Female Paladin

I was a plus-size girl, weighing about 220 pounds. On graduation day, I finally gathered the courage to confess my feelings to Calvin Preston, the heartthrob I had been crushing on for three years. Surprisingly, he said yes! To celebrate, we went out that night. But things took a dark turn. I was tricked into drinking too much and was drugged. Calvin and his buddies violated me and, to make matters worse, they filmed it all. The next thing I knew, the video had gone viral online with a cruel caption, “Who’s brave enough to try a 220-pound girl?” As the humiliating video spread like wildfire, the shock and shame were too much for my grandfather to bear. It broke his heart, quite literally.

Right before I hit forty, my husband hit me with: "I want a divorce." For the past ten years, I had been driving a truck outside every day to support my family, while he had been cheating on me at home. Even our child was no longer close to me. "Bad Mom! You hit Jenny! Bad Mom!" Willy cried. "I don't want Mom. I want Jenny. I wanna stay with Dad and Jenny!" Jenny. The neighbor. Single mom. Her kid and ours were tight. Ten years of grinding, running myself ragged—for two ingrates? All right! Wish your family of four a happy life! I didn't want my husband or son anymore.

The day of the verdict, Simon—my fiancé—begged me to take the deal. "I know you're innocent, but Nancy's pregnant. I can't let her go to jail." Tears. Fake concern. "This is for your own good," he said, holding my hand. I signed it. In my last life, I refused—and paid for it with prison, torture, and infertility. This time? I played along. By morning, headlines screamed I'd stolen trade secrets. Nancy? Front and center. "Yeah, it was her. I saw her sneak into Johnston Group with my own eyes!" But when court opened that afternoon, Clark—yes, the plaintiff—stepped up and dropped the case. Then, in front of everyone, he pulled out a ring, dropped to one knee, and said, "Heidi Wynn, this time... will you marry me?"

It was six years since I started dating Duke when I asked, "Shouldn't we prepare for the marking ceremony? It's almost July." Duke stiffened, lowering his eyes to avert his gaze. "You know I'm the Alpha of the Forest Pack, Fiona. And things have been busy with the pack, so I really don't have the time to think about it." "Okay." I smiled faintly—he really had forgotten about the promise. While I had been preparing for the ceremony for days, I had also anticipated disappointment. If he could forget about something so important, that only meant I didn't mean much in his heart. In that case, I should just leave.

Like most of the other Alphas in the Werewolf clan, Freya is a natural Alpha female who is loved and respected. She was compelled to believe it at first, but she didn't want to when she visited another pack and found out that her mate was an average Omega. In to force the Omega, her mate, back to her tribe against his will, she had to assert her claim over him. And what will happen when she finds out he's a Lycan and a direct descendent of the moon goddess? How will her partner, the Omega, discover his true identity and the reason behind his transformation from a highly capable pack member to an average Omega?

Bleu is the illegitimate son of the alpha king. Not wanting the world to know his mistake, Bleu and his mother were banished by the king to the far end of the kingdom. Later losing his mother and growing up as a rogue, Bleu had become quiet and feral. He spent his days mostly in wolf form and was only focused on surviving. That was until he found a small, naked unconscious woman in the swamp.... His mother always told him stories of the beauty of having a mate. Could this female be a gift from the heavens? Hazel is the daughter of the duke and was being forced into a political marriage with the son of the alpha king. Deciding to run away, she flees but faints due to exhaustion. She wakes up to meet Bleu. A sweet feral wolf who happens to think that she was his mate.

A night was enough for Soma to feel a pull toward a stranger that turns out to be a warrior in a rival pack. But how can a female Alpha of one of the most dominant packs share an unlikely bond with a ‘cursed’ warrior? Soma Walters is a wild, free-living mateless Alpha who happens to chance upon a male wolf that she develops a strange feeling for. However, there is no explanation to what she feels for him because she has unknowingly been connected with a man that does not have something the others have despite being ripe enough for such — A spirit wolf! She makes it her burden to be with the ‘cursed’ warrior while neglecting the warnings from others of her not being with the right partner. Now, it’s left for her to handle the pressure, especially when jealousy and betrayal gets involved...

There's this unspoken rule in werewolf high society: no matter how tight the mate bond is, business banquets mean booking a hostess. Six years into our bond, my Alpha mate—Brian Stormclaw—met one. Louise. A scrappy Omega with too much pride and not enough sense. When he offered her his black card, she pushed it back and said, "I'm not some Alpha's pampered pet." Brian? Instantly hooked. Like the Moon Goddess herself had dropped her in his lap. He chased her like he wanted her mark on every pack crest. But he forgot something—I was the Luna he wrote ninety-nine love letters to before I said yes. I didn't beg. Didn't snap. Every time he chose her over me, I lit another letter. First one burned on our anniversary—he bailed to wait outside Louise's flower shop, just to walk her home. Letter thirty-four? He left me stranded in a dangerous hunting ground to keep her company. Said she was scared of the dark. Fifty-two? Torched the second he replaced our wedding photo with some sketch she made on. ... And when the ninety-ninth turned to ash, so did whatever was left of us. I walked away. For good.

"Mom, Dad, I’ve decided to come home for the blind dates you mentioned. I’ll be back by the end of the month." In the early spring, with the lingering chill of winter in the air, Valerie Stonecutter pushed open the door while speaking softly into the phone. Her gentle voice drifted through the rain like a thread weaving through the mist. Pulling her collar tighter against the cold, she heard her parents breathe a sigh of relief on the other end. "Val," her father began, his voice heavy with age. “Your mom and I haven’t been in good health these past few years. So now that you’ve made up your mind, that’s good. When you’re back, I’ll have your Aunt Laura arrange a few suitable candidates for you to meet." Hearing that her parents were already making arrangements for her future, Valerie’s gaze flickered, her emotions momentarily unsettled. After a few more words of small talk, she ended the call. She glanced around her home with a heavy heart, her thoughts tangled in a quiet storm. Then she retreated to her bedroom and began to pack.

Julian Carter orders me to clean up his childhood sweetheart's new home when I'm still recovering from childbirth. "Everyone knows you're good at home economics! Things will be much easier for us with your help." I'm wrapping things up when I feel something dampen my pants. The discharge trickles down my leg and onto the floor. Nadine Stephens covers her mouth and cries dramatically, "What's that? It's so disgusting!" She even bends over and pretends to gag. Awkwardness and shame wash over me, making me want to dig a hole and hide myself. However, Julian grabs me and scowls. "I told you to come here to help. You're causing trouble on purpose, aren't you?" It's Valentine's Day, but he chases me out and tells me to go home. I wait for him for the whole night with our child in my arms. He only returns the following day with love bites on his neck. That's when I know we won't have a future together.