Festival Tanabata

"You certainly do smell nice for a doxy,” He groaned, burying his face in my neck. "You should be mine." I chuckled, sliding my long nails over his neck, right atop his jugular. Hayden froze. “The fuck? Is that-“ “Wolfsbane?” I purred. “Yes it is.” He held his breath for a minute, before gritting out in a low gravelly voice. “Who the fuck are you?” I pulled away, still seated on his lap, grinning wolfishly. My tongue flicked out to lick my fangs before I replied. “Nova. Nova Frost.” ***** At the annual Howl Gathering, eighteen year old Nova Frost finds out that she is mated to the Alpha Hayden of the Storm clan. An Alpha said to rule over the mountain regions with an iron fist. He rejects her without a second thought. That same night, her father is killed along with several other Alphas, one of the few who made it out alive was Hayden. Those who made it out alive are called The Nine. Nova knows Hayden and the nine killed her father and spends seven years sharpening her sword for revenge. Seven years later she attends the howl gathering festival in disguise, out to seduce Alpha Hayden, find out why he and the nine had killed her father and then have her revenge all in the Seven days of the Howl Festival. What could possibly go wrong? Everything.

My Alpha and fated mate Dion took his first love to the Moonlight Forest to enjoy the moonlight and obtain the Moon Goddess's blessing on the day of the Moonlight Festival, a day that he could only spend with his mate. I didn't stop him, and instead prepared his luggage for him. Dion was very satisfied with my performance. "With a pup in your womb, you finally learned to behave. You finally look like a Luna." After they left, I immediately had an abortion. In my last life, I had put a silver knife on my belly to stop him from going on a date with his first love. He was forced to stay for his pup. However, his first love was ravaged before getting killed by other werewolves while on her way to the Moonlight Forest alone. Dion didn't pin the blame on me, as if nothing of the sort had happened. However, the moment I had my pup, he then skinned my pup in front of me. Only then did I understand how much hate he had inside of him. He tortured me, and I died in a horrific manner. When I opened my eyes once more, I had been reborn on the day he and his first love was supposed to go to the Moonlight Forest. I had another chance in life, and I secretly started to plot my revenge. He would pay for everything.

Katherine I thought he loved me. I truly believed no one could love me more than my king, the ruler of witches, Acan. I believed my marriage was full of love, that nothing could tear us apart. But I was wrong. On the night of the festival of elements, he didn’t just break my heart… he burned me alive! He believed he was rid of me, free to continue his affair with the woman he truly wanted. How wrong he was. I’m back, and this time, I’m out for blood. Darius I stayed in the shadows, loving her from afar because who could ever love someone like me? I’m nothing but a bastard, and worse, I’m one of the dark ones, born with powers that bring nothing but pain. And yet… I can’t hurt her. Maybe that’s why she isn’t afraid of me, why she smiles at me in a way that steals my heart. But strange things are happening around her—accidents whenever she looks away. I must protect her, especially after I learned the truth about why it has all happened. So I change our world. I change our reality. But while my dreams come true—Katherine in my arms—she is far from satisfied.

Yvanna Summer dreamed of marrying a billionaire as it was the only way she could think of she could be of help to her deprived family. Indeed she married one, Norman Paul dela Vega, who inherited his grandfather's multi-billion corporation. She endured her ruthless and cold-hearted mother-in-law and busy husband. Living with Norman for the past seven years, Yvanna kept her mouth shut despite the unfair treatment she received from everyone in the mansion. One morning, Norman came home from his one-week election campaign and handed her a duly signed divorce agreement. His reason? Yvanna failed to do her job being his wife. But that was not the case for her. She knew deep inside, that she was the wife material for every man. "Five million dollars for those who can give me the exact address of my wife's whereabouts!" He announced with conviction in the middle of his press conference. "Another five million dollars for those who can bring her to me alive and unscratched." Norman found her, wearing an elegant evening gown, and was the most gorgeous woman who joined the festival pageant. Without wasting a second of his time, Norman bought her flowering offer worth ten million dollars, in exchange, SAVING THE LAST DANCE for him. They got the chance to talk and claimed her to be his wife. Unfortunately, Yvanna remembers nothing about him. What would Norman do in this kind of situation?

During the exchange of tokens in the Marking Ceremony, I presented the wolf tooth ring I had carved myself, as a witness to our marking. But my Alpha mate, Frendo, remained completely indifferent, not releasing any marking aura, as though he had entirely forgotten that today was the day of our spiritual bonding ceremony. At that moment, Lily updated her Instagram, saying she would be returning to the Sliver Lake Pack in an hour. The air immediately filled with the restless scent of wolves, and before I could react, my Beta brother, George, stepped onto the ceremony stage and emotionlessly announced, "The Marking Ceremony is canceled." Frendo and George, in perfect synchronization, turned and left the altar together, leaving me standing alone, under the watchful eyes of all the Pack members. They wanted to see how a one-person marking ceremony would proceed. It wasn’t until I held back my inner frustration and awkwardly finished the ceremony with some semblance of dignity that I opened Lily’s Instagram. In her latest photo, George and Frendo were both surrounding her, releasing intimate signals. One was holding a silver moon festival gift box, while the other offered her a moonlight rose, her favorite. I bitterly smiled and wiped away the tears from my eyes before calling the one family that truly mattered, my flesh and blood. "Dad, Mom. I want to go home."

"My mate is the man who murdered my sister," Lucia whispered, her voice shaking. Julius’s eyes flashed with hurt and fury. "I don’t know who you think I am, Lucia, but I will prove the truth, even if it breaks us both." She swore to kill him. Fate swore to bind them. Ten years ago, Lucia Wright watched her sister, Teja, die at the hands of a man whose honey gold eyes she could never forget. Since that night, her life has been nothing but prisons, rogues, and blood-soaked promises of revenge. At the Moonbane Festival, the goddess finally grants her a mate. But when the mask falls away, she recognizes him, Alpha Julius of Rivermist Pack. The man she believes murdered her sister. Lucia accepts his mother’s sudden proposal, not out of love, but to finish what she started, to kill him from within his own home. Yet the mate bond burns hotter than her hatred, and every stolen touch threatens to unravel her carefully built rage. Julius has secrets of his own, enemies in the shadows, a rival Alpha bent on his ruin, and a past drenched in sins he can’t escape. As truths twist and betrayals surface, Lucia must decide, will she cling to vengeance, or surrender to the bond that defies her every oath? In a world of demons, rival packs, and blood debts, love may be the deadliest trap of all.

Before the pack's Winter Solstice festival, I was given a Moonwater Mirror, forged from the waters of the Moon Goddess Spring. But the face staring back at me wasn't my own. It was my face, but younger. The girl I was eight years ago. Her eyes were bright with a joy I hadn't felt in years. When she realized I was from her future, she practically vibrated with excitement. "Our fated mate, Alpha Owen, he confessed today! He's going to plant moonflowers around the lake cabin. He'll stay with me for every full moon. He promised to make me his one and only Luna forever!" Her voice was full of hope for the future. Her joy was a bitter reminder of what I'd lost. I listened quietly, only managing a faint smile. My reaction must have given me away. Her excited chatter died. Her gaze drifted over my shoulder, taking in the cold, empty penthouse behind me. "Wait... where's Owen?" Her smile faltered. "We're happy, right? After eight years?" I didn't say a word. I just slowly, deliberately, turned the Moonwater Mirror toward the terrace. There, my Alpha mate, Owen, had another she-wolf pinned to the railing. Their mouths were fused, their breaths mingling in the cold night air.

Nineteen-year-old Rose should have lived a charmed life as an Alpha’s daughter, but nothing about her world is easy. Her mother died in a pack war she can’t remember, her wolf has never awakened, and her father’s rules keep her caged. On the night of the Luna Festival, Rose seizes one breath of freedom. She sneaks out with her best friend Laura—only to lose her in the crush of bodies and stumble into danger. Cornered by men with cruel intentions, she’s saved by a stranger with spellbinding mismatched eyes—one blue, one green. He vanishes before she gets his name, but his face brands itself into her dreams. When she meets “him” again, his eyes are only blue. He speaks like he knows her. He remembers details only her savior would know. Every time she sees him, something small is different—the gaze, the scent, the smile—but the same face keeps her believing… until the truth snaps into place. It was never one man. It was four. Quadruplet brothers who share a face and a secret—and who cleverly traded places to keep Rose in the dark. Drawn into their dangerous game of heat and deception, Rose becomes their forbidden. What happens when the quadruplets decide to make her their plaything? And what will Rose do when she finally uncovers the secrets they’ve been hiding all along?

Vaelora “Elyndra” Rhydian is the last of a broken bloodline, the cursed heir of NightMoor’s fallen Beta family. Orphaned by war, suffering from horrible PTSD from being raised by an abusive stepfather, and haunted by a wolf that won't fully awaken, her life has been nothing but loss. At 22, she still can’t complete her transformation. Each attempt nearly kills her. Plagued by nightmares and a mysterious voice inside her, she searches for answers, and her mate. But when she finally finds him at the Moon Festival, it’s not salvation that greets her. It’s rejection. Zarek Vortan Blackmoor, the feared Alpha of the NightMoor Pack, is cold, brutal, and cursed, just like her. Believing he doesn't have a mate and unworthy of love, he’s prepared to marry another. But fate intervenes. When Zarek discovers Vaelora is his fated mate, the one woman who could unravel his most dangerous secret, he rejects her in front of the entire pack. But destiny isn't so easily defied. When Vaelora offers him a deal that could save them both, they’re forced into a reluctant alliance; one built on secrets, betrayal, and a bond neither of them can sever. He’s the Alpha cursed to fall. She's Luna, destined to rise. Will pride, pain, and prophecy tear them apart, or can they heal each other before darkness consumes them both?

After ten years together, Aiden, my Alpha, my first and only love, finally promised to hold the mating ceremony with me during the Spring Hunt Festival. I was overjoyed. That night, at the festival party, I downed a few extra glasses of wine. However, Aiden, who had always been so gentle with me, suddenly became someone I didn't recognize. He scolded me, said I was unfit to be the future Luna if I couldn’t even follow the rules, and shoved me out of the car. Drunk and dazed, I was left alone in the dangerous Shadow Forest. Terrified but unwilling to break, I walked through that forest for five hours in the dead of night. When I finally made it back to our home, I heard him in the other room, sending a voice message to Seraphina, his first love. "If you’re willing to come back," he said, his voice soft and warm, "I’ll do anything for you." Seraphina replied, "Even cancel the mating ceremony?" Time stopped. I silently counted to thirteen. Then, I heard his answer: "Yes." Listening to that voice—the one that used to whisper promises to me—I cried. If that was what he truly wanted, then maybe calling off the ceremony was for the best. So, to spare him the choice, I fled. On the day of our mating ceremony, I disappeared. No one expected what came next. The proud, composed Alpha Aiden went mad trying to find me.