Elden Ring Crucible: Wings

"You think I'll let you go, sweetheart?” He caught the gun from her effortlessly and spun her in his arms, holding her captive once again as he chuckled into her ear, tilting her chin up with the barrel of the gun. “I clipped your wings for a reason. There’s no way back once you enter my world.” *** When an unfortunate incident in the family brings Matsyaa Rathore into the land of the royals, the last thing she expects is catching the eye of the notorious crown prince and becoming his untamed fantasy. His obsession has turned her life into a nightmare. Control slips out of her hands and she finds herself trapped in twisted games of power. To end this madness, she does everything to resist him, challenge him and fight him. Just about all she must not be doing. They say Ranvijay Singh Raghuvanshi is God for his people, and this time, the ‘God’ wants Matsyaa—all for himself. Amidst building tension and deep-rooted hatred, will Matsyaa be able to free herself from the dangerous royals, or will Ranvijay capture her for the rest of her life in his mystical lair?

Oliver Harding and I are on our way to get a divorce when a truck rams into our car, making us turn turtle. Before I lose consciousness, I hear him say, "If I get a second chance at life, I'll definitely accept Zara's confession. Living a life of excitement with her is what I truly want." When I open my eyes again, I'm taken back to the day I got engaged. As in my past life, Zara Cox stands before Oliver with a bouquet and asks him whether he wants to be with her. He doesn't even spare me a glance as he drops to one knee before her. He holds out a ring and says, "I love you, Zara. Will you marry me?" Brilliant. He must have been reborn, too. I give them my blessings, and he and Zara live the exciting life he wants. But later, he falls to his knees before me. Tears stream down his face as he asks whether I can marry him again.

When Elise unexpectedly finds herself threatened by a mafia member, the mysterious mafia king saves her. He's handsome and looks familiar. As he pulls the trigger, Elise notices the ring on his middle finger—the same ring she gave her boyfriend Sirius 8 years ago before he disappeared...

I've been with Hansen Fullerton for seven years. One day, he tells me he's sick of me and dumps me for a younger, more vivacious woman. I don't kick up a fuss this time. Instead, I throw away my ring and cut up the wedding gown I've just bought. Then, I take a red-eye flight away from Gold City. His friends place bets on how long it'll take for me to return and beg for reconciliation. Hansen sneers. "She'll be back in less than three days, crying and begging me to take her back." However, more than three days pass without any news from me. Hansen loses his cool and calls me for the first time. "You'd better come back once you've had enough of this, Christine." All he hears is a man's low chuckle on the other end of the line. "You shouldn't have taken this long to pacify a woman, Mr. Fullerton. Look at how someone's already taken her away from you." Hansen snarls, "Tell Christine to answer the phone!" Landon Shore lowers his head to kiss me. "She can't—she's still out of it. I have to kiss her awake first."

The year I was at my poorest, I impersonated my sister to take care of her blind fiancé in exchange for one hundred thousand dollars. On the day he regained his sight, I left without a word. When we met again, it was during a business interview. I was a nameless intern reporter. He had returned to his rightful status as the heir of the influential Hughes family. During the interview, the host asked, "We’ve heard that during your illness, your fiancée, Miss Dawson, stayed by your side through thick and thin. The two of you are about to get married?" He lifted his hand slightly, revealing a ring, and his lips curled into a faint smile. "Yes, we’re getting engaged soon." Yet, his gaze, through the lens of his glasses, landed—intentionally or not—on me, standing in the corner.

"Would you please remove your ring, Karl? I don't have to feel bad about fucking you," I whispered sensually in his ear. I get pissed off when I see his wedding band or anything that makes me think of his wife and how much I hated her for destroying my very existence. "Anything for you, darling Amihan, " He said softly. *** Driven by her thirst for revenge, Annabel William plotted and carefully found her way back into her best friend's life with a new identity as Amihan Jude. Dalisay, the supposed best friend, betrayed Annabel and took over her company just when Annabel was at her lowest. Annabel was so calculative, there couldn't be a way to take revenge on Dailsay that was better than having an affair with her then-husband, Karl Rodriguez. Maxwell, with his own hidden agenda, managed to smitten the heart of the cold-hearted Annabel which was something he had to do. Along the line, he found himself wanting more of this mysterious woman. Maxwell also has his dirty secret which would hurt Amihan as she thought he was different. How chaotic could this love be?

On the day I got pregnant again, August decided to give up on gambling and work to provide for the family. I was so touched that I cried. With trembling hands, I handed him the money I had saved up after working odd jobs for a year. Two of the bank notes fell on the floor, and I picked them up before running after him. When I reached the end of the alley, I saw the mafia members who always came to our doorstep to demand repayment of our debt. They treated August respectfully. Apparently, his poverty was just a facade. “Mr. August, do we still need to surround your house and demand payment tomorrow?” August sat in a Lincoln limousine and said nonchalantly, “No need.” He stared at the ring on his finger and sighed. “It’s been years. It’s enough to prove that her love for me is real. She once worked so hard to pay off my debt that she suffered a miscarriage. “I already betrayed her once. It’s time to tell her about my true identity so that she doesn’t have to work so hard anymore.” But Ivy, his childhood friend, pouted. “You can’t! It’s not time yet to reveal the truth! What if she’s like your previous girlfriends and only cares about your money and your identity as a mafia boss? “You should wait a little longer and see whether she wants to have this baby.” August gave a wistful nod. “Alright. I’ll do as you say. In any case, she has been with me for so long. I don’t think she can leave me now.” I clenched the money in my hands and turned around. Tears streamed down my cheeks. I no longer wanted to live this lie dressed as love.

“Please, don’t marry him. I love you. How am I supposed to live without you?” Williams’s voice broke as he pleaded, desperation seeping into every word. Slowly, deliberately, Elodie slid the engagement ring off her finger. Without hesitation, she hurled it at him, the sharp metallic sound of it hitting the ground cutting through the air like a knife. “Get lost, Williams,” she spat, her tone icy. “I never want to see your face again.” Williams stared down at the ring, the very one he had chosen with so much love and care, now lying discarded like it meant nothing. Without another word, he turned and walked away, his steps heavy. He didn’t look back, and with every step he took, the distance between them felt insurmountable. As his figure disappeared from view, Elodie stood frozen, her body trembling. The tears she had been holding back finally spilled over, and she collapsed to her knees. The ring, still glinting faintly on the ground, caught her eye. With shaking hands, she reached for it and cradled it in her palm. Her sobs grew louder as she pressed the ring to her lips, her tears soaking into her skin. “I’m sorry,” she whispered, her voice barely audible through the sobs. “I’m so sorry, Williams.” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In the struggle for dominance, Elodie Richards unknowingly becomes a pawn— an object of a cruel joke that shattered her once blissful life. Falling prey to an evil scheme, she let go of the one thing that mattered most in her life; Williams Storm. When the truth comes to light, will Elodie be able to right her wrongs and win back the heart she shattered into pieces, even when Williams' once–loving eyes are filled with nothing but contempt for her?

I was sent to trap him. To make him fall for me. To lure him in and bring him to his knees. But Alpha Dorian Lysander is not the monster I expected. He’s worse. Dark, commanding, and impossible to deceive. I thought I had him wrapped around my finger. But somewhere between the lies and the longing. Somewhere between the forbidden passion... I realized I was the one caught. Now I’m tangled in his world, under his control, and losing the one thing I swore I’d protect, My heart. He was my mission. Now he’s my master. And the only way out… is through him. She thought she was hunting the beast. She didn’t know she was his prey.

Future Alpha Cleo Sharpe believes that she has it all: an amazing future, a devoted pack, and a handsome fiancé. She is horrified to learn that her mate is the pack loner, not the man whose ring she wears. Cleo finds this out as she finally has a chance encounter with Zander and feels irresistibly drawn to him. Neither one of them can resist the magnetic pull of a true mate and grow closer. Cleo even learns her fiancé is harboring a terrible secret. Zander Underwood is a man on a mission: he is determined to find his parents’ murderer, even if it means breaking his own heart and abandoning his mate. He will stop at nothing to avenge his parents' death, so they are not forsaken. As Cleo learns more about the dark forces that haunt the wolf packs, she will be forced to choose between the life she has always imagined and the enticing pull of man as intoxicating as he is mysterious.The Alpha's Reluctant Mate is created by Katrina Guerin, an EGlobal Creative Publishing signed author.