Award Winning Novel Novels & Stories

On my eighteenth birthday, Alpha called me up in front of the whole pack and told me to choose—one of his sons as my mate. Whichever I chose? He'd be the next Alpha. I didn't flinch. I picked Cayce, his eldest. The room went dead silent. Everyone knew I used to be stupidly in love with Kain, the younger one. I'd confessed at every pack dance. Took a silver dagger for him once. Cayce? Coldest, meanest wolf we had. Total menace. No one got close. But they didn't know the truth. In my last life, I was bonded to Kain. On the day of our Bonding Ceremony, he slept with Lena, my cousin. My mom lost it. Shipped Lena off to Duskwolf Pack to get bonded to their Beta. Kain? He blamed me. Paraded in she-wolves with Lena's same ice-blue eyes. When he found out I was carrying his pup, he made sure I saw him with every one of them. It was torture. When labor hit, he locked me in the dungeon. Blocked everyone out. My pup got crushed. I died hating him. Maybe the Moon Goddess felt sorry for me—she gave me a second shot. I came back. This time? I let Kain keep Lena. Didn't think he would ever regret it.

I once believed Sarah Weller was the love of my life. For her, I planned a once-in-a-lifetime wedding; for her, I launched a “True Love” jewelry collection worth over a billion. However, with only seven days left before the wedding, she calmly told me that she needed to fulfill her first love’s late mother’s final wish to marry him first, and only then marry me. As if it were a matter of fact, she said, “For Tim, all of this can be sacrificed. If you can’t even bear to lose that little bit of money, you can find someone else to marry right now.” Only then did I understand. In her world, I and everything I had built could be pushed aside at any moment for her so-called first love. So, I turned around without another word and called home. “Penelope,” I said to my sister-in-law, “the wedding will proceed as scheduled. Just do me a favor and replace the bride.”

When I was seven, Victor Medici took me off the streets of Brooklyn. From that moment on, I became a blade hidden in the shadows of the Medici family. The Medici family was one of the five major mafia families in New York City, and Victor was the family’s Don. By fifteen, I had learned how to handle a gun and a knife. I could carry out the family’s “clean-up” orders with precision. By eighteen, I led a team that wiped out three weapons hubs belonging to the rival Rina mafia family, securing the East Side territory for Victor. At twenty-one, during a hearing, I took the fall for Victor’s crimes. In the end, I was sentenced to three years in prison. The day I got out, he took me straight to Las Vegas to get married. With his own hands, he slipped a ruby ring onto my finger—a symbol of the Donna. Under the witness’s gaze, he kissed me, his voice almost reverent. “Rachel, I love you. You’re my only weakness.” Then, he pulled out a stamped and signed contract from his suit pocket. “This is my wedding gift to you. If I ever betray you, my power, my status, and my wealth will be transferred into your name, and I’ll walk away with nothing.” After a pause, he gave a sly smile and added, “But that day will never come. Because I’ll always love you.” I took the contract, so happy that I felt like I might cry, but that happiness only lasted two years.

Seven years ago, my father's adopted daughter, my adopted sister Sophia, caused a hit-and-run while drunk driving. My parents and even my own biological sister tried to persuade me to be her scapegoat. "Sophia's health is fragile. She can't survive prison. Could you take the fall for her?" I refused. However, one night, in the dead of darkness, they handed me over to the police themselves, personally escorting me into the back of a squad car. My fiancé, Salvatore Vitale, the most powerful mafia Don in all of Sicelia, had arranged everything. "Irene," he told me, his voice calm and absolute, "when you get out, I'll marry you. Just endure these seven years." Just like that, the people who were supposed to love me the most, my family and the man I was meant to marry, joined forces to abandon me. I became a criminal without ever committing a crime.

At my best friend's wedding, a girl lunged forward and caught the bouquet—only for it to slip from her hands and land squarely in my arms. My best friend, Lauren Walker, beamed at me. "Madison, looks like you're the next bride." The guests exchanged knowing glances and turned toward my boyfriend of eight years—Mason Ryder, the CEO of the Ryder Group. But he calmly plucked the bouquet from my hands and casually passed it to the girl standing beside me—his secretary, Natalie Carter. "She caught it first." He ruffled my hair, his voice gentle. "Be good. Give it back to Natalie for now. We'll wait for the next time." The spotlight—and the guests' attention—shifted with the bouquet, settling on Natalie. I looked at her startled yet shy expression, then rested a hand on my stomach and forced a bitter smile. Mason didn't know there wouldn't be a next time. Our eight-year promise had already come to an end, and we still hadn't taken the step into marriage. And I had already promised my parents, who were royalty, that next week, I would leave and return to Montelvia to inherit the family legacy.

I'm having a mental breakdown as I face a clogged drain with my feverish and fussing daughter in my arms. Meanwhile, my husband has reserved a hotel to celebrate another woman's birthday. My mother-in-law spits on the floor. "This is what you deserve. You can't even capture a man's heart!" I clench a fist around the winning lottery ticket in my pocket. I want to get a divorce.

My name is Susan, and I'm the daughter of the Dark Moon Pack's Alpha. Per tradition, I was betrothed to Daniel, the crown prince of South Dania and the future Alpha King, to become his Luna Queen. However, he had been postponing our Marking Ceremony repeatedly, using the excuse that he wanted his coronation first. I thought he was simply being prudent, until I witnessed him proposing to another she-wolf, telling her that she was the one he truly wanted. He was even laughing about the engagement, calling it a necessary tool. Understanding that, I realized that he never formed the mate bond with me because he needed the freedom for adultery and not suffer the pain of backlash in treachery. He wouldn't acknowledge my status, but insisted that I fulfill my spousal obligations nonetheless. He didn't Mark me, while keeping me tangled in his web of lies. I hence decided to disappear in three days under the new moon, when everyone would be waiting to witness our Marking. I wanted to show him that not every wolf was willing to be a tool.

On the day of my marking ceremony, my fated mate, Jason Potter, was caught having an affair with my younger sister, Vivian Tallow, on the altar. I became the laughingstock of the entire pack. My childhood friend, Alpha Dominic Carlton, decided to make a vow and mark me on the spot in order to preserve what little pride I have left. He spent the next four years taking good care of me and showering me with love. With great difficulty, I managed to get pregnant with his pup, thinking that I finally found a place I could call home. But one day, I overhear a conversation between Dominic and his Beta. "You're too cold-hearted, Alpha Dominic! Aurora has shown nothing but devotion toward you, and yet you decide to make her a breeding tool just so you can protect Vivian?" "Vivian is an Omega. She can't handle the pain of labor. But she needs a pup in order to cement her status in the Potter family. "As for Aurora, I'll tell her that her pup has died prematurely. When the time comes, I'll cast her out of the pack territory with the excuse of her miscarriage. Either that, or I'll make sure that she'll be silenced permanently." It turns out that Dominic has lulled me into a false sense of security just so he can ensure that I can become his breeding tool. I make a beeline for a secluded healing center immediately. "I'm not going to give birth to this filthy pup anymore." I'll be kissing this fake mate bond goodbye, too.

The entire Nightfall pack knows that Alpha Jack Thorne is famous for his devotion toward me, his mate. Not only does he personally take care of me, but he also drills a hot spring for me, knowing how much I'm afraid of the cold. He even rests in his wolf form at my feet in front of the Elder Council. "All the decisions that I made will place my mate, Ivy Blackwood's wishes as top priority." His gentle and serious vows fill the next three years of me being Jack's mate. I'm very sure that he loves me with all his heart. That is, until I come across a social media post, where my private hot spring serves as the background. Jack, who claims that he's off to mark his territory, can be seen kissing the she-wolf in the hot spring while the upper half of his body is naked.

For stumbling upon a purge, I was taken by the city’s most dangerous don, Lucca of the Rossi family. He said it was the only way I’d survive. So he kept me in his mansion, taught me how to shoot, and drilled me in the rules of the underground world. He would stroke my hair and call me his innocent lily. Everyone knew I was his woman. Until one day, he handed me over to the enemy to secure an alliance with the Balsamo family. That was when I realized I was never his lover, just the sharpest blade in his hand. I buried all my feelings, faked my death, and disappeared. Years later, we met again at a casino. He looked at me in a backless gown, the rose tattoo on my back on full display. “Eliana, I once loved that purity of yours. Look at you now—tempting, yet cheap.” I smiled lightly, brushing his hand away. “Can’t help it, Don Rossi. The owner of this place just likes me this way.”