Circle Maker

My fiance, Henry Gordon, was two hours late to our vows on our wedding day. Just as he was catching his breath and about to say ‘I do’, he received a call from his secretary, Yvonne Luther. After hanging up, he looked at me apologetically. “Honey, my useless team can’t handle the personnel appointment of the financial team on their own. They’re insisting that I head back! I’ll make it up to you with another wedding later on.” I told him that I understood though I felt disappointed, because he was at a critical stage in his career. However, the moment he left without hesitation, I tossed the ring on my finger into the venue’s flower bed and announced to everyone that the wedding was cancelled. I had to see for myself who would ask Henry, a mere minority shareholder, to make such a significant decision without consulting me, the chairperson. He did not know that just a few hours earlier, I had taken back the ‘gift’ I gave him and reclaimed my position as the company’s chairperson.

On the night of the full moon, I lie in the forbidden grounds on the brink of death because of the wolfsbane terrorizing my system. My Alpha mate, Elio Palmer, wrenches my fingers open and snatches the only antidote that I have. "Kelly grew up with me since we were pups. After her parents died, I've been the one who's closest to her. As the Luna, you must sacrifice yourself for her." Then, Elio feeds the antidote to Kelly Giles, who has only gotten infected with a tiny hint of wolfsbane. He doesn't hesitate to abandon me, his dying mate, in the forbidden grounds afterward. He thinks I will accept my death without any resentment, seeing as he's tamed me during our times together. But what he doesn't know is that the thick stench of death doesn't attract any beasts to my side the moment our mate bond is completely severed. Instead, it attracts the attention of Samuel Gray, the Lycan King who drills raw terror into every werewolf in the land. Some time later, Samuel approaches me after slaughtering all the beasts in the forbidden grounds. "Are you planning to die like that after getting abandoned by an inferior mutt?"

Three years ago, during our marking ceremony, my fated mate suddenly proposed to my stepsister, Ashley Calisto. When I was publicly humiliated, Owen Wagner, Alpha of the pack and president of the Wolf Alliance, started to pursue me obsessively. A few months later, I became his Luna. He has treated me with great care and tenderness for the past three years. That is, until I get pregnant and accidentally overhear his secret conversation with a witch. "I need a potion that will kill the pup in her womb without her noticing," Owen says. The witch asks in confusion, "Alpha Owen, why don't you want this heir?" Owen replies coldly, "The only one worthy of bearing my pup is Ashley. This entire thing had been orchestrated to protect Ashley anyway." So, all this tenderness has just been part of a carefully crafted lie. If that's the case, I'll let them have each other.

My daughter, who'd always hated the cold, suddenly started begging to vacation in the freezing Northern Territories. I dismissed it as a passing whim and told her no. I never thought she'd actually soak herself in a tub of ice for two days straight, just to prove she wasn't afraid of the cold. I gave in. I took her north. My mate, Cassian, stayed behind to handle pack affairs. The North was bitter. After only a few days, my daughter started showing signs of cold-sickness, coughing constantly. I wasn't going to gamble with her health. I decided to bring her home immediately. But my daughter threw a fit. At the time, I thought she just loved the North too much to leave. Until I happened to overhear her conversation with my husband, Cassian: "Daddy! These last few days in the North, I put scent-blocker in Mommy's water every single day! Aren't I clever? Now she'd never find out about you and Auntie Kayla!" "Mommy is so annoying, always nagging! I wish Auntie Kayla were my mommy instead!" I stood there cold, watching the cozy little scene inside the room, gripping the vial of scent-blocker I'd just dug out of my daughter's backpack — the drug meant to numb the link between Cassian and me. Fine. If they loved Kayla so much, then let them have her. I'd give them my blessing. So why, after I gave you everything you wanted, did the three of you end up on your knees begging for my forgiveness?

I once made a promise to the top actress in the industry. If I publicly proposed to her 99 times on livestreams, she would, on the hundredth, officially launch our relationship. But when the hundredth proposal came, she was on a private yacht kissing a new rising actor. Her smile had been so sweet and carefree. I became a complete joke. Feeling guilty, she texted me: [I will say yes on your 101st proposal.] She entered my livestream, looking like a goddess had descended to earth. As she looked on, I lit all one hundred love letters I had ever written for her, as well as the stomach cancer diagnosis I had hidden inside. “There will be no 101st time, Miss Ford.”

Isla got pregnant but she was devastated as she had just broken up with her fiance due to a reason she didn't know about. She still decided to tell her fiance about their baby but she got the shock of her life. He wasn't the father of her child! Apparently, she had a one night stand with a stranger which she couldn't remember. Felix couldn't stop thinking about the girl he had a steamy night with and he was going to do everything to find her!

This marks the third year since Alan Cohen and I became mates, and today's finally the day of the Luna ceremony. As the ceremony begins, Alan takes my hand. But then he hesitates, refusing to move forward. I'm still trying to make sense of it when my adoptive sister, Eden Parker, suddenly breaks into the mind-link. She says she's just ended a failed mate bond with another Alpha and will be back within the hour. That's when I see a flicker of a smile on Alan's face. Then, without a second glance, he lets go of my hand and walks away. I turn to my adoptive brother, Dexter Parker, and my adoptive father, Hank Parker, hoping for some kind of comfort, only to realize they've already left the ceremony with Alan. And just like that, I became the joke of the entire pack. Eden sends me a photo. She's glowing beside Alan, her arm looped through Dexter's, with Hank beaming next to them. That's when I give up. I reach out through the mind-link to my birth father. "Dad, I'm ready to return to the Bloodmoon Pack."

I'm the most overlooked Omega in the pack, yet I somehow end up as Alpha Blake Cartman's fated mate. Because of my low status, he never allows me to appear at any events we're supposed to attend together. I plan 18 grand events for him, and he doesn't even let me show up for our anniversary. Then comes the 19th time, when he finally agrees to let me attend. I'm over the moon. I get dressed up, ready for the night, only to see Wendy Lowe—another Omega—already standing by his side. They stand there arm in arm, looking deeply in love, while the memory video I've worked so hard to put together has been replaced with clips of the two of them acting all sweet with each other. With his arm around Wendy, Blake looks at me with nothing but disgust. "My Luna needs the pack's full approval," he says. "You were never officially acknowledged as Luna anyway. Wendy earned their acceptance long before you. Starting today, she's taking your place." Everyone who knows me in the pack is watching, waiting for me to break down and lose it. But I don't scream or cry. I'm not even angry. In fact, I feel like I can finally breathe now. Because in just three days, the three-year mating contract between me and Blake will officially come to an end.

Back then, he was my everything. He was my childhood friend, my neighbor, and my teenage dream. I used my chance to confess my love to him on prom night, in front of everyone! It turned out he rejected me just because of the ridiculous reason that his type of girl was a supermodel. Seven years passed, and I still had not become what he wanted. My life had become even harder. I was getting too old to remain a model, and my boyfriend had cheated on me. Until one night, I met him again, my ex-crush. It was time to take revenge and make him beg for my love. A golden opportunity came when my new boss at the agency promised me the title of supermodel as long as I obeyed him. Unfortunately, there was no such thing as a free lunch. There was something I could not control in this dazzling fashion world. Did I really have to give up everything to achieve success, both in my career and in my love life? Could I have a brilliant career without sacrificing my romance? *** "Last night was a mistake," she sighed. "I thought you were commenting that last night was amazing," I teased with a smile. "Yes, last night was amazing, and yes, I admit it was the best sex I've ever had in my adulthood," she grunted, looking frustrated. Upon hearing that confession, my blood boiled. I rose from my chair and stood right next to her. She looked puzzled as I trapped her in the chair. I leaned down low. "Then don't say it was a mistake. Last night was the best thing I've ever had in my adulthood," I whispered in her ear.

On the day of my wedding, the video I had painstakingly prepared was suddenly replaced with intimate photos of my fiancé and my foster sister, Lindsey Remmington. Within minutes, it hit the top of the trending list. Overnight, I, a celebrated actress, became the abandoned bride of a wealthy family and a public laughingstock. Just when I thought I'd reached rock bottom, Connor Presley, the heir of Elluel City's most powerful family and the boy I'd grown up with, returned from abroad. In front of flashing cameras, he knelt with a diamond ring and proposed, silencing every rumor and every sneer. After we married, we appeared inseparable, our affection the picture of perfection. The only flaw was his infertility—his condition made it nearly impossible for me to conceive. For three long years, I underwent countless rounds of IVF. At last, I became pregnant. Connor was overjoyed. To celebrate, he threw an extravagant party in honor of our long-awaited child. But in the middle of the revelry, one of his closest friends, drunk and unguarded, muttered in Russian, "Connor, you've gone too far. Just because Lindsey was afraid pregnancy would ruin her figure, you put the zygote into Rachel's body and let her carry the baby for you two? If she ever finds out the truth, you'll regret it for the rest of your life." Connor's expression didn't waver. "This was Lindsey's only wish. I had to grant it," he replied coolly. "Besides, having a child with Lindsey has always been my dream. Only her child deserves to be the heir of the Presley family. The days ahead are long—I'll make it up to Rachel, eventually." I stood frozen, my body trembling uncontrollably. That night, I made an appointment for an abortion. When Connor stormed into the hospital, raging like a madman, I looked up at him with chilling calm and said, "I understand Russian."