Bare Reflections

“Tell me you don’t feel this,” he said softly, his mouth brushing the curve of her ear. Heidi’s breath caught, but her voice stayed steady. “I feel it.” “Then why do you keep fighting me?” “Because I won’t kneel just because my body reacts to you.” His fingers slid from her wrist to her waist, slow and deliberate. “It’s not just your body.” Her pulse jumped when his thumb traced the bare skin where her bracelet used to rest. “Careful, Alpha.” His gaze darkened. “You’re the one who should be careful, Luna.” On her nineteenth birthday, Heidi Artemis stands before her pack prepared for rejection, not desire. Unable to shift and treated like a servant her entire life, she watches her fated mate claim another woman without shedding a single tear. She refuses to beg. Then Kurt Fenris returns from the grave and rips the pack’s future apart. Ruthless and commanding, Kurt takes the Alpha title by force and reduces his enemies to nothing. Heidi is the only one who dares to challenge him, and the tension between them is immediate and electric. When her jade bracelet shatters beneath his grip, their mate bond ignites, fierce and undeniable. He claims her as Luna before the entire pack. Inside the Alpha estate, their connection deepens with every heated argument and every lingering touch. As Heidi cares for his wounded son and confronts those who abused her, ancient magic awakens in her blood. Powerful enemies close in, hunting the divine force stirring inside her. War spreads across territories, vampires rise from the shadows, and a monster plots to claim her heart. They once called her weak. Now the world will learn what happens when a celestial Luna rises.

“I….I hate you,” those words rolled out of her tongue, whereas a tear slipped down from her eyes, feeling him wrapping her bare legs around his waist. A sadistic smirk formed on his face, hearing her before he pressed the tip of his swollen girth against her drenching core which hurt yet angered her more. She grabbed his collar aggressively. “I can never love you because the only person I have ever loved in my life is Ethan and will be just him. Did you understand that, Zaiden fucking Alvaro?” She seethed out at him, attempting to trigger him but her words made him grab her nape. “We will see about that once I will get done making you scream and moan my name again, Cyra Zaiden Alvaro,” whispering those words against her lips, he pressed his mouth against hers while pushing his hardened shaft all the way inside her. “Aaah …..” she moaned in that painful pleasure whereas her arms immediately embraced him Suddenly, she felt her phone vibrating in her hand which made her look towards it and her heart shattered brutally by reading that text from her love, Ethan. ‘Make sure to kill that bastard, Zaiden, tonight. Then we will run far away from here, Cyra…..” A tear slipped down from her eyes, reading Ethan’s text because now she didn't even know whom she was lying to….? To him or to her own self…? That she hated being the forced bride of this insane man, Zaiden Alvaro. Why did Zaiden Alvaro force Cyra to marry him, even after knowing she loved Ethan? Would Cyra be able to take her husband’s life to run away with her lover and most importantly, how far would Zaiden Alvaro go to make sure Cyra remained as HIS FORCED BRIDE?

"Is my touch angering Ms. Gomez?" His fingers traced her bare back, as he whispered in her ears. "Don't worry, I'll fuck you more better and harder than that so called love of yours, Doll," His tongue licked her earlobe. She fisted her palms "So hard that you will beg me to stop," He nibbled her earlobe "What else can we expect from a monster like you. A fucking monster who had tried to force himself on an 19 year old girl," She blurted out. A painful hiss escaped from her mouth, as he grabbed her hairs and pulled them. Her eyes filled with more tears, recalling that inhumanity he had tried to do with her when she was just 19. "I have already paid for that fucking thing, Melanie, with my everything and now you will have to pay for what I had to endure in all these fucking 4 years, just because of you," He groaned, like a caged animal. "You didn't trust me but that fucking love of your life and now look," He brushed his lips over her cheeks. "That love of your life has sold you to me," He pushed her on the bed. "I guess that's enough talk for tonight," His gaze scanned every inch of her naked body, making her horrified. "After all, it's our first wedding night, Mrs Melanie Adrian Salvatore," He hovered over her and she immediately tried to back away but he pinned her on the bed. His hungry vicious eyes bored deeper into her terrified ones. His thumb started tracing over her lower lip. "Now let's make this night the most memorable and painful night of my wife's life," He brushed his lips against hers. "So, she can remember our first wedding night, till the last breath of her life,"

"Genie" His voice was barely a whisper, his breath warm against the shell of my ear. "This is so wrong, we can't be doing this." His lips find their way back to mine, trailing the bottom lip with his tongue. "So so wrong" He pulled my lower lips in, biting on them. I stifled a moan. "I know," I managed to say. I could feel the warm slickness ache between my legs. "We shouldn't be doing this. You're my step brother." My body doesn't agree with what my mouth is saying. I snuggled closer into his chest wanting to feel the heat of his bare body against mine. I want his mouth against mine, ravaging me like he had done before. We have gone too far to back out now. "Take me, Ryder" Those were the words he needed. Only those three words. Suddenly, he grips the back of my thighs and lifts me up, forcing my legs to wrap around him. Planting me against the wall, he peers up and look straight into my eyes "You're mine" Then his lips came down on mine. I'm yours. I whispered back in the back of my head. ******** Ryder Saint, for years, has bullied me. Reasons? None. It was like he signed a contract from heaven to make my life hell. From the moment he set his eyes on me, he added my name to his list. Don't be fooled by his last name. It's a charade, he's not anything like it. Everything about Ryder Saint smells evil. His heart, dark. His soul, dark. His aura, dark. Except his face. I should have neglected him like I always have, but I couldn't when our parents decided to tie the knots and he became my stepbrother. He and I, under the same roof.

The night before high school graduation, Ethan Luciano pulled me into his bedroom. His hands were rough, his touch demanding, yet my heart overflowed with a decade's worth of unspoken longing. I'd loved Ethan for ten years, and finally, it seemed my silent wishes had come true. Afterwards, as we lay tangled in his sheets, he whispered that he'd marry me after graduation. Once he took over the Luciano family's empire from his father, he'd make me the most cherished woman in the family. I believed him. The next morning, I sat curled up against his bare chest as he casually told my foster brother, Lucas, about us. My cheeks were flushed, and my heart raced, still clinging to the sweetness of the night before. However, then their conversation shifted into Italian. Lucas smirked, leaning back against the doorframe. "Not bad, Young Boss. Your first time, and the school's 'it girl' just threw herself at you. So, how's my little sister taste?" Ethan gave a lazy chuckle. "Looks like an angel, but a freak in the sheets. Who would’ve thought?" The room erupted in low, conspiratorial laughter. Lucas raised a brow. "So, should I call her my little sister or my future sister-in-law?" Ethan’s tone darkened, his arm tightening around my waist for a moment. Then he let out a sigh. "She’s nothing. Just practice," he said, his voice dropping to a whisper. "I’m trying to hook up with the cheer captain, Sylvia Dawson, but I don’t want her thinking I’m clueless in bed. Cynthia Saville’s just a warm-up." He paused. "But don’t tell Sylvia. I don’t need her getting all emotional." They didn't know that I’d spent months secretly learning Italian, preparing for the life I thought I’d share with Ethan. I didn't say a word. Later that day, I quietly withdrew my early decision application to Caltech and applied to MIT instead.