Eternal Bond

Trapped in a sweltering 40-degree sauna room, I overheard my older brothers talking outside. My second-oldest brother, Sean Lambert, remarked, "This kid is too stubborn. We need to teach her a lesson." My third-oldest brother, Jacob Lambert, replied, "The temperature has been adjusted. She won't die." I was locked up alone for 72 hours. It was their way of punishing me because of my stepsister. Yet, they were the ones who used to love me the most. My father was a business tycoon, my eldest brother, Axel Lambert, was skilled in finance, Sean was a legal expert, and Jacob was a medical prodigy. My mother passed away after fulfilling her mission, leaving these four men to look after me. They once showered me with love like I was their precious gem, until I turned five. That's when my stepmother and her daughter came into the picture, and I was banished to the housekeeper's room. Their attention shifted entirely to my stepsister. Whenever she cried, my father would bring out the punishment box for me to draw lots. 72 hours passed, but no one came to open the door. Before I blacked out, a few lines of small text popped up before my eyes: [The minor character is about to die. Once she dies, she can be reunited with her mother.]

My brother Raymond hated me for seven years. After a bitter fight on a freezing winter night, I stormed out and drove away. I never expected a blizzard to fall so suddenly. It blinded my vision. I was attacked by a rogue, injected with a poison that could erase memories and sever blood bonds. My memories became fragmented. When I woke up in the pack’s infirmary, Raymond stood there with a cold expression and casually pointed at a gravely ill male werewolf lying in bed. “He’s your brother. Stop bothering me.” I was stunned. The male werewolf pushed himself up and took my freezing hand, his eyes gentle.
“Come on. I’ll take you home.” After that, I no longer saw Raymond as my brother—just as he wished. So why was he suddenly begging for my acknowledgement after casting me aside so eagerly?

In the previous timeline, my younger brother was adopted by a wealthy family, while I was taken in by a scrap collector. Ten years later, he was cast out by the elite household, while I had built the most prominent steel company in Kingsport City. Given a second chance, my brother tried to walk the same path I once did. He begged the scrap collector to take him instead. Though what he never understood was that without me, the steel company that was renowned throughout Kingsport City would never have existed.

The aloof CEO and his childhood sweetheart bring the tragic novel's female lead to an orphanage to adopt a child. All the children pounce on the childhood sweetheart, saying, "Mommy, pick me! Pick me!" The viewers' comments come flooding in. "She can't birth her own child, and now even the orphans don't want her. The tragic female lead is truly pitiful, humiliated by both her husband and his childhood sweetheart!" "The childhood sweetheart keeps winning—spoiled by the CEO, and the orphans scramble to call her 'Mom.' The female lead is nothing but a piece of decor." "It's not tragic enough! Make her even more miserable! It's even better if she cries on the spot so that later, when the CEO recalls this scene, he'll have to work double time to win his wife back!" I glare at the comments, feeling so mad that my short legs push me forward, landing me right in front of the ignored female lead. I tug at her sleeve. "Missy, can you make stew?" The female lead freezes up. "I… I can." My eyes light up with joy. "That's it then! That's exactly what I love. I'll go with you!"

My cousin, Isabelle Cox, dies of cancer. However, my adoptive parents, who have always loved her the most, don't shed a single tear. Instead, they go on an overseas trip with my adoptive brother, Cedric Cox. After they return, they give me an exquisite doll and ask me to put it right next to my bed every night. My adoptive mother, Vivian Mason, looks at my swollen eyes and smiles tenderly. "Why, you're such a grateful and sentimental kid. This is such a pretty doll. Let it stay by your side and accompany you like it's your sister, alright?" I agree. Later, my body becomes increasingly weak, and I sleep all day. One day, when I wake up, I am horrified to find that I am trapped inside the doll and can't move at all. My deceased cousin, Isabelle, became "me"! Beaming widely, she cuts my hair and also my limbs one by one. Then, she throws my mutilated body into the fire. As the flames engulf me, I see my adoptive family standing behind her. On their faces, they show happy and relieved expressions. When I open my eyes again, I am back to the day when they give me the doll.

Dad is famous for being a total simp over Mom in the elite society. Naturally, he views Callie Archer, the stepdaughter whom Mom has brought with her, as his own. But Callie is afflicted with a severe case of walking phobia. Her feet couldn't touch the ground at all. Only when she's stepping on my back can she roam around in the house freely. So, whenever Callie looks in a certain direction, Mom will press my head down and force me to crawl toward Callie to serve as her doormat. The doctor issues a warning to my family that my spine is severely contorted. So when Callie wants to admire the flowers in the yard while wearing a pair of spiked shoes again, I can't endure the pain anymore, so I shiver slightly out of instinct. Callie ends up losing her balance and falling to the ground. She bawls like a baby afterward. Mom rushes over immediately before kicking me in the gut, her high heel lodging into my flesh. "It's extremely rare for Callie to be willing to leave the house! Why must you ruin her mood? Can't you just be more understanding and play your role as a doormat for the sake of your sister's illness?" Meanwhile, Dad scoops Callie into his arms, his heart bleeding for her plight. He coaxes her gently, telling her that he'll buy her new dresses later. I can only curl up on the ground while hacking up blood. But Dad just thinks I'm playing the pity card. He commands his men to throw me into the basement. Apparently, I can only be released once I've learned to stay stationary when I'm supporting Callie. As I clutch my broken ribs, I feel my tears flowing down my face as well as the blood from my injuries. I'm sorry, Dad. Next time, I will definitely not move a muscle, just like a corpse.

He didn't choose me as a mate. He chose me as a write-off. When Darius Blackwood auctioned off my family's debt at the pack ceremony, Kaelen Thorne a billionaire Lycan King, cold-blooded strategist, the most untouchable Alpha alive — bought it without blinking. To him, I was leverage. A line item in a larger acquisition. Three years of my absolute obedience in exchange for a debt I never actually owed. What Kaelen doesn't know could fill the ledger he thinks he owns. I'm not packless. I'm not powerless. I am the last of a bloodline his entire empire was built to exploit and I've been suppressing my true nature long enough to know exactly how to use his arrogance against him. He bought a broken girl. He doesn't know he invited a queen into his kingdom. But the longer I stay in his penthouse, the harder it gets to remember that he is not the man I'm supposed to want. That this contract was never supposed to feel like something else. That when Kaelen Thorne finally looks at me — really looks and says mine like it's the only word that makes sense… I'm not supposed to believe him. He settled a debt. I'm here to collect.

Giselle had to protect her dreams. For years, Giselle Sidney had been in love with Alpha Caden Einsworth, whom she knew would never fall for her. As she came of age, she found out that he was her mate. But he was in love with her older sister, Gretta, who was already engaged to another man. On the night of Gretta’s engagement, Giselle found Caden so drunk that she decided to help him get back to his condo. Caden and Giselle were so heartbroken and accidentally shared one passionate night, and that changed Giselle’s life forever. To hide the huge scandal from her family, Giselle decided to leave the Greyfur pack. But after a month of his disappearance, Alpha Caden came back to take full responsibility for the child. Giselle never wanted to force him into a situation when she knew he was still in love with her sister. She couldn’t bear to be with a cold-hearted werewolf whose heart belonged to another girl. Will fate find a way to make their bond stronger? Or will she run away like she always does?

The buzzing of my phone in the middle of the night jolted me awake. On the other end of the line came a voice I could never forget. It was my daughter! However, she died three years ago!

My mate, Rowan, and I had gone through life and death to build a powerful pack. Our eternal mate bond had been witnessed by the Moon Goddess. That was until he brought back the teary-eyed Omega, Riley. She was a scheming woman who lied about being homeless. For her, Rowan used his Alpha's dominance on me in front of the pack to humiliate me. For Riley's pup, he accused me of jealousy and called me unworthy of being a Luna. When I was pregnant with our pure blood heir, I asked for his help as I was about to die from the enemy's attack. He turned away to comfort the pup, who only had a scratch on his arm. All Rowan did was leave me with cold words, blaming me for not being able to protect myself as a Luna. He told me I should reflect on that. My mate killed our pup with his own hands.