Five Years After A John Matherson Novel Novels & Stories

At his Alpha succession ceremony, Damien seated his childhood sweetheart in the Luna's chair, then dropped a mate bond severance agreement in front of me. “Once the bond's dissolved, I'll give you money. Enough to live comfortably for the rest of your life. One condition: stay away from Serena.” I signed without hesitation but I didn't take a cent. “Don't worry. I'll disappear from your lives for good.” That night I went home, took out the silver knife I'd already prepared, and dragged it across my wrist. Twenty-five years ago I'd crossed into this world of werewolves. For twenty-five years I'd worked to win over three protagonists, and every last attempt had failed. The Moon Goddess had told me: once this body died, I could go home, back to my parents. I lay on the cold floor and waited for the end. As my mind went hazy, I felt no fear, only a strange, giddy relief. And right as I was slipping away, I thought I heard someone screaming my name.

My mother is in the late stages of cancer. Yet, she sits in a wheelchair with an oxygen tube and endures a long train ride just to attend my wedding with Isaac Pudley. But when it's time for him to walk down the aisle, I don't see him anywhere despite screaming his name. It turns out his childhood sweetheart, Megan Ericsson, is having another depressive episode and is threatening suicide again. "Isaac, I can't live without you," she screeches. Isaac is always so stern and composed, but he now holds Megan in his arms and begs me to call off the wedding so they can leave. Relatives and guests watch the spectacle with thinly veiled amusement. To make matters worse, my mother is so angry that she faints. However, Isaac believes that my mother is feigning illness. He only wants to take Megan with him and leave. He even takes away my mother's wheelchair. But he seems to have forgotten that he has hurt me 97 times by now. After he hurts me 99 times, I’ll definitely leave him.

After dating in secret for seven years, Mitchell Zahn decides to propose to me on the day his birthday album is officially released. But during the birthday party, he publicly invites Isabella Claxton, a composer and my sister, to work with him. I follow Mitchell to ask him for an explanation. That's when I hear him and his friends chatting and joking inside the lounge. "You're so loyal to your first love, Mitchie. You couldn't wait to ask her to work with you upon her return. What are you going to do about Gabriella, though? Will she accept how your relationship ends when she's written so many songs for you?" After a moment, another person laughs and says, "To Mitchie, Gabriella has always been a replacement for Isabella. Now that Isabella is back, her replacement has to go. Don't you agree, Mitchie?" I wait for a long time before hearing a soft sound of agreement.

On our wedding night, instead of consummating our marriage, he gave me papers to sign instead. It stated that our marriage would last only for five years and after that, we go our separate ways. His words broke me but regardless I signed the papers. I thought I had enough time to make him fall in love with me but who was I kidding, his heart still belongs to my step sister, Rachael. She was his first love, but he was mine. I endured his mother's oppression, his coldness, for years I thought he was naturally uncaring and only had eyes for his business but I was brutally wrong.The same day I found out that I was pregnant was also the same day I saw his soft side. A side that's well reserved for someone else, there and then he asked for a divorce. It broke me but I didn't beg, I had wasted almost five years yearning for a love I couldn't have. So I decided to walk away and begin a new life with my child. But who could have taught that a year later, the cold and ruthless CEO would be on his knees begging for a second chance.

For six years, Catherine Kingsley has been invisible. She married Ryan Brook to repay a debt her blood saved the life of the woman he truly loved. But gratitude doesn't warm a marriage bed. Ryan has never touched her. His mother and brother have treated her as a servant. And now, after half a decade of silence and cruelty, Ryan is bringing Sarah home. He wants Catherine out. But for the first time in six years, Catherine doesn't bow her head. She doesn't beg. She doesn't cry. She signs the divorce papers, takes nothing, and walks away with her dignity intact. What Ryan doesn't know is that Catherine is done being invisible. With the help of an old friend Michael and a young artist whose life she once changed, Catherine begins the painful, powerful journey of remembering who she was before she became Mrs. Brook. But as Catherine rises, Ryan begins to fall. The cold, distant husband who never looked twice at his wife suddenly can't stop seeing her everywhere. And Sarah the woman for whom he destroyed his marriage may not be the innocent victim he always believed. Dignity Over Devotion is a raw, emotional story about what happens when a woman who gave everything finally decides to take herself back.

Four years ago, at my mating ceremony with Alpha Damien, a witch publicly prophesied: "The powerful Alpha will betray the mate bond." Damien unleashed a terrifying wave of Alpha dominance on the spot, forcing the witch to her knees. He gripped my hand tightly and declared before the entire pack that I was his one and only mate. For three years of our marriage, he was flawless—devoted, attentive, beyond reproach. Until a year ago, when he was gravely wounded during a border patrol and rescued by a stunningly beautiful rogue Omega named Selene. Selene fell for Damien at first sight. She even knelt at his feet in front of me, crying: "I don't want anything in return. Just let me stay near you—I'd be your mistress with no title if that's what it takes." Damien shoved her away without hesitation and coldly ordered her placed at the edge of the territory, never allowing her within arm's reach. In that moment, I trusted him completely. I believed our mate bond was unbreakable. Selene asked seductively. "Alpha, who's better in bed—me, or your dignified little Luna? Your cock fucks me so good every time." Damien's low, ragged breathing filled the audio. He slapped her ass and warned coldly: "Don't get ideas above your station. Elena is my only Luna. You're just a bitch I use to blow off steam." Selene pouted with a coy whine: "I'll happily be your bitch as long as you keep fucking me." The video ended. Immediately after, an anonymous text popped up: "You sit in the Luna's seat. I'm in the Alpha's bed. Now we're even." I sat there all night, silently printing out a termination agreement for our mate bond. Since that's how it is, then I'll grant your wish. But after I left, the powerful Alpha went mad.

"We can't be together, Carter." I sighed deeply as I tried to talk some sense into him, "You of all people should know that" "Says who?" He argued "Me. Everyone. And even the contract we signed" I countered and when I realized he wasn't taking my words seriously, I parted my lips to speak but he beat me to it. "Fuck the contract, Hailey. Fuck it all" He said in a breath and pulled me in for a maddening kiss. ******** After getting betrayed and killed by her mate and step sister, Hailey is fortunately reborn. In her quest for revenge, she's given two rules. The first is; no one should know about her rebirth and the second is; she isn't allowed to fall in love. Breaking of either of these rules comes with serious repercussions. Hailey is fine with the rules until she meets him. Alpha Carter. The man who managed to break her walls. Will she chose her childhood sweetheart or the man who made her heart come alive again? Will Hailey's feelings jeopardize her quest for revenge? Or will it lead her into a much bigger problem?

Adrian Vance, heir to the Vance family, and I were together for three years. When we broke up, it got ugly. At the height of everything we had, I took a million dollars from his father and got rid of our child. He was outside the operating room, crying like a little kid. "Eve, I'm begging you, don't be this cruel. Don't throw away our love, don't throw away our baby..." I smiled, cold as ice, my nails digging into my palm. "You fool. Just go. The thought of carrying your child makes me sick." Adrian held back his tears until the corners of his eyes went red, and finally he let go of my wrist. Later, Adrian became the Don. We met again when I was at my lowest. It was his engagement party. The blonde standing at his side was about to become his noble Donna. And there I was, on the floor at his feet, begging him for a little money. He asked if I regretted it. I didn't regret a thing. He still didn't know that I'd given birth to that child and raised him. And now, that boy is dying.

In the third year after my death, the one who remained faithfully by my wife's side was still the bionic robot I had painstakingly designed. It looked exactly like me and carried within it every detail of my mannerisms, speech, and habits. The only difference was that it never lost its temper with her. Because of that, my wife never sensed anything amiss. Yet each night, she brought home a different man, deliberately testing "me," desperate to see the wild jealousy and rage I once wore so vividly. Then, one day, her childhood sweetheart and first love, shoved "me" off the balcony. It was only then, in her horror, that my wife realized… "I" didn't bleed.

Gwendolyn was never meant to be weak but six years of marriage to Cole turned her into a woman who endured everything until he crossed the line. When their five years old daughter Josie is dying as a result of her wolf awakening too soon, destroying poor little Josie from the insides, Cole doesn’t just neglect them, he files for a divorce, cuts Gwen off any means of income and walks away with another woman. Desperate to save her child, Gwen turns to the only man powerful enough to help. Xavier Holt, her husband’s stepbrother. Xavier comes to her rescue, except he has a request. A request that puts Gwen in a dilemma. A marriage, one without boundaries or rules. Gwen doesn’t break, she chooses revenge. With Xavier by her side, she’s no longer the omega they once underestimated. She’s the woman who will destroy them all.