Crystal Clear Memories

"Why can’t you just leave me alone?" Valentina snarled, breath hitching as she shoved against the bark of the tree behind her. He stepped closer, eyes glowing with an untamed hunger. In one swift, possessive motion, he pinned her hands above her head, his lips grazing the pulse at her neck—dangerously close to the spot only a mate should touch. “Because, little wolf,” he whispered, his voice dark velvet against her skin, “you belong to me—and I’m done pretending otherwise.” _______ Stabbed by the man she once loved and betrayed by the friend she trusted most, Valentina was reborn in the ashes of heartbreak. No longer the obedient luna of the Shadow Crust pack, she rises from the shadows to reclaim her life—and her power. But home is no longer safe. Her pack is in ruins. Her father? Bewitched by a mysterious woman named Carmella. And fate? Cruel, as always. Because waiting for her in the heart of the storm is the man she should never desire—Andres Donovan, the cold and dangerously obsessive Lycan King… and her second-chance mate. He watches her with eyes full of secrets, speaks in riddles that echo of a past she can’t remember, and touches her like he’s been starving for centuries. But as enemies close in, alliances fracture, and war brews over the divine blood flowing in her veins, Valentina must decide: Will she fight fate again… Or surrender to the one man who could ruin her—or save her?

Mon compagnon de destin, Raoul, était l'Alpha d'une meute pathétique au bord de l'effondrement. Pendant cinq ans, j'étais son ombre, son stratège. J'ai construit sa meute à partir de rien jusqu'à ce que l'Alliance nous reconnaisse enfin et que nous soyons prêts à partir vers les terres fertiles. Raoul a promis que nous aurions notre cérémonie d'accouplement une fois installés sur le nouveau territoire. Mais lors de la fête de célébration, la nuit précédant le déménagement, il m'a jetée dans une cellule. Il a annoncé publiquement que Jeanne, la louve qui portait son petit, serait la Luna de la meute. Je n'arrivais pas à y croire. Je lui ai crié dessus, mais il s'est contenté de ricaner et de pointer un cristal chargé de magie noire. « Jeanne a déjà la preuve de ta trahison ! Tu couches avec les Alphas pour obtenir leur soutien. Tu me rends malade ! » Je l'ai supplié, mais il s'est contenté de me trancher la joue avec la lettre de refus aux bords argentés, me mettant formellement à l'écart. Mais il ne savait pas qui j'étais vraiment. J'étais la fille du roi Alpha. Les stratégies, le pouvoir, les alliances - ils n'étaient pas les siens, mais les miens. J'ai donc tout repris.

After sixty-six months of waiting,on the day of our Mating Ceremony, my fated mate, Alpha Asher, rejected me. He held his first love, Cora, in his arms, his gaze on me cold and cruel. "Cora is already carrying my pup," he said, his voice void of any warmth. "I am rejecting you. Once the pup is born and its place in the pack is secure, we can still be mates." He added, a cruel smirk on his face, "Besides, being my mate is the greatest honor an Omega like you could ever hope for." Everyone expected me to endure the humiliation, to wait quietly for Asher to come back and finally accept me. But that very night, I followed the Moon Goddess's guidance and left for good. Five years later, I returned to my old home. My mate Ronan called away on urgent business. So he had no choice but to arrange for a local Alpha to greet me. I never expected it would be him: my ex-mate, Alpha Asher. Exhausted from the long journey and weary from my pregnancy, I was met with mockery. With Cora on his arm, he sneered at my plain clothes, telling me I was nothing without him. "Seeing as you've hit rock bottom and look like some pathetic rogue, I suppose we can be generous enough to take you in. Our pup could use a healer." I just laughed coldly and refused. He has no idea — I’m now the Luna Queen to the Alpha King. His entire pack existed only at my mercy.

My twin sister, Stella, was an Omega. She discovered she was a dead ringer for the beloved Luna from the neighboring pack. She was sick of being a nobody. A ridiculous idea emerged in her mind. She would kill the Luna, take her place, and mate with Alpha Andrew. I couldn't let it happen.I saved the Luna, but it cost me everything. "Are you jealous that my face is more beautiful than yours and want to lose my precious chance? You bitch!" " I think my sister has gone crazy. Stella locked me in the cellar. She tortured me with silver poison for seventeen days until I died. I woke up again. Back at the Hunting Ritual. The exact moment she set a feral wolf on the Luna. But I was still too late. I watched as Stella rushed forward. She forced a lethal dose of black silver powder down the wounded Luna's throat. When the news of the Luna’s death came, my Omega parents celebrated with Stella. "Our Stella is going to be the next Luna! We're finally going to have it all! No one will ever look down on us again!" But they had no idea. Alpha Andrew had been pulling the strings all along.

“Our marriage will be nothing more than a deal.” Diablo said, glaring at his fiancé. “I doubt that you expect me to want anything from you to begin with.” Sienna said, shooting back at him. “As long as it would bring peace amongst our families, that is all it will ever be.” ****************** An arranged marriage is never easy. But when there is a lover in between, things can get a little more complicated…

“I’m not signing these divorce papers, Liam,” she said, her voice trembling. “I’m not asking, Alaria. I’m telling you.” With cold finality, Alpha Liam Blackthorne cast aside his wife for another woman—his mistress, Claire. But when Alaria’s trembling hand fell to her stomach, she chose silence over truth. One signature, and everything changed. Divorced, broken, and cast out of the pack, Alaria disappears, taking with her the secret that could shatter his empire. “I’ll raise you alone, little wolf,” she whispers to her unborn child. “And I’ll make sure you never become like him.” But fate has other plans. Years later, when rogue wolves threaten her and her child, the only one with the power to save them is the very man who betrayed her, Alpha Liam. Will the truth about their child bring them back together, or drive them further apart?

“Please...come back to me, be my Luna again, Charlotte,” Hayden said. I sneered. “You don't even qualify to be my Omega. What makes you think I would want to be your Luna?” “Then let me be your slave,” the shameless mate who had rejected me begged. ------------------- I had been claimed and married to my mate, Hayden for three years, but everything changed when his brother died. He began to ignore me and get closer to his brother’s widow, Sofia. Everyone could see how much he favored Sofia over his own mate, me. I turned a blind eye and endured it all because he was my destined mate and I loved him so much. But Sofia framed me for causing her miscarriage and everyone blamed me for it, not to mention my mate. My mate forced me to kneel and apologize to that bitch who had tried many times to drive wedges between me and my mate, with the help of his sister, Milla. Hayden didn't even want to listen to my explanations. He gave me a choice - apologize or divorce. I would never apologize for something I didn't do and thus I chose divorce. No one knew I was actually the next-Alpha-in-line of one of the most powerful packs. After the divorce, I went back to my pack and take over my birthright - becoming a powerful Alpha and showing Hayden that he was nothing to me and my life was better off without him!

I was Don Victor’s secret wife for five years, hidden away like a dirty little secret. He made me a promise. Give him an heir, and he’d show me to the world. I’d be the Donna everyone envied. But there was a catch. A lie. His doctor told me I was barren. Victor held me while I sobbed, kissing my face. "Baby, we can still do IVF. I want a child from you. Only you." So I took the pain. Five years. 999 needles. I was finally pregnant on Christmas Day. I ran to his office to share the news, only to find him buried deep inside another woman. Julia. A Mafia princess from another family. The betrayal hit me. I turned to leave, tears in my eyes, but then I heard a truth I couldn't escape. "Don't you worry, my princess. The baby in Maria's belly? It's ours. Your egg, my sperm. She’s just the perfect vessel." My hand trembled. I backed away, silent. Then I made a call. A lawyer. "I don't care what it costs. I want a divorce from Don Victor."

“Don’t get me wrong” the hybrid king said looking at the human king, his eyes blue eyes piercing the human king’s green ones, it was like he was begging for the king to object, but he knew that he couldn’t it was his people’s life on the line “but this is just a mere game of thrones” “The child is not even born yet, and we do not know if it’s a boy or God forbid, a girl” the human king glared at the hybrid who was making a bargain with him over his own child. “I did not say that it had to be this child King Leonardo” the hybrid king smiled his eyes genuine as he looked at king Leonardo. “And yet, you are forcing me to make a bargain over my own child King Niklaus” King Leonardo snapped. “I am not forcing you King Leonardo, I am merely giving you the option, should I marry your child, then your kingdom is safe, and should you object, then you are forced to accept us on your realm, with your people, until of course our creatures manage to overthrow all of you” the look on King Leonardo’s face told King Niklaus that he had already gotten what he wanted, which was all he needed to hear right now. “Should my daughter be born, and come to age, she will marry you” King Leonardo said in defeat, the hybrid smiled and nodded at King Leonardo. “Pleasure doing business with you King Leonardo”

Sahabat terbaikku, Maya, terbang dari Miama untuk menemaniku di minggu pesta lajangku. Hari-hari terakhir kebebasanku. Dia bersikeras merayakannya dengan acara malam khusus wanita di rumah, memesan semua makanan pesan antar favoritku. Dia memintaku memegang ponselnya dan menunggu. Tiba-tiba, layar ponselnya menyala. Sebuah pesan dari seorang pria. Foto tanpa baju. Aku pun membaca pesan itu. [ Aku butuh kamu malam ini. ] Kemudian, pesan itu disusul foto lain lagi. Foto mainan seks dan perlengkapan bondage seperti yang di film. Wajahku terasa panas. Jantungku berdegup kencang. Tanpa disengaja, aku baru saja masuk ke kehidupan rahasianya. Namun, gambar berikutnya membuatku diam terpaku. Foto close-up dada pria itu. Sebuah bekas luka bergerigi yang kukenal lebih baik daripada diriku sendiri. Itu milik tunanganku, Lucian Caraka.