Ceremony

BLURB: After losing her home and family, Joan Crawford was forced to serve as a maid to the Alpha king. On the day the Alpha king had called for a ceremony for all alphas, that was the same day Joan is to turn eighteen. Alpha Rex discovers that Joan, his maid, was his true mate. He despised her, made her do things that made her cry and despite how much he tries to reject her, he couldn't because of his dying mother who has longed to see her daughter-in-law. After the one night stand with her mate, Joan realizes she can't withstand her mate's hatred for her, she has to leave. What happens when she runs? Will Alpha Rex be able to withstand the distance between his mate?

I was five months along, carrying the pup of my fiancé, Ryan Hebert. On our marking day, Ryan rejected me and marked Daisy, also with pup. He claimed my pup wasn’t his, a bastard of unknown origin. Worse, he called my father a traitor in front of everyone. At the banquet entrance, my father collapsed, and I miscarried. I knelt in blood, begging him to save us. “Daisy can’t handle stress. Stay away from her.” Then he walked off, holding her close. Later, my childhood friend Andrew saved me. He brought in the most skilled wolf healers for my father, and stayed by my side, night and day. A week later, my father had another heart attack. Before he passed, his only wish was for me to be protected. Andrew knelt by the bedside, and solemnly swore to my father’s lifeless body that he would marry me,that he would protect me for the rest of my life. And I believed him. After the funeral, I ended things with Ryan and married Andrew instead. But five years later, I overheard a conversation between Ryan and Andrew. “If Eleanor ever finds out that it was you and me who traded her purity for Daisy’s happiness on the day of the ceremony… do you think she’d still love you?” So Andrew’s love was a lie too. But when I left, why did the one who broke me beg to have me back?

I died on the day I was supposed to form a mate bond with Alpha Ragnar. Since I did not show up, he went ahead and performed the ceremony with his childhood sweetheart, Nina. “Selena has already been marked by me, yet she still threw caution to the wind and cheated with a rogue. Her betrayal has brought shame upon us. She’s not worthy of being the pack’s Luna!” With just one careless sentence, Ragnar made my family a disgrace of the pack. My father was once a great warrior of the pack. He lost his wolf saving Ragnar, only to be drowned in a river as punishment for supposedly failing to discipline his own daughter. Our blood bond allowed me to feel his pain. However, I had been locked in a sealed, abandoned interrogation room—a silver cage. The mechanism inside was accidentally triggered, and thick poisonous gas filled the space. It killed me slowly and painfully. After my soul left my body, I appeared beside Ragnar and heard him say to Nina, “Thanks for your help today. If Selena hadn’t acted so foolishly, you wouldn’t have had to take her place in the ceremony. Ever since I marked her, she’s been getting bolder, thinking my affection gives her a free pass. How dare she skip such an important ceremony?!” However, the noble Alpha Ragnar seemed to have forgotten something. Just seven days ago, he threw me into a silver cage meant only for the most dangerous criminals to appease Nina. “You hurt Nina, so you must face the consequences. Take these three days to reflect. If you still won't admit your mistake, then don’t even think about ever leaving this place for the rest of your life.” I waited three days and then three more. The poisonous gas and silver ate away at my body, corroding me from the outside in. I endured seven days of unbearable pain before I finally died. When my body was found, it had been so ravaged by the poison that I was unrecognizable. As for the arrogant Alpha? He had completely lost his mind.

I am the sole heir to the Alpha King of Northaria, but I'm an Omega. All of Northaria awaits the day I come of age, hoping I'll awaken the kind of Alpha bloodline strong enough to claim the throne. But when the day finally comes, I'm still just a low-rank Omega. So, they say that the true heir must be one of the three "pledged Alphas" my father adopted from the major tribes. Whichever one of them marks me becomes the ruler of all Northaria packs. But none of them have ever truly looked at me. The one I like most is Quin Lawson. When I fainted on the snowy plains as a child, it was he who carried me back to the pack. I've tried countless times to get close to him, only to be met with nothing but cold, contemptuous stares. I used to think he was just emotionally distant—until the Moon Goddess Festival. That night, I saw him kneel before Silvia Anderson, the daughter of my father's second-in-command. His voice is soft, and his gaze is tender. "I'm marrying Evelyn only to repay the Alpha King's kindness. Once I get the inheritance, I'll make you my Luna. As long as she doesn't harm you, I'll even grant her a piece of land to live out her life in peace. You're my true mate." The night before the marking ceremony, my father asks me who I choose. I think of the way all three of the pledged Alphas look away whenever our eyes meet. I smile and say, "I'm the rightful heir of Northaria. My mate should be someone who brings the greatest strength to our pack. And so, I choose Alpha Heath of the Pyraxis pack." The air goes still. My father frowns. "Him? Are you sure? Every one of his mates has died under mysterious circumstances. His wolf is known to be vicious—no one dares get close to him. You truly want to be his mate?"

My mate, Xander Smith, falls into the Red Moon pack's fire trap when he's out. I'm burned, heavily injured, and rendered unconscious while saving him. When I blearily come to in the clinic, I hear him tell the healer to kill my wolf. "Are you sure? Ophelia bore your heir. How can you hurt her wolf?" The healer's hand trembles as he clutches a silver needle. He's unwilling to be so cruel to me. However, Xander says firmly, "Dahlia is back, and I want her to attend the appointment ceremony as the mother of my heir. The only way to stop Ophelia from fighting Dahlia for this is by making her as weak as an Omega. "Dahlia has already been banished from the Red Moon pack after losing her mate. I can't let the werewolves in the New Moon pack scorn her. As for Ophelia… she'll forever be my Luna." I clench my fists and squeeze my eyes shut. My love for him dies as my wolf does. Since Xander insists on giving another woman a place in his life, it's time for me to take my leave.

When I'm six months pregnant, my mate, Rylan Silverclaw, still forces me to fight. He says it's my duty as Luna, yet when the council presents the honor medal, he locks me up. He makes my stepsister accept the glory meant for me. When I finally arrive at the ceremony, I hear Rylan whisper to her, "The medal is just the beginning. Once Thalia gives birth to the heir, the Luna title will be yours too." Later, rogue wolves attack us. My father and Rylan risk their lives to protect my stepsister. I'm the one left behind. I'm buried under rubble with half my ribs shattered. I lost my pup. I hand our dead pup to Rylan and walk away from the pack forever. Now, he regrets everything.

Derrick Caldwell once promised me that on the night of our pack's founding feast, he would announce that we'd been married for eight years. However, on the big day, his childhood friend, Lilith Sterling, takes my place. She sits beside him—the spot reserved for his Luna. The warriors say, "We heard you have a mate with whom you've been married for eight years, Alpha. Is this her?" Derrick smiles without denying it. He silently allows their assumption to stand. I want him to explain this to me, but he merely says, "You may have helped me become the Alpha, but your lowly birth is nothing compared to Lilith's noble status. As my mate, you need to be more tolerant." I don't argue with him. Instead, I turn and leave the pack he and I built together. Later, I start my own pack and turn it into the largest one in the federation. Derrick stands among the crowd during a ceremony where the Alpha King confers a medal of honor to me. He proudly tells anyone who will listen that I'm his wife. I act like I don't see him, and his eyes turn red with desperation.

Jack's first love, Alice, came in for her prenatal checkup. Tested positive for Corrosion Sickness. I told him right away. But Jack insisted I was spouting nonsense and went around the pack slandering me—claiming I had no medical ethics, that my surgical skills were a joke, and that I’d killed a fellow werewolf through malpractice. Because of him, the Werewolf Medical Association revoked my healer title, and I was nearly torn apart by the patient’s furious family! On our third mating anniversary, Jack sank silver into my veins. I begged him to save me, but he locked me in a cellar and left me there to die. "Just die already," he said. "I need your estate to have marking ceremony with Alice." The next second, I opened my eyes—I wasn’t dead. I was reborn! I was reborn on the day Alice came in for her prenatal checkup! This time, I won’t tell him the truth. I’m leaving that scumbag behind! Let him and Alice enjoy their filthy love!

I, Luna Silverblood have spent seven years loving a wolf who never valued me. When my public humiliation at what should have been my mating ceremony reaches its peak, an unexpected savior appears—dominant alpha Dominic Blackthorn, who claims her as his mate. But is this mysterious alpha merely rescuing a desperate she-wolf, or does he share a deeper connection with me than either realizes?

At the award ceremony, my fiance, Allen Walter, pulled his mistress on stage and publicly announced their relationship when he presented me with an award.. "Out with the old, in with the new. Just a man," I shrugged. My parents were furious. "Pull our investments and end all cooperation," they said furiously. My sister chimed in, "We'll retrieve the copyright. I would rather let it sit idle than sell it to them!" Allen panicked and came to apologize, but I waved him off dismissively. "Someone like you is not even worth talking to."