Fading Stars Novels & Stories

My boyfriend was the illegitimate son of Oceanfall Pack’s Alpha, while I was just an ordinary healer working at the pack’s hospital. When his father broke his legs and threw him out, I was the one who stayed and gave him everything I could. However, the day fifteen luxury cars came to take him back, he ignored me completely and left with my coworker instead. When reporters pointed at me and asked him, “Who is this Omega to you?” Jeremy said coldly, “Just my healer. Nothing more.” Later, he rose to power to become the untouchable Alpha. I turned away, crossing borders to Sirius Pack to marry his greatest rival. On the night of my mating ceremony, he sent his men to kidnap me. “Are you really going to marry Marcus Flint, a man cursed by a witch? Aren’t you afraid of punishment?” I smiled. “Being with you was already my biggest punishment.”

Gideon Gray deliberately failed to arrive on time on the day of our bonding ceremony, all so that he could defend my adoptive sister. Dusk had already fallen when he finally had his Beta relay a message to me. "If you hadn't stolen Selene's necklace, she wouldn't have been upset all day. Consider this a lesson. If you don't apologize to Selene, the bonding ceremony isn't happening." Just like that, I became the laughingstock of the entire pack. Even my own brother took Selene's side. "Maybe Gideon defending her is a good thing. It'll teach you to fix that attitude of yours." I turned and walked away. Since I could not rely on my mate or my brother, I would claim the Alpha Female position myself.

On the day of my mating ceremony with the Alpha, everyone said the only reason I got to marry Adrian Hawthorne and become Luna was because my face looked so much like my sister's. At the ceremony, the ring engraved with her name and the slip when Adrian instinctively spoke her name during his vows. Every detail was a reminder that I was nothing more than a stand-in. But I had loved Adrian in secret for seven years. Even being his stand-in was enough for me. I told myself that was enough. Twenty years later, I happened to see him standing beneath the Moonlight Tree, praying to the Moon Goddess. "If only Vanessa hadn't died back then." His voice trailed off. A sharp pain shot through my chest. The world went black. When I opened my eyes again, I was back at the beginning. Back to when I had just met Adrian for the first time. This had to be a gift from the Moon Goddess. A second chance. This time, I swore I'd never love Adrian Hawthorne again.

I time-jumped five years into the future, and my ex-boyfriend, the former Alpha’s bastard son, is now the Alpha. We've had our mating ceremony. I'm carrying his child. But he seems to hate me. When I tried to talk to him, he shoved me away. "If you're here to discuss dissolving the mate bond, we have nothing to say to each other." When I cooked him dinner, he accused me of poisoning his food. I put on my sexiest outfit and paraded around the house trying to thaw him out. He just sneered. "Are you trying to seduce me and then plant another woman in my bed?" I was running out of ideas, so I tried the last card I had. "Can't we at least try to make this work? For the baby's sake?" It was as if the words struck a nerve. "You expect me to raise your lover's child?" I stood there, stunned. What the hell happened in the last five years? And why isn't this baby his?

At my own engagement ceremony, the spot reserved for the future Luna was claimed by another she-wolf. And my Alpha mate Xavier didn't stop her. He told me to hand over my gown and my ring, too. "Claire, you know Yvette's family can't afford this kind of thing. Be generous. Give them to her. It's not like you can't spare one dress." I couldn't believe what I was hearing. "Fine. She took my place, now she wants my dress. Why don't I just give her the Luna title while I'm at it? Make it easier for you two to sneak around." His face went dark. "Claire. Watch your mouth." "If the dress and the ring aren't ready for her tomorrow, I'm calling off the alliance. Your choice." He stormed off with Yvette on his arm. The second they were out of earshot, I opened a mind-link to my father. "Dad. Cancel the alliance. And pull every investment you have in Xavier's pack while you're at it." He wants to be Alpha? He'd better hope I agree.

Jake Carter called and asked to meet. We settled on the small hometown diner we used to hit up. He couldn't look me in the eye the entire time, and we didn't exchange a word during the meal. It wasn't until we were about to leave that he finally pulled a property deed from his bag. "This is for you," he said. "I accept my defeat. Consider it compensation for your emotional distress. Your name is already on it." I didn't bother with polite refusals. I took the deed, mumbled a quick thanks, and got up to leave. Jake scrambled to his feet, calling out from behind me with the one question he'd been burning to ask all along. "If you loved me back then, why did you let Brenda get to me first?" I turned around, looking him in the eye for the first time all day. "Are you really going to pretend you never knew how I felt? You were just playing dumb the whole time." "I-I'm sorry," he stammered. "Can we still get dinner together tomorrow?" "Forget it. I don't need your apology," I said blandly. "You were a victim in this mess, too. As for dinner, don't bother. I'm resigning from the company tomorrow, and it's best if we don't see each other again." The iron wire ring I once treasured as proof of love had turned out to be a cage. Stepping out of the diner, I threw the rusted ring straight into the trash. From now on, I would live for myself.

An accident leaves Preston Brown unable to have children. The fight over his family's fortune is heating up. Desperate for an heir, Preston arranges for me to sleep with his best friend, Rowan Kerr. I quietly dump the sleeping pills Preston gave me and pretend to be clueless. Then, I lose myself in a night of passion with Rowan. … The next morning, right in front of Preston, I smile sweetly and say, "Honey, you were incredible last night. I've never felt so good." His expression darkens. "Do you prefer the man I am by day, or the one who takes you at night?" I act bashful, tugging on his sleeve. "Both. But I especially love the one who knows how to satisfy me at night."

I was ditched by my father, Alpha of Northcrest Pack. Dumped in the borderlands for a whole decade. "Danae's still young. Once she hits eighteen, we'll bring you back. She's always been insecure 'cause she's adopted. When she's stronger, we'll come for you." Yeah, right. I didn't even look at that delusional she-wolf. Just kept watering my orchard. Even my so-called brother backed Danae. "Danae's the sister I grew up with. Disrespect her when you return, and we're done." Their voices? Just white noise. I shut it down cold. "Wrong wolf. I don't know you." They had the nerve to call themselves family. Joke's on them—I've had real parents for the last eight years.

Four years ago, Alpha Matteo Donovan was drugged. On that crazy night, I became his cure. From that moment on, I was his most trusted Beta by day and his lover by night, tangled up in his sheets until dawn. Just when I started drowning in the heat of his gaze, his first love, Sabrina Monroe, came back. To please her, Matteo threw me to the pack’s borderlands, where it was rogue-infested. He even tore up Mom's keepsakes right in front of me. When I finally gave up and applied to leave the pack, Matteo suddenly began to look for me like he had gone mad.

Dean Russo's gaming mate breaks up with him. In his foul mood, he forces everyone to work overtime. "Hey Kylie, you're his Beta, right? Go talk to Alpha Dean. We all want to get out of here on time." "Are you serious? Just seeing his gloomy face freaks me out." Everyone keeps urging me to go and calm Dean down, but what no one realizes is that the gaming mate he can't move on from is actually me. Just when everything seems fine in our online relationship, he unexpectedly asks to meet face-to-face. But if he ever learns that his beloved gaming mate is none other than his Beta, he's bound to be furious. For my own safety, I decide to end things before they can spiral out of control. But who would expect the breakup to hit him so hard? Yet, if I want to avoid working overtime, it seems like I have no choice but to get back together with him.