Chrysanthemum Garden

My heart stops. For a moment, everything around me falls away. The people, the noise, the ballroom—all of it disappears as I stare at him. My chest feels tight, like I can’t breathe, and my mind goes blank. It’s him. The man who kissed me, who left me reeling with emotions I didn’t even understand… is Lilly’s fiancé. … After watching the brutal death of her father in the Vanderwilson pack at the age of 10, Agatha’s life has been nothing but a nightmare. Lycanless and powerless, she’s trapped in a world where strength is everything—and she has none. Her stepfather Nick’s abuse keeps her in the shadows, and her once-loving family now feels like a distant memory. But when her sister Lilly announces her engagement to the new Alpha of the Vanderwilson pack, Agatha is forced back into the world she was rejected from. At Lilly’s lavish engagement party, Agatha crosses paths with a mysterious man in the garden—an encounter that stirs a deep, forbidden connection within her. But when she learns that the man is none other than Lilly’s fiancé, her world shatters. Agatha’s heart is torn between a burning attraction and her loyalty to her sister. With secrets lurking beneath the surface—ones that could destroy her world —Agatha must decide whether to follow her heart or protect the ones she loves. In a world ruled by Lycans, what happens when the real danger comes from within? Betrayal, forbidden love, and dark secrets collide in My mate is my brother-in-law and the alpha —a heart-pounding, emotional rollercoaster you won’t be able to put down

Staring at the garden doors, waiting for her to walk in after her first shift, the doors swing open and I stuck in place at the sight, her long beautiful blonde curls cascading down the front of another Alpha's chest, her face buried in his neck, her tan legs wrapped around his waist as her body lays against his back. I stumble backwards, I can't breathe, my wolf growls in my head, "MINE!" Looking in the rearview she's waving her arms and jumping up and down in a white t-shirt. I know what she wants, and I'll need to go off grid until I can convince my wolf to take the rejection. I scream, "STOP, COME BACK!" as I watched as the small red taillights disappear into the darkness. A tear rolled down my cheek as I turned and looked at the pack house, my wolf howled in my head, "MATE, GO AFTER HIM NOW!" This isn’t how I imagined my 18th birthday would go. I return to the Alpha Academy in Denver, only to find him gone, I steal his car and now sit at a crossroad, my wolf stirs, "go east." I sarcastically laughed, "really and you know this how?" She giggles, "his wolf will direct him back to the last place he scented you, he's heading back to NY." I arch a brow, " we'll track our Alpha, and hear his explanation." Following the path of bloody bodies, in the dodgiest bars, I know I'm on the right path but finding a young girl with his scent all over her, crying in a car outside of one, not what I was expecting. He did it to her too, captured her heart and walked away, just like he did me. Now I want a rejection not an explanation.

My father and brother had preferred my sister over me since we were kids. In fact, they hated me. When I was bullied at a party, it was a mafia boss, Edwin Carlson, who stepped in. He saved me and announced right there in front of everyone that I was the woman he loved. He warned that anyone who dared mess with me again would have to deal with him. Edwin bought a castle deep in the forest just for me. He filled the garden with my favorite tulips and held a grand wedding there that made headlines across the country. For a while, I became the woman everyone envied. Seven months pregnant, I attended my father's birthday party. But that night, a sudden fire broke out. My biased father and brother only cared about saving my sister, Kelsey Grant. They rushed her out while I was left behind to die in the flames. In the end, it was Edwin who carried me out. But when I woke up in the hospital, I saw something that shattered my heart. "What the hell were you thinking, starting that fire?" Edwin's face was dark with rage. "Stephanie's only seven months pregnant! Are you trying to force her into early labor? Were you trying to kill her and the baby?" My father and brother spoke in hushed voices, trying to explain. "Kelsey has leukemia. The doctors said we can't wait anymore—she needs surgery soon. And she needs the baby's bone marrow..." "I care about Kelsey's life more than you do. Why else would I have married Stephanie? But you can't hurt her. I have my own plan!" Edwin warned coldly. "Saving Kelsey is the goal, yes—but if you try to save her at the cost of Stephanie's life, I won't allow it!" After hearing that, I fled the hospital room in a panic. So that was why he married me. Not because he loved me, but to save Kelsey. Everything he did for me—his kindness, his care—was all for her. Just like my father and brother, he loved Kelsey. Not me. If no one loved me, then I figured I might as well just disappear.