Jeweler Apprentice

Elena Hayes, a disgraced she wolf born of a rogue bloodline, has spent her life clawing her way out of shame. As a graduate apprentice at the elite Lycan Academy, she dreams of stability beside her long time boyfriend, Marcus Blackthorn the Alpha heir who once promised her everything. But behind closed doors, Marcus is controlling and cruel, and when Elena discovers his betrayal with her wealthy best friend, her fragile world shatters. One fateful full moon night, Elena gives in to despair and to the primal hunger of her wolf. Her reckless escape leads her into the arms of Aiden Blackthorn, Marcus’s rebellious cousin. Their encounter is wild and forbidden, a single night that brands her soul. But when Aiden walks into her classroom the next day as her new student, their dangerous bond explodes into obsession. Haunted by desire and hunted by rumors, Elena becomes trapped between two powerful heirs Marcus, who will destroy her to reclaim control, and Aiden, who refuses to let her go, claiming she is his fated mate. As scandal consumes the academy, Elena loses everything her scholarship, her reputation, her future. Fleeing into exile, she hides in rogue lands, pregnant and alone, certain the Blackthorns will hunt her down. Years later, Aiden finds her and the child who bears his golden eyes. Their reunion rekindles both passion and war. Now, with Marcus’s vengeance and the council’s wrath closing in, Elena must choose between fear and freedom, shame and destiny. In a storm of blood and moonlight, she rises not as the broken outcast they once scorned but as the Luna who defied them all.

My fated mate, Sebastian Grant, was the most brilliant healer on the continent. Specializing in treating wolfsbane, he had saved countless of our kind. To everyone else, he was a miracle walking among us. But he had a childhood friend and fellow apprentice, Sabrina Jordan. If Sebastian was famous for curing poison, then Sabrina was infamous for creating it. For years, she studied toxins while he developed antidotes. They worked so closely together that the pack slowly stopped distinguishing danger from jokes. That was until the day she tested a new kind of wolfsbane on me and I almost died. When I woke up, Sebastian was sitting beside my bed, writing a prescription for me. "Christina, don't blame Sabrina. My mentor and I have spoiled her. She knew I'd be able to cure you, so she was just messing around. She never meant to hurt you." He said it so casually, as if I had caught a cold. Not as if my organs had been failing and I had been a breath away from death. Before I could respond, someone burst into the room shouting that Sabrina had poisoned herself. Sebastian stood up and rushed out at once, his steps hurried and almost frantic. He never noticed that my prescription was missing a key herb. Just like that, the antidote that was supposed to save me became a poison that quietly sped up my death. That was when the Moon Goddess spoke inside my mind. [You can only return to the human world if you die at the hands of your fated mate. But are you sure you want this?] I lowered my gaze to the prescription in my hand, the ink still fresh. Sebastian himself had written it. The same hands that saved countless lives had just written the final prescription that would end mine. "I'm sure," I whispered.

My in-laws, Melvin Gardner and Sharon Murphy, kept it a secret from us and traveled all the way to Metoville to surprise their daughter, Vivian Gardner. I brought them to the restaurant where Vivian worked as head chef, thinking she would give them a proper welcome and a great meal. However, Vivian called over her favorite pretty-boy apprentice, Tyler Lambert, and had him handle a batch of wild-harvested oysters from the deep sea. These rare specimens were notorious because they may carry Tetrodotoxin if not purged with extreme precision—a high-stakes task that even the seasoned chefs usually avoided. Tyler frowned and whined at her, "Oh come on, Chef, these oysters are so tricky to prepare. I'm not sure I can handle them..." Vivian just laughed it off. "Just give them a quick rinse, and you're done. They're just a couple of old country folks. There's no need to fuss." Melvin and Sharon ate the oysters. Within ten minutes, they were foaming at the mouth and collapsed on the table. When Vivian rushed over, she did not even bother to look at the two elderly people. Instead, she was busy comforting Tyler, who had gone pale and fallen into her arms. She said, "If they got food poisoning, send them to the hospital. But make sure they sign a liability waiver before they leave." She glanced at me casually, her tone suggesting the poisoned elderly couple had nothing to do with her. "Your parents are from the countryside, so they're probably not used to city food. Don't try to pin this on the restaurant or Tyler!" It hit me that she still had not realized the people who had collapsed at the table were her own parents. I looked at her helplessly and confirmed, "Are you sure you want to clear 'Tyler' of all responsibility?"