Claiming

All my life I've been waiting for my mate. I never thought he would turn out to be my boss. I’m his secretary by day, but his secret lover by night. That’s been our status quo for four years now. He says an Alpha in his position must maintain his reputation. “My family’s honor is my greatest privilege,” he once said to me. Honor might keep Emeric Garvalle from claiming me properly as his. But it sure doesn’t stop him from devouring me during our weekly hookups. Nor does it stop him from locking his office door behind us and bending me over his big mahogany desk whenever he feels so inclined. Most of the time, Emeric is nothing but cold to me. But he’s like a different person in bed, where he can’t get enough of me. A secretary with benefits. That’s all he wants me to be.

I am the most secret Principessa of the Sicilian "Shepherd" Mafia. For my safety, my identity was a closely guarded secret since birth. I lived in the shadows, leaving the outside world entirely ignorant of my true standing. On my wedding day, my mafia fiancé allowed his female bodyguard to feed my family's heirloom token to his dog. He mocked me for coming from some "backwater" family, claiming I wasn't worthy to be his bride. He even threatened to wipe my family off the map.. Looking this, I simply made a single phone call. Moments later, armored vehicles crashed through the estate gates, and our family’s chief Consigliere knelt me in front of the terrified crowd:"Principessa, your father sent us to bring you home." It was only at that moment that my arrogant fiancé finally understood. The woman he had humiliated was the sole heir to the "Shepherd" family that controlled the European arms trade. But it was too late for regrets.

I had just returned from a business trip. The moment I stepped through the door, I scooped my wife into my arms and rushed her straight to the bathroom for a steamy shower together. We were kissing passionately when, out of the corner of my eye, I noticed something: the toilet seat was flipped up. I froze. Seven years ago, my wife had read a post online claiming that when men pee standing up, bacteria splash onto the seat. She begged me to sit down to pee for the sake of her health. I have kept that promise. For seven years of marriage, that seat has never been up. A knot formed in my stomach, but the bathroom was spotless, so clean it looked staged, not a single stray hair anywhere. Then I noticed the shower temperature. It was set five degrees lower than her usual 43°C. Men like cooler showers. Women like them hotter… At that moment, I knew, Ruby Lynch had cheated on me.

The woman Aelfric was to marry had agreed to undergo this ritual with him. It was the only way for them, as two of the area's few healers, to become strong enough to stop the devastating Swamp Fever from claiming the lives of hundreds of children each year. As healers, they had exceptional training, the problem was power. Aelfric's research had revealed exactly where healing power came from and why, until now, it was so limited. After this ritual, he and his beloved would change the tides of disease and death in these lands, perhaps the entire world forever. Aelfric knew Silver-Dew abhorred the idea of immortality. What they were about to do would rid their bodies of their very souls, freeing the concentrated power of the life-spark to be used for their magic. He'd painstakingly crafted each of them a vessel to safeguard their soul. Sil wore hers around her neck: a beautiful, lovingly crafted pendant with a blood red stone in the center. The stone was rendered from the carefully heated blood of the beast that had captured her, the very beast Aelfric had slain.

Over five years of her marriage, Kylie never experienced love from Liam. She would only cook, clean, and satisfy him sexually. Liam was head over heels for Aurora, his ex-lover, which made Kylie serve him a divorce. She finally pursued her fashion career and found favour in the eyes of the CEO of the Yamah’s Group. Liam, on his quest to get approval from the Yamah’s Group, found out that his ex-wife was the lead fashionista and that her new lover was the CEO of the company. Liam could not stand the heartbreak, so he called her, claiming to sort things out with her, but instead, he lured her into having sex with him on her contract-signing day for the Yamah’s Group. She was given two options: to sign the contract and get exposed, or follow her ex-husband home as his lawfully wedded wife. Not only was she going to lose Yamah, she was putting herself back into the mess she once escaped from.

When an Alpha of a pack has two sons on the same day, a duel will be held, and the winner of the fight becomes the next Alpha. Ash, a fiery Omega maid was at the arena, carrying out her duties when she perceived the most pleasant smell ever, "Mate!" Her wolf growled inside her. Not caring about the punishment she would suffer, she abandoned her duty post and followed the smell... She was astonished and stopped with fear when she saw her mate was one of the Quinn brothers. The infamous Viking Devil that drinks beer from the skulls of those he had killed... Their eyes locked and he whispered to her. "Mate!" They walked towards each other. But instead of claiming her like he should, he walked past her to embrace another she-wolf behind her. Her sworn enemy. "Mate!" Her heart thudded painfully when she heard them say to each. It was a conspiracy that began decades before they were both born. A conspiracy they were determined to unravel or die trying.

When three years ago, Maggie's wallet was stolen, she thought that it was just a simple robbery, one amongst many others happening every day. But when one day a guy shows up at her door claiming to be her husband, her whole life turns upside down. Jackson Peters, a well-known businessman from Chicago, finds himself in the middle of a scandal when his just wedded bride is found dead in a hotel room in Las Vegas. Influence and strings he had helped him to keep his name out of the press, but when he found that she was not who she said she was, Jack sets off on a journey that will take him right into the arms of destiny.Maggie agreed to help him avoid the scandal by pretending to be the girl that he married, and in return, Jack will pay her mother's hospital bill she's been struggling with.But what will happen when life throws more surprises their way? Will they bring them closer together or drive them even further apart?

Raven Blackthorn, the ruthless Alpha Queen of the Ironwood Pack, has built her life on strength, fear, and an iron will to protect her pack from rogues and the watchful Council. She swore she’d never accept a mate, believing the bond would make her weak. Then she meets Ragnar Hale, a human who accidentally crosses into her territory—and into her fate. The mate bond snaps into place, but Ragnar’s presence threatens everything Raven has built, and his arrival awakens a storm of ancient magic buried in his blood. As rogue attacks increase and the Council demands Ragnar’s surrender, Raven must decide whether to reject the bond or embrace it, risking her leadership to claim the one person who might make her stronger. But as Ragnar’s powers grow, so does the danger, and together they will have to fight to protect the pack, face betrayal, and challenge a world that wants to tear them apart. Will the Alpha Queen allow herself to love or will claiming her mate mean sacrificing everything she swore to protect.

For eight years, I was James Carter's secretary and secret lover. Eight years of giving him my heart completely. I truly believed he loved me back - he was always tender and attentive when we were intimate, seemingly caring about my every need and desire. But then I overheard him telling others, "She's nothing but a stand-in, just someone to satisfy my physical needs when I'm bored. Did you really think I would marry her?" In that moment, I finally found the strength to let go and stop loving him. I handed in my resignation and walked away from it all. Yet after my whirlwind marriage to someone else, why did he suddenly start searching for me desperately across the city? Now he's here with tears in his eyes, claiming I'm the one he truly loves? Wasn't I just his convenient replacement all along?

After five years of being mates with Eric Wheeler, the Alpha of the Lightchaser pack, I'm finally expecting the long-awaited heir. I'm overflowing with joy as I head to the Werewolf Alliance, thinking it's time to give Eric both these surprises together. Just as I'm about to complete the final claiming ceremony, one of the Elders from the Alliance exclaims in shock, "Ms. Gardner, the mark on you is a temporary one! Unfortunately, the secret treasure left by your parents cannot be inherited by the two of you. He… isn't your mate at all!" How can this be? We're clearly fated mates! I request to check the Alliance's mate registry. The name next to Eric's is unmistakably his childhood sweetheart's—Ella Howell. She's the daughter of the former Beta and someone whom the entire pack had expected Eric to marry before I appeared. I laugh absentmindedly. How great. Now, Eric is going to lose two things that are crucial to his life.