Link Crying

A year after Easton Carter turns down my 99th proposal, he calls me in the middle of the night, crying like his world's falling apart. He says his grandmother is dying and her last wish is to see him married. He tells me he's finally ready. He's already ordered the dress and booked the venue. But when I show up at the venue in my wedding dress, his friends burst out laughing. "You actually believed that? And you even swapped the cheap dress he ordered for a custom-made one? You're the queen of pathetic!" Then one of them yells, "Look, the groom's side piece showed up to crash the wedding!" "Security, come get this homewrecker!" Guests turn to stare like they're watching a joke unfold. Easton doesn't even look at me. He turns to the woman he loves and says, "I told you I'd ruin this wedding for you. I meant it. If you can't have him, no one will!" She gives him a satisfactory smile. Then, he finally glances at me. "Tina said you did her a favor today. When we get married, you can be the bridesmaid, and you can still spend time with us after that." So, he brought me here just to help his sweetheart ruin her crush's wedding. But when Easton finally looks up at the wedding banner and realizes that I'm the bride, his eyes flare with rage.

I had just left the hospital after undergoing a dilation and curettage procedure for uterine fibroids. On the bus, I happened to encounter a woman who was crying and claiming she had menstrual cramps and a terrible stomachache, asking me to give up my seat. But I refused. I never expected the woman to be the famous internet influencer, Bella Marsh. While I was completely unprepared, she started a livestream, and the next day, I was violently attacked online and pushed onto the trending searches. Netizens even dug up the record of my procedure at the hospital. “With a uterine wall that thin, it’s obvious she has had so many failed pregnancies.” “No wonder she was so shameless and refused to give up her seat—turns out she’s a despicable woman.” The so-called righteous netizens harassed me until I fell into depression, and even my boyfriend stepped forward to accuse me of being dirty and said he wanted to break up. Unable to endure the blow, I jumped from the rooftop, while the female influencer gained tens of millions of followers and began livestream selling, earning more money than she could count. Only after my death did I learn that the influencer had been my boyfriend’s childhood crush. To boost the popularity of her livestream, she and my boyfriend had deliberately staged the entire scene. When I opened my eyes again, I had returned to the very day Bella asked me to give up my seat.

“You’re useless.” I lift my head, wrists aching where the rope bites into skin already numb from the cold. My father stands over me, his shadow long and sharp in the firelight spilling from the clearing behind him. I can hear the celebration. My sister’s laughter. The pack chanting her name. “I tried,” I say. My voice cracks, and I hate it for that alone. “I did everything you asked.” He scoffs. “Everything?” His gaze drags over me like I’m something rotten. “If you’d done anything right, your mother would still be alive.” My chest burns, each breath a knife. “She chose—” “She died because of you,” he snaps. “Because you were too weak to protect yourself. Too weak to be worth the trouble.” I swallow, tasting blood. “I’m your daughter.” “No,” he says coldly. “You’re a reminder of my failure.” He turns away, already done with me. “Be grateful I’m hiding you instead of killing you. An Alpha can’t afford dead weight.” The rope tightens as he knots it higher, out of reach. He doesn’t look back. Behind him, the pack howls in celebration. I lower my head and let the tears fall silently into the dirt because crying is the only thing they haven’t taken from me yet. But as the night deepens and the forest breathes around me, something else stirs—slow and patient. They call me useless. One day, they’ll choke on that word.

For ten years, I was a peace offering to Alpha Kane. And he chose his adopted sister, Fiona, over me 77 times. He planned my birthday around her tastes. At the Hunter’s Moon festival, she stood beside him in the Luna’s ceremonial gown. My gown. Even on our mating night, he left me. Fiona faked a panic attack, claiming her wolf was losing control. He spent the night coddling her. I forgave him the first 76 times. Because he’d saved my life once, even if he didn’t remember. But when I was kidnapped, he had to choose: trade the pack's sacred artifact for my life, or stay with Fiona and her latest self-made drama. He chose her. The kidnappers injected me with a lethal dose of wolfsbane. I felt it tearing my wolf apart, devouring my life force from the inside out. The 77th time. I was finally ready to give up. But I was saved. By Drake, Alpha of the Nightfall Pack. The one who'd been watching over me for fifteen years.. That’s when I learned the truth. I’d been thanking the wrong man. The one who saved me was always Drake. Never Kane. So I went back. I filed to sever our mate bond with the Elders. In four days, I'll be free. And Kane can be with his precious Fiona forever. So why, now that it’s all over, is he on his knees, begging for me back and crying that he always loved me?

“Unfortunately, you must die, Luna Lyara,” Alpha Kaelen whispered. It wasn't enough that I had to endure the curse to replace him, and his decision to turn his face away from me for another woman, he still betrayed me until the end. He stabbed me with his own hands and pushed me off the cliff. When I thought everything was over, time spun back and brought me back to the past, exactly three weeks after I was cursed.  This time, I won’t be the victim. I’ll free myself from the curse, reverse fate, and protect the people I love. I won’t be dragged along by the predetermined path set by that scoundrel Kaelen. I’m determined to write my own destiny with my own hands! *** “…Lyara.”  I didn’t know what he was saying. I could only catch one word, my name, which he whispered softly.  Ah, there’s still someone who cares about me like this. With trembling hands, I tried to reach his face. The sticky sensation flooding his cheeks, I knew it. He was crying. Was he crying because of me? “Don’t… cry…” I said, my words breaking off.   The pain and tingling in my throat brought back the painful cough. My right hand fell onto his chest. Unintentionally, my fingers touched the pendant necklace around his neck. A unique and beautiful sun-shaped pendant.  “Thank you,” I said with a bitter smile.

After discovering that she’s pregnant, Luna Deandra of the Dagger Pack throws her husband a surprise party to break the news to him but instead of the happy ending she had been expecting, she gets her heart broken when she receives evidence of husband’s infidelity with his childhood friend. Heartbroken, Deandra drinks herself to sleep after crying and wakes up the next morning worried about her child’s life. On her way back from the hospital, she runs into a mystery man who saves her from a public confrontation with Daniel, her husband and his childhood friend, Hope. He proposes a possible alliance and promises to help her get back at Daniel and Hope for the betrayal. But Deandra doesn’t know him and is worried about his intentions. However, after facing further humiliation from Daniel’s family and Hope, who is also pregnant with his child, she makes up her mind and aligns herself with the mystery man who turns out to be Daniel’s estranged half-brother, Ryder. Years later, Deandra is now a mother to three children and is married to Ryder, who is now Alpha of the Stone Pack. She is back and ready to get her revenge on Daniel and Hope and Ryder is more than happy to help her as well as get his own pound of flesh. But will Daniel simply accept defeat or will he fight to get Deandra back? And what will happen to the Alpha title of the Dagger pack? Who will become the Alpha int the end?

Sophia was forced to marry a man she never loved just to stop her father from going to jail. The marriage however turned out to be a living hell after she discovered a painful truth that destroyed her. Sophia usually gets home late from work every day with expensive gifts, looking so flashy. She starts getting cold with Shawn, disrespecting him as though he never meant anything to her. He reported Sophia to Joana, her cousin, but she denied her involvement. Sophia kept her secret affair with Mathew away from everyone. Shawn stopped worrying about her mischief and decided to carry out his investigation on her. On her way to work, he trailed her movement and found Sophia heading to a different route. He was confused and kept trialing and behold, her cab alighted in front of a big mansion. Shawn was devastated and knew his girlfriend was cheating on him. He took a photo of her for evidence and returned home, disclosing it to Joana, her cousin. Hard for her to believe, they waited for Sophia to return. As usual, she returned very late. Shawn confronted her and accused her of cheating, but she denied it until he showed her the evidence. She was stunned! She had no idea Shawn trailed her. Frustrated by her act, Shawn beats Sophia to a pulp and throws her out of his house. Now his father's words were starting to get to him. He regretted not listening to his father. Sophia left his apartment in pain and went crying in Matthew's arms.

In the Santoro family, there was one rule: the heir marries a daughter from another powerful Family. But Alessio Santoro was crazy. He wanted to marry me, a nobody from a flower shop. He knelt in the family chapel for ten days straight. He even took a bullet fired by his own father, the Don. All just to walk away from his title and run away with me. I held him, crying, begging him to stop. He just smiled and kissed my eyes, wiping my tears. "Don't cry, Thea. As long as I can marry you, it's all worth it." In the end, the Santoros relented. But they had one condition: Alessio would still produce the next heir. Just not with me. He had to have a son with Aurelia Rossi. So I endured. I endured listening to them through the wall, night after agonizing night. I endured the smell of her perfume on his skin, the sight of her marks on his neck every time he kissed me. A year later, Aurelia got pregnant. It was a girl. Alessio begged me, his eyes red. "Just a little longer, Thea." So I waited another year. Finally, news came. Aurelia was pregnant with a boy. I thought we could finally leave, finally be free. But then disaster struck. Aurelia’s daughter had a sudden, violent allergic reaction. Everyone blamed me. They threw me in the cellar and left me to die. And Alessio? He believed them. This time, I was the one who gave up. I walked away from everything.

Years after graduation, someone suddenly tags me in the class group chat. "Mr. Warren is gravely ill, Mira. Aren't you going to do anything? You really are heartless!" I only realize what's going on when I click on the fundraising link in the chat. Our high school homeroom teacher, Joseph Warren, has late-stage cancer. Thus, Lyra Fairfield, the class belle, is leading a fundraiser and patient-donor matching process. "I'll donate ten thousand dollars. My husband is the director of Waverly General Hospital, and I've already asked him to arrange a VIP ward for Mr. Warren." Right after I send that message, the group pounces on me. "Mira, you contracted an STD back then and tried to pin it on Lyra. She didn't even hold it against you, and now you're trying to steal her thunder? You're unbelievable!" "I can't believe you're still lying through your teeth during such a serious situation. You never change, do you?" Lyra immediately defuses the tension. "Mira, I don't blame you for what happened in the past, but you really shouldn't impersonate the director's wife. I've already arranged the ward and surgery, and I'm donating another 100 thousand dollars to Mr. Warren!" I'm this close to laughing out of sheer anger. She's the one who scratched her name off the diagnosis report and framed me for having an STD all those years ago. I never even confronted her about it, and now she's playing the victim? Lyra soon posts a photo in the group chat, showing off her husband's car. Yet, when I see the man in the passenger seat, I guffaw. Isn't that my husband's driver? When did he start running a hospital?

"Don't hurt her!" Liliana screams, throwing herself over me ready to give up everything to protect me the same as I will do for her. I whimper at the taste of blood in my mouth making me feel sick knowing the source and what it likely means. "She didn't mean it, I promise she didn't," Liliana cries while looking up at the wolf not afraid for herself, but me, then I catch a glimpse of why. I whimper when my eyes find Benji on the ground with his throat ripped apart making me tear my eyes away to look up at the large familiar wolf. "Raven?" His link connects to mine and my eyes widen not sure why I can hear him knowing I should only be able to hear my pack members. "Beta Embry?" I cry recognizing his voice, looking around I try to figure out what happened as wolves began to show up growling in anger as a few howl. "What did I do? What happened? What did I do?" I almost scream while looking at my hands remembering what it felt like to hurt Benji, feeling his flesh between my teeth and his blood running down my throat.Raven born by a blood moon and Liliana her identical twin born by a hunter's moon. Raven's life feels like a waking dream as she struggles through shifting at an unusually young age, navigating her abilities, becoming an Alpha, and finding her mates. While Liliana struggles with her world crashing down around her, becoming the subject of bullying, abuse, and constantly being overlooked. Follow Raven's journey to protect Liliana above all else while finding herself, her mates, and her purpose in a world full of people who would control or destroy her. Continue book two: Raven's Agony of Desire