Ceremony

"You killed her! Run away! Never come back to the pack. He will kill you. " ***** Eighteen year old Madison Willow had never expected her to be the mate of Alpha Jacob, her childhood bully who had body shamed her in front of the entire pack. But when the heat took over and Alpha Jacob mated with her, she dreamt of a life together with him. Her dreams shattered the next morning when her wolf felt the pain of betrayal and she found out about the engagement ceremony of Alpha Jacob and her step sister, Cassandra. Not knowing about how feral her wolf was, she attacked Cassandra in rage making her hanging on the thin thread for life. With Cassandra being dead and the orders for her execution out, she found her friend helping her to escape and start a new life. When she thought she had put everything behind, she gave birth to twins who one day brought an uninvited guest to their house. Alpha Jacob Guzman, their father and the man who had been hunting down their mother for years. Apparently, he wasn't angry at her, instead he insisted that she should return with him to the pack and be his Luna. But things weren't so simple now. Madison was a known model critique and she hated being deceived again. And, yes... Cassandra wasn't dead either. Will Madison and Jacob defeat their rivals and find out the truth? Will they get together on time before the bad people can hurt their pups?

Darcy a 17-year-old Alpha Female wants nothing more than to be loved. Being always ignored by her parents and looked down upon, the only love she ever knew was from her elder twin brother, Dylan and her best friend Lavender. She believes all her miseries will come to an end when she finds her mate. Colton is the next in line Alpha King who wants nothing more than to take his childhood sweetheart Patrina as his chosen Queen. He doesn't want anything to do with his true mate and wishes to spend his life with the woman he loved, but everything changes when he finds his true mate on the day of his coronation ceremony and is forced to accept her as his Queen and Mate. Stephen is the next in line Beta of the royal pack or so he thought. He has always been in love with Darcy but decided to stay away when he realised she wanted to find her true mate. Everyone's worlds come crashing down when Darcy is accused of a murder conspiracy. While proving Darcy innocent a lot from the past is revealed leaving everyone shocked. Will Darcy be able to find the love she always craved and deserved? Will Colton realise his mistake before it is too late? Will Stephen be able to move on with his life without Darcy? Follow on their journey to find out. THE UNWANTED LUNA SERIES BOOK 1 - THE UNLOVED LUNA QUEEN BOOK 2 - THE VENGEFUL LUNA QUEEN All rights reserved! © Midnight Shines Books, 2020.

In shifter society, Eden isn’t the paradise you’re used to hearing about in the Bible. It’s the place where all girls are housed from birth until their 18th birthday. A war between the humans and shifters left the werewolf population decimated and diseased due to poisonous agents used against the wolves. As a result, birth rates of purebred werewolves declined extraordinarily, while the presence of mutant werewolves rose. To combat their fertility crisis, the Elders invented Eden where young girls were kept locked away from society. Their knowledge of the outside world is very limited and their only purpose is to become breeders after their 18th birthday when they are selected by their mates during the Breeding Selection Ceremony. If the girls don’t prove they are purebred wolves or turn into mutants, then they are killed by the Alphas. Imani is shamelessly classified as a Breeder C–the most undesirable amongst the breeders. She hates that the girls are subjected to such barbaric practices and desires to escape from Eden. What she doesn’t expect is to run into Alpha Jackson, the man who was tasked to kill her on her 18th birthday if she didn’t prove to be a purebred wolf.  The Breeding Selection Ceremony commences and Imani is certain she doesn’t have a wolf. As her “sisters” are dying around her, Imani is shocked when Alpha Jackson spares her life. Not only does he spare her life, but he selects her as his Breeder! Alpha Jackson only kills when he’s 100% certain, but there is something off about Imani and the only way he can get to the bottom of it is if he keeps her close.

Before our wedding, my fiancée, Sarah Hargrave—a professor of medieval history—held a private ceremony in a secluded chapel in the countryside. But not with me. Under the glow of candlelight, she cradled Benjamin Wheeler—her first love, his face gaunt from the cancer consuming him—in her arms. Her smile was soft, almost reverent, as she murmured, "In the eyes of God, vows made before the altar are the only ones that matter. Even if the law says I belong to Daniel, my soul was never his." And so, to the faint echo of hymns and the scent of old incense, they drank from the same silver cup, exchanged rings, and stepped together into the dimly lit sacristy—their makeshift bridal chamber. I watched. Silent. Motionless. No outbursts, no demands for explanation. Just the quiet dialing of a clinic to undo the vasectomy I'd gotten for our future. From fifteen to thirty, I had loved Sarah for fifteen long years. But in all that time, there'd never been room for me. That space had always belonged to Benjamin, my stepbrother. So I let her go. Afterward, I joined a geological research team bound for the isolation of Antarctica—a land cut off from the world, quiet and clean. Before I left, I handed Sarah a divorce agreement…and a final gift to mark the end. I never anticipated that Sarah, who'd always met my devotion with frosty detachment, who'd never once glanced back as I walked away, would look ten years older overnight.

On the marking ceremony with my Alpha mate, Sebastian Cole, my world falls apart. A pack of Rogue werewolves kills my mother. The one responsible is Sebastian's stepsister, Cassandra Cole. The security footage captures everything. Cassandra runs out of the cemetery, with a group of Rogues hot on her heels. She bolts into my mother's house, desperate to hide. My mother steps in to protect her and fights back, but in the struggle, her silver rifle is knocked away and lands right at Cassandra's feet. Cassandra could pick it up and kill those Rogues, but she doesn't. She just stands there with a faint smile, watching as the Rogue leader drives his claws through my mother's heart. Later, Sebastian tries to justify her actions. "Vivian, Cassandra was wrong this time... I promise I'll punish her." But I know what I saw. I believe it was murder, and I am bringing charges against Cassandra at the Elder Council Court. However, Sebastian begs me to drop the case. "If Cassandra goes to prison, it'll destroy her! Vivian, don't do this." I can hardly believe what I'm hearing. I refuse him without hesitation. So, he makes another choice. The night before the hearing, he locks me in the basement, trying to stop me from testifying. That's when it finally hits me. No matter what happens, Cassandra will always matter more to Sebastian than I do.

Edda Reggitton is the only daughter of the Silver Pack's Alpha, Alpha Conrad. A month after her eighteenth birthday, she went to the marking ceremony to marry her betrothed Alpha, Alpha Damien, the strongest Alpha of the Southern Pack but on that same day, he rejected her as his mate and took a girl whom he claimed his fated mate, Imore of the River Moon Pack. After her Alpha's rejection, Damien even accused her for trying to hurt Imore and tortured her as his punishment. Edda was about to get exiled from the packs under Alpha Damien's jurisdiction when his Beta Colbi arrived giving him the news that the Lycan King is coming to set another deal with him as he always does every year. Edda's final Judgement turned invalid leading her to return home with her father and her packs. Everyone feared Lycan King Killan even the strongest Alpha Damien. When Edda learned why the Lycan King's arrived to their packs territory, she promised to herself to get chosen as his annual Omega slave maid to get away from her selfish father and packs. She had no idea what was the Lycan King's looks like or what he's capable of but it doesn't matter anymore. Her only main goal is to get chosen by him but what if things get complicated when they finally meet? His scent was very strong for her to resist especially that she just shifted and acquired the power of scenting a mate.

What was the right way to fight an enemy? As a mate or as a best friend? And in the end, I found my answer. "Mate!" I called to Arden and I waited for him to answer it. My mind began to plot how I would silently and quietly take down his father, his mistress, and himself to the grave. I would be the one to drive a sword through their hearts. I would become their worst nightmare. I would make them beg for daring to destroy my family. I felt my eyes moisten as I glared at him. I would be the last thing that they saw before they breathed their last. "Mate!" Arden answered. And in my mind, I knew that Arden had just signed his death warrant by accepting me as his mate. ********* On the night of Zira's mating ceremony, she is killed by her childhood bestfriend and mate, Arden Blackstone —a man whose family has done nothing but hate the Alpha's Household. After murdering the entire family, Zira is left for last. Zira finds herself in the void between life and death. The man who she had thought loved her, had only been using her to get to the throne and her parents —while the one whom she considered her enemy was the one who wanted to help her. The moon goddess appears to her and she gives her two options; To remain in the void to cry her eyes out or return to her old life and protect the moon crest from getting into the wrong hands. In the end she chooses revenge and Zira will stop at nothing until they are all destroyed.

A century ago, the war between humans and beastkin nearly destroyed the world. To restore order, the five major beast clans—Dragon, Tiger, Leopard, Serpent, and Peacock—formed an alliance with humanity. Under the Treaty of Balance, every hundred years, a union between humans and beastkin must occur. The first child born of this union—a half-beast—will inherit the throne and rule over the Human-Beast Alliance. In my past life, I chose Max, the Dragon Clan's heir. Known for his unwavering devotion and noble bloodline, he seemed the perfect mate. I gave birth to the first half-beast child of the generation—a rare white dragon. Our son was named the next ruler, and Max rose to unmatched power. My half-sister, Alice, chose the Tiger Clan—seduced by beauty, blinded by arrogance. Her husband betrayed her, and she was left barren and disgraced. She envied me. Hated me. One night, she drugged me, set our home on fire, and watched as the flames devoured me and my son. But fate was not done with me. When I opened my eyes, I had returned to the day of the choosing ceremony—the moment that would decide our mates, our fates, and the future ruler of the realm. Only this time… Alice had already climbed into Max’s bed. She had been reborn too. But what she didn’t know was this: Max is not the devoted prince she remembers. He is brutal. Possessive. A beast of blood, not love. And this time, I won't make the same mistake.

I put on my nightdress quickly and hurried to his chambers, he would be angry that I came in late, it's better late than never anyway. Getting to his chambers, All his guards were nowhere to be found. Which was strange. “Don't tell me Klaus picked some lazy ass men to be his guards,” Moxilla commented because she was as perplexed as I was. “Moxilla, Klaus would never pick some lazy ass to be his guard, something is off,” I looked around again, before going into the chambers. I stood still when I started hearing moans from Klaus’s room. Klaus might be ruthless and has a disgusting attitude but he would never cheat on me. With doubt, I went to his room, which was opened slightly and I peeped through. My mouth fell open when I saw Tasha and Klaus in bed, having sex. After Aria’s family died, her step mother forced her to marry a cruel Alpha called Klaus, he maltreated her but she decided to stay. The night of their renewal ceremony, Aria found Klaus and her step-sister together, and she decided to cheat back but got caught. The punishment of adultery was death, when the time for Aria to die reached the Lycan king, Ryan saved her and marked her as his mate. Getting married to Ryan, she discovered something she was supposed to find, which would be a threat to her life. Would she run away from the beautiful life she had with Ryan or would she risk her life, to be with him?

Three days before my wedding, I found out that Shane Dawson had changed the venue from Grandma Mae’s home in the South to Castillo de Sol, the Spanish castle that Tania Collins, his childhood sweetheart, adored. I confronted him, only to overhear him complaining to his friend, "Thank God Tania has taste. Otherwise, I’d be laughed at for life." His friend reminded him, "Didn’t you promise her you’d hold the ceremony at her grandmother’s house? Aren’t you afraid she’ll get angry and refuse to marry you?" Shane just laughed, sharp and dismissive. "The Quinns are on the verge of bankruptcy. Marrying me is her only way out. She can’t afford to gamble. I’ve already asked the planner to call her. She’s probably scrambling to change her flight right now." Anger and humiliation burned in my chest. I bit down on my lip and, in the end, turned away. Three days later, the castle wedding went on as scheduled, but I didn’t reschedule my flight. I didn’t show up. Instead, I stood in Grandma Mae’s old courtyard and exchanged rings with another man. To this day, Shane doesn’t understand. I never married him for some so-called escape route. I married him for a love that lasted ten years. However, once the dream was over, it was time for me to choose a different path.