Barely Tolerable

The ninth bonding ceremony between me and the Alpha King, Thorne Ravencrest, is finally here. Yet once again, I failed to become his Luna Queen. Not because he broke his promise, but because I'm not qualified enough. The Elders made it crystal clear that every Luna Queen recognized by the Moon Goddess throughout history must cultivate 365 Moonlight Flowers using their own blood essence. But every year on the eve of the ceremony, no matter how careful I am, there's always one flower missing. This year, I nearly drained myself completely and barely managed to grow the right number. Ecstatic, I go to find Thorne, wanting to surprise him. Through the partially open door of the throne hall, I hear his Beta say to him, "Alpha King, Sera's been waiting for you for eight years now. Are you ever going to bond with her?" Thorne shakes his head. "I promised Willow we can't bond this year either." His Beta hesitates. "What if Sera actually manages to grow enough Moonlight Flowers?" Thorne goes silent for a moment, then claps his hands. A shadow wolf appears and melts into the darkness. Before long, a shadow wolf returns with a Moonlight Flower clamped in its jaws. He tears the flower into shreds and lets out a sigh. "Sera has plenty of blood. Forget one year. She could keep cultivating for another ten years and still be fine. "But Willow's been poisoned with wolfsbane. I'm all she has left, and she wants me by her side in her final days. "I can't bear to refuse Willow, which means Sera will just have to wait a bit longer." I bite my lip hard, barely able to believe what I'm hearing. So the Moonlight Flowers that kept mysteriously disappearing were all destroyed by him. Becoming Luna Queen has been my dream since childhood. But if he never intended to bond with me at all, then it's time I leave him.

"Vida, you agreed to a surrogacy contract and after my master paid you, you made away with his money," I was informed. "That's not even my signature," I laughed while handing back the paper, "you've been scammed sir, now if you excuse me, I have to go home, this contract is invalid." I'm cornered to an end, my path blocked by both his arms which thump violently with veins, his breath gets as he stares closely, barely an inch away from me, and then he opens his mouth… "Mate!" ---------------- I've searched for my mate for seven years but couldn't find her, and worse, it's a hidden issue that I've failed to breed with any female who isn't my mate. I could feel us draw near to this human as I went into a rut. Why her?

I had just become an adult when my neighbor, Connor Grayson, started flirting with me. We kept our relationship a secret year after year. After a wild night of intimacy, Connor whispered into my ear that he loved me over and over again. The next morning, I could barely stand as I got out of bed. Then I saw Connor bring another woman home. "Selena, this is my fiancée. We're getting married." I thought Connor would let me go. I didn't want to ruin anyone's relationship. However, he wouldn't leave me alone despite my shameful predicament. "Yes, I'm getting married, but did I say you could go? It took a lot of effort to make you fall for me."

My husband came home on our anniversary with my best friend on his arm and divorce papers in his hand. He told the world I cheated. He took my name, and left me sleeping on the. streets with a secret I hadn't told anyone — his baby growing inside me. I had nothing. Until a great-aunt I barely knew left me a vineyard, an estate, and a second chance I didn't ask for. I was finally building something. A business. A life. A future for my child. What I didn't know was that I was surrounded by more enemies. The new man I was falling for had been sent to find me. And the man who divorced me was now fighting to get me back — because I had become the one thing he couldn't beat.

My company had arranged a wilderness survival retreat deep in the heart of Moonshadow Forest—a place where even seasoned wolves tread cautiously. That night, a sudden downpour ripped through the campsite, drenching the earth and filling the air with the thick scent of damp moss and shifting soil. I woke abruptly, the cold seeping into my bones. Instinctively, I reached out to the space beside me, seeking the warmth of my mate. Empty. A sharp pang of unease clawed at my chest. My wolf, dulled by the suppressant herbs I had taken to blend into human society, stirred restlessly. Fumbling in the darkness, I grabbed my phone and dialed Nigel. The line barely had time to connect before he emerged from the undergrowth—disheveled, breathless. His grip was iron-tight as he seized my wrist, pulling me downhill. His scent was sharp with adrenaline, but beneath it—something foreign, something wrong. We ran, my boots sinking into the mud. My keen vision caught glimpses of his rumpled clothing, the way his collar was misaligned—and the faint imprint of lips on his jaw. My pulse pounded in my ears. Betrayal. I wrenched my arm from his grasp, my claws itching to unsheathe despite the human form I forced myself to maintain. "Where were you?" My voice came out low, edged with the danger of a wolf barely leashed. The suppressants in my bloodstream faltered under the weight of my fury. The storm had driven everyone into their tents, leaving the clearing eerily silent as we reached the base of the mountain. But she was there. A woman stood beneath the flickering glow of the emergency lanterns, her hair tousled, her fingers gripping Nigel’s jacket as if it belonged to her. I knew her. The new intern. Her face held an unsettling resemblance to mine, as if the Moon Goddess herself had carved her from the shadows of my reflection. The realization struck like a silver dagger to my chest. Even the mate who had once sworn to fight the world for me had given in to betr

My father lies on a hospital bed, barely breathing as he asks to see my husband once more. However, my husband's phone is turned off that day. I hurry to his company to look for him, but his secretary stops me and tells me there's a company policy that says they don't allow me and dogs to enter. I kneel before the building and beg for help, but someone records me and twists the truth. Later, I watch the video and see Eugene Fort carrying his true love, who's cut her finger, into the car. My father ultimately dies without seeing Eugene. I stay up all night to handle the wake and funeral. The following day, I finally receive a call from Eugene. He sounds impatient as he says, "Come to the hospital. Ivy needs help."

    I try to go back to the memory and see if I could see his face but it just made my headache worse.       Fuck, this isn't good, this is not good at all. I lost my virginity to a man that I do not remember. Just listening in, I know that he's not in this room and he's probably long gone.  **************     Natalie Nichols lost the only parent that she knew and as if that wasn't enough, she was thrown into a new life with people who were supposed to be her family, but she barely even knew them.      A one night stand led to her destruction, her children were taken away from her and she was thought to be dead. But now she's back, more powerful and not the same weak girl as before.       Will she be able to get her children back or will she fall in love with the man that got her pregnant in the first place? 

Aria Jones has always been a pawn—trapped under her ruthless father’s control and forced into an arranged marriage with a man she barely knows. But on the day of her wedding, everything shatters. A daring escape with the infamous Nikolai Petrov—dangerous, untouchable, and heir to a rival empire—thrusts her into a deadly underworld where love is a weakness and trust can get you killed. Now hunted by her vengeful fiancéand a jealous rival; and caught in a ruthless war between cartels, Aria must do more than just survive—she must transform. With enemies circling and a past that refuses to let go, she has two choices: return to the gilded cage she knows or embrace the dark power that Nikolai sees within her. But as their passion ignites, so does a war that could destroy them both. In a world where betrayal is inevitable, will Aria and Nikolai be each other’s salvation—or their downfall?

She became the price of her father’s mistake. Now she belongs to the devil himself. Chiara Ricci’s life was quiet—small-town, under-the-radar, and barely hanging together. But when her father's hidden debts come crashing down, she's thrown into the world of Dante Sabatini—the cold, calculated mafia don who offers a single solution: Her. As payment. He’s ruthless, dangerously charming, and makes no apologies for the way he claims her—as his property, his responsibility... his obsession. Chiara was supposed to be a bargaining chip. But in Dante’s arms, the lines between hate and heat blur fast. Now she’s caught between fear and fascination, craving the man who owns her while longing to be free of him. But there are rules in his world. And the first? Don’t fall in love with the monster who owns your soul.

It is the night before our wedding when my fiancee, Whitney Sullivan, reunites with her childhood sweetheart, Steven Foster, a mercenary who has been missing for five years. He is brought to our doorstep by his teammates, bloodied and barely clinging to life after being poisoned with a deadly aphrodisiac on a mission. Whitney, usually so aloof and controlled, immediately breaks down. She locks the door, defying my efforts to stop her, and stays with Steven all night long. I choose to stay outside the door, never closing my eyes. I confront her the following morning with a torrent of accusations, only for her to stand in front of Steven protectively and say shamelessly, "I couldn't just stand by and watch Steven die. Isn't it just my virginity? What's the harm in letting loose the night before the wedding?" In that instant, all my affection for her is utterly destroyed.