How Did Rengoku Die

The wolves of our pack are different from most. At five years old, every pup must undergo their first shift. But my son Ash was born with a broken wolf. He couldn't complete the shift on his own. The healer said the only way to stabilize him was for my Alpha mate, Kael, to transfer fifteen percent of his power to Ash. Otherwise, Ash would die during the first shift. The Five Packs Alliance summit was approaching. Any loss of strength could put Silver Fang at a disadvantage in negotiations. Kael weighed his options and decided to postpone. He said Ash could hold on through this moon cycle — they'd do it after the summit. I begged him to perform the ritual as soon as possible. Kael gave me his word. But the summit kept getting pushed back. First, Kael's childhood sweetheart Nora said her daughter Lily had a fever and she couldn't manage alone. Kael dropped everything and stayed with them for two days. Then Nora asked to take Lily to the Northern Frost Pack's Bonfire Festival. She said Lily had never had a father, had never attended a single pack celebration, and wanted Kael to go as family. When Ash was losing his breath in my arms, I called Kael. He said: "Lily's first shift ceremony is in three days. I have to stay and guide her. Don't worry — I'll be back as soon as it's over. Ash isn't urgent. Didn't the Elder say there's still a month? Stop overreacting." Three days later, Kael rushed home. All he found was Ash's cold body.

"Are you sure you want to change your name, Ms. Anderson? You'll have to change your degree certificate, documentation, and passport once you do." Noelle Anderson nods. "I'm sure." The employee tries to talk her out of it. "It's quite troublesome for adults to change their names, and your current name sounds nice. Are you sure you don't want to think about it?" "No, I'm done thinking." She signs the form. "Sorry for the trouble and thanks." "Alright, then. The name you're changing to is… Aria Byrd, right?" "Yeah." Aria Byrd—it means a flight to freedom.

"Good can't exist without evil. But what happens when we are neither?" Elliot Harvard has assembled a team of misfits. There’s Bryan, the hot-headed elemental; Classy, who can manipulate matter; and Mello, whose art becomes reality. But among the new recruits living in the secret base, one figure stands apart: Northstar. Silent, brooding, and terrifyingly powerful, Northstar is the host of the Shadowalker—a mythical demon created to destroy life but cursed to protect it. He lives in the gray area between light and darkness, possessing knowledge that predates history. When the squad faces their first real test against a horde of monsters in an abandoned warehouse, things take a deadly turn. With one of their own infected by Dracula and fading fast, the team must rely on Northstar’s dangerous connection to the Null Void. But can they trust a demon who claims to have no emotions for humans? The training is over. The war against the supernatural has begun.

I decide to get onboard with the latest trend by custom-ordering a merfolk meant to serve me from AquaGene Corp. On the day Lance arrives at the company, the engineer tells me, "It's highly recommended that you be there in person, Ms. Ross. That way, you'll be able to form the initial bond with him." So, I spend one day standing before the eco-tank. As soon as Lance opens his eyes, he doesn't show any signs of wanting to get close to me. Instead, he merely scrutinizes me coldly before turning his back on me. I comfort myself, thinking that Lance is just shy. But one week later, I realize how wrong I truly am. I pay money because I want to buy a partner who can keep me company forever. Turns out I buy myself the biggest trouble of the century instead.

Five years after I mated to Alpha Derek Blackwood, his childhood sweetheart broke her mate bond with another Alpha and returned to our pack. Even worse, I had depleted my life force saving Derek when he was mortally wounded, and now I was dying. In the less than six months I had left to live, I continued to play the role of Derek's good mate. Until I passed away. And Derek, after reading the journal I left behind, completely fell apart.

The girl my family sponsored was a manipulative opportunist. She had my childhood friends wrapped around her finger. I helped her out of pity for her poor background, but she climbed her way up, slowly taking my place. She faked innocence in front of the brothers while sabotaging me behind my back. When they found out, they called me petty rather than blame her. I got fed up, married my college crush, and moved on. But they flew in overnight, begging for forgiveness.

The day after my first shift, my Alpha mate Marcus Stone couldn’t wait to mark me as his Luna. He was the most powerful Alpha in Northern Regions. Rumors said he kept his distance from every beautiful she-wolf. Only I was the exception. Every anniversary, he would give me an exquisite red haute couture dress and a carefully arranged bouquet of moonflowers. I thought he loved the scent of moonflowers, so even though I was allergic to them, I happily accepted the gifts every time. Until at our mating ceremony anniversary banquet, I saw Marcus's childhood sweetheart Rose wearing a red dress, adorned with moonflower decorations. That's when I realized it was Rose who loved red dresses and moonflowers. Even when I was attacked by rogue wolves and lost our baby, he was by his first love's side. After learning the truth, I decided to leave him completely.

I'm the heir of the York family in Yarrowdale. My parents request that I choose either June Langley, my female bodyguard or Jasmine Turner, the low-income student that my family has been sponsoring as my wife. I had had a crush on Jasmine for a long time. On the day I was supposed to draw lots, I tampered with the box and chose her as my wife. But after we got married, Jasmine plotted to let the butler's son, Marcus Lockwood, take my place as the new heir. Just like that, I fell from grace and became the impostor that everyone looked down on. Then, I was cast out of my own home. Jasmine then introduced Marcus and their illegitimate child into the York family. Her actions gave my parents heart attacks, leading to their deaths. Before my death, I witnessed Jasmine gifting the Yorks' shares to Marcus. She even shattered my parents' urns just to appease him. "Tristan, you had spent your life in luxury. Now, it's Marcus' turn." When I open my eyes again, I've returned to the day I'm meant to choose my wife by drawing lots. This time, I've changed the names on both lots to June Langley, my loyal bodyguard.

Lira was never meant to survive the fire. Marked by an ancient spiral and hunted by the bloodline that should have protected her, she has spent her life being shaped into someone else’s weapon. A queen. A mate. A vessel for power older than memory. But Lira has learned the cost of obedience. When the ruins of her past rise again and Draven returns with promises of thrones, legacy, and a kingdom built from blood, Lira is forced to face the truth buried beneath every scar. The spiral was never only a curse. It was a calling. And now that calling has awakened something inside her that even the dead still fear. Kael stands beside her, bloodied, loyal, and bound to her by more than survival. But love cannot shield her from what waits beneath the Bone Moon. Because Draven doesn’t only want Lira back. He wants the future she carries. And Lira will burn every throne before she lets her child inherit chains.

⚠️Book Contains Explicit Content🔞 Gage didn’t make a habit of denying himself anything. If he wanted something… anything, he’d claw his way to get it, consequences be damned. But her? Thea? She was the only goddamn exception. Off-limits. Untouchable. A tempting little toy he had no right to shatter, yet that only made him itch to wrap his hands around her and play until she begged. For months, he’d fought the urge, keeping his distance but fate, the-smug-bastard, threw her to him and he, being the despicable-asshole he was, couldn’t say no. She’d walked into his life on his son’s arm, but that wasn’t an issue. Because he’d take her anyway. Steal her. Ruin her for anyone else. And keep her pinned beneath him for as long as it took to satisfy the hunger that’d been gnawing at him for months.  THEA ~ I kept hoping my boyfriend would look at me. Just once. Just enough to feel like I still mattered. But he never did. So I went looking for attention elsewhere… and somehow, “elsewhere” turned out to be his father. Gage. The man I should’ve stayed the hell away from. Gage wasn’t gentle, and he sure wasn’t safe, but he saw me and looked at me the way his son never did. And the moment I stepped toward him instead of away, I knew I’d crossed a line I couldn’t come back from. It was wrong. Forbidden. A disaster begging to happen. And yet… standing there in front of him, lonely and stupidly hopeful, I lean into the warmth he gave so easily, the attention he offered like it cost him nothing. I should’ve walked away. But I didn’t. And neither did he.