Existential Questioning

I stand on the brink of a past I've lived and a future I've yet to claim. Five years ago, my world crumbled when Lucan, the Alpha I loved, the man destined to be my mate, chose betrayal over loyalty; my sister over me. His blatant rejection of my love but refusal to reject our bond, kept me on a string for years. Until my sister decided to orchestrate my murder when I fell pregnant with Lucan's child. Fate, it seems, holds a twisted sense of mercy. I find myself back in time, five years before my life turned into a nightmare, on the night my Mate Bond with Lucan snaps into place. But this time, I'm not the same Verena. I refuse to be the victim, the one walked all over. With a resolve forged from pain and betrayal, I stand before our pack, our family, our friends, and I shatter the expectations of fate. I reject Lucan, and the ripple of shock is my first taste of victory. But my plan doesn't stop there. I aim higher, daring to entangle my fate with his enemy, Alpha Niklaus King, a man as dangerous as he is ruthless. It's supposed to be a game, a strategy to topple Lucan from his throne. I didn't anticipate the fire Niklaus would ignite in my soul, a passion fierce and consuming. As I grow closer to him, the lines blur; my heart, once set on revenge, now beats a different rhythm. Torn between the past's shadows and a future that's as uncertain as it is thrilling, I find myself questioning everything. Lucan's betrayal branded me, but Niklaus offers a chance at healing, at power. Yet, can I trust this new bond, or will it become another chain?

My life turned upside down the moment I found out I was pregnant. My infertile husband—Ryan Xavier accused me of cheating, he divorced me, humiliated me, and left me questioning my own sanity because I knew I didn’t cheat on him. My world collapsed all over again when the doctor confessed he made a terrible mistake. He had mistakenly injected me with another man's embryo and the baby inside me doesn't belong to any random person...it belongs to Kian Xavier. My ex-husband Ryan’s twin brother. The richest and most feared billionaire tycoon in the city. Now that I’m carrying his child, Kian isn’t ready to let me go just like that. He offered me a one year contract marriage —no emotions, no intimacy, just protection until the baby was born, with no other where to turn to, I accepted. I swore I’d keep my distance… but every time he looked at me, every time he touched me, my heart betrayed me and I found myself falling for him. Then my ex-husband Ryan found out, the man who once abandoned me became obsessed with having me back. He wanted to destroy what Kian and I had, to remind me that I’d once belonged to him. Then my pain deepened when the doctor revealed another truth. I'm pregnant with twins and they don’t share the same father. One belonged to Kian, my new husband, while the other baby belongs to Ryan, my ex-husband. Now I’m trapped between two brothers—one I should hate, one I can’t resist. Both crave me. Both claim me. Neither is willing to let me go. How would I choose between the man who broke me… and the one I was never meant to love.

"You think you know hate, Avery?" His voice a dangerous rumble that seemed to roll straight through me. "Hate is easy. It’s the love that complicates everything." "Love? Don't talk to me about love. You wouldn't recognize it if it clawed its way into your heart." Liam's expression darkened, "And whose fault is that, remind me? You destroyed every ounce of it." My eyes filled with tears instantly, my voice so thick, it hurt my throat as the words came out. "And you made me pay for it, in the most horrible way. A person who loved a girl with his whole heart would never be able to do what you've done, what you've allowed to happen. That's why I hate you, because you never loved me, or else you couldn't do all this to me." His eyes sparked with anger "You have no idea what you're talking about." "Maybe I do, maybe I don't," I shot back bitterly, "But it seems like the only thing you're good at is pretending. Pretending to care, pretending to love—" "That's enough!" his voice boomed. "You want to see how real my feelings are? I should teach you a lesson on underestimating them." I tilted my chin up in defiance "Go on then, teach me." The next moment was a blur of motion as he closed the distance between us. His hands gripped my face, not gentle but not cruel—a fervent, desperate hold. His lips met mine in an intense, raw kiss, fueled by anger and deep, relentless desire. The kiss was punishing, his mouth moving against mine with a fierce urgency that left no room for doubts or second thoughts. As he pulled back, his eyes bore into mine, challenging, questioning, daring me to deny what lay between us.

Standing against the corner of the wall, her entire drenched body was shivering, both in fear and cold. Her arms were tightly wrapped around herself. Her head was downcast. "Didn't I warn you not to step out of this house without my permission?" A shiver ran down her spine, hearing that intensely rugged voice questioning her. She didn't answer, not only just because she was a mute but also because she didn't know what to answer that person before her. Her shivering turned vigorous when she heard those heavy footsteps coming closer to her. That tall sinewy figure towered her. "You know what will I do to you if I have to repeat my fucking self again," She slowly took her head upward, hearing his threat. Her teary golden brown eyes met with his icy blue ones. His words immediately reminded her what he had done to her last night. Anger and hatred brimmed up in her watery eyes, and she didn't even need to use her words to tell him that. Her tears told him the intensity of her hatred towards him after what he had done to her last night. His jaw clenched. His nefarious gaze hooded. Grabbing her fragile neck with his brawny palm, he pushed her against the wall more and hovered her. "You consider me as a monster, don't you?" Hearing him whispering those words in her ear, her heart froze in terror, realising the worst things he was capable of doing to her. He gripped her neck tightly, causing a tear to slip down from her eyes. He leaned closer to her face, causing their noses to rub against each other. "Then tonight I will really become one for you and will torment this innocence of yours, Kaya Haiden……."

"Oh God!" I moaned softly, the heat of Noah's breath hitting my neck as he buried his face in it. His large arms wrapped tightly around me like he was telling me I was his forever. My arms also found their way around his neck, my hand grabbing his soft blonde hair as his piercing gaze met mine. His lips moved from my neck back to my lips where it was before. His tongue conquered mine while I squirmed inside and moaned in his mouth. I could feel his hot bulge pressing against my stomach. "we shouldn't be doing this Noah" I said breaking the kiss. "Why? Cause you're my brother's wife?" he questioned me, the corner of his soft full lips curling with a smirk. He didn't wait for a reply before going back in for a kiss. This man I was making out with on the kitchen counter was my husband's brother. *** Nana thought she had it all a high-powered career, a stable marriage to her husband Simon, and a future carefully mapped out by their influential families. But behind closed doors, her perfect life unravels as Simon’s cold indifference leaves her lonely and questioning everything. When Noah, Simon’s charismatic younger half-brother, returns from overseas, he’s no longer the boy she remembers. Now, he’s all grown up and offering the understanding and attraction she’s been starved of. As Simon’s betrayals cut deeper, Noah becomes her unexpected confidant, comforting her in ways she never imagined. Yet, beneath his caring facade, Noah has his own agenda, subtly steering Nana’s broken heart closer to his own. Torn between duty and desire, Nana finds herself trapped between two brothers: one who’s betrayed her and one who promises the passion she craves.