Leave No Trace

Llevo diez años casada con Nicolás. He conocido a cada una de sus novias. Cada vez que se aburría y quería cambiar, yo era su mejor pretexto para terminar con ellas: —Si te casas conmigo, vas a terminar igual que ella. Nos acostumbraríamos tanto el uno al otro que se perdería toda la emoción. En nuestro aniversario de bodas, yo le secaba las lágrimas a la universitaria que acababa de dejar, mientras él llevaba a su nueva conquista al cine. Cuando se acabó el paquete de pañuelos, fue como ver un reflejo de mi pasado. Así que le pedí el divorcio. Su reacción fue de una confusión genuina, algo raro en él. —¿No vas a esperar un poco más? Tal vez lo nuestro pudo funcionar. Le dediqué una sonrisa vaga, sin responder, y compré un boleto de avión para cruzar el océano. Ya no podía esperar a que cambiara, así que decidí dar el primer paso.

I am Ivy Blackthorne, the Luna of the Graystone pack and a princess of the White Wolf royalty. Tomorrow, when the full moon rises, I will personally place the heirloom upon my nine-year-old pup, Lucas Gowling, as both his mother and Luna. Lucas is not only my pup with my Alpha mate, Alexander Gowling, but he is also the Child of Prophecy foretold to lead the Graystone pack to glory. For nine years, I have believed that moment will be the most perfect in my life. But three minutes ago, I caught a faint yet chillingly bitter scent in my breakfast. It is wolfsbane, a rare poison that can kill wolves. My blood runs cold. Who would poison my food? I force myself to stay calm and not react immediately. I lift my bowl and pretend to drink its contents, but I secretly pour it into a napkin under the table. A more terrifying thought forms in my mind—if my breakfast is poisoned, then what about Lucas' food? I shoot to my feet right away. Without even stopping to grab a coat, I rush toward the training grounds in the back of the mountains. Before I reach it, I hear Lucas' voice from the woods toward the north. "Mother, did I do well today? I watch her eat breakfast with my own eyes." I freeze like I was hit by a bolt of lightning. Trembling, I push aside the bushes, only to see someone unexpected standing there. It is Sophia Crow, Alexander's childhood sweetheart, whom he had supposedly cut off from his life long ago. She crouches slightly and wipes Lucas' sweat off his brow, her movements intimate and natural. "Very good. Just one more day. After the succession ceremony tomorrow, you won't need to call her 'Mother' anymore," says Sophia. Lucas replies, "I've grown tired of calling her Mother for a long time. If she dies, can I openly call you 'Mother'?" Sophia gently pulls Lucas into her arms. "Of course. You are my pup to begin with." In that instant, every breath I take feels suffocating. The pain is unbearable. The pup I raised for nine years is actually the illegitimate child of my mate and his childhood sweetheart.

Sam and Nora were childhood friends whose bond was sealed with an arranged marriage. But soon after, Sam’s warmth fades, leaving Nora alone in a cold, distant relationship. His connection to Isabella, a woman from his past, casts a shadow over their marriage, fueling suspicions and driving them apart. After a heartbreaking divorce, Nora tries to rebuild her life, and just as her high school crush, Daniel, reappears, offering hope for a fresh start, Nora finds herself entangled in a secret that could change everything. As past emotions resurface and new complications arise, Nora must navigate the tangled web of love, loyalty, and deception. Can she move on from Sam, or is their story far from over?

I leave my boyfriend without a word when he's at his lowest. He later makes a name for himself and forces me to marry him. Our relationship goes viral online and becomes the subject of everyone's envy. They all say he's desperately in love with me, but he later sleeps with other women in our bed. I fall from grace and become the city's biggest laughingstock. I don't cause a scene. Instead, I move into the guest bedroom and leave the master bedroom for them. He's furious as he grips my neck roughly. He bites my lips, drawing blood. "Why aren't you mad?" Because I'm sick. I don't have the time to wait for him to see the error of his ways anymore.

On our wedding anniversary, my husband has his intern put on the custom-made wedding gown he prepared for me. "You wouldn't have looked good in a wedding gown with your baby bump, anyway. She's saving us trouble by wearing the gown for you. Think about how kind she is!" Before I can rebuke him, an earthquake happens. I lose my balance and fall to the floor. Instantly, I feel moisture on my legs. At the same time, my husband received a call from his intern. "There are so many frogs here, Mr. Quinn. I'm so scared…" My husband turns to leave, but I grab his pant leg. "Ethan, I—" "It's just a minor earthquake—the ground barely even shook. Don't make a mountain out of a molehill. Didn't you hear Chloe crying because she was so scared? Can't you be sympathetic?" He ignores the blood pooling around me and hurries off to comfort Chloe Bennett. That night, they share a passionate kiss under a sky full of fireworks. Meanwhile, my child dies in my belly. It's a pretty good way to end things. Someone like Ethan Quinn doesn't deserve to have his own children.

“The daughter of Alaric Blackstone. How dare you deceive me?” Rejected for my bloodline, I faced a harsh truth: the man who once held me tenderly now looked at me with hatred. Marked as the shameful Omega daughter of an Alpha, I thought the mate bond was my salvation—only to find it was my curse. Forced into marriage by my father as a bargaining chip, I made a decision to escape the torment and leave behind those who betrayed me. Years later, when I finally found peace, my mate returned, begging for forgiveness. However, after enduring all the pain he caused me, can I truly forgive him?

For five years, my fated mate, Alpha Killian, has used my body to survive his ruts. He’s never marked me. For five years, I’ve choked down suppressants to hide our bond from the world. Until tonight. Tonight, when he was finished, he told me to be at the full moon ceremony. I thought he was finally ready to claim me. To make me his Luna. But he just smirked and told me he was mating Vivian. The daughter of an Alpha. A pureblood. And me? I was nothing more than his dirty little secret. The cure for his rut. He walked away. I wiped my tears, went back to my apartment, and threw out all my suppressants. My best friend thought I’d lost my mind. She asked if I was declaring war on the Alpha. I shook my head. No. I'm erasing him. Then, I accepted Alpha Adrian’s invitation. Alpha Adrian. A rival from Europe. In seven days, I would leave forever.

A month before our medical fellowship was over, my fated mate, Julian, secretly filed to transfer packs to the High Council. I overheard his friend trying to talk him out of it. "You're ditching your home pack for Crimson Peak, all for Elodie? You did it behind Vesper's back? She's dead set on going home to Silver Crest. She even landed the Chief Healer position. You think she'll just agree? Didn't you two leave the pack for the Neutral Territory just so you could one day go back and serve?" Julian just chuckled, loosening his tie. His voice was laced with the arrogant confidence of a man who thought he owned my soul. "Vesper's my fated mate. We're already bonded. She'll follow me to Crimson Peak, no questions asked. Besides, Elodie's wolf is too fragile. She can't be without me." I stood outside, the mate mark on my neck stinging. I turned and walked away. If he could choose another she-wolf, I could choose myself. I would sever our bond and claim my title as Chief Healer. A month later, my plane landed. He called, his voice urgent. "Vesper, are you at the Crimson Peak territory yet?" I looked up at the gleaming towers and silver totems of the Silver Crest pack. A fierce pride surged through me. "I'm already home."

I've been in a five-year relationship with my mate, Alpha Callum Nash. However, he has delayed the Luna Coronation Ceremony 52 times so far. The first time it was held, Seraphina Vance, an outsider Omega whom Callum had taken in, lost control of herself and shifted into a wolf on the training grounds. He quickly returned to the grounds to soothe Seraphina, but in doing so, he abandoned me in the sacred grounds for the entire day. The second time it was held, Callum had sensed that an elder was making Seraphina's life difficult halfway through the ceremony. He immediately interrupted the vowing ritual and headed back to the pack just to defend Seraphina. As I stood on the altar on my own, I could hear the rest of the pack making fun of me. Since then, whenever the Luna Coronation Ceremony is held, Seraphina will keep coming up with different problems that require Callum's immediate attention. In the end, I've completely given up on Callum, so I decide to sever our mate bond. On the day I leave the pack territory, Callum, who's no longer able to pick up my scent, goes crazy.

"I, Conrad Alaric, Alpha of the Shadow pack, break every bond that I share with you, and on this day reject you as my mate." Hearing his words caused my eyes to shut instantly, with the whimpering that went inside of me. My wolf was sad. But , it was that day I decided to take the change, the day I put an end to begging for his love. "And what makes you think that I will come back to you so easily?" "Because... Because I think I'm deeply in love with you now, Katherine."