Alpha's Remorse After Her Death

Because of my negligence, Leo's precious darling Sophia had choked on a mouthful of seawater. He flew into a rage and locked me in the dark water dungeon. "Catherine, whatever Sophia suffered, you'll repay double!" The instinct to survive forced me to shift into wolf form. I slammed my head against the iron cage again and again, begging for his mercy. But Leo bound my limbs with iron chains and ordered his subordinates to keep flooding the chamber. "A jealous wretch like you will only learn obedience through suffering." "Stay in there and repent for what you've done." He sealed the iron door of the water dungeon himself and forbade anyone from coming near. Over and over, I craned my neck to gulp in the thin air, howling in desperation. But the rising ice water swallowed me whole. I kept struggling until I had no strength left. A week later, in his great mercy, he decided to end my punishment. What he didn't know was that the water snakes had already gnawed my body beyond recognition.

My wife went abroad for a six-month training course and unexpectedly secured a major deal.  Thanks to this contract, she was promoted to director against all odds. When I saw the news of her return in the work group chat, I immediately ordered flowers to pick her up at the airport. However, her belly, which would have been eight months pregnant, showed no signs of it. She had aborted our child, turning me into a laughingstock among colleagues. Just as I tried to swallow my anger, she told me she was pregnant with someone else’s child. She demanded that I step aside and make way for her.

Seven years ago, Serena was a queen in the world of filmmaking. As the best producer, the world lay at her feet. Yet, for her blind love for Dewangga, she willingly cast aside her golden crown and chose the role of a devoted housewife. But that sacrifice was repaid with a chilling coldness. Since the birth of their first daughter, Dewangga had become a stranger. To him, a daughter was a disappointment, and Serena was nothing more than a failed heir-bearing machine. Now, in the midst of her troubled second pregnancy, Serena must face a bitter truth: her husband cannot even be bothered to show up to sign the papers that could save her life.

I died five years ago. Now my husband, the Don of our Mafia family, wants me to take the fall for his sister again—this time for accidentally killing a British noble's heir during an arms deal. He's holding a fake confession letter with my forged signature, storming into my old apartment in the rust district, only to find it empty. Frustrated, he grabs the corner store owner downstairs, demanding to know where I am. The owner pauses, wiping his hands on his apron, calmly tells him: "Serafine? She died five years ago." "Heard it was retaliation from a rival family during the gang war. They ambushed her in an alley... shot her over a dozen times. She died immediately." My husband, Lucien, refuses to believe it. Convinced the owner is on my payroll, hiding me to help me escape his reach. He scoffs, his eyes filled with scorn: "Oh, so what? Because I called her out for messing up that last job, now she's throwing a tantrum?" "You tell her, if she doesn't come back and take the fall in three days, I'll revoke her grandmother's 'special family protection'! Let the old woman rot!" With that, he storms out, his rage still simmering. The owner watches him leave and sighs, shaking his head. "There's no grandmother left to protect... That woman passed away not long after Serafine did... couldn't survive the winter without our family's medical supplies and protection..."

After the birth of our daughter, my husband left for a dangerous mission. My in-laws' initial joy soured, and they regarded my baby with disdain. Maria, my mother-in-law, was particularly scornful. In a rare show of familial love, my father-in-law Lincoln took my daughter out for a playdate. I thought he had finally grown fond of her, only for him to strike me the moment he returned. "How dare you betray my son! I'll kill you!" "Yes! Beat that loose woman to death together with that brat!" Shifting my gaze from the report on the floor to my furious father-in-law, I pulled out several photos—my naked mother-in-law Maria, caught with another man. "Let's see who the real loose woman is!"

On the day I was kidnapped, my husband was looking after his sick sweetheart. I called him, asking him for help. Yet, he merely replied coldly, "Danica, you are a bad liar." After that, he heartlessly hung up the phone call on me, causing me to get brutally murdered by the kidnappers. I failed to show up as scheduled on the day we agreed to finalize our divorce. He called me in exasperation, only for the phone call to be answered by the police. "Mr. Ferguson, are you a family member of the deceased Danica Reed?"

My sister, Laura Ward, died the year we were ten, the year we snuck out of school to play. From that day forward, my mother’s grief turned into a burning hatred for me, convinced that I was the reason my sister was gone. She treated me like a servant, like an unwanted burden, and filled the void by adopting a perfect, obedient daughter to replace my sister. She took everything from me without a second thought — my rights, my freedom, my very existence — and even demanded that I give up a kidney for her precious adopted girl. Alright, Mother, if you want a life, I’ll give you mine! But it was only when my body lay cold, my breath long gone, that she finally turned and looked at me.

My younger sister was crazy about novels and always envied the way ordinary heroines pick up penniless heroes and climb the social ladder. So, she started picking up men wherever she could. Until one day, a man with a face covered in sores collapsed at our doorstep. I instantly recognized the signs of syphilis and warned my sister repeatedly, and only then did she give up the idea. However, fate had other plans: my sister's best friend "picked him up" instead and married into a wealthy family. My sister held a grudge. On my birthday, she locked me in my room and set it on fire. No matter how desperately I begged, she refused to open the door. Outside, she sneered: "I know you're just scared I'll live better than you, so you want to drag me down into misery with you. People like you don't even deserve to be a sister!" I burned alive, my body reduced to nothing but ashes. When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the very day my sister insisted on "picking up that man." This time, I quietly stepped back, letting her have her way—of course, I chose to let her succeed.

I jolt awake to splash of ice cold water making contact with my warm skin and ripping me from my dreams. Looking up I see my perpetrator and best friend Bailey giggling, and holding a now half-emptied bucket. “Wake up loser! Last day on the beach and you choose to sleep?” I roll my eyes in annoyance at her bubbly enthusiasm. “Alright I’ll get in for a bit but I’m not going to stay long,” I state with a huff. We each grab a floatie and make our way waist deep before hopping on and linking arms to keep from drifting apart. “Are you excited to be heading back tomorrow? I know I am!” Bailey quipped. Honestly I’d been avoiding that thought the whole trip. Returning to our pack was the last thing I wanted to think about. This week at the beach had been the calm environment I desperately needed after senior year. Returning would mean I would have to finally confront the drama that has become my life the last three months. All through high school I kept my head down, focusing on my team and training. Despite keeping to myself there was always one person stirring sh*t up, my ex, Austin. His father, the Alpha to our pack, gave his life in one of the pack battles last year. Leaving his Luna to raise Austin and his sister on her own. Austin would now be eligible for the Alpha title which worried me. Up until we left he had shown blatant disrespect to my father, Beta to our pack. Not to mention he still had his eyes and ears on me. Returning was the last thing I had on my mind, knowing sh*t is about to hit the fan.

“We shouldn't do this,” I gasp as his hand slips beneath my dress, his hot breath brushing my ear. “You can say that all you want, but you're already dripping for me.” His grip on my thighs tightens. “So let me ruin you—slow, deep, and on every surface in this room.” A moan escapes me—and then he lifts me. _________ Nova Kingsley is a 24-year-old she-wolf with a legacy soaked in blood and secrets. She made peace with control. Power kept her safe. Duty kept her distant. Love? That was a luxury for wolves who didn't carry kingdoms on their shoulders. Then came the Weston brothers. Nate is kind, loyal, and the younger brother offering the future she needs. But Alex? The Alpha-heir is untamed, dangerously intense, and utterly forbidden. His gaze unravels her. His touch threatens to consume her. And when they collide, the world shifts. Stars tremble. The gods remember. Bound by a divine blessing and trapped in an ancient prophecy, Nova and Alex are more than star-crossed—they’re caught in the middle of a war between goddesses, where fate is weaponized and love is a battlefield. As a deadly threat rises from the shadows and war brews on all sides, Nova must choose between the mate she can have… and the one her soul was created for. Because some bonds are sacred. Others are damned. And this one? It's both. _________ Content Warning: This dark romance contains themes that may be triggering to some readers, including graphic violence, death, emotional trauma, forbidden love, sexual content (18+), supernatural elements, and family betrayal.