Cherished

“Run, Lylah! Run before they decide death suits you better!” Cast out. Betrayed. Branded as the enemy. Once the cherished daughter of Beta Dalton, Lylah Crossbow’s life crumbled when her father was executed for treason he never committed. Branded an outcast and scorned by her own pack, Lylah endures cruelty and isolation under her aunt’s oppressive rule. Her only comfort? Ethan, a fellow omega equally cast aside. But destiny doesn’t care about social rank or shattered hearts. It rips Lylah from the shadows and throws her into the merciless spotlight when a disastrous mating ball reveals her as the fated mate of Alpha Harris. Rejected and exiled, Lylah finds herself wandering the wilds, fighting for survival. Yet salvation comes from the most unexpected place—a ruthless pack ruled by a man thought dead. Lylah must navigate betrayal, ambition, and a war threatening to engulf everything she once knew. As secrets unravel and alliances are tested, Lylah must find the strength to rise from the ashes of her past. Because this time, she’s not just fighting for herself. She’s fighting for revenge. And she’s not fighting alone.

"You're... oh," I whispered, my eyes rolling back as his lips found that irresistible spot on my neck. "You’re mated!" I gasped, barely finding my voice. Julian's eyes burned with a golden fire as he nodded. "You’re still mine, Avery. I want to own every inch of your body and soul." His words swept away my senses, rekindling feelings I thought had died three years ago. How could he say that and not make my heart flutter? But I hadn't learned my lesson then and feared I still hadn't. _________ My mate chose another woman, parading their love in front of me and shattering my heart into pieces. The pain was unbearable—I lost our baby and, with it, the last hope that he might one day love me. The harsh truth that he never cherished me cut more profound than any wound, leaving scars that time couldn’t heal. Three years later, fate brought us together again in the most unexpected way. Despite the pain and every warning in my mind, I find myself drawn to him again.

Being left behind by the people she cherished, Lura Elise Abejero wants nothing but to end her suffering. Unfortunately, fate brought her broken self to the cold yet ravishingly hot business magnate, Lucio Gavin Cradford—not to fix nor save her but the other way around. After she lost the man she thought she would grow old with, she vowed not to love again. But her heart is indeed stubborn and rapidly beats for her boss. She hardly restrained herself from falling for him. But whenever his deep ocean blue eyes captured hers, all her walls stumbled down. In the end, she accepted defeat and took the risk for the second time. And even though loving him is not easy, still, she is happy. However, destiny was deliberately playful and bitter towards her. Because the man she thought that will make her whole again, will destroy her even more. She's already miserable— ten times than before, and then suddenly, a part of her past mysteriously came back. Would she still hold on to the man who broke her trust and took her love for granted? Or would she rather choose to bring back the love she had long forgotten?

After my friend Josh Yates fell deep into gambling, he showed up one day wearing a wide, excited grin, insisting on taking me to Macoria. "I just won big," he said. "My treat. We're staying at the most luxurious hotel." However, the moment we landed, he led me straight into a private room buried deep inside a casino. "The truth is, I lost 7.5 million," he admitted. "If I can't pay it back, they'll sell me off to the Mykar Borderlands… "However, the woman who runs this place is looking for a man with a crescent-shaped birthmark. If they find him, all debts are wiped clean. "You've got one on your stomach. I saw it when you were showering. I'm sorry, man… I really don't want to die." Four men pinned me down on a sofa. That was when I noticed a child's drawing hanging on the wall. I had made it for my mother before I was taken from her. She cherished it, said she would keep it for the rest of her life. An icy smile tugged at my lips. Josh, Josh… this time, you really did place the right bet, I thought. Too bad the winner would not be you.

Jessie Stewart spent twelve years as an orphan before she was finally brought home to the Stewart family. For the first time in her life, she had parents and brothers. But the very people who promised to love and protect her turned against her. Bruce Stewart, her father, who once vowed she'd be his cherished daughter, told her that if she had any conscience at all, she wouldn't fight Mia Stewart, her adoptive sister, for a man. Her brothers, who swore they'd spoil her rotten, dragged her onto an operating table just to draw blood for Mia. As for her fiancé, Henry Lawson, every time things got dangerous, he chose to protect Mia instead of her. Three years later, Jessie's parents were on their knees in tears. Her once arrogant brothers slapped themselves in shame. Even her arrogant ex-fiancé knelt at her feet. They all begged her to come back. Little did they know, Jessie's heart had long since been closed off during those countless nights of pain and betrayal. She had already met the love of her life. In the years to come, she would never again be alone. He tended to her every need. To him, Jessie was everything and more.

I loved the pup my parents adopted so deeply that I cared for him as if he were my own son. At his slightest request, I willingly braved the storm to search the cliff edges for the plant he needed for tomorrow's assignment. Just as I stumbled toward them, battered and disheveled, I heard him secretly call my sister "mama, and call my mate "Dad”. It turned out my beloved Alpha mate had been cheating all along. He said it was too early for us to have pups, then turned around and started a family with my own sister. And my parents had known all along. They even wanted to force me to step down from my Luna position. The pup I cherished like my own heart cursed me with the most vicious words. Looking at them, I laughed through my tears. They didn't know I was already dead. The Moon Goddess had shown mercy—if I could receive one genuine declaration of love within these seven extra days, I could return to life. But they all wished for my death. I granted their wish. So why did they all regret it when the pack enforcers asked them to identify my body?

She was once the cherished daughter of a respected professor, but now, she is nothing more than a shadow in the city-poor, struggling, and alone. Whispers follow her wherever she goes. Beauty like hers, they say, is a curse for a girl without power. They assume she'll do anything for money. But she is fire, untamed and unbroken. The university, once her father's legacy, is now under the control of a powerful man-a man who watches her with a cruel smile, waiting for the moment she will break. He holds the strings to her fate, dragging her into a silent war where wealth and control always win. Then, he returns. The boy who once played by her side, the boy who vanished the night of the tragedy, is back-no longer a friend, no longer the boy she knew. Now, he stands at the front of the lecture hall, wearing the title of Professor. His cold, unreadable eyes lock onto hers. His touch lingers like a ghost from the past. He helps her in the shadows, yet she feels his presence in every downfall she faces. Does he still hold the warmth of their past, or has he returned only to watch her drown? As secrets unravel and desires ignite, she must decide-fight against the power that seeks to destroy her, or surrender to the darkness lurking within the man she once called her own.

At the annual Mafia Summit, my childhood sweetheart, Salvatore Russo, falls victim to an aphrodisiac slipped to him by a beautiful spy from a rival family. And I, the cherished daughter of the most feared Don in the west, willingly become his antidote. That night, he drives me to the edge of breathless surrender, again and again. "Principessa, what did I ever do to deserve your favor?" he mutters. From that moment on, his love consumes me whole, making me forget what loneliness ever felt like. But in the third year of our marriage, someone sent me a private video of a man and a woman. It's from Rosa Conti, the same woman who once drugged Salvatore. In the video, Salvatore's voice is thick with desire. "Darling, of course I remember. The one who should've been in my bed that night was you." Then, Rosa sends me another voice message, taunting, "Arianna Moretti, for three years, he's been dulling your claws, turning you into something soft and spoiled. Everything he did was just to bring me back." However, she doesn't know that when I love Salvatore, I don't mind surrendering to him. And when I no longer love him, he'll face my fiercest vengeance.

Angela Bailey spent six years believing her marriage was built on love, only to discover her devoted husband was nothing more than a polished illusion. When she filed for divorce and asked her daughter to leave with her, the little girl clung to another woman’s hand and called her “Mom.” Donald Turner, cold and entitled, told her, “As long as you apologize to Nina, you can still live your high-society life.” Angela scoffed. “You might not even stay in high society yourself.” She walked out of the Turner household with nothing, determined to rebuild her life from the ground up. With her own talent and grit, she joined a new company and went head-to-head with her ex. Just when Donald realized his mistake and wanted her back, another man stepped into Angela’s life—someone who protected her openly, supported her quietly, and cherished her without hesitation. Donald regretted everything and wanted her back. He appeared with their daughter, eyes red as he pleaded, “I’ll give you the entire Turner family. Please love me and our daughter again.” The man beside Angela laughed. “The Turner family? That means nothing. Angela doesn’t need it. And as for a daughter…” He looked at Angela, and together they said, “We already have one.”

Raised as the unwanted adopted child of a powerful beta family, eighteen-year-old Rose has always known pain more intimately than love. Once cherished, she became invisible the moment the Blackwoods’ true daughter was found. Forced into servitude within her own pack, Rose endures cruelty, neglect, and the daily suppression of her wolf through wolfsbane—a punishment that leaves her powerless and broken, or so everyone believes. Unlike other wolves, Rose cannot hear or feel her inner beast. Her wolf has been silent for as long as she can remember, locked away for reasons even the pack elders do not understand. Labeled weak and defective, she dreams only of escape and a life where she is more than a shadow. On the eve of her eighteenth birthday, hope sparks when her best friend encourages her to flee the pack and start anew. But when a mysterious howl awakens something deep within Rose, her dormant wolf begins to stir—revealing that her power was never gone, only bound. As secrets unravel and fate draws her toward a dangerous, magnetic bond she never expected, Rose must uncover the truth of who she is, why her wolf was suppressed, and whether love can survive the fire awakening inside her. Her freedom will come at a cost—and the world is not ready for what she is becoming.