Beneath The Stars Emily Mcintire

"Yuliana, are you really moving abroad? You're not even going to talk it over with Charlie?" Madelyn Gardner asks. Yuliana Beckett lets out a self-mocking laugh. "We're already divorced." "You got a divorce?" Madelyn gasps, staring at Yuliana in disbelief. "Charlie actually agreed to that? After everything you've done for him these past three years, even a heart of stone would've softened by now." Madelyn speaks up for Yuliana, indignant on her behalf. But it's only after Yuliana boards her flight and leaves the country that Charlie Zimmer finally realizes what he's lost. He chases her across the ocean like a man possessed. In the face of his remorse, Yuliana has only one thing to say. "I don't love you anymore."

Pour le troisième jour consécutif, Lilia Clerc s'agenouillait devant la statue de la Déesse de lune, protectrice de toutes les meutes, priant avec ferveur pour Arsène Chauvet la paix de son esprit après sa mort. Lorsque l'épuisement menaçait de la submerger, des lignes de texte ont apparu soudainement devant ses yeux. « Il est vraiment impitoyable. Son amoureuse d'enfance s'est enfuie en apprenant qu'il aura bientôt la cérémonie avec une autre, et il a simulé sa propre mort pour la rejoindre ! » « Il est en train de profiter de moments romantiques dans les bois Clair de Lune avec sa maîtresse tandis que Lilia a presque pleuré toutes les larmes de son corps à cause de ce salaud. » « Malheureusement, Lilia ne s'est jamais rendu compte qu'Arsène Chauvet l'avait trompée. Quand il sera revenu après avoir simulé sa mort, elle l'épousera tout de même avec joie. » Lilia ne comprenait pas comment ces mots apparaissaient devant ses yeux, mais elle croyait que c'était un miracle accordé par la déesse. Après avoir tout lu, elle est restée bouche bée de stupéfaction et a immédiatement téléphoné à son père, Alpha de sa tribu. « Papa, concernant le mariage arrangé dont tu m'avais parlé, je suis prête à l'accepter. » Deux semaines plus tard, la nouvelle du mariage arrangé entre Lilia Clerc et l'Alpha de la tribu Saïan dans le nord s'est répandue dans tous les clans des loups. L'ami d'Arsène qui faisait partie du complot de la fausse mort s'est précipité pour confronter Lilia : « Es-tu vraiment si pressée de trouver le prochain alors qu'Arsène vient de nous quitter ? » « Il est déjà mort. Je ne peux pas rester veuve pour le reste de ma vie à cause de lui, n'est-ce pas ? »

Une semaine avant la cérémonie d'union avec l'Alpha, il a soudainement changé le lieu pour la forêt des lucioles. Un ami a plaisanté : « C'est juste parce que Lily Moreau voulait voir des lucioles que tu as modifié l'endroit de la cérémonie sans prévenir Alice Durand ? Et si elle se présentait à l'ancien lieu ? » « En plus, Alice a choisi les rives du lac de Lune. Elle va accepter ? » Julien Richard a répondu avec désinvolture : « Elle a bien accepté de subir de graves brûlures pour me sauver, alors changer le lieu de la cérémonie, elle ne va pas me désobéir pour ça. » « D'ailleurs, elle s'est occupée de toute l'organisation de la cérémonie elle-même, elle va certainement remarquer que j'ai modifié l'endroit. » Derrière la porte, j'ai écouté leur conversation en silence, puis je suis partie sans rien dire. Le jour de la cérémonie d'union, Julien m'a appelée d'urgence depuis la forêt des lucioles. « La cérémonie va bientôt commencer, où es-tu ? » Calme, j'ai regardé les reflets scintillants à la surface du lac et ai répondu : « Je suis déjà arrivée, et ma cérémonie va aussi bientôt commencer. »

Sebastian Miller was my Alpha mate. Because I asked him to remove his Beta, Charlotte Lewis, from her position, we had a huge fight. After that, he shut me out completely. Three months later, he assumed I had realized my mistake and suggested that we go on a vacation to Highfeather Forest. The moment Charlotte found out, she exploded. She screamed at Sebastian, made a scene, and even threatened to leave the pack. To calm her down, Sebastian canceled our trip. He used a business deal as an excuse and gave the vacation spot to her instead. Afterward, he offered me a shallow explanation. “I’m the Alpha of this pack. The pack’s interests have to come first. As the Luna, you should understand that.” I looked at the post Charlotte shared on her feed. The two of them stood by the lake, close and intimate, like true mates enjoying a private getaway. I knew everything they had done, but I said nothing. I only nodded. Sebastian mistook my silence for understanding. He seemed pleased with me, even promised that one day he would make the trip up to me. What he did not know was that I had already signed the withdrawal agreement to leave the pack. I had also gone to a witch and obtained the potion to sever a mate bond. It was time for this to end.

On my birthday, my fiancé used his supermarket points to get me a pair of dishwashing gloves. But at an auction, he bought a five-million-dollar gem for his first love. I was mad, confronting him, but he called me a gold digger. "I've been giving you money to spend. Isn't it only right that you take care of me? This was supposed to be my final test for you. If you passed, we'd get married. You've let me down big time." I broke up with him. He turned around and proposed to his first love. Five years later, we ran into each other on a private vacation island. Alex Thompson saw me in the workers' uniform picking up trash on the beach. He mocked me on the spot. "You turned your nose up at the gloves I got you, and here you are, scavenging garbage. Now, even if you begged me, I wouldn't give you a second glance." I ignored him. My son's social studies project was to clean up the backyard with a parent. His dad had expanded the yard all the way to the beach. Cleaning it up was exhausting.

I know that I don't have much time left after getting poisoned by wolfsbane. I don't want to have any regrets, so I travel to the Sacred Crystal Lake, a place I have always wanted to visit. I don't tell anyone that I plan to end my life there. I didn't expect to run into my ex-mate there. We haven't seen each other in ten years. He has become the Alpha that he has always wanted to be, and he's wearing a ring that has another she-wolf's name engraved on it. As for me, I've already thrown away our token of love and erased him from my heart. We're exchanging pleasantries when he suddenly asks, "Do you still hate me, Giselle?" I shake my head. My life is about to end, after all. I don't need to hold on to anything anymore. In the last moments of my life, I just want to see the sea of irises that the Moon Goddess has blessed.

Maynard Hansen planned a luxury birthday cruise for Darlene Thompson, but the cruise ship capsized when a violent storm swept in without warning. Without hesitation, Maynard gave the last seat on the lifeboat to Darlene. As I struggled in the water, my son, Waldo Hansen—whom I carried for nine months and gave birth to—cried out, "Don't let Mom up! She'll push Ms. Thompson off." Clutching nothing but a broken plank, I somehow made it to shore. By the time I collapsed on the sand, I was frozen, exhausted, and done. I had never felt so alone. Shortly after, I found myself clutching a diagnosis of severe depression in my hand. I was ready to bring this wretched life to a quiet end. But when my husband and son realized I truly didn't want to live anymore, they collapsed into tears. They wrapped their arms around me as they sobbed, "Please don't leave us. We really can't live without you."

I spent five years pursuing Jaden Montgomery with every ounce of my strength. After my 100th confession, he finally went from being my best friend's brother to my fiancé. On a night with a full moon, as I stood there in my dress, ready for our mating ceremony, I overheard his conversation with a friend. "Jaden, are you really going to hold a mating ceremony with Arabella?" "Of course. Lillian's a fragile Omega carrying my pup, and my Alpha father is quite displeased about this situation. Holding the ceremony with Arabella will put his mind at ease." Jaden laughed carelessly. "Aren't you worried that Arabella will find out and go after your precious Omega? She's the princess of the Northern Silver Wolf Pack, after all." "She won't. She loves me to death and would never harm my pup. Besides, she's gentle and obedient. Making her my future Luna will ensure my precious Omega stays safe." My mind went blank. In my desperate flight from the scene, I accidentally wandered into a patch of wolfsbane. When I woke up, I remembered every wolf except Jaden. So, when my parents called to tell me to return for the arranged mating, I immediately arranged to leave in five days.

I was tasked with escorting classified information back to the wolf pack with my mate. As we were about to board the plane, he claimed to have left an important document at the hotel and told me to fly back first. I agreed, but after he left, I checked his location through the location sharing on my phone. He did not go back to the hotel like he said he would; instead, he changed his route and headed into human territory. I followed in a taxi and saw a young human woman holding a child at the entrance of a mansion. "Winston, you're finally back. You have no idea how long I've been waiting for you." He took the child and kissed the woman on the lips. "I knew you missed me, so I pushed back my work with the pack to spend time with you. Wherever you are is home." I did not confront them. Instead, I called the Alpha King. "Winston Holmes, the Alpha of the Hyan pack, is colluding with human spies and selling werewolf secrets. I request that the Alpha King dispatch guards to assist me in capturing him."

At the pack's festival, a witch hands me a crystal orb that reveals the truth. When I ask "why," she says she was entrusted to deliver it and reminds me only to use it when I am alone. As the image in the orb grows clearer, and my mate appears, I forget how to breathe. "Jared Hamilton, do you love me?" a woman asks in her sweetest voice, curling her arms around his neck. "I do. Of course, I do. You're the only one I'll love for the rest of my life, Luciana." My hand slips. Even after the crystal orb hits the floor, I can still hear them talking. "I swear before the sacred Moon Goddess that I'll be with you, Luciana Rose, until my very last breath. If I ever break this oath, may I never know joy again." I feel suffocated. All I can do is stare in disbelief. The woman he vows to love for life is none other than my very best friend.