indulgence as a license to do whatever you want?” His voice dropped, every word sharp as ice. “Elyssa, maybe it’s time I put you back in line. “Otherwise, you’ll never be worthy to stand by my side as this pack’s Luna.”

In the third year of our marriage, my wife’s ex-boyfriend of eight years suddenly posted a picture on social media showing off a multi-million-dollar wedding house. His caption read: “Wow, got myself a huge villa, I’m the master of charming women!” I stared in shock at the picture, which showed my wife swiping her card at a sales office, and left a single comment: "?" A second later, my wife called to scold me. “I was just fulfilling a promise I made to him back when we were dating, buying him a house. Why are you getting mad at him?” “What? Are you really going to be so vicious as to force me to break my word?” That evening, her ex showed off another lavish post, this time flaunting a renovation bill worth hundreds of thousands. I knew it was a gift from my wife to please him. But by then, I no longer cared.

On the anniversary of our Mating, my legs were wrapped around my Alpha, Adrian, as we shared a deep kiss. My fingertips brushed against the hidden pocket of my silk dress, my hand tightening around the pregnancy test I had concealed there. I felt the faint flutter of a new life inside me, planning to give him this surprise as the perfect end to our evening. Just then, Adrian's Beta, Ethan, spoke in a low, teasing tone, using the Old Tongue. "Alpha, that little sister-in-law of yours… the newly matured she-wolf, Zoe. How did she taste?" Adrian's low, suggestive chuckle reached my ears, quiet yet piercingly clear. He replied in the same ancient language. "You know a freshly ripened pepper? Hot, with a real kick." His palm was still caressing my waist, yet his gaze had drifted elsewhere. "Just keep it quiet. If my Luna finds out, it's all over." The other Betas let out knowing chuckles, raising their glasses in a silent promise to keep his secret. But a chill washed over me, and my inner wolf went still, as if it had died. He didn't know I had studied the Old Tongue for my research on werewolf trauma. I understood every word. I held back my tears, forcing myself to appear unfazed, maintaining the composure expected of a Luna. Instead of confronting him, I sent a magically shielded message to Elder Slone of the Werewolf Healers' Association, accepting the invitation she had extended to me. In three days, I would join a secure werewolf rehabilitation program as their new Lead Therapist and disappear from Adrian's world forever.

I spend three torturous years in a dark underground cell after taking the fall for Cole Greyhouse, a member of the nobility. He once held my hand tightly and tearfully promised that he would wait for me to return. Then, he would take my hand in marriage. However, he doesn't show up on the day I'm released from prison. I head to the palace to look for him, but all I see is him with his arm around another woman. He also has a mocking smile on his face. "Do you really think a former convict like you deserves to become a member of the royal family?" Only then do I understand that he's long since forgotten about the three years he was supposed to wait for me. I'm devastated, and my heart dies. I accept the marriage my family has arranged for me. On the big day, Cole crashes my wedding with his comrades and laughs raucously. "Are you that desperate to be my secret lover, Leah? How dare you put on a wedding gown meant for a royal bride to force me into marriage? You're pathetic!" Just then, his uncle, Fenryr Greyhouse, the youngest Alpha King in Lunholm's history, hurriedly arrives. He drapes a shawl around my shoulders and slides a wedding ring onto my finger. That's when Cole panics.