Ceremony

I was different from the others in my pack. My wolf could hear the truths hidden deep in someone’s heart. Whenever someone lied, she would immediately whisper their real thoughts to me. During the two years I was with Jace, my wolf stayed silent. I knew his love for me was real. But on the day before our marking ceremony, my wolf finally spoke. "I need to stall Leah tomorrow. I have to mark Elena." "Elena's pregnant. She has to be marked to be accepted by the pack. Leah loves me too much to blame me." My hand tightened around the pregnancy test tucked deep in my bag. A cold dread swept over me. Jace, I was pregnant too. But I wouldn't tell you. I played along with his plan, pretending I didn't know the truth. I let him make Elena his mate, father to her pup. After their ceremony, all he'd find was the discarded pregnancy test I left behind. His heir and I would be gone from his world—forever.

It had been five years since my mate Ethan Blackwood secretly marked me. Then his brother, the Alpha of the Shadow Moon Pack, died in the territorial war. To become the next Alpha of Shadow Moon, Ethan inherited everything his deceased brother left behind. Including his widowed sister-in-law, Victoria. After every time Ethan shared Victoria's bed, he would hold me close and whisper reassurances: "Autumn, just wait a little longer. Once Victoria gets pregnant, we'll have our Mating Ceremony!" This was the pack's only requirement for him to inherit the Alpha position. In the six months since returning to Shadow Moon territory, Ethan had gone to Victoria's chambers countless times. From once a month in the beginning, to now almost every other day. Finally, after countless nights of sitting alone until dawn, news came that Victoria was pregnant. But along with this announcement came another—Ethan and Victoria would be holding their Mating Ceremony. "Mommy, is someone having a Mating Ceremony here?" my daughter asked. I looked around at the stark contrast to our sparse living quarters. The main hall was filled with flowers and balloons. People bustled about outside, everyone joyfully preparing for their Mating Ceremony. I pulled my innocent daughter into my arms: "Yes, sweetheart. Your father is having a Mating Ceremony with someone he loves, which means it's time for us to leave." Ethan didn't know that we wolves of the Silver Crescent Pack never cared about so-called Mating Ceremonies. In Silver Crescent, female wolves were revered. My mother was the current Alpha, and I only needed to bear an heir to the pack to inherit her position. I dialed a number I hadn't called in five years: "Mother, I already have an heir now. I'm ready to come home and claim your Alpha position."

There are no grown men in our village. When girls turn 18, they participate in a coming-of-age ceremony in the ancestral hall. Dressed in ceremonial clothes, they line up to enter, and when they come out, their faces show a mix of pain and joy. When my eldest sister turned 18, Grandma forbade her from attending. However, one night, she snuck into the hall. When she came out, she was limping, and blood was dripping between her legs.

Aria Hale's life went very dark when her mate rejected her because she had a daughter, which he claimed had no wolf powers. To top this off, cheating occurred a day before their mating ceremony! Her heart broken, Aria had one-night stand with a guy she hardly knew. The next day was the mating ceremony of Lyra, her daughter, where fate had delivered a mighty blow! The guy from the previous night, Lucian Vale, is now Lyra's destined mate! What followed were the secrets and heartbreak of Aria, who was frightened as she tried to keep the night a secret to protect her daughter. But Lucian remembered Aria, and he was never going to let her go. Fighting against guilt, desire, and fear of ruining her daughter's life, Aria did everything she could to stop thinking about Lucian. But fighting her feelings only made her love him more. Then the Luna began to plot against Aria, setting her up with the decision of choosing between her daughter's future and the love of her life ; to walk free of a love that was burdened by guilt or to follow her heart.

Alpha Damon was an exiled monster, feared for his cruelty. He chose Selena—an omega from a worthless pack—as his mate. There was just one problem. Our Mating Ceremony, mine and my fated mate Alpha Ethan's, was set for the same day. When Ethan found out, he vanished for three days. I found him just in time to overhear his plan. "At the Mating Ceremony, I'll fake a sign from the Moon Goddess. I'll make it look like she rejected Elara." "Pack law will force her onto that pathetic excuse for a brother, Damon. Then Selena won't have to mate with him." "An outcast like Damon doesn't deserve a true Alpha's fated mate. Once Selena is safe, I’ll just take Elara back." My heart turned to stone. He was throwing me to a monster to save another woman. And he thought he could just take me back? Fine. I would play along with his little scheme. But once his little show was over, I'd be gone for good. Except when Ethan came to "rescue" me, he found Damon's mark burned into my neck. That's when he finally broke.

“Caleb,” I managed, my voice breaking. “What are you saying?” “I have to protect the pack,” he said, looking everywhere but at me. “Protect the pack? What does that even mean?” “There’s a prophecy… if I take you as my mate, it could doom us all. I have to keep the pack safe, even if that means…” His voice faltered, but his grip on me remained steady. “No.” I pulled my hands back, the anger and hurt surging all at once. How could he throw away everything we’d built and because of some prophecy? “You’re the Alpha. You’re supposed to trust in us, trust in me.” “I’m sorry, Emma,” he said to me, then out loud. “I reject you, Emma, as my mate and hereby annul this mating ceremony" ♡♡♡ Alpha Caleb Blackwood and Luna-in-training, Emma Rivers are destined to be mates. But on the night of their bonding ceremony, Caleb shocks the entire pack by rejecting Emma, leaving her heartbroken. Out of pain and humiliation, Emma leaves behind the only home she's ever had. Unknown to Caleb, Emma is already carrying his child when she leaves.

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?

Betrayed. Rejected. Forgotten. Elvira was born to be Luna, but on the night of her mating ceremony, her step-sister takes her place, and her step brothers—Beta Eric and Beta Elijah made sure she was never seen. Branded a murderer, unworthy of love, they break her, chain her, and leave her for dead. But fate isn’t done with her yet. Elvira has one choice, stay buried in their lies or rise to destroy and take back her place.

Rogue Strife is a normal 18 year old who lived happily with his mother until the Senior year graduation ceremony, a night that changed everything, betrayed by his girlfriend, meeting the queen of devils and his mother sick. Rogue must fight to protect what he holds dear and combat supernatural forces that seeks the power he possessed and lift the curse that was placed upon him and the queen of devils while helping her regain what she had lost.

In a realm where beasts held dominion, Ace King reigned supreme—a creature of awe-inspiring power and enigma. But even the mighty can stumble, and Ace's colossal error set off a chain of events that would reshape destinies. Fiona, a beacon of beauty, faced a harrowing rejection from her intended mate, plunging her into the clutches of her worst nightmare: Ace, the once-cursed Beast now proclaiming her as his soulmate. Yet, the complexities of their entwined fate began to unravel. Secrets emerged—the haunting truth behind her father's demise and the enigmatic scarlet stone. Fiona's awareness of her reincarnated past revealed the shocking revelation: her previous life's murderer was none other than Ace himself. Amidst the impending mating ceremony, where Ace's purring voice and tantalizing caresses cast a hypnotic spell, Fiona grappled with her conflicting emotions. Her feigned compliance masked a brewing plan for escape and retribution. She had to navigate this perilous dance, concealing her intentions while aiming to expose the malevolent Ace. Under the moonlit ceremony, Fiona steeled herself, ready to face the inexorable fate. Unknown to Ace, she was armed with the determination to break the cycle, expose the horrors of her past, and liberate herself from the clutches of the cruelest Beast. This was her chance to rewrite history and reclaim her sovereignty.