Cradling

It was our sixth anniversary, but he chose that day to end it with me. Alpha Ivan Slade was my fated mate, bound to me by the will of the Moon Goddess. But when his chosen mate returned, carrying his heir, I became expendable. Instead of facing me himself, he sent her, Marissa Rowe, to deliver the final blow. With a smirk, she handed me the divorce papers while cradling her growing belly. For six years, I had waited for Ivan to see me as his true Luna. I believed the bond we shared would be enough. I was wrong. Signing those papers felt like the end of the world, but Marissa wanted to ensure I never had the chance to rebuild. On their private jet, as the plane cruised over the endless mountains, she made her move. I was thrown into the night sky, plummeting to what should have been my death. But I guess fate wasn’t done with me. Because instead of dying, I was reborn… as the mate to the Alpha King.

I was bleeding out in a corner after a hit from a rival family. My husband, Dante—the Torrino family’s underboss—was in his car, holding his best friend's little sister. He gave me one cold look and said, "Leave her. She's a nobody." Later, after someone else saved me, I walked home, soaked in my own blood. I found Dante cradling Seraphina, fussing over her. All she had was a scraped knee. The blood covering my clothes? He didn't even see it. I just watched. Said nothing. Then I pulled out my phone and called my mother. "Mom, I need to come home."

By month four of my IVF treatments, my husband's childhood sweetheart posted a picture of herself cradling her baby bump. The caption? [Having a happy ending with my first love. A family of three.] And there he was—his hand in the shot, making a cutesy heart with hers. Oh, and the cherry on top? He was still wearing his wedding ring.

All Aria ever wanted was to fix their broken bond. But just when she discovers she’s pregnant with twins, his long-awaited pups, she finds her mate, Alpha Aiden, cradling another woman in his arms… and bringing her into their home. Humiliated, heartbroken, and pushed aside, Aria vanishes without a word. But Aiden’s world shatters the moment he finds her diary and realizes the truth: she was carrying his children all along. Now he’ll tear apart the realm to find her. Mate bond or not, betrayal or not, he’ll bring her back, even if it means burning everything in his path. Because losing her once was a mistake. Losing her again? Unforgivable. But Aiden isn’t the only Alpha who wants her. In her darkest hour, Aria crosses paths with Kaelen, the rogue Alpha feared across the realms, who offers her protection and a chance to rise stronger than before.

Alice Long and I were caught in the crossfire. When my boyfriend—a combat medic responsible for saving the wounded—came to our rescue, he pushed me aside. Gently cradling Alice, the girl I had shielded, he shot me a cold glance and said, "Crystal, I'm deeply disappointed in you. She needs immediate care to avoid infection!" What about me? Was I meant to die instead? When my flag-draped coffin arrived home, he had the nerve to weep openly at my memorial. This once-renowned combat medic, celebrated around the globe, never set foot outside his room again.

Damian was the fearsome don of a mafia family, but I was his sole weakness. In order to marry me, a poor girl from the slums, he was punished by his family sixteen times, and the scars on his back remained terrifying, even to this date. To make me happy, he killed one of the best arms dealers in the world just to get the blue crystal I had mentioned offhandedly once. He built a manor named “One and Only” for me and swore that I was his one and only true love. I had thought that our happiness would last forever, until the day I saw him cradling a pair of twins in another manor. The twins’ mother was my mortal enemy. She had once had someone break my ribs and stuff dirt into my mouth. Hence, on the day of our wedding anniversary, I prepared a grand gift for him: a private jet that exploded and plummeted into the ocean, along with a charred wedding ring. In my world, betrayal never led to forgiveness, only abandonment.

“I want to please you, Angioletto. Teach me how to please you.” I whisper. He steps forward and crouches down, his hand cradling my face. “Be careful what you wish for, Munchkin, girls like you shouldn’t concern yourselves with pleasing insatiable men like me.” She’s his breath of fresh air. He’s the reason he lives. Angiolettto’s mission was clear. Go to Dumont Augustin’s province, and wipe out his entire generation. But Angioletto failed. He failed because a beautiful five foot two, brown eyed girl crossed his path and brought him alive in a way he’s unable to explain. He’s a monster, her monster, the monster whose heart is captured by a nineteen year old girl. And for Oceane, he’s her monster, a monster who saved her life, a monster whom she takes a risk with and gives her heart to.

I was the real daughter—unloved, unwanted, and cast aside. The design draft I poured my heart into was stolen by my second brother and gifted to the fake daughter. Then he accused me of being a plagiarist. My father, the richest man in the city, had me blacklisted from the entire industry. The fake daughter pretended to apologize, then pushed me off a cliff. When I woke up, nearly all my bones had been shattered. I called my fiancé, the captain of the rescue team, but he was cradling the fake daughter's sprained ankle. He scoffed, "Oh, you had an accident too? Want me to save you? Why don't you just die already?" My body grew colder under the crushing pain. My eldest brother, the forensic pathologist, cut open my rotting corpse while grumbling that he was late for the fake daughter's birthday. Yet when they finally saw me again, they all cried, begging for my forgiveness.

Seven years into our marriage, Zane Grimes and I remained childless. He once held me close, his voice tender and earnest. "Don't overthink it. I've never cared for children. You're all I want in this life." But on the day his company went public, as the ceremonial bell echoed through the hall, the doors burst open. My sister stormed in, cradling a wailing infant. "Zane, this is your son! How can you abandon us?" Zane's face paled as he turned to me, his eyes brimming with panic and a silent plea. Unbeknownst to him, I had long known about his betrayal and the child.

Shania thought she had it all—her husband Adrian, her home, her future. But that illusion shattered the day her twin sister, Stephanie, appeared on her doorstep, cradling a baby that looked unmistakably like Adrian. The triumphant glint in Stephanie’s eyes delivered the truth: betrayal. Two facts now defined Shania’s life: 1) Her husband, whom she gave up everything for, had slept with her sister. 2) She became pregnant by a stranger after a drunken night, just 240 days after Adrian struck her. Enter Stefan—an enigmatic billionaire with his own dark past. He needed a woman whose name began with 'S' to carry his child. Unbeknownst to Shania, Stefan had been orchestrating her life from the shadows, drawn to her for reasons she could never have imagined. And now, a baby is involved, divorce papers are moving from one home to the lawyer, and a fresh new contract marriage is being drafted. Will Stefan reveal his secrets before it’s too late? And can Shania find the strength to confront her past and embrace the unexpected bond forming between them?