Ceremony

Alice is a werewolf nerd who loves and thrives in knowledge, but she lives in a pack called the Dauntless Pack, where strength is more cherished than knowledge. To be initiated into the pack as a full member, one must be a warrior. After being defeated in a duel ceremony,* Alice is rejected and humiliated publicly by her mate, Alpha Clark, for her lack of strength. *The rejection coupled with the defeat, rusticates Alice out of the pack. Left on her own, Alice goes in search of the Genie Pack, a werewolf pack heard is a citadel of knowledge. She hopes to be accepted there since she also heard that the pack values knowledge over strength. When she reaches the Genie Pack, her hope is fulfilled when Alpha Jay, the Alpha of the Genie Pack, her and makes her one of the teachers in the Pack's college. As time goes on, Alice and Jay become friends, bonding over their love and obsession for books. Their friendship grows into something more as they begin to realize their sizzling feelings towards each other, sizzling feelings that friends aren't supposed to be having for each other. However, a possible rift threatens their blossoming love as Alpha Clark, Alice's former mate comes back to reclaim Alice. The stakes are raised even higher when Jay's runaway mate returns, pleading and doing everything in her power to have Jay back. Will the blossoming love between Jay and Alice win over these challenges? Or will it be snuffed out before the both of them even get the chance to be together?

After dating for seven years, I proposed a hundred and one times to my boyfriend, Jason Brown. However, he always told me that he was not ready, rejecting my proposals. This continued to my 28th birthday. In his suit pocket, I found a ring box. Thinking he was about to propose to me, I was overjoyed. However, to my horror, I saw him going down on one knee to propose to his assistant, Marcella Hopkins. Right before my eyes, he placed the ring I had yearned for so long on her finger. When one of his buddies asked what he planned to do with me, Jason wrapped his arm around his new love and chuckled. "Dude, I don't think I can bring myself to marry a woman who wants to get married that badly. She's so needy. However, if I do get a second wife, I might consider her. After all, she is hopelessly in love with me." He was sure I would wait for him, and he even placed a bet with his friends that I would crash his wedding. However, on his wedding day, I never showed up. Moments before his wedding ceremony was about to start, he suddenly noticed me, fully dressed up in a wedding gown in a separate banquet hall. Seeing me about to marry someone else, he almost went crazy.

Rhea is just a lovely omega working as a maid in the pack estate, saving every dollar she can to go to college. All her life, she’s dreamed of finding her mate — someone who would love her, respect her, and make her feel complete. She never asked for much. Just a kind man who’d treat her right. That’s what she wants. That’s what her mother wants. And her best friend Kale, the youngest son of the Beta, just so happens to fit that dream perfectly. During the Mate Ceremony, she finally finds her mate… but it’s not Kale like she hoped. It’s Alpha Dorian. The cold, ruthless Alpha known for his icy eyes and iron fists — and worse, everyone knows he’s already engaged to Vivienne, the daughter of a powerful neighboring Alpha. This has to be a joke. Rhea wants nothing to do with him. She plans to reject the bond and stay far away. But when her mother falls dangerously ill, and desperation sets in, she realizes she doesn’t have the luxury of pride. “Be my mistress,” he whispers, pinning her to the wall, his cold breath brushing her neck and sending a shiver down her spine. “And I will help you.” Now, Rhea is trapped in a secret affair with the Alpha she swore she hates — but every time he touches her, her body betrays her.

On my eighteenth birthday, Alpha called me up in front of the whole pack and told me to choose—one of his sons as my mate. Whichever I chose? He'd be the next Alpha. I didn't flinch. I picked Cayce, his eldest. The room went dead silent. Everyone knew I used to be stupidly in love with Kain, the younger one. I'd confessed at every pack dance. Took a silver dagger for him once. Cayce? Coldest, meanest wolf we had. Total menace. No one got close. But they didn't know the truth. In my last life, I was bonded to Kain. On the day of our Bonding Ceremony, he slept with Lena, my cousin. My mom lost it. Shipped Lena off to Duskwolf Pack to get bonded to their Beta. Kain? He blamed me. Paraded in she-wolves with Lena's same ice-blue eyes. When he found out I was carrying his pup, he made sure I saw him with every one of them. It was torture. When labor hit, he locked me in the dungeon. Blocked everyone out. My pup got crushed. I died hating him. Maybe the Moon Goddess felt sorry for me—she gave me a second shot. I came back. This time? I let Kain keep Lena. Didn't think he would ever regret it.

Emberleigh, a 21-year-old woman, became an outcast when her parents were killed by the most powerful wolf pack when she was thirteen. She is a human and her mate, Maximus, is an Alpha with a large pack. He arrives with his three best friends three weeks before he and his chosen mate, Tiffany, are due to be mated. Emberleigh is pure, even though she works as a dancer at a local club and is one of the most popular dancers there. When he sees her, he feels the mate bond pull. Feeling rage and jealousy of other men watching, he orders a private dance for himself. She is wary of the wolves and despises them. She believes that the wolf pack, which happens to be Maximus', is the reason she has been orphaned. He must win her trust, her heart, and end the ceremony with Tiffany. Tiffany, heartbroken and enraged, seeks revenge against the human who replaced her as the pack's Luna. In order to tarnish Emberleigh's reputation, she is resorting to hiring external sources outside the pack. When she is left for dead in the middle of the forest, Maximus arrives just in time, finding Emberleigh unconscious and injured. With a mixture of fear and desperation, he carries her back to his pack's territory, vowing to protect her at all costs. As Emberleigh slowly regains consciousness, she finds herself torn between her lingering distrust for wolves and the undeniable connection she feels towards Maximus, who is determined to prove his love and loyalty to her.

Orphaned at birth, Lena Warrick spent twenty years locked away in a secluded academy, training to be a warrior. Her heart longed to be free, to escape far away from the village of Lucania! A strange force beckoned her, making her restless to escape! Maybe it was an impossible dream! She was the chosen Luna for Ajax, the future Alpha of the Luceres Pack. His father, Alpha Atticus, promised to divulge her identity only if she gave in. There was no other way than to surrender. However, on the eve of the Luna Ceremony, their pack was attacked by the most powerful group of warriors led by their indomitable Alpha, Zephyrus. In a matter of minutes, he overpowered them, leaving her at his mercy as a war prisoner. After twenty years, Zephyrus Averoff returned to his village, Lucania, to avenge the death of his family and pack at the hands of the ruthless Alpha Atticus. Soon he wiped out the enemy and reclaimed his land, his pack. What about the prisoner he had captured whom his wolf, Zeus, already acknowledged as his mate? To what extent will Lena go to know her true identity? Why couldn’t she accept the mate bond between them? What would Zephyrus do when the dark secrets of her past are out? Would he accept the enemy, reject her, or claim her as his mate? The first book of the Overpowered Series, this story can be read as a standalone book.

I spent five years weaving this pack's wards. But my mate, Alpha Jayden, tore that power from my hands. He gave it to her. To Chloe, the new Beta. The girl can't even conjure a simple shield. How could she ever hold the pack’s wards? I confronted Jayden, furious. He fed me a line about wanting Chloe to learn. To ease my burden. He claimed it hurt him to see me so drained, so overworked for our pack. And like a fool, I fell for it. I actually believed he cared. But on our tenth mating anniversary… On our tenth anniversary, Jayden skipped the one ceremony that mattered. The full moon ritual to forge our eternal bond. He was with Chloe. He claimed it was pack business, but I felt it. He gave her a temporary mark. A mark reserved only for a true mate. Our bond fractured. The pain was a constant, searing agony. The final straw? Jayden gave Chloe the Luna’s sacred heirloom. Right in front of me. That's when I gave up. I left. And I took my power back. The wards collapsed. When the enemy pack attacked, Jayden’s wolf nearly shattered. Only then did he cast that useless Chloe aside. He crawled back to me, fell to his knees, and begged me to return and protect him.

Ysabelle Andra Guerrero never thought her love life would become a business transaction. As the only daughter and heiress of an airline company, she lived independently— an adrenaline junkie, a traveler, and someone who swore never to open her heart yet but her world turns upside down when her family uses her for a deal: a marriage contract to secure a business partnership. Worst? She must marry Aldrich Evan Lorenzo— the man who left her without any explanation. Aldrich, heir to a well-known travel company, faces his own crisis. With his family’s business on the brink of collapse, he agrees to the arranged marriage, unaware that the bride-to-be is the woman he secretly loved and lost. Bound by a contract with clear terms: 1. End the marriage once the Lorenzo company recovers. 2. Act as a powerful couple in public. 3. No strings attached. Neither of them wants to say “I do,” but both have too much to lose. On their wedding day, chaos strikes when Sarina Fructuoso—a famous dermatologist, crashes the ceremony, claiming she’s pregnant with Aldrich’s child. The revelation stuns everyone, especially Ysabelle but gives Aldrich the benefit of the doubt, suspecting a setup. As they navigate a web of lies, public scrutiny, and hidden feelings, their scripted affection begins to feel real. Behind the staged smiles and cold arrangements, they find themselves drawn back to each other. What started as a contract becomes a fight for something deeper—a second chance at love neither of them expected.

Kristen Rose never meant to marry billionaire Max Ethan Anderson. But fate and a cruel twist placed her at the altar. On what was supposed to be Max and Lena’s wedding day, Lena ran off for selfish reasons. When her plan backfired, she returned, accusing Kristen of kidnapping her. In truth, it was Lena who tricked Kristen into wearing her wedding gown and walking down that aisle. Max found out the truth right there on the stage right before the kiss. But instead of stopping the ceremony, he masked his fury. After the wedding, he gave Kristen a cold deal.... Twenty days to divorce Twenty days with a man who resents her for everything she never meant to do. But what Max didn’t expect was Kristen’s heart to be so real. And what Kristen didn’t expect was to start falling for the man behind the icy glare. Just when hope begins to bloom, Max shatters it all. He marries Lena instead, telling the world he’d never choose a "low-life" like Kristen even though he loved her more than anything. Lena, now his wife, sees Kristen as a threat. And she’ll do anything to erase her permanently. When tragedy strikes, the world believes Kristen is dead. Until she returns. Stronger. Smarter. Fearless. And this time, she’s not alone. Kristen is now teaming up with Max’s most powerful enemy. And Max never saw it coming.

I've been in a secret relationship with Declan Gibson for five years, and I've tried to seduce him more times than I can count. Yet, when I stand in front of him in my birthday suit and a pair of bunny ears, all he does is worry that I'll catch a cold and wrap me in a blanket. I used to think his restraint came from being the mafia don, that he was saving our first time for our wedding night. However, one month before the ceremony, he secretly plans the city's grandest fireworks show to celebrate his childhood sweetheart's birthday. They hug and share a slice of cake in public. That night, they check into a hotel. … The next morning, I watch them leave together. That's when I realize Declan is not restrained. He just doesn't love me, so I walk out of the hotel. I call my parents. "Dad, I've broken up with Declan. I'll marry into the Sullivan family as planned." My father is stunned. "I thought you were madly in love with Declan. Why did you break up? I heard Bryson can't have children. You've always loved kids. What will you do once you marry him?" "It's fine," I reply, disheartened. "We can always adopt."