Ceremony

For five years, my fated mate, Alpha Kaelen and I have had 98 marking ceremonies. And every single time, his teeth would stop right at my neck. All because the Omega he claimed was "like a sister" to him always managed to faint at just the "right" moment. At the 99th ceremony, that Omega got "hurt" again. "I swear I'll complete the marking next time," Kaelen said, scooping up the other she-wolf without a backward glance. I burned the Luna gown I'd worn 99 times and changed back into my royal princess dress from the Moonshadow Realm. Then severed my mate bond and walked away without a second glance. It wasn't until searing pain hit Kaelen, and he crying for me to come back, that the Shaman coldly told him: "She is a true princess! And you were never worthy of her."

Luna Aria Nightshade believed she had the perfect life as the mate of Alpha Logan Blackwood, leader of the Silver Moon Pack. But on the night of their mating ceremony, Logan rejects her publicly, accusing her of betrayal and choosing another woman. Heartbroken and humiliated, Aria is exiled from her pack. What no one knows is that Aria carries the blood of the legendary Crimson Wolf dynasty a royal lineage thought extinct. Years later, she returns stronger, colder, and far more powerful than anyone imagined. As Aria builds her own loyal pack and uncovers the conspiracies that destroyed her life, Logan realizes the terrible mistake he made. But the woman he once broke is no longer the gentle Luna he knew she is fearless, cunning, and determined to take revenge. Now, Aria must decide: will she reclaim her throne and crush her enemies, or forgive the Alpha who once betrayed her?

To train myself for the role ahead, I hid the truth — that I was the only daughter of an Alpha King. In my first year at the Dark Moon Pack, I fell for Leo, the Alpha's youngest son, the moment I laid eyes on him. Three years of love. The cold, brutal man spoiled me rotten. Yet he never once agreed to a marking ceremony with me. I later found out why — his pack didn't think I was good enough. After all, the Dark Moon Pack was the most powerful in the Northern Territories, and in their eyes, I was just a nameless rogue from some lesser pack. With the whispers about the gap between our ranks growing louder, I decided to tell him the truth about my bloodline. But then Leo started disappearing. Day after day. After his ninety-ninth night away, I saw a photo on his childhood sweetheart's Ins Story — a Christmas tree decked out in sex toys. The caption read: "Leo promised me — on the night of our marking ceremony, we're going to try every single one." Before I could even process it, my phone buzzed again. A DM. From the same woman. "Do you have any idea how much Leo needs me? Every year on your birthday, every anniversary — he waits until you fall asleep, then comes to spend the night with me." "A high-born wolf like me is the only one worthy of being his mate. You're nothing but the third wheel between an Alpha and his Luna." I stared at the words on the screen, my thumb frozen in midair. Should I be furious? Should I fall apart? Nothing. I felt nothing. Just a hollow space where my heart used to be. Fine. This tainted love, this man — I was done with all of it. I closed my eyes and reached out through the mind-link to my father, the Alpha King. "Dad, I agree to come home and take the throne."

Before the day of my husband's succession as the Don, my stepsister personally tattooed the "Inverted Angel's Eye"—the mark of a traitor—onto my back. My husband didn't just turn a blind eye; when the family vendetta broke out, he withdrew all the elite guards to protect my "pregnant" stepsister, leaving me alone in a defenseless city to face the slaughter.  "Elena, you are strong enough to protect yourself. But Sophia is fragile, and she is carrying my firstborn. She needs the protection more than you." Facing a siege of heavy firepower, I survived by the skin of my teeth. He thought I would swallow the insult for the sake of the family's reputation. He didn't expect that I would kick open the doors of his coronation ceremony wearing mourning weeds, flanked by the FBI and the Commission, and personally strip him of his title. "Goodbye, Lorenzo. This time, I choose to be the Don."

We were supposed to be in love for eternity. But my vampire fiancé, Caius, has stood me up at our blood-bonding ceremony thirty-three times. The first time, the girl he’d sired, Evangeline, lost control during a hunt. He raced to her side, leaving me alone in the church under the blood moon. The second time, he vanished mid-ceremony because Evangeline was being bullied by another clan. He left me to face the elders’ mockery alone. After that, his little fledgling always had some fresh disaster for him to avert. And he always had an excuse: “I sired her. She’s like a child to me.” Then I saw the fresh bite marks on their necks. They had shared blood—the ultimate intimacy between mates. My heart turned to ash. It was time to burn our betrothal to the ground. The day I finally disappeared, he went mad, tearing our world apart to find me.

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 had loved my best friend's Alpha heir brother Marcus Steele for ten years. After my first shift, I was thrilled to discover he was actually my mate. Without hesitation, I gave up my position as Alpha heiress of the Crimson Pack and joined the Moonridge Pack. I spent three years doing everything I could think of to win him over. Finally, he agreed to our binding. Just as I was happily preparing to discuss our mating ceremony with him, I overheard his conversation with his Beta. "Alpha, are you really planning to hold a mating ceremony with Aria Blackwood? Serena is still carrying your child..." The man's eyes were dark and unreadable. "That's right. Even though Serena is pregnant with my child, my father has been dissatisfied with me. This time I have no choice but to marry Aria to appease him. After all, she's the Alpha heiress of the most powerful Crimson Pack. If I marry her, father will definitely let me inherit the Alpha position." "Aren't you afraid Aria will find out about Serena and cause trouble for her?" "No way. After all these years, I know exactly what kind of person she is. I'll just sweet-talk her a bit and she'll obediently listen to me. Besides, that's my bloodline. She'll have to accept it." I felt like I'd been struck by lightning. I stumbled outside in a daze, only to be ambushed by enemy rogue wolves. I was poisoned with silver, and because help didn't arrive in time, the silver toxin spread through my bloodstream to my brain. After three days and nights in a coma, I woke up having forgotten all memories of the man I had once loved with all my heart. Ever since I came to the Moonridge Pack, my parents called every month asking me to come home. This time I dialed my father's number and told him: "I don't want to be the Moonridge Pack's Luna anymore. I want to be Crimson's Alpha."

Dad and my brother, Jonah Atwood, have always favored my sister, Lisa Atwood, while resenting me. At my coming-of-age ceremony, when several werewolves in the Blackwolf pack corners and harasses me, it's Rex Vaughn, the Alpha's heir, who steps in to protect me. He throws the most extravagant mate-bonding ceremony for me, right before the Moon Goddess. Overnight, I become someone every other female wolf wishes they could be! I'm seven months pregnant when I show up at Lisa's birthday party. Somehow, we're ambushed by dark magic. As always, Dad and Jonah put Lisa first. They throw everything they have into shielding and dragging her out of the enemies' barrier, leaving me trapped in the center of the spell circle, nearly consumed. In the end, it's Rex who pulls me out. Later, I wake up in Stone Cabin, only to walk right into a scene that makes my blood run cold. "You paid off an old witch from the Darkmoon pack to set up that spell circle?" Rex's eyes blaze red with fury. "She's only seven months along, and you were already trying to rip the pup out of her? "What? Were you hoping Lily and her pup would blow up and die together?" Jonah and Dad shrink back, trying to explain themselves. "Lisa's wolf is fading fast. The old witch said the only way to save her and her wolf is to sacrifice someone with the same blood immediately…" Rex snaps, "I care about Lisa more than either of you do! Why else do you think I claimed Lily as my mate? Sure, I want to save Lisa, but not by sacrificing Lily and her pup!" That is how I learn the truth. Rex didn't bond with me because he cared. He did it to save Lisa. As it turns out, he's no different from Dad and Jonah. All they ever see is Lisa, the weak-born wolf. I was never part of the picture to begin with. Since no one's ever truly cared about me, I'll walk away with my pup.

BLURB Aria never wanted to stand in the center of the Moonlight Ceremony, surrounded by wolves who despised her. But one touch on the moonstone changed everything. The mate bond snapped into place with Alpha Kael—the strongest wolf in the Western Pack. His breath hitched. Her pulse raced. But Kael saw only the omega girl with no wolf. And with a voice sharp enough to carve through bone, he rejected her. Publicly. Brutally. Completely. Aria collapsed, choking on a pain that wasn’t just heartbreak—it was rejection ripping through soul and blood. And then…there he was. Cain. The younger Alpha twin. Calmer yet far more dangerous. He knelt beside her, touched her trembling cheek, and felt the bond spark between them—a rare instant second bond. “If he doesn’t want you,” he whispered, “then I claim you.” One rejection. One claiming. Two brothers. If Kael broke her...Cain claimed her. Tap to read more.

As the fated mate of the future Alpha of the Silvermoon pack, I've been waiting for Ethan Ford for three whole years. When he gets close to me, my wolf howls obnoxiously because of the mate bond between us. Despite that, he refuses to complete the marking ceremony on the night of the full moon. After that, Ethan shows signs of obsessive infatuation with Ella Turner, my stepsister. He claims that Ella is his true love and goes as far as to release his possessive pheromones all over the pack territory while completely disregarding the pack's rules just so he can woo her. This time, my wolf no longer howls in sorrow, nor do I attempt to get him to stay with me via our mind-link. Instead, I just watch Ethan and Ella's lovey-dovey interactions calmly. At that moment, I've already taken the initiative to block Ethan out of my mind forever.