Ceremony

Jack Saunders wanted one last hurrah before taking the mantle of DS Oil & Gas, the billion-dollar company that his father founded. His friend, Owen, let him borrow his mansion on a tropical island so that he could throw a final party before “marrying” the business that would dominate the rest of his life. He brought his secretary, Brandy, hoping that he could kindle a relationship that would last through the long days and nights of running a company. However, while the party was great, the gold digging woman he brought was not, and Jack resigned himself to a lifetime of loneliness. That was until he took a walk down the beach and met her. A woman who didn’t recognize him from the tabloids and only saw him, the man behind the money. Of all the women Jack had ever met, there was nobody like Emma LaRue. With one pretend marriage ceremony, she would change his life forever, and become the only one he ever wanted to give his saltwater kisses to. This novella is the first half of Saltwater Kisses written from Jack’s point-of-view, with a few bonus scenes thrown in as well.

Alliyah Agustin thought her life was finally falling into place. She was about to marry her long-time boyfriend, Chester — the man she’d built her dreams around, the man everyone envied her for. The venue gleamed with gold, the air smelled of white roses, and her so-called best friend, Kassandrah, stood by her side as maid of honor. Everything was perfect. Until it wasn’t. When the ceremony began, Chester was nowhere to be found. In his place stood a stranger — dark suit, darker eyes, a smirk that didn’t belong anywhere near an altar. The crowd murmured, the priest hesitated, and before she could even process what was happening, the papers were signed. She had just married Alexander Nicholas Astley, one of the most powerful billionaires in the country — and the most feared man in the underground world. What Alliyah didn’t know was that her “perfect” fiancé and “trusted” friend had sold her — a deal made to clear a debt, sealed with her hand in marriage. And in the dangerous world she was dragged into, her survival would depend on one impossible question: Was Alexander her captor… or her savior?

Five years ago, Seraphina Vale’s life ended in front of a crowd. On her wedding day to billionaire CEO Cassian Thorne, she was publicly accused of corporate espionage, betrayal, and greed. Security dragged her out of the ceremony as cameras flashed and the media tore her reputation apart. The man she loved never gave her a chance to explain. What Cassian never knew was that Seraphina walked away carrying his child. Now, five years later, Seraphina has rebuilt her life from nothing. Stronger. Independent. Untouchable. But when fate brings her back into Cassian’s world, a shocking truth surfaces her son, Lucien, is the only biological heir to the powerful Thorne empire. The Thorne family demands the child. Seraphina refuses. The only solution Cassian offers is a contract: Live under his roof. Pretend to be his wife. Secure the heir’s future. But the past is full of lies, enemies are still watching, and the truth behind Seraphina’s downfall is far darker than either of them imagined. This time, the woman he once destroyed isn’t coming back to beg. She’s coming back to win.

My mate, Loki Olson, was the Alpha of the Silvermoon Pack, the strongest warrior in the pack. Yet he was colder to me than winter stone, stingy with even the smallest trace of warmth. It was only after my hair had turned completely white that I accidentally saw him gazing at a photograph of my sister, Alice Brewer, his eyes full of longing and tenderness. That was when I finally understood why Loki had never held a mating ceremony with me. His heart had always belonged to Alice. Marrying me was nothing more than fulfilling an agreement made with my father. When I opened my eyes again, I found myself back at our bonding ceremony. Without mercy, Loki tore up our wedding contract in front of everyone, then reached for Alice's hand and announced their engagement amid the cheers and blessings of countless werewolves. As for me, I picked up the phone and called my father, the former Alpha of the Silvermoon Pack. "Dad, I've made up my mind. I'm willing to take Alice's place and marry into the Goldlush Pack."

Nang dahil sa gaganaping engagement ceremony ng kapatid, napilitang umuwi ang 25 anyos na dalagang si Elodie Hermedilla sa Pilipinas galing Australia. Ngunit, hindi niya inaasahang bigla pala siyang ipapalit sa kapatid na ma-engage dahil buntis ito sa ibang lalaki. Kaya nakipagtalik siya kay Russel Lardizabal, 28 years old na binatang kakikilala pa lang niya, dahil sa ayaw niyang ireserba sa kaniyang mapapangasawa ang kaniyang virginity. Subalit, hindi naman pala natuloy ang engagement ceremony. Pagkakataon niya iyon upang ituloy ang namamagitan sa kanila ni Russel. Nang malaman niyang balak pala siyang gamitin ng lalaki dahil sa mai-engage rin ito sa iba, napipilitan man ay siya na ang kusang lumayo. Ngunit huli na ang lahat nang malaman niyang buntis na pala siya kay Russel. Kaniya bang sasabihin sa lalaki ang tungkol sa magiging anak nila? Or she will wait him chase her untamed heart?

He is the unchallenged Alpha of the Shadow pack. He crushes my hand, lets his true love drive me to the brink, and forces me to lick wolfsbane from my wounds in the punishment chamber, turning me into the pack's laughingstock. I am the Lunar pack's pawn in a political bonding. After enduring three years of humiliation and clutching enemy intelligence, I overturn his throne during the Moon Ceremony, making him watch helplessly as his beloved betrays him and his pack descends into chaos. Later, he backs down. He abdicates as Alpha and gets down on his knees at the pack's border every day, his voice hoarse from shouting, "I was wrong." I hold a blood-stained dagger, my gaze icy as I say, "Your regret is deadlier than wolfsbane and worth even less than my life." Our bonding is a calculated trap, and revenge is the move I am determined to play. Winning him back no longer matters. This time, I am not turning back. I want nothing but his endless remorse and the chance to break my chains and begin a new life.

As my body was pulled from the desolate marsh, Kian, the Alpha I had been mated to for ten years, was in the middle of his Mating Ceremony with his Beta, Sienna. My rotting corpse was mangled beyond recognition by layers of different wolfsbane poisons, my very bones stained black by the toxin's deep penetration. Even the pack's eldest healer retched at the sight of it. But, Kian, seemingly unfazed by the gruesome discovery, exchanged vows with Sienna before the Moon Altar. They received the blessings of the entire pack, while no one remembered me, even though I had only been missing for three months. It wasn't until my brother Ronan, the pack's Head Enforcer, began his investigation and found a shattered moonstone deep within my skeletal remains. "Ronan... if anyone can hear this... the Rogue Alpha has infiltrated..." The fragmented, static-laced voice that emanated from it made my brother freeze. When the truth was finally revealed, I was proven to be not the traitor who eloped with a Rogue Alpha, but the hero who died protecting the pack. And as for that Alpha who always looked down on me? He completely lost his mind.

On my wedding day, my boyfriend, Theodore Gunther, suddenly stops the wedding ceremony—all because Gwen Lithgow has updated her social media to say she's back. Theodore throws away the wedding ring he designed. He leaves me at the altar without another look back. I'm dumbfounded as I stand there in my wedding dress. My brother, Alvin Chilton, who's supporting me, lets go. "You've always been strong, Joycelyn. I know you can handle this alone. Gwen needs me more now." With that, he also leaves. He and Theodore have both left me for the same woman. They abandon me alone. That night, after dealing with the fallout of the failed wedding, Gwen sends me a photo. In it, Theodore and Alvin are standing by her bedside. She wears the necklace Theodore made himself and the wedding dress Alvin designed. Those were supposed to be mine. The image makes me lose hope in them. Tears stream down my face as I make a call. "Mom, Dad, I've changed my mind. I want to go home."

For ten years, I bled for my fated mate, Damian. I forged him into an Alpha. I built his pack from nothing. But on the eve of our Blood Moon ceremony, he chose her. He made his first love, Isla—the one who abandoned him—the High Priestess. Not me. He thought I was just some rogue with a knack for magic. He thought he could drain my power, cast me aside, and claim Isla as his true mate. But he forgot who I am. I brokered the treaties. I negotiated the trades. I built the wards that kept them all alive. He and his pack hailed Isla as their savior. They groveled at her feet. They tried to get rid of me. Their plan? Force me to escort a demon to the Abyss of Exile. But he never knew my secret. I'm no rogue. I am the youngest daughter of the Alpha King. I am royalty. So I gave them what they wanted. I walked away. They only started to panic when my wards shattered and their lands were overrun.

Five years into marriage, Silvia Serra becomes both Dante Valenti's most lethal weapon and his most invisible presence. She shields him from bullets. She crosses a freezing river for him. Her scars accumulate, and his response is an assumption that it is how things are meant to be. In time, Dante grows repulsed by the violence clinging to her. He derides her lack of charm and gives his warmth to another woman instead. He allows others to grind down her dignity, and with a new lover in his arms, he openly stains her name. Silvia tolerates it so she can continue guarding him. Everyone mocks her as if she's numb to it all, driven away again and again, but never truly gone. Then comes the night of pounding rain. Cast aside without ceremony, Silvia erases every sign she was ever there and leaves with finality. Dante treats it as nothing more than sulking, convinced she will return within three days. Later, the once-untouchable Don was seen on his knees at Silvia's feet, stripped of all pride, begging her to turn back and look at him just once.