Hanabi Counter

At the full moon gathering, I learned that my mate Carrick was forced to bond with the Omega daughter of our rival pack. He rushed to complete a mating ritual with her regardless of the consequences. They fled to the Northern Territories that very night. Their childhood bond story went viral among the packs, but I became the shameful third wheel who interfered with their "true pairing" and was shunned so severely that I couldn't even leave my den. Unexpectedly, Alex, the blind Alpha of the Silver Crest Pack—Carrick's sworn enemy—appeared at my door. "I've always been a vengeful wolf. Carrick stole my intended mate through deception, so I will claim his rightful Luna." His unseeing eyes somehow found mine with uncanny precision. "Alliances require balance, Jenna. Are you willing to complete the mating bond with me?" I looked at the image of their moonlight ceremony being shared through pack links, and without hesitation, I handed him my wrist, exposing my scent gland for the claiming bite.

My dad was a zombie. My mom? Even scarier. She was an uber-powerful mutant. At the crack of dawn, she was already yelling, "Derick Olson! Don't make me come over there! What kind of zombie are you? Glued to your headphones all day—are those audiobooks really that captivating?" I rolled over in bed and promptly fell right off. Scrambling to my feet, I started tidying up my room in a flash, terrified she might actually make good on her threat. "Look at Mr. Hoffman next door," she hollered. "He roams the streets day and night, probably gobbled up more brains than you've read books!"

"Isaiah..." I breathe. He's so close, I can feel his hot breath mingling with mine. "What do you want, Kenna?" he murmurs, dark eyes flickering, his hands clenching tightly on the bench behind me. "For me to bend you over this counter and wake all my poor staff up?" *** Avia has one job. To seduce the Alpha. Part of a rebellious group, Avia has been given a job to gain the Alpha's trust, so they can take him down. Feigning being another girl of Noble birth, Avia finds herself in the Alpha's estate, but what happens, it hardly what she could have expected. The Alpha is devastatingly attractive, intense and passionate. And when the roles change, and he's seducing her, her jobs becomes a lot harder to do. But falling for such a dangerous Alpha doesn't come without a price.

I was three months pregnant when my fiancé left me to marry his first love, Isabella Thompson. Soon after, I was in a car accident. I survived, but our baby didn't. My childhood friend, Daniel Smith, found out and insisted on marrying me despite his family's objections. He spent a fortune on the best doctors to ensure I recovered fully. Later, he arranged a grand proposal, confessing he had loved me for years. I was touched and agreed to marry him. But three years later, I overheard his conversation with his friend, Mike Perez. "Remember years ago when Isabella stole Jessica's fiancé? To avoid any future trouble for Isabella, you married Jessica and even caused that car accident, which killed the baby she was carrying. Now, can she even get pregnant anymore?" Mike asked. "No, I love Isabella," Daniel replied. "I just didn't want to have any babies with Jessica, so I put birth control in her water." I trembled, unable to believe what I had heard. It turned out Isabella was also Daniel's first love. I figured it was time for me to leave.

In my past life, I supported the bankrupt Clark brothers. However, after I became pregnant, they allowed a poor student, Kimberly Scott, to push me down the stairs, where I bled profusely and died while carrying my child. When I opened my eyes again, I was reborn on the day I had brought them into my house. This time, I kicked them out without hesitation. To my surprise, Kimberly had teamed up with my grandmother to pretend to be the real heiress, painting me as the fake heiress who had taken over the family. The butler, Mr. Williams, who had watched me grow up, came forward and accused me of causing my parents’ death. Under the public backlash they had orchestrated, I remained calm and presented my evidence. Not only did I expose Kimberly’s fake identity as the heiress, but I also revealed the true faces of my grandmother and Mr. Williams. I avenged my parents and gave the wrongdoers the punishment they deserved.

When I was ten, I accidentally overheard my mother on the phone. It seemed like she was talking about me being a switched-at-birth rich girl, and that my real last name was Gardner. The coldness and cruelty my mother had shown me all these years suddenly made sense. When I turned 11, I paid an adult to get a maternity test done for both my mother and me. The results confirmed that I was indeed her biological daughter. I kept the report to myself and pretended I was still in the dark.

I am diagnosed with severe systemic lupus erythematosus, and I only have three days left to live. When my husband rejects my 188th plea for help, I take my test results and enter the hospice care center. "Hello, I'd like to schedule my own cremation process and apply for government aid." Ten minutes later, they arrive. Before I can speak, my lawyer husband, Jasper Horton, coldly slaps me across the face. "You're faking a terminal illness just to steal attention from Janice?" My doctor brother, Casey Carter, snatches the medical report from my hand and scoffs at it. "Lupus? If you're going to fake being sick, at least make it believable. Only one in a million people gets this." I endure the pain in my body, return to the counter, and hand in the application form and my medical records once more. The staff member sees the butterfly-shaped rash on my wrist and sympathizes with me. "I have no family left," I say. "I'm requesting cremation in three days, location doesn't matter. I just don't want my death to burden anyone."

My husband, Steven Garrett, was always "busy" overseas. So I thought I'd surprise him with a visit. Instead, I found him shacked up with my best friend, Peggy Shane. That day, my heart snapped—I filed for divorce and let my family set me up with someone new. Two years later, I bumped into Steven outside the hospital. He ripped the prenatal report from my hands. "How dare you cheat on me! You think you can play me?"

My husband drives me out so I can meet my best friend for an afternoon tea session. That's when I discover a used condom and a stray earring wedged between the door and the front passenger seat. I'm distraught as I head to the restaurant. My best friend hugs me warmly, but the lone earring she wears pierces my heart. I don't expose them for their betrayal. Instead, I fall into bed with my husband's best friend that very night. Later, James Fullman roars and asks why I've done this to him. I smile faintly and lean into the embrace of the man beside me. "You're not the only one who can get hot and heavy in the front passenger seat, you know."

Everyone in Sparrowville said that Margaret Chapman was the happiest woman in town. Gavin Hartley showered her with gifts—a sapphire ring, an asteroid after her name—treating her like she was the center of his universe. Margaret had always believed it, too. Until the day she accidentally discovered the woman he had been hiding in his villa. For ten years, he had kept her there—his childhood sweetheart. After she lost herself to schizophrenia, she had said, "Margaret is me." And so, for nearly seven years, Gavin had courted Margaret and cherished her, playing out a love story that had never truly been hers. Margaret's heart crumbled to ash after she found out the truth. She left without looking back, moving to a country thousands of miles away. But she never imagined that Gavin would lose himself to rage, his eyes burning red as he nearly tore Sparrowville apart. "Where the hell is Margaret?!"