Ceremony

Cold and proud to all, Beamon Slade, Northarch's strongest Alpha, reserves his gentleness solely for me. Everyone knows that I'm his Luna. But today, his first love is infected with deadly wolfsbane and on the brink of death. He hands me a herbal pill that can seal memories and temporarily remove the mate mark. "Eiro won't last another three days, Swan. "Could you give me three days to fulfill her dream of becoming a Luna through a symbolic marking ceremony? I won't hurt you. This pill temporarily severs the bond and makes you forget me. "When the ceremony ends three days later, take the antidote and you'll remember everything. We'll get back together." Looking at his calm, gentle expression, I silently swallow the pill without hesitation. He has no idea, but I crafted the pill with my own hands. There's no such thing as an antidote. Three days from now, I'll completely forget him. All our embraces, vows, marks, and his past gentleness will vanish with the wind.

Ceres was born to the alpha and Luna of the Harvest Moon Pack. After losing her father tragically, she becomes a slave in the new alpha’s home, even though he has taken her mother as his new Luna. Ceres’ destiny is set to be revealed as her moon ceremony approaches. Will she find her mate and take back her father’s estate?

When Rocco Morelli, a mafia don, finds me, it's when I'm working as a stripper at an illegal bar, pleasing the men around me with sultry smiles and provocative dances. He throws his jacket over me and grabs me by the jaw, saying, "Come home with me." From that day onward, I fell in love with Rocco. After doting on me for five years, he proposes to me. Yet, in the month leading up to the wedding, he suddenly disappears. I launch a frenzied search for him before eventually seeing him in a jewelry boutique. With his arm wrapped around the dolled-up woman beside him, he picks out a 20-carat wedding ring. That woman is Emilia Leone, who is my father's illegitimate daughter. He stares at her, his eyes filled with affection. "I'll prepare the grandest wedding ceremony for you." "What about Cassandra?" Emilia asks with a coy smile. "You proposed to her, too." Snorting, Rocco replies scornfully, "Can't you tell? That's just my way of toying with her. Her older brother nearly took your life. Now that he's gone missing, it's only right for her to suffer the consequences in his place. "On our wedding day, I'll abandon her at the altar and marry you instead. She'll become the laughingstock in all of Langshore. Only you, the daughter of the Leone family, the largest mafia family, are worthy of me." The wedding day arrives, and I skip out on the ceremony as well. At Rocco and Emilia's wedding ceremony, I broadcast 99 photos of Emilia fooling around with other men. He panics and tearfully begs for me to return to him, but I take the gun my brother hands me and point it at his head, saying, "Actually, I'm the real daughter of the Leone family."

This marks the third year since Alan Cohen and I became mates, and today's finally the day of the Luna ceremony. As the ceremony begins, Alan takes my hand. But then he hesitates, refusing to move forward. I'm still trying to make sense of it when my adoptive sister, Eden Parker, suddenly breaks into the mind-link. She says she's just ended a failed mate bond with another Alpha and will be back within the hour. That's when I see a flicker of a smile on Alan's face. Then, without a second glance, he lets go of my hand and walks away. I turn to my adoptive brother, Dexter Parker, and my adoptive father, Hank Parker, hoping for some kind of comfort, only to realize they've already left the ceremony with Alan. And just like that, I became the joke of the entire pack. Eden sends me a photo. She's glowing beside Alan, her arm looped through Dexter's, with Hank beaming next to them. That's when I give up. I reach out through the mind-link to my birth father. "Dad, I'm ready to return to the Bloodmoon Pack."

I've been mated to Alpha Damon for five years. I helped him build a business empire, but he kept delaying our marking ceremony 99 times. Right before the ceremony was supposed to happen, he told me the pack’s resources were tight. He demanded I stop the expansion of the Alpha’s manor and scrapped the nursery I’d designed for our future pups. Then he turned around and bought a thirty-million-dollar penthouse for Isabella, a new omega in our pack. When Isabella and I were in a car crash at the same time, he didn't even glance my way. He ran straight to her. He wrapped her in his Alpha scent, holding her tight. Their scents mingling was like a knife to my heart. In the pack council hall, in front of all the Elders, I looked at him with ice in my eyes. "I, Elena, reject you, Damon, as my mate." Through the gut-wrenching pain of the mate bond snapping, I sent a message to the Alpha of another pack. "I rejected him. I'll be at your Crescent Moon Pack tomorrow."

I was different from the others in my pack. My wolf could hear the truths hidden deep in someone’s heart. Whenever someone lied, she would immediately whisper their real thoughts to me. During the two years I was with Jace, my wolf stayed silent. I knew his love for me was real. But on the day before our marking ceremony, my wolf finally spoke. "I need to stall Leah tomorrow. I have to mark Elena." "Elena's pregnant. She has to be marked to be accepted by the pack. Leah loves me too much to blame me." My hand tightened around the pregnancy test tucked deep in my bag. A cold dread swept over me. Jace, I was pregnant too. But I wouldn't tell you. I played along with his plan, pretending I didn't know the truth. I let him make Elena his mate, father to her pup. After their ceremony, all he'd find was the discarded pregnancy test I left behind. His heir and I would be gone from his world—forever.

"MATE!" Terk says loudly, in the middle of my Luna Ceremony with Trina. "Mate." Silja says out loud. "David? What are you doing with Ms. Mayer? Alpha Gerard is suppose to be her mate?" "What is going on here?" One of the elders asked. Trina then glares at me, "The photographer Gerard!? She's the one-night stand? She's your mate?!" This cannot be happening right now! Then the elder understood immediately and spoke loudly, "THE LUNA CEREMONY WITH TRINA IS CANCELED!" *** Silja is young, ambitious and has dreams of being a successful photography. Gerard is a successful Alpha of Night Crown and a CEO in the human world. After a chance encounter, spiked drinks, and a one night stand, Silja and Gerard intertwine their lives in a way neither thought it would happen. Now they are forced into a mate bond. Gerard resents Silja and blames her for getting in the way of true love. Silja is hurt by Gerard as her fated mate continues to reject her. There are people waiting in the dark corners and shadows waiting for them to fail. During this time, Gerard will either need to open his eyes or continue to be blind and Silja will either need to forgive or move on with her life.

It had been five years since my mate Ethan Blackwood secretly marked me. Then his brother, the Alpha of the Shadow Moon Pack, died in the territorial war. To become the next Alpha of Shadow Moon, Ethan inherited everything his deceased brother left behind. Including his widowed sister-in-law, Victoria. After every time Ethan shared Victoria's bed, he would hold me close and whisper reassurances: "Autumn, just wait a little longer. Once Victoria gets pregnant, we'll have our Mating Ceremony!" This was the pack's only requirement for him to inherit the Alpha position. In the six months since returning to Shadow Moon territory, Ethan had gone to Victoria's chambers countless times. From once a month in the beginning, to now almost every other day. Finally, after countless nights of sitting alone until dawn, news came that Victoria was pregnant. But along with this announcement came another—Ethan and Victoria would be holding their Mating Ceremony. "Mommy, is someone having a Mating Ceremony here?" my daughter asked. I looked around at the stark contrast to our sparse living quarters. The main hall was filled with flowers and balloons. People bustled about outside, everyone joyfully preparing for their Mating Ceremony. I pulled my innocent daughter into my arms: "Yes, sweetheart. Your father is having a Mating Ceremony with someone he loves, which means it's time for us to leave." Ethan didn't know that we wolves of the Silver Crescent Pack never cared about so-called Mating Ceremonies. In Silver Crescent, female wolves were revered. My mother was the current Alpha, and I only needed to bear an heir to the pack to inherit her position. I dialed a number I hadn't called in five years: "Mother, I already have an heir now. I'm ready to come home and claim your Alpha position."

Aaronne finds out a night to her betrothal ceremony that she's not just a wolf, she's a Swan Shifter and the half-moon has blessed her with a mate. Aaronne has to navigate life in secret while having a forbidden affair with the Alpha of her Swan Clan.... Life unfolds....How long can she keep this secret? Especially with a raging betrothed that hates Swans and has vowed to drive them to extinction?

There are no grown men in our village. When girls turn 18, they participate in a coming-of-age ceremony in the ancestral hall. Dressed in ceremonial clothes, they line up to enter, and when they come out, their faces show a mix of pain and joy. When my eldest sister turned 18, Grandma forbade her from attending. However, one night, she snuck into the hall. When she came out, she was limping, and blood was dripping between her legs.