Edith Cushing Crimson Peak 소설 & 이야기

For our seventh anniversary, my mate, Alpha Ethan, sent my daughter and me to the Moon Goddess Altar. He told me it was a surprise—to give our daughter her dream of watching a meteor shower from the highest peak in the territory. But Ethan never came. The protective runes at my feet sputtered, then died. The ground beneath us began to crumble. My daughter screamed, her small body sliding toward the abyss. I lunged, grabbing her hand just before she went over the edge. I screamed his name through our mind-link. Ninety-nine times, he refused to answer. On my hundredth cry, the link didn't just open—it was ripped wide. It wasn’t his voice that answered. It was his senses, flooding mine. I saw it all. Him. Another she-wolf. And him, buried deep inside of her. "I knew you loved me, Ethan," her sickly-sweet voice purred. "You even sacrificed Marcus, just to save our Leo from the soul-sickness. I'll do anything for you." Ethan’s voice was velvet and ice. "Stop. If Sera hadn't betrayed me, you never would have had the chance to carry my heir. Once I get rid of her other pup—Jullian's bastard—we can be perfect again." My world shattered. My son... Rogues. I'd always believed rogues had stolen him. But it was his own father. He sacrificed him for a lie. With my last ounce of strength, I called Julian. "I'm breaking my bond with Ethan," I snarled into the new link. "Make me your Luna. In return, I will help you burn his pack to the ground."

Even knowing that wailing at an Eravalen aristocratic funeral was considered disrespectful to the deceased, I let my husband's adopted sister make a scene anyway. In my previous life, my husband, Robert Baker, had a distant relative among the Eravalen aristocracy who passed away. A lawyer informed him that he stood to inherit the estate and invited him to attend the funeral. His adopted sister, Mia Carter, insisted on tagging along to see how the privileged few in another country lived. She wanted to rub shoulders with nobles and make herself look important, even planning to wail dramatically in front of everyone. I rushed to stop her. "Loud mourning is taboo among the Eravalen nobility. Forget inheriting anything. We'll all be thrown out!" Yet she burst into tears, accusing me of looking down on her and thinking she was not good enough to mingle with aristocrats. She stormed out and was killed by street thugs in a random attack. I thought Robert would fall apart, but he stayed silent through the entire funeral and collected his inheritance without a hitch. Six months later, on our wedding anniversary, he took me to the snowy mountains for a photoshoot. The moment we reached the peak, he shoved me into a sleeping bag and tied it shut. "If you hadn't blown everything out of proportion, Mia never would've run off and gotten herself shot." He buried me alive in the snow. I froze to death, and he used that aristocratic fortune to become the CEO of a publicly traded company. When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the day Mia insisted on wailing at the funeral.

Under the blood moon, the Crescent Hollow Pack gathers for their annual Moonbinding Ceremony, a sacred ritual where chosen wolves pledge their lives to one another to strengthen the pack. Lyra is a spirited healer’s daughter who has always dreamed of finding her true mate, not being bound by pack politics. Kael, the fierce, cold Alpha heir, bound by duty and promised to Lyra since birth. A lone wolf from an enemy pack, mysterious and untamed, who crosses paths with Lyra on the night of the Blood Moon. Lyra never believed in love at first sight until she met Rowan. One glance beneath the crimson sky, and her wolf stirred like never before. Her soul whispered, Mate. But that same night, the Alpha announced her forced betrothal to Kael, the very man who would become her pack’s leader and her husband whether she wanted it or not. Lyra and Rowan’s eyes meet during a tense encounter at the forest’s edge; they feel the mate bond instantly, their innate wolves howling for one another. Lyra is duty-bound to marry Kael to seal an alliance between families. Kael doesn’t believe in the mate bond; he sees love as weakness but is drawn to Lyra’s defiance. The mate bond with Rowan burns like fire, but the forced promise to Kael locks her to her pack’s future. When tensions between the packs rise, Lyra is obligated to follow her heart to Rowan and risk war or remain by Kael’s side and surrender to duty.

Celia Johnson, my boss's sister-in-law, joined the company as the finance director and announced that all reimbursements must strictly follow the standards. I spent an entire week running around for the company and finally closed a five-hundred-thousand-dollar deal. Because the client had used two extra packs of paper towels, the per-person amount for their meal ended up eight dollars over the limit. Celia folded her arms, glanced at the reimbursement form on my desk, and sneered. "Five hundred and eight dollars?" "Yes. Last night at The Peak Restaurant, where we closed Richard's deal. Zack was there too," I explained patiently. "Eight dollars over the per-person limit. Not reimbursable," Celia said coldly. I tried to reason with her. "This was a special case. The client is high-level, and the deal amount is large, and Zack personally said it would be fully reimbursed last night." She returned the reimbursement form to me. "I don't care who said that. Don't think closing a five-hundred-thousand-dollar contract lets you ignore company rules. Reimbursements must all follow policies. Everyone will follow them to the letter." I took a deep breath. I knew arguing with her head-on would get me nowhere, so I called Zack directly. Zack said, "I did say it would be reimbursed, but I never said company rules could be ignored. It's just five hundred. And you still get commission from closing the deal. You young people need to have perspective." I stopped arguing. I turned around and refused the delivery containing the hard copy of the five-hundred-thousand-dollar cooperation contract, smiling as I explained, "Company rules say all cash on delivery packages must be refused. "Also, today is my last day here. Starting tomorrow, I work for Richard's company. As the client, I will be setting the rules this time."

In my past life, the twin Alphas Alexander and Lucas pursued me, the only white wolf in the pack, relentlessly. Only a pack blessed by a White Wolf could receive the true favor of the Moon Goddess. Just as I was agonizing over whose mark to accept, they both hit their rut simultaneously. That night, I was forced to endure both of them claiming me. Later, I fell pregnant with a pup. Since the Alpha King couldn't determine the paternity, he decided I would be the Luna to both of them. The throne would go to the father of the child once a blood test could be performed after birth. But on the day of our Mating Ceremony, Sarah came back. She was my half sister and the Alpha twins childhood sweetheart. She was driven mad with jealousy, ran out trying to attract everyone’s attention, and ended up being torn apart by a passing Rogue. Alexander and Lucas seemed indifferent at first. Throughout my pregnancy, they treated me with unwavering devotion. But on the day I gave birth, they strangled my newborn pup. Their eyes were glowing crimson with rage as they roared, "Why wasn't it you? You bitch! You stole the White Wolf bloodline that belonged to Sarah and cursed her life!" Before I could even utter a word of defense, the two men I loved more than life itself tore me to shreds. When I open my eyes again, the Alpha King demanded I make my choice—to decide which twin I would accept as my fated mate—I chose neither.

For eighteen years, Sylvia Velmont survived as the lowest creature in the Crimson Moon Pack, a human slave whose parents were executed for trespassing on wolf territory. When she is dragged to serve wine at the sacred Lunar Conjunction, the last thing she expects is to accidentally spill wine on the one person everyone avoids. Rowan Salvatore, the King’s blade. The cursed Alpha whose mates die before the bond completes. She expects death, but instead, their eyes meet and the impossible happens. The mate bond ignites between a worthless human slave and the most feared warrior in existence. Humans cannot be mated to wolves. Unless… She isn’t human after all. As the bond awakens something ancient in Sylvia’s blood, she discovers the truth. She is the last of the Lunar Blessed, a hybrid bloodline thought extinct. Her parents weren’t just trespassers. They were hunted. And Rowan’s curse isn’t what everyone believes. It is meant to kill him if he ever finds his true mate. Now hunted by the pack that enslaved her, coveted by Alphas who want her power and protected by a warrior whose curse might kill her, Sylvia must navigate her transformation from slave to the most powerful she-wolf in generations, because the King who holds Rowan’s leash knows exactly who she is. The daughter of the wolf emperor he murdered, the rightful heir to all five packs and the only one who can break the soul chain that binds Rowan as his weapon.

Devan Williams, the richest man in the country, gets shot by an assailant when he's giving a speech. He's quickly sent to the hospital I work at to undergo a heart transplant surgery. But my girlfriend, Katie Wilder, insists that her childhood friend, Luke Rivera, has to become Devan's primary doctor. She even takes off Devan's oxygen mask just to coerce me into handing the position over. "Ashton Howard, if you don't get out of here once I count to three, you'll be facing imprisonment due to medicinal malpractice!" As I look at Devan, whose face has gone horribly crimson due to asphyxiation, all I feel is a strong sense of ridicule. So, I call the hospital's security guards on Katie and Luke with the intention to have them dragged out. But the security captain, Jason Wilder, is actually Katie's younger brother who relied on her just to get his hands on this job. He has me pinned on the floor instead. "From the way I see it, you're the criminal who wants Devan dead! Be honest with me; did you sneak into this hospital just so you can kill him behind everyone's backs?" I can't help but struggle against Jason. But that's when Luke tramples all over my fingers, causing them to fracture. At that moment, the vitals monitor begins beeping shrilly. I lift my head to glare at the culprits. "All of you can never escape your fate!"

Marcus Blackwood was sent to kill me. He was supposed to get close, earn my trust, and end my life before I ever discovered what I truly am. But neither of us expected the bond, it happened so fast. At thirty, I thought I had everything, being the CEO of my family’s billion-dollar empire, flawless reputation, a future perfectly mapped out. The world saw a brilliant businessman. They didn’t see the nightmares, the struggles for being lonely and sex starved. Keeping the facade of being a perfect son and a perfect CEO. The woman drenched with blood calling my name. The wolves howling beneath a crimson moon. I was never meant to live in the human world. I am the forbidden son of a vampire princess and a werewolf beta,the hidden heir whose birth once nearly destroyed both clans. A living prophecy powerful enough to reignite a war buried in blood. And Marcus? He was raised by the Vampire Elders to obey without question. His mission is simple: Find me. Understand me, and kill me. But the closer he gets, the more dangerous everything becomes. Because he doesn’t look at me like a target. He looks at me like I belong to him. And when enemies begin to crave each other, when assassins hesitate, when fate binds two men who should never touch… War is no longer the greatest threat, but love is..... And if he has to choose between his orders and my life I don’t know if he’ll kiss me… Or finish the job.

In a world of werewolves and pack rivalries, Jasmine Wilson, Alpha of the Blue Crescent pack, has resigned herself to a life of loneliness after losing her mate in a rogue attack. But fate intervenes when the goddess grants her a second chance at love, only to pair her with Lucas Oswald, the fearsome and ruthless Alpha of the Crimson Shadow pack. Lucas is everything Jasmine never wanted in a mate; his reputation for being incapable of love precedes him. Determined to maintain control over her pack, Jasmine resists his advances and refuses to surrender her authority. The stage is set for a battle of wills as Lucas demands her submission and loyalty. As they navigate their turbulent relationship, a looming threat from their past emerges, leaving people missing and a mystery to unravel. Forced to work together, Jasmine and Lucas must set aside their differences and join forces to confront the enemy that threatens their existence. Caught between her duty as an Alpha and the possibility of a second chance at love, Jasmine finds herself faced with an impossible choice. Will she sacrifice her pack and the life she has built for herself, or will she risk everything for a shot at happiness with Lucas? In this gripping tale of power, love, and redemption, Jasmine and Lucas must find a way to unite their packs and solve the mystery before it tears them apart. The stakes are high, and the future of their packs hangs in the balance as they embark on a thrilling journey that will test their limits and challenge everything they once knew. Book 2 of the mated series. It can be read as a stand alone, but it is advisable you read the first part of the series, "The Alpha Luna" to better understand back story.

I pulled out my ring and held it in front of him. "I'm calling off our engagement. I won't - won't marry a cheating bastard like you. You can live happily ever after with someone else, like Blair Anderson. Smile, Jayden - you're finally getting rid of me, may you live happily ever after with your dear girlfriend." I said with a fake smile and cold eyes. "Oh, and before I forget, I, Ashley Van Smith, of the Red Moon Pack, reject Jayden Ronan Keller, of the Crimson Pack, as my mate and fiancé, we are hereby no longer related." ******************************************** In which Ashley Van Smith and Jayden Ronan Keller are mated and engaged. Because of the arranged marriage made by their parents. Problems arise when Ashley finds out that Jayden is involved in an unfaithful relationship. Ashley never thought that she would be in a relationship with a cheater. So she wants to end this engagement because he cheated on her, but fate decides to intervene and Jayden suffers from amnesia that only she seems to be able to deal with. Ashley, despite not having deep feelings for him, feels there is still a bond between them and has a sense of responsibility to help recover his memory and guide him through his difficult times. In the midst of her efforts to help Jayden recover, Ashley is faced with a difficult decision. Will she stay by his side and help him through this difficult time, even though Jayden is in love with someone else? Or should Ashley simply let Jayden go?