Ascend Zhongli

Nilayah and Jordan Monroe were born into power—the daughter and son of Alpha Dante and Luna Catalina, destined to one day lead their pack side by side. Raised as equals, trained as heirs, and bonded not only by blood but by purpose, their futures seemed written in stone. Until the night everything changed. At the inaugural ceremony meant to mark the beginning of their shared rule, Alpha Dante delivers a shocking decree: Jordan alone will ascend as Alpha. In a single moment, Nilayah’s birthright is stripped away, her destiny rewritten without warning or explanation. Betrayed by the very family she trusted, Nilayah buries her pain beneath a hardened exterior, wearing her anger like armor as she continues to serve the pack that cast her aside. But resentment simmers beneath the surface. And when Nilayah returns from a grueling mission, only to have her father attempt to control the remnants of her life, she reaches her breaking point. Refusing to be caged by expectations or diminished by rejection, Nilayah makes a bold choice—she leaves her pack behind, stepping into an uncertain and dangerous world alone. Fate, however, has other plans. Captured by a rival pack and held against her will, Nilayah finds herself at her lowest—stripped of her freedom, her title, and nearly her hope. Yet even in captivity, her spirit refuses to break. And within the shadows of her imprisonment, she discovers something unexpected… her mate. Maiden Blackstone. A powerful and enigmatic Alpha, Maiden has long vowed never to take a mate, burying his desires beneath discipline and control. But the moment he lays eyes on Nilayah—the fierce, defiant female Alpha who challenges everything he stands for—his resolve begins to crack. Drawn to her strength and haunted by the bond between them, Maiden wages a silent war within himself.

My boyfriend, Percy Gaskell, suddenly flaunts an engagement ring on the Internet. He also announces that he'll get married in two months. Everyone thinks I'm the lucky bride who will get proposed soon, including myself. Anticipation fills my heart as I start making wedding preparations. But unwittingly, I end up overhearing Percy and his friends' conversation at the doorway of a private room in a bar. "I'm seriously impressed with the method you used to select your wife, Percy. You actually gave all 19 of them different scores! Those with lower scores get kicked out, whereas those with higher scores get to ascend to the next round! In the end, you choose the best wife out of all participants! "Now, the only ones left are Maisie and your beloved mistress, Sabrina. Not only that, but you're also biased toward Sabrina, so you gave her a relatively high score. Maisie is definitely losing this time! "What if Maisie finds out that she's not the one you're marrying in the end? Will she throw a hissy fit?" Percy took a sip out of his wine glass lazily. In a flippant tone, he replied, "That will have to depend on who satisfies me the most. Let me observe them for three more days. If Maisie is still that disappointing, she shouldn't blame me for being ruthless." His friends all burst into laughter. "You're far too soft-hearted, Percy! Maisie is inferior to Sabrina, be it her figure, age, or bedroom skills! I can't believe you're still giving her a chance! "If I were you, I'd have kicked her out in the first round!" Percy just smiles in amusement. "I only wish to give her a chance because I see how pathetically low her score is. If she can't even use the final chance given to her properly, she shouldn't blame me for not marrying her." I can feel my blood turn to ice in my veins. My mind has completely gone blank. All I can hear is my heartbeat, which slowly becomes louder. With a trembling hand, I dig out my phone and text that man's number, which lies at the bottom of my contact list. "Are you up for a whirlwind marriage right now?"