Marble Perfume Tray

I went through 100 hormone shots for him—just to finally get pregnant. Five years begging those shots to work—all for Rafe Morello. The Don with ice in his veins... but also the guy who used to wipe sweat off my forehead in the middle of the night. Everyone thought we were goals. Then I handed over my lab results, and the nurse paused, blinking up at me. "Sorry, what's your relationship to Rafe Morello? There's already a pregnancy under his wife's name." I froze. Carmela Vitale. His dead brother's wife. Spouse listed: Rafe Morello. Breathing? Suddenly optional. No tears. No drama. I just slid off my ring and tucked it into my bag. Then I called the number buried at the bottom of my drawer. My voice? Freakishly calm. "Yeah. Three days. Pick me up." It wasn't about revenge. I left because I finally got it—some people, you gotta cut loose if you ever wanna stop bleeding. Three days later, he walked into a silent bedroom. On the nightstand: my wedding ring, the signed divorce papers, and a copy of the ultrasound. He sat on the floor and just... kept rubbing that ring. Regret doesn't knock. It floods. And that night, it drowned every lie he thought he could get away with. That was when he finally figured it out—love could wreck a person worse than hate ever could.

"Please, let's try again. We can make another baby right now if you want," I begged, my voice broken and desperate. "A like you doesn't deserve a second chance," he spat, his words like venom cutting through my heart like a knife had stabbed my chest. "I love you." I whispered, despite his harshness, feeling my heart bleed internally from pain and my wolf slowly vanishing due to heartbreak. *********** Ruby once had the most perfect life any she-wolf could ask for; with a loving mate by her side and a baby on the way, what else could she want? However, her whole world turned upside down right in the delivery room, and she faces a cascade of heartbreaks. Life seemed to have given her a second chance at happiness until she got rejected for the second time openly, in the most disgraceful way, and thrown away like dirt, sending her back on the verge of tears. Seven years later, with her son all grown up and getting accepted into the biggest werewolf academy that was owned by her ex-mate, she is forced to go back to her previous life and face her nightmare all again. But this time she is going back stronger and better for the sake of her child. But what happens when she returns and finds her mate regretful and remorseful—and not just that she crosses paths with her second chance mate—the new strongest alpha in town who also has a little daughter? Would she forsake her quest for revenge by accepting her first mate and childhood love for the sake of her child and having the perfect family she had once dreamed of, or would she explore the new spark of connection with the second chance mate, the powerful alpha?

For ten years, I spent by Damien Thorne's side, helping him transform from a servant's son into the powerful Alpha of Shadow Pack. I believed I would eventually see the day he'd claim me as his mate. Instead, he brought home Scarlett Rivers, his childhood sweetheart who had been living abroad, treating her like precious royalty while making her his Luna. To help his beloved Scarlett and free her parents from prison, Damien handed over my healing potion patents without hesitation. Even my own son was placed in Scarlett's care to secure her position as Shadow Pack's Luna. I became everything to Damien—his financial backer, his assistant, his healer, his bed partner—everything except what I truly wanted to be: his rightful mate. "Just wait a little longer," Damien always promised me. "Once I repay my debt to my childhood benefactor, you'll be my only mate." So, I kept waiting and waiting. But Damien seemed to forget his promises entirely. Even my own child began to despise me. Suddenly, exhaustion hit me like a tidal wave. Waiting felt pointless. I didn't want to do it anymore.

Before the wedding, Alpha Kevin’s first love, Sandra Barlow, was betrothed to none other than David Wright—the most infamous rogue Alpha along the Mississippi River. A wolf so ruthless, even the werewolf Council preferred to pretend he didn’t exist. Alpha Kevin, ever the noble hero, couldn't bear to see his precious white moonlight thrown into the fire pit. So, what did he do? With the werewolf army of the Midnight Ridge Pack, he stormed into the rogue den and snatched her away from Alpha David. That very night, they registered their marriage and held a wedding. And me? Oh, the entire Midnight Ridge Pack was practically at the thought of watching Gamma Diana Gilbert—the strongest female warrior in the pack—get humiliated. After all, my years of loyalty, my unmatched skills, my blood spilled for this pack? Worthless. Why? Because their beloved Alpha had chosen another. I braced myself for the whispers, the pitying glances. But then— The very next day, Alpha David, the same rogue who’d been so cruelly robbed of his mate, climbed onto my villa’s security wall like a damn cat burglar. He perched there, arms crossed, watching me with an infuriatingly lazy smirk. “Wife pays for her husband’s debt,” he drawled, his voice carrying the rough edge of a wolf who lived lawless and free. “Alpha Kevin stole my mate. So I figured—you should compensate me by becoming my rogue Luna.” He grinned, canines flashing. “ That’s fair, isn’t it?” I nodded. “Fair.”

Framed and abandoned by her pack, Eden had gone through so much pain and suffering. The pain of losing her only family is fleeting but the betrayal is even worse. The betrayal is sealed into her heart and resides in the opened wound that never let her forget the times she was tortured and reaped off her dignity by the one she loved. The face of her betrayal burned through her mind. The face she would never forgive or forget.

"Noah, Don't do this…please!” Lucy pleaded desperately. The storm clouds that had gathered above them as they argued, and the deluge that had followed soon after, seemed quite fitting considering everything that had gone on today. Almost ten years of devoted love had been thrown away in what to Lucy seemed like nothing more than a heartbeat. “I told you already Lucy, it's over between us. I don't want this anymore.” **** After discovering her mate's betrayal with none other than her best friend, Cassandra, Lucy didn't think that life could get much worse, but Cassandra wasn't finished with her just yet. After paying the ultimate price Lucy finds herself thrust into an encounter with the Goddess herself who grants her an opportunity to return to her previous life in an effort to save not just her life, but her babies lives too. Once she is reborn she is faced with a choice, does she continue to pursue the man who cast her aside so easily? Or will she find herself drawn to the man from her youth that she had all but forgotten?

Alpha Prince Valen, the next in-line to be Alpha King, has been Raina's childhood crush. For years she yearned for the attention that he never gave. Surprisingly, she got her wolf at age sixteen, which was the same day of Valen’s eighteenth birthday party. Among the pack members, family and friends, he looked her dead in the eyes and publicly denied finding his mate. - Distraught, ashamed and heartbroken, Raina kept the secret of being mated to Valen, until circumstances forced him to finally acknowledge their bond. - Sadly, things went downhill because something was devastatingly wrong with their bond. The old books declared them as unfortunate soulmates. A glimpse of the future has left her torn between the desire for her mate and the doom of their fate. - Forced to reject her and sever the bond, the painful separation exposed Raina to numerous challenges and dangers. - Will Raina and Valen have their happy ending or did the moon goddess have something else in store for them? Should she fight for her mate, or let the course of destiny unfold? - Find out as Raina embarks on a journey filled with heartache, revelation, and an uncertain future. - This is Book 2 from the Mates series. This might be read as a standalone, however, to understand the characters, you might want to read Book 1 - Mates: Regrets and Redemption © All rights reserved. - EXCERPT: He chuckled and lewdly continued, “Mmmmmm….right there....it will hit all those spots over and over." "Valen, stop." I breathlessly moaned and blushed. A rush of heat pulsed through my body. "Or when I put one hand around your throat…” He did the action, moving his lips to brush on mine. “.....and the other grips your hair, then your inner thigh, and then your cumming p**sy."

"You'll always be my Luna. Once Amy dies, everything goes back to normal." Normal? There's nothing normal about watching your mate fall in love with his dying first love. Nothing normal about birthing your dead son alone while your husband plans another woman's birthday party. I gave Noah everything...my love, my body, my career, five years of my life. He gave me a dead baby and a wedding ring covered in blood. So when Alpha Liam--the most powerful Alpha in our world--who once wanted me, offers protection, freedom, and revenge? I take it. And oh, I will be back to torture that motherfucker!

For the eighteenth time, Samson brought home his new lover and enjoyed their intimacy right in front of me. Knowing he was doing this to get back at me, I just quietly picked up their scattered clothes. Five years ago, Samson was nearly killed in a kidnapping. Ignoring all his desperate pleas, I broke up with him and left the country. Five years later, he became the CEO of a major corporation and used his wealth to keep me at his side as his personal assistant. Every so often, he would bring home a different woman and flaunt their affection in front of me just to humiliate me. Samson never knew that I had saved him from those kidnappers five years ago—and that I was the one who couldn't let go of him. Things went on this way until he brought Judy back. My cousin, someone I had financially supported for years. When Judy proudly stroked her belly and told me she was pregnant with Samson’s baby, I just congratulated her calmly. Then, I turned and made a phone call. “Hello, about that Medical Support Project we discussed? I’ve decided—I’m ready to join.”

On the day of my mating ceremony with my Alpha mate, Derek, his childhood sweetheart Victoria returned. Victoria, using her supposed silver poisoning as an excuse for needing care, crashed our ceremony. She snatched my mate away, turning me into a laughingstock for the entire pack. Derek, seemingly unconcerned, said, "She's silver-poisoned. Her body's weak. Don't overthink it." He carried her to the pack healer, leaving me alone and humiliated. I yanked off the silver pendant he'd given me when he chose me as his mate. As I tossed it aside, it sliced my palm. To my horror, the small cut didn't heal. Instead, blood flowed freely. Because I was the one truly poisoned by silver. Derek didn't know. Months ago, during a rogue wolf attack, I'd taken a silver bullet meant for him. I survived, but my wolf lost her healing ability forever. Later, I overheard the usually strong and calm Alpha yelling at the pack healer, "How did you miss this? If anything happens to my Luna, none of you will survive!"