Mutiara Palace

"Please, I am in pain." My pleas fell on deaf ears as his grip on my hair intensified. "I know you felt it too, the connection between us. I want to make one thing clear," he lowered his head and whispered into my ear, "Don't get any funny ideas. I can never mark you as my mate! You are a mere slave, and that is all you will be—a slave I can bed whenever I want." His finger trailed down my face and neck, pausing briefly at my bosom, which responded involuntarily. "Just like I will tonight," he snarled before releasing my hair. I immediately crumpled to the hard ground. Athena, an 18-year-old Omega, was offered to the cruel Alpha king by her stepfather, who cared nothing about her, in exchange for a debt he owed the king. Upon meeting the cruel Alpha king, Sebastian, they felt a connection that indicated they were each other's mate. The cruel king rejects her immediately and subjects her to his sexual pleasures. Torn and broken, Athena decides to flee the pack with her unborn child, as the cruel king's palace was not a fit place to raise her child. She vowed to give her baby all the love and care she was deprived of, even as a child, something it would never get from its father or his kingdom. What would happen when she falls right into the hands of a Lycan king in need of an heir? What would happen when Sabastain decides he wants her back? What would happen when she discovers a secret that would play a huge role in determining whether she lives or dies, one that has been hidden from her all her life? Find out in this thrilling werewolf romance novel, "Offered to the Cruel Alpha King."

He catches my wrist as I try to flee, spinning me back against his chest in the empty hallway. "Running from me again? That's not very stepmother-ly of you." His lips brush the shell of my ear, and I shiver. "Let me go, Klaus," I manage, though my body melts into his touch. "Before someone sees…" "Let them," he murmurs, his hand sliding up my thigh beneath my skirts. "Let the whole kingdom see and know that you are mine, damnit!” ***** She wore a veil and a lie when she walked into the palace as the Alpha King's bride. But revenge has a way of getting complicated when your fated mate is your new stepson. Margaux should be dead. Her mate rejected her, and the Alpha King slaughtered her family—but she survived, and now she's back wearing someone else's face. Her plan is simple: marry the King, gain his trust, and destroy him from within. What she didn't plan for was him. Klaus recognizes her the moment their eyes meet across the throne room, mate bond blazing to life despite the years and lies between them. He's the King's son. Her stepson now. The man who shattered her heart. And he's making it very clear that he doesn't care about scandal, propriety, or the fact that she belongs to his father—at least on paper. He never stopped wanting her. He never stopped loving her. But Klaus doesn't know the whole truth: his father murdered her family in cold blood, and Margaux won't rest until she's bathed in the King's destruction. She should be focused on vengeance, not the forbidden heat that ignites every time Klaus corners her in darkened hallways. She should hate him for abandoning her. She does hate him. So why can't she stay away?

On my eighteenth birthday, the High King summoned the heirs of the four great clans—the Vampires, the Werewolves, the High Serpent Clan, and the Merfolk. He laid their portraits before me and said, "Choose one to be your bondmate." I did not hesitate. I pointed to Damon—the werewolf with no noble bloodline, born in a forgotten corner of the realm. The entire court erupted in disbelief. Everyone knew who I used to love. Alpha Iris—the heir of the most powerful Lycan bloodline. For seven years, I chased him with blind devotion. No matter how harshly he treated me, I never gave up. I confessed to him over and over, sometimes right in the royal court. I even performed a blood-binding ritual—slitting my wrist—to earn the right to marry him. In my previous life, I got what I wanted—I married him and we performed the mate bonding ceremony. With that union, he inherited the High King's resources and rose to become the ruler of all four clans. However, what I did not expect was that after our wedding, he turned around and marked my adoptive sister. My parents were furious and sent her away. From that day on, Iris hated me with a vengeance. He surrounded himself with women who all looked eerily like her. One by one, they came—each more vicious than the last. With his silent approval, they tore me down, piece by piece, until I was nothing more than a joke—no longer the queen I once was. The suffering pushed me into severe depression. Only suppressants keep my wolf form from spiraling out of control. Until one day, my medication was replaced with a slow-acting poison. He was the one who did it. I died alone, locked away in the cold palace, a child still growing inside me. However, fate gave me another chance. In this life, I would not make the same mistake. When the High King once again asked me to choose a partner for the marriage alliance, I chose Damon—the one no one ever noticed—without even blinking. I thought I was finally free of the past. However, the moment the engagement was announced… Alpha Iris lost his mind.