Gazing At The Stars

~"Why is the best fruit always forbidden?"~ Alecander Blackford is that perfect Alpha blessed with the face of an angel but cursed with overbearing parents who would not stop tailing after his ass. After he runs away from the pack to stay at his aunt’s house, he did not expect that he would meet his mate who turned out to be more than he had expected and everything he was not. Soft, caring with a touch of defensive instincts, Elristeya Larsen is just that girl who has two parents that were in love since forever and a brother who would do anything to make her frustrated. When she meets her brother’s new best friend, it turned out to be the Asshole that had slammed the door in her face, Alec. She was undeniably captivated by his hypnotic orbs and the way he looked like everything a human was not. Like a different breed. Alec’s entire plan to stay away from her as far as he could begins to fall flat right before his own eyes. No matter how he tried to ignore her, like a moth to a flame he was attracted to her. When circumstances fell into place, they slowly began to get closer, creating more connection and strengthening the bond between them. Elristeya soon realized that Alec was no prince charming of hers but her beautiful downfall. Her perfect nemesis. Her flawless damnation. Theirs was the mate bond that was never supposed to be formed. Forbidden right from their births and when they try to fight against the fate that binds them, ugly and haunting secrets, capable of ruining them both and those they cherished, from the past are unleashed, threatening the soul bond they shared.

The pack's border was under attack by rogues, with countless casualties. As a healer, I led my team to provide support. However, on the way back, I was kidnapped by rogue wolves. Lucas arrived immediately with the rescue force, but he just stood there and watched as the rogues shattered my arm and slashed my face open. He made no move to intervene. As I was tortured nearly to death, I overheard Lucas talking with the captain of the rescue team. "Alpha, if we don't rescue the Luna now, her arm might be permanently damaged." But Lucas remained unmoved, saying coldly, "I have to do this so that Kira can get the position of Chief Healer." "Susan earned merit supporting the border defense. The Chief Healer position should rightfully be hers. The only way is to have someone shatter her arm so she can never hold a scalpel again. Only then will Kira have a chance at becoming Chief Healer." "She'll just have to suffer for now. I'll spend the rest of my life making it up to her." Hearing his words, my heart grew cold, and I stopped struggling. I never imagined that the man I loved most would be the one truly responsible for destroying me.

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.

The day Adrian Knight clinched a contract with our biggest client, I "accidentally" tipped a bottle of ink across the paperwork, voiding it on the spot. Because of that single blot, the project landed in Alex Lewis’s lap, and he won Chairman Henry Carter’s favor almost overnight, moving into the Carter mansion as their future son-in-law and watching his net worth rocket into eight figures. Adrian never blamed me. He just laughed that he’d never been executive material anyway and happily brought me home as his bride. Everyone whispered that, if not for my meddling, Adrian would already be sitting in the Carter family’s executive suite instead of scraping by in an ordinary life with me. Only I knew the truth: stopping him from signing that contract had saved his life. When Adrian learned I was pregnant, he locked me in the basement, fingers digging into my throat. "If it hadn’t been for you," he snarled, "I’d be Henry Carter’s son-in-law by now. You’re the reason I lost Rachel, the princess of the Carter family." That’s when I realized he’d been nursing this grudge for years. After he killed me, I woke up, reborn on the very day Adrian first reached for that fatal contract. This time, I’ll make sure Adrian Knight gets exactly what he wants.

I watched as my boyfriend put the ring that he had promised to give me on Sophie White's finger at her birthday party. When I questioned him, Mark Goodman shrugged nonchalantly. "I promised to marry Sophie. Since that's not happening now, the ring is compensation." I was left speechless from rage and so disenchanted that I decided to cut all ties with him. Everyone was cheering when Mark later showed up at a gathering with Sophie, both wearing a matching set of rings. But when they all thought I would make a scene, I smiled faintly. "You two really deserve each other. When are you getting married? Do send me an invite."

I'm traveling through my pack when some Rogues ambush me. They chase me without mercy. I scream for Grayson Atwell, my Alpha mate, through the mind-link. But he shuts me out, muttering something about being "busy with pack affairs". I force down my fear and run, but they catch me anyway. Just as the silver knife grazes my throat, Vidar Mallory, the guard captain, bursts in. He drives the Rogues back and takes me to the hospital. Lying in the hospital bed, I overhear Vidar talking to his men by accident. "Freya is carrying a seven-month-old pup. How could Grayson abandon her just to take care of Bella's pup?" "Bella's pup had a fever last night. Grayson stayed at the hospital the whole night." My heart shatters. Even the pup I fought so hard to conceive was lost in the accident. I decided to leave and take on an entry-level healer position at a hospital in another pack. But after I'm gone, Grayson loses his mind searching for me.

With the return of his memories, my husband, Trevor Beaumont, recalled that he was the Alpha of a wolf pack. He walked away, leaving me with a ruby necklace as compensation. The jewel shimmered amid my sleep, and a tall, burly man stood before me. The compensation came with a hidden bonus after all. Later, I sent a message to my ex. “Thank you for your necklace. The guy inside comes in handy. “We’re getting married, and since you brought us together, we’d hope you can be the best man.” Trevor drove through the night to our wedding venue, veins popping out of his face as despair swallowed him. “Who the hell put the man inside the ruby?”

At the pack's anniversary dinner party, the Alpha, Matt White, told us to write down the gifts we wanted. He would make sure every request was fulfilled. When it was my turn, the newly arrived intern suddenly snatched the paper and pen out of my hands. "Mr. White works so hard managing the pack. We can't let him spend money on us! You shouldn't write down your dream gift," she said. I ignored her, grabbed the list back, and calmly wrote down one item: a washing machine. Peyton immediately flew into a rage and splashed the champagne on the table straight onto me. "I told you not to write anything down! As a Beta, how can you be so inconsiderate of Mr. White?" My coat was completely soaked, and I looked utterly disheveled. I couldn't hold back my anger anymore. I flung the list straight at her face without mercy. She instantly covered her face and screamed, "How dare you hit me! Do you know who my father is? He's the Alpha King! Even Mr. White has to be polite to him. I'll have you kicked out of the pack for laying a hand on me!" I froze. I was the Alpha King's biological niece. My uncle didn't even have a partner, so how would he have a grown daughter?

A week before the marking ceremony, my fiance, Alpha Mason Wallace, suddenly switches the venue to Firefly Grove. His friends tease him. "You changed the venue just because Serena wants to see fireflies? And you didn't even tell Cora? What if she shows up at an empty site? "Besides, Cora's the one who picked Moonlight Bay. Do you really think she'll go along with this?" Mason says casually, "She burned her skin saving me. She won't fight me over a venue change. Besides, she planned every detail herself. She'll notice the update." I stand outside the doorway, listening in silence. Then, I slip away without a word. When the day finally comes, Mason calls from Firefly Grove, panic in his voice. "The ceremony's about to start. Where are you?" I stare at the shimmer on Moonlight Bay and answer calmly, "I'm already here. My ceremony is about to start too."

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.