K Valentine

O ano em que renasci foi o ano em que a guerra contra os vampiros começou. A primeira coisa que fiz foi me livrar do filhote. O filhote do meu companheiro. Do Alfa Lucas. Na minha vida passada, ele encobriu sua amiga de infância, Sarah, quando ela se acasalou com um vampiro. Ele pegou meu filhote de sangue puro e o trocou pelo bastardo mestiço dela. Eles me rotularam como traidora. Torturaram-me até a morte em uma masmorra de prata. E meu próprio filho, que sofreu lavagem cerebral por Sarah, ficou sobre meu cadáver e me disse para apodrecer no inferno. Quando abri meus olhos novamente, estava grávida de três meses. Não hesitei. Caminhei direto até a cabana da bruxa e bebi o veneno que ela me deu. Mas, enquanto a vida se esvaía, abri outra garrafa: uma cara Poção Mímica. Ela simula os batimentos cardíacos de um filhote. Ela exala o cheiro de uma mãe à espera. Lucas quer uma criança para levar a culpa pelo crime de Sarah. Certo. Eu darei um show a ele. Desta vez, não tenho fraquezas.

Mi esposo, Damien Falcone, tenía noventa y nueve amantes. Y yo era la princesa de la mafia por la que los hombres hacían fila para ofrecerme su vida. El día que empezamos a salir, todos en nuestro grupo hicieron apuestas. Decían que no duraríamos ni tres meses. Pero entonces, todo cambió. Por mí, bloqueó a todas de su celular, construyó una mansión y se arrodilló para pedir mi mano. Luego, en nuestra noche de bodas, me dijo que quería un matrimonio abierto. —Podemos estar con otras personas, si queremos. Pero la lealtad… es solo para nosotros. Acepté. Y entonces apareció su amante número cien, Sophia Ricci. Traicionó a nuestra familia en un trato de armas. Casi le cuesta la vida a mi padre. Pero Damien la protegió. Incluso la metió a vivir en nuestra casa. Así que hice lo que cualquier princesa de la mafia con el corazón roto haría: me emborraché y desperté en la cama de otro. Lo que no sabía era que ese hombre era el tío de Damien.

My family is human. We were gifted a long life by the Thorne clan, something close to immortality. For generations, we’ve been their most loyal guardians. And I fell in love with Cedric, the vampire lord I was sworn to protect. For a hundred years, I was his secret. His sin. His only bedmate. I was his shield against dark magic. The sworn protector of his vast clan. I thought I’d earn the mark of an eternal bond. I was even ready for him to turn me. After all, on every blood moon, he would claim my body. Then, at the peak of an agonizing pleasure, he’d sink his fangs into my neck and drink my blood. He’d press his cold lips to my skin and whisper that I was his one and only. That no other blood, no other body, could make him lose control like this. But this time, the moment he was finished with me, he announced his eternal bond with Elsie, the pureblood princess of the Valerius clan. He smirked at the shock on my face. "You're just a human, gifted a long life by my ancestors. My bed warmer. You didn't actually think you could be my mate, did you?" In that moment, I understood. I was just a renewable blood bag. A tool with a purpose. For an alliance, for her, he sacrificed me. He cast me into the abyss and let the darkness swallow me whole. He thought the Guardian's Pact would chain me to him for eternity. But he forgot one thing. Every pact has a loophole. So I destroyed everything he ever gave me. Then, with my family's help, I vanished. But when the Lord of Eternal Night couldn't find his favorite toy… he went mad.

Esperé ocho años. El día en que debía convertirme en Luna, mi pareja del destino, el Alfa Cayden, me rechazó frente a toda la manada. Porque era estéril. Rompió nuestro vínculo de pareja y besó a mi asistente Omega, Lilith. Resulta que ya se habían unido. La maldita estaba embarazada de él. Me enfureció. Estaba lista para dejarlo todo atrás, pero su madre me arrojó a una celda de plata. Él planeaba despojarme de mi loba y de mi don, para entregarle mis poderes a su nueva Luna, Lilith. Destrozada, huí, solo para ser atacada por lobos errantes y dada por muerta en un charco de mi propia sangre. Cuando desperté de nuevo, me encontraba en un lugar desconocido. Mi memoria había sido borrada. El Alfa Rhys de la Manada Shadowcrest estaba a mi lado, prometiendo cuidarme. Y yo, la loba estéril, estaba embarazada… Pero no puedo recordar quién es el padre de mi hijo.

I was born wolf-less. At the academy, Arabella made my life hell for it. By the time I graduated, my wolf finally awakened, gifting me powerful healing abilities. I thought the nightmare was finally over. I met my fated mate Alpha Tristan. He was powerful, gorgeous, and promised me the world. But the day I went to tell Tristan I was pregnant was the day I discovered his devastating lie. It was never Tristan in my bed. It was his twin brother, Ronan. The rogue Alpha who’d abandoned the pack years ago to slum it with humans. He used a scent-mimicker to crawl into my bed, to get me pregnant. It was all a twisted plot to humiliate me on my big day. They wanted revenge for Arabella, who lied and claimed I was the bully. They wanted to crush me. I stormed into the study to confront them. I told them I’d expose everything and demand an apology. Instead, they imprisoned me. They performed a dark ritual, siphoning my wolf into Arabella. They drained my life force and murdered my unborn pup. I died in agony. Then I opened my eyes. I was back on the day I found out I was pregnant. I clutched my belly, a single tear tracing a path down my cheek. Those bastards were going to burn for what they did.

"You keep saying he died of black magic, but you're not telling me exactly how he died. If what you're saying is true... what happened to him??" I ask her with a raise of my brows. "The magic consumed him. He became power hungry. He started absorbing the powers from members of our coven. He wanted it all for himself. He had to be put down. He had to be stopped" She explains "Mom, what are you saying? Are you insinuating what I think you are? What do you mean he had to be put down??" The windows to her room bang open and cool breeze is rushing in, making the papers in her room fly haphazardly. "Layla, you have to calm down." She motions towards me. "So the coven killed him?? They killed my father and you didn't do anything about it????" I scream at the top of my lungs, the lights still flickering, tears pooling in my eyes and wind blowing in through the windows. "He killed two people from our coven! His eyes were completely black! The magic had completely taken over him. Your dad wasn't there anymore. So yes, we killed him to protect the rest of the coven…"

As I was about to leave The Crimson Curtain, my brother Corvus's elite vampire club, a woman who claimed to be the manager stopped me. "Ma'am, you just helped yourself to a priceless vial of Elder's Blood. You have to pay." I looked at the unfamiliar face, sensing the weak blood of a lesser vampire. She must be a fledgling, I thought, new to the club and unaware of who I was. "Your boss approved it," I said flatly. "Take it up with him." But the woman just sneered at me. "Plenty of women try to get close to our boss. If every one of you took what you wanted, how would we stay in business?" She shoved a copy of the club rules at me. Anyone who takes Elder's Blood without permission pays with three times the amount in heart's blood. Or they don't leave. Vampire guards started to close in, some even drawing silver blades, ready to take me down. I laughed, a cold, sharp sound. I couldn't believe Corvus's club had such an insane rule. "I am the Lord of House Volkov. Corvus's own sister. If he needs compensation, he can come to me himself." But her mockery only sharpened. "You look like some low-born stray. Claiming ties to a noble house? Pathetic. Hand over the heart's blood. Now." My patience snapped. I sent a message to the family elders through our bloodline. "Tell Corvus to either make this woman disappear forever, or I'm taking back ownership of this club. All of it."

I was born a fragile omega, but my gift of prophecy made me the Saintess of the Northern Packs. The Council of Elders demanded I choose a mate from the Alphas of the great packs. The Alpha I chose was destined to lead the North to victory and be crowned the Alpha King. I chose Alpha Kane without hesitation. He'd saved my life once. On the day of our bonding ceremony, I blushed and trembled as he sank his teeth into my neck. But the moment we were bonded, his true love Scarlett, his childhood Beta, went mad with jealousy. She tried to poison me, and for her crime, the Elders exiled her. She died on the road. And I? I used my prophecies to help Kane win the war, to put him on the throne. After his coronation, he plunged a silver blade into my heart. He murdered me. "Why didn't you save her?! Why didn't you save her?!" Only then did I realize. He'd hated me all along. I opened my eyes again... and I was back. Back on the day I had to choose my Alpha mate. He stood before me, arrogant as ever. He didn't lose his mind until he found out I chose a cursed Alpha. I watched him kneel, begging for my forgiveness. But this life, there would be no prophecies from me. Let’s see how he survives the war now.

My fated mate left the pack, heartbroken, after I rejected him. Seven years later, he returned with his new mate-to-be. By then, the pack doctor had given me my final diagnosis. "Extreme wolf spirit decay." It was irreversible. My wolf would be gone within months. My life was at its end. My fated mate, Alpha Roric, now the most powerful Alpha in North America, smirked when he saw me. I was pale and thin, leaning on my sister for support. "Ayla. Seven years, and you're too weak to even stand straight? When you rejected me, didn't you say that beta was a better match? Where is he now?" His voice dripped with hate. I just tugged on the sleeves of my coat, hiding the way my fingers trembled. A tell-tale sign of my power slipping away. "It's just a cold." Roric's gaze swept over me like ice. "In that case, you should come to my Mating Ceremony with Cressida. I'll save you the best seat." I just smiled. "I can't. I'll be going somewhere far away soon. I'm sorry." Then, pulling my sister with me, I turned and melted into the shadows.

เบื้องหน้า—เธอคือนักปรุงน้ำหอมชื่อดัง ผู้สร้างแบรนด์หรูที่ครองใจผู้คนทั่วโลก เบื้องหลัง—เธอคือนักฆ่าหญิงผู้ไร้พ่ายในนาม “บุปผาสีชาด” ที่แม้แต่องค์กรลับยังหวาดกลัว แต่โชคชะตากลับเล่นตลก… เมื่อวันหนึ่ง ซูเซียวเหมยถูกหักหลังและสิ้นชีพจากการถูกผลักตกตึกสูง! กระทั่งวิญญาณของเธอหลุดข้ามภพ มาสิงอยู่ในร่าง ซูเยว่ถิง สาวน้อยผู้ถูกครอบครัวทอดทิ้ง และกำลังจะถูกบังคับให้แต่งงานกับชายที่เธอไม่รัก ใครเล่าจะคาดคิด...ว่านักฆ่าอันดับหนึ่งแห่งโลกมืด จะฟื้นขึ้นมาในร่างหญิงสาวที่ใคร ๆ มองว่าโง่เขลา? ทว่าครั้งนี้ เธอไม่ได้มีชีวิตอยู่เพียงเพื่อฆ่าอีกต่อไป เธอจะใช้ความสามารถทั้งหมด เพื่อสร้างเส้นทางใหม่ สร้างธุรกิจให้รุ่งเรือง เพื่อปกป้องสามีคุณหมอผู้ใจดีที่กลายเป็นกำแพงให้อีกครั้ง และเพื่อตามล่าความจริง...ที่ทำให้ครอบครัวของเขาต้องล่มสลาย!