Familial Bond

I stood in the shadows, the scent of pine and frost heavy in the air, watching my mate, Ethan, smile—truly smile—for the first time in years. But not at me. At her. My cousin, Isla. His first love. She sat beside him, warm and glowing, with our pups, Lucas and Mia, curled up against her like she was their real mother. They were laughing, sharing bites of ice-cream cake, the kind Lucas once said made his stomach hurt. I was never meant to be here. I wasn't his choice. He didn't fall in love with me—he was assigned to me. To him, our bond was never about love. It was a political arrangement—an alliance between two packs: his power, my father’s ambition. A tie forged not by hearts, but by bloodlines and borders. He never touched me unless required. He never looked at me like I was his Luna. In that moment, as their laughter echoed under the full moon, I felt the mate bond falter—thin, fading, like breath in winter. And I knew. I had played my part long enough. So I turned away. It was time to severe the bond that was never truly mine. But when he sensed I was really leaving, when the tether between us began to snap, he broke. Dropped to his knees, clutching the pups like lifelines, his voice raw. "Please," he whispered, "don't leave me." Even the pups cried, reaching for me with shaking hands. "Mom, we’re sorry… We didn't mean it. Please don't go."

The Crown’s Bargain Emilia Valoria has spent her life in the shadows of her royal lineage, content to be overlooked as the second princess of the Kingdom of Avariel. But when her elder sister defies tradition and elopes, Emilia is thrust into the spotlight, forced to fulfill the royal obligation her sister abandoned: an arranged marriage to the stoic and enigmatic Prince Kael of Arindale. Determined to protect her kingdom from the fragile alliance's collapse, Emilia reluctantly agrees to the union. However, her first encounter with Kael proves more tumultuous than she expected—his cold demeanor hides a kingdom scarred by betrayal, and his heart, she suspects, is locked away behind impenetrable walls. As Emilia navigates the intrigue of a foreign court, political machinations threaten to tear the kingdoms apart. Bound by duty but drawn together by fleeting moments of vulnerability, Emilia and Kael must decide whether their marriage will remain a mere contract or evolve into something neither of them dared to hope for: love. Caught between loyalty to her kingdom and the desires of her heart, Emilia must find her voice in a world that demands silence, proving that even in an arranged marriage, she has the power to rewrite her own destiny.

My sister-in-law, Hannah Martinez, was eight months pregnant when someone shoved her to the ground. Due to the heavy bleeding, she was rushed to the hospital. I happened to drive past, but I rolled up my window and pretended I saw nothing, pressing down on the gas pedal. In my previous life, I had immediately taken Hannah to the hospital when I saw her pass out from the blood loss. However, the situation was critical. After the severe bleeding, she developed an amniotic fluid embolism. My wife, Lauren Martinez, was the best obstetrician in the city. I called her, begging her to hurry to the hospital. Yet, she thought I was throwing a tantrum out of jealousy because she was having dinner with her first love, Isaac Poole, and his family. She believed I was using Hannah's emergency to force her to come back. By the time her family finally arrived, Hannah had already died from the failed treatment of the amniotic fluid embolism. Her entire family blamed me for Hannah's death, convinced that I had deliberately caused Lauren to misunderstand and let Hannah die. My brother-in-law, Jacob Turner, who rushed back from out of town, believed their lies. In his overwhelming grief, he hacked me to death with a knife at Hannah's funeral. When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the day Hannah was pushed and started bleeding out.

When my brother Beau Campbell and I drowned together at the age of four, I was the only one who survived. From that day on, my mother came to loathe me. She would often creep into my room at night with colorful "candies" in her hand, trying to pry open my mouth. However, Dad always stopped her just in time. Later, I cut off my long hair and threw away all my dresses, desperately trying to become Beau's shadow. Only then would Mom spare me a glance. Three years passed, and Mom got pregnant again. She said it was Beau coming back to us. I was happy for her and told myself it was good that Beau was back. After all, it also meant this family no longer needed the stand-in who had lived in his place. So, I found the same "candies" Mom once tried to force into my mouth, and I quietly swallowed them.

The first time Professor Weston touched me, it was to guide my breathing. The second time, it was to hold my hand as my world fell apart. He became my anchor, my secret, my ruin. Now, a powerful stranger is offering us everything, and I see the same hunger in his eyes that once lived in mine. He doesn't want to help us. He wants to own us. And the only way out is to use the very therapy that saved me, as a weapon to destroy him.

Abigail suffered betrayal by her fiancé and her best friend. They were to have a picturesque cruise wedding, but she discovered them naked in the bed meant for her wedding night. In a fury of anger and a thirst for revenge, she drowned her sorrows in alcohol. The following morning, she awoke in an unfamiliar bed, with her family's sworn enemy beside her.

In a world ruled by an empire built on lies, Eva Blackthorn is determined to uncover the truth. When she infiltrates the heart of the Empire to expose its darkest secret—Project Requiem—she discovers that her own sister, Lyra, is at the center of a twisted experiment designed to create the perfect soldiers. Forced into a battle against time, Eva must confront not only the Empire’s corrupt leaders but also the rebels who seek to use the chaos to their advantage. With the fate of her sister and the future of the world hanging in the balance, Eva forms an unlikely alliance with the stoic general, Ryder Coldclaw. Together, they navigate a treacherous path, racing to stop Project Requiem before it is too late. But as the lines between enemy and ally blur, Eva faces a choice that will determine not only her survival but the survival of those she loves. *Echoes of Requiem* is a gripping tale of betrayal, sacrifice, and the unbreakable bond between sisters, set in a world on the brink of collapse. In the fight for freedom, the greatest weapon is the truth.

My brother Raymond hated me for seven years. After a bitter fight on a freezing winter night, I stormed out and drove away. I never expected a blizzard to fall so suddenly. It blinded my vision. I was attacked by a rogue, injected with a poison that could erase memories and sever blood bonds. My memories became fragmented. When I woke up in the pack’s infirmary, Raymond stood there with a cold expression and casually pointed at a gravely ill male werewolf lying in bed. “He’s your brother. Stop bothering me.” I was stunned. The male werewolf pushed himself up and took my freezing hand, his eyes gentle.
“Come on. I’ll take you home.” After that, I no longer saw Raymond as my brother—just as he wished. So why was he suddenly begging for my acknowledgement after casting me aside so eagerly?

The aloof CEO and his childhood sweetheart bring the tragic novel's female lead to an orphanage to adopt a child. All the children pounce on the childhood sweetheart, saying, "Mommy, pick me! Pick me!" The viewers' comments come flooding in. "She can't birth her own child, and now even the orphans don't want her. The tragic female lead is truly pitiful, humiliated by both her husband and his childhood sweetheart!" "The childhood sweetheart keeps winning—spoiled by the CEO, and the orphans scramble to call her 'Mom.' The female lead is nothing but a piece of decor." "It's not tragic enough! Make her even more miserable! It's even better if she cries on the spot so that later, when the CEO recalls this scene, he'll have to work double time to win his wife back!" I glare at the comments, feeling so mad that my short legs push me forward, landing me right in front of the ignored female lead. I tug at her sleeve. "Missy, can you make stew?" The female lead freezes up. "I… I can." My eyes light up with joy. "That's it then! That's exactly what I love. I'll go with you!"

My mother was the Chosen Luna—the one who once conquered three powerful Alphas. When her mission was done, she vanished from this world, leaving behind only me, and the three Alphas who had once loved her with everything they had. My first father, Alpha Jeff Tanners, ruled the Silver Moon Pack—rich enough to buy half the continent. My second father, Alpha Kael Grey, commanded all the warriors of the Northern Alliance. My third father, Alpha Bran Theron, held every medical resource wolves and humans depended on. For eighteen years, I was their cherished little princess. Whatever I wanted, they gave—no questions, no hesitation. Until they brought home that girl—a fragile orphan named Arie Ryker. From that day on, everything changed. She told them I called her a filthy stray, unworthy of our pack. She said I led the young wolves at school to bully her. She said I tampered with her performance costume, that I caused her allergy, that I made her faint on stage. And they believed her. They stopped believing me. The ninety-ninth time they chose her over me, when they shouted, "Don't come back again!", I didn't argue. I just picked up my luggage and left. They thought I'd come running home like before—that my disappearance was just another way to make them see me. But when they found out I had left the pack for good, that my identity had been erased, that I could no longer be found, the three mighty Alphas finally broke.