Incense Burner

Second Edition Warning #slow burner #violence #sexual activity At eighteen Gabriella Chambers has no wolf and has no mate, so why is the Academy for shifters demanding she attends? When Gabbie gets there she's demoted to omega, the lowest rank in the pack. The only thing she looks forward to is seeing her best friend Alex again. Things have changed. Alex is a feared and respected Alpha Heir, strong and s*xy, but Gabbie is still his best friend. Even though an Alpha and an Omega must never mix. Things get complicated when Alpha Kade, Alex's rival for battle season, crosses paths with fiery Gabbie. In Kade's pack Omegas are scum, but what happens when simple encounters turn into something more. To add fuel to the fire, Gabbie is a target for three Alpha Females, including Alex's mate and Kade's chosen mate. A mystery blooms while Gabbie's at the academy that involves her past and her family. Will Gabbie survive long enough to awaken her wolf and find her mate?

After being married for seven years, my husband, Samuel Ford, falls for Maggie Burner, his company's new accountant. He says, "It's only upon meeting her that I realize what love is." For the sake of his love, he allows Maggie to anger my aunt, who's gravely ill. She subsequently dies. He also stands by and watches as Maggie locks our four-year-old daughter in the car, leading to her asphyxiation. I lose all hope in life and ram my car at Samuel and Maggie. We die together. When I open my eyes, I realize that I've traveled seven years into the past. It's me and Samuel's wedding day. The officiant gives a speech, then asks, "Do you, Samuel Ford, take Penelope Waterworth to be your lawfully wedded wife? To have and to hold, from this day forward, for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, until death do you part?" Samuel is taken aback. Then, he flings my hand aside and says coldly, "No, I don't." I lower my head to conceal the emotions in my eyes. What a coincidence—I don't want to marry him, either.

A rogue attack shattered my wolf, costing me my birthright as the pack's heir. But my mate, Alpha Kael, seemed devoted to me. For three years, he injected me with a "Lunar Essence" he claimed would help me heal. I thought he was the only wolf who truly loved me. I never imagined he was poisoning me with Silver Dust, a suppressant designed to crush my wolf's spirit. All to ensure my wolf would never reawaken, securing my adopted sister Selene's claim as the pack's Alpha heir. My hands shook, my world turning to ash, as I opened his safe. Inside was the proof. From the rogue attack to the loss of my wolf, it was all a conspiracy orchestrated by Kael and Selene. That night, I pulled the burner phone from my drawer and dialed a number I'd sworn I'd never call. "Grandfather, I'm coming home. I'll be there in seven days. Please send someone for me."

We stood across from each other, with a bed in the middle. The bed was surrounded with golden pots of burning incense, the fragrance intoxicating. On one side of the bed stood a warrior wolf from my pack, and on the other side was a vampire from Diego's pride, both present to guard us. Chairs were set in both sides of the large room, with the werewolves occupying the right side and the vampires on the other side. Everyone stood when the head witches of the three covens arrived and took their seats adjacent to the two parties. " Creatures of the underworld, we have all gathered here to witness something spectacular, something unheard of, the mating of a vampire and a werewolf. These two from both sides have claimed to be mated to each other even though they are not of the same kind, so tonight, underneath the full moon, we shall witness them in bed to attest if the Moon Goddess truly destined them for each other. Let the drums roll!", one of the witches addressed everyone. The incense had aroused us . My were hard and erect, and I could clearly see the bulge in Diego's pants as he stood across. The drums signalled us to begin the mating process, and we got onto the bed. We gently , suppressing the urge to tear each other's clothes off. I felt a bit insecure and ashamed. I could literally feel my alpha's eyes on me and could only imagine the disdain that will be written on his face. Diego's father too was watching, together with their maester. Everyone we knew was there to watch us have and I just couldn't bring myself to feel comfortable. Most importantly, I couldn't help but wonder, what if we die mating?

Before our wedding, my fiancée, Sarah Hargrave—a professor of medieval history—held a private ceremony in a secluded chapel in the countryside. But not with me. Under the glow of candlelight, she cradled Benjamin Wheeler—her first love, his face gaunt from the cancer consuming him—in her arms. Her smile was soft, almost reverent, as she murmured, "In the eyes of God, vows made before the altar are the only ones that matter. Even if the law says I belong to Daniel, my soul was never his." And so, to the faint echo of hymns and the scent of old incense, they drank from the same silver cup, exchanged rings, and stepped together into the dimly lit sacristy—their makeshift bridal chamber. I watched. Silent. Motionless. No outbursts, no demands for explanation. Just the quiet dialing of a clinic to undo the vasectomy I'd gotten for our future. From fifteen to thirty, I had loved Sarah for fifteen long years. But in all that time, there'd never been room for me. That space had always belonged to Benjamin, my stepbrother. So I let her go. Afterward, I joined a geological research team bound for the isolation of Antarctica—a land cut off from the world, quiet and clean. Before I left, I handed Sarah a divorce agreement…and a final gift to mark the end. I never anticipated that Sarah, who'd always met my devotion with frosty detachment, who'd never once glanced back as I walked away, would look ten years older overnight.