Novel Crystal Technology

Layla Dean—Twenty-Two, Smart, Witty, Sarcastic, Billionaire. Just one obstacle in the path of obtaining what she wants—Aiden Smith. By her definition, He is Satan’s reincarnate. A justifiable verdict after he crushed her best friend’s heart. Layla loathes him. Staying in the same room is nerve-racking. Now, A Million dollars is on the line if they can not work together. Within 60 days, they uncover company secrets. They clash. They struggle. They end up in each’s arms. And they finish their task. If only the tale ended there. It didn’t. How much longer will the resentment continue if they can’t keep their hands off each other? There’s Passion. Sex. Lies. Deception. Tears. All they have left is each other. But of what use is flame if everyone around them puts the fire out?

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.

Today is the sixth time my girlfriend, Shirley Lake, is supposed to meet my parents. My parents and I wait at the restaurant for four whole hours. I call her over and over again, but she never picks up. Just as I'm about to try one last time, I see Shirley's childhood sweetheart, Joshua Solomon, post a picture on his Instagram, with the location tagged at a suburban hotel. The picture shows a woman's pale back, one shoulder bare, with a striking red spider lily tattoo visible on her skin. Underneath the picture was the caption, "We'll make it from 18 to 80." A mutual friend comments, "First-love couples are the sweetest!" I silently hit the like button, then comment, "Make sure to get buried together when you die. And don't come back to haunt anyone else."

Kurz vor unserer Paarungszeremonie erzählte mir mein Gefährte, Alpha Damien, er müsse eine Omega aus unserem Rudel, Seraphina, vorübergehend markieren. Er behauptete, sie hätte die Mondkrankheit und würde sterben, wenn er sie nicht markierte. Ich wehrte mich dagegen, aber am nächsten Tag zog er Seraphina direkt in das Penthouse des Packhauses ein. Die Suite, die für die zukünftige Luna bestimmt war. Meine Suite. Um mich zu beruhigen, ging er sogar auf die Knie, mit roten Augen, als er versprach: „Sobald sie in Sicherheit ist, werde ich die Markierung entfernen. Du wirst immer noch meine einzige Luna sein.“ Aber dann suchte mich Seraphina auf, mit einem medizinischen Bericht in der Hand. Sechs Wochen schwanger. Sie hatten ihre Markierungszeremonie bereits lange abgehalten, bevor Damien überhaupt zu mir kam. Mein Herz zerfiel zu Asche. Mein Stift grub sich in den Kalender und ritzte ein wütendes X über das Datum, das für unsere Paarungszeremonie bestimmt war. Dann öffnete ich meinen Laptop und antwortete auf die E-Mail der Europäischen Gilde der Lorbeerheiler. „Ich nehme Ihre Einladung an. Ich reise am Tag der Paarungszeremonie ab.“

Alpha Fabian's first reaction to learning I was his fated mate? Rejection. But drunk at the bonfire festival, he couldn't fight the pull of fate. He marked me. Marking a rejected mate came with a price. His power weakened. Forced into a bond with me, he despised me. For two years, I bled for him. I did 100 impossible things, just hoping for a single glance. I snuck into forbidden lands for rare herbs. I negotiated with enemy packs. I fought on the front lines for him in pack wars, always coming back covered in scars. But the one he truly loved was my adopted sister, Gloria. Even my own parents, the pack's Beta, hated me. I was their lost daughter, raised by rogues for fifteen years. But they only had eyes for their perfect, obedient adopted girl. Then, on my 100th task, I nearly died in the Valley of Shadows. When I woke up, I had amnesia. I was done chasing a cold mate and a family's love I'd never have. And when I finally walked away, Fabian discovered the truth. It was never me who couldn't live without him. It was always him.

At her graduation ceremony, Claire White eagerly awaited Adrian to finally make their relationship public. But to her horror, she watched as he got down on one knee and proposed to Nicole, the esteemed daughter of a powerful Alpha. Heartbroken, Claire drowned her sorrows at a bar, where she met a dangerously alluring man, Theo. Sparks flew between them, but just before they crossed the line, fate intervened desperate phone call about her father's sudden illness pulled her back to reality. With her father's life on the line and medical bills piling up, Adrian offered financial help on the condition that she became his mistress. Furious, Claire refused, only to find herself blacklisted and unable to secure a job. Just when she was at her lowest, an unexpected opportunity arose a high-paying position as the secretary to the CEO of a prestigious company. But upon stepping into her new workplace, she discovered a shocking truth her new boss was Theo. And worse still, he was Adrian' s father.

Ma sœur, Lily, a été mise en pièces par des sauvages. J'ai sangloté, suppliant mon compagnon de destin, l'Alpha Ethan, de trouver ses meurtriers. Il ne l'a jamais fait. Un an plus tard, le jour de l'anniversaire de sa mort. Je suis allée trouver Ethan, prête à lui annoncer que j'étais enceinte. Au lieu de cela, je l'ai trouvé tenant une autre Oméga, Bella, dans ses bras. « Ne t'inquiète pas. » lui a-t-il dit. « Personne ne saura que tu as fait tomber le bouclier mental de la meute et que tu as fait tuer Lily. Une fois que Harper aura renoncé à son titre de Luna lors de la cérémonie, tu seras ma seule et unique. » Mon cœur s'est brisé. C'était donc ça. Il ne m'avait jamais marquée, jamais rejetée... il voulait que je me retire par moi-même. Il protégeait la meurtrière de ma sœur. Il voulait faire d'elle Luna. J'ai fait irruption en criant, mais Bella a soudain craché du sang et s'est effondrée. Empoisonnement à l'aconit, a-t-elle prétendu. « Elle a été empoisonnée en me sauvant ! Donne-moi le sang de ton cœur ! C'est la seule chose qui puisse la sauver ! » Ethan m'a regardée avec plus de dégoût que si j'étais une ordure. « Je suis enceinte ! Ça va tuer le bébé ! » Je l'ai supplié. Mais son Commandement Alpha a été donné. Mon corps ne m'appartenait plus. Je n'ai pu que regarder l'épaisse aiguille percer ma poitrine, en plein cœur. Du sang doré s'est écoulé. Une douleur aiguë et déchirante m'a déchiré l'estomac Il a tué mon bébé. Ma louve s'est brisée en moi. J'ai fermé les yeux, cherchant une connexion interdite dans le monde des loups-garous. « Roi Lycan Rogan. Demain, j'ai besoin que tu m'aides à détruire tout ce qui fait partie de la Meute de Bois Noir, y compris l'Alpha Ethan. »

Mi hermana, Lily, fue despedazada por renegados. Lloré desconsoladamente, suplicándole a mi compañero destinado, el Alfa Ethan, que encontrara a sus asesinos. Nunca lo hizo. Un año después, en el aniversario de su muerte. Fui a buscar a Ethan, lista para decirle que estaba embarazada. En su lugar, lo encontré sosteniendo a otra Omega, Bella, en sus brazos. —No te preocupes —la consolaba él—. Nadie se enterará de que quitaste el escudo mental de la manada y provocaste la muerte de Lily. Una vez que Harper renuncie a su título de Luna en la ceremonia, tú serás mi única y verdadera compañera. Mi corazón se hizo añicos. Así que era eso. Nunca me marcó, nunca me rechazó… quería que yo renunciara por mi cuenta. Estaba protegiendo a la asesina de mi hermana. Quería convertirla en Luna. Entré furiosa, gritando, pero de repente Bella tosió sangre y se desplomó. Envenenamiento por acónito, afirmó ella. —¡La envenenaron para salvarme! ¡Dame la sangre de tu corazón! ¡Es lo único que puede salvarla! Ethan me miró con más asco como si yo fuera basura. —¡Estoy embarazada! ¡Eso matará al cachorro! —supliqué. Pero su Comando de Alfa cayó sobre mí. Mi cuerpo ya no me pertenecía. Solo pude observar cómo la gruesa aguja perforaba mi pecho, justo encima de mi corazón. Sangre dorada fluyó. Un dolor agudo y desgarrador atravesó mi vientre… Había matado a mi cachorro. Mi loba se hizo pedazos dentro de mí. Cerré los ojos, buscando una conexión prohibida en el mundo de los hombres lobo. —Rey Licántropo Rogan. Mañana necesito que me ayudes a destruir todo en la manada Bosque Negro. Incluyendo al Alfa Ethan.

"Our marriage would end the ongoing war of Lycans and wolves." She said, looking the Alpha dead in the eye. "As long as you know to mind your limits, I am sure the two of us will not be having a problem." He said coldly. ********************** In a time when the wars of Wolves and Lycans seemed to be endless. The elders and Alphas were forced to take action. A marriage bond was to bind both. But with no mating bond involved, would the Capo dei Capi, Alpha Arturo de' Medici, accept his wife and Luna Sienna Moretti? Or would the neverending wars start again?

In my last life, my sister Cora and I were married to twin Alpha Heirs. Our union was meant to forge an empire. I married the older brother, Aiden. He became the Alpha, and I, his Luna. I dedicated my life to the pack's glory. Cora married the younger brother, Rhys. After Aiden defeated him for the Alpha title, Rhys became a monster. Twisted and cruel, he tortured Cora daily until his own mysterious death. After Rhys died, Cora was discovered to be pregnant. Everyone thought it was Rhys's last heir. The day she gave birth, Cora bled out and died. And I… I never gave Aiden the strong heir he craved. So, we raised Cora's child. I gave him everything. It wasn't until Aiden was on his deathbed that I heard him tell the boy the truth: “Your mother Cora’s death was Elena’s fault! All her kindness to you was a lie!” “You are my son. My flesh and blood with Cora. Your so-called father, Rhys… his weak blood could never have created a powerful Alpha like you.” “My son, after I die, you must avenge your true mother.” The herbs in my hand crashed to the floor. The boy I raised stormed out. Then he used his immense Alpha power to choke my life. But the Moon Goddess showed me mercy. She gave me a second chance. When I opened my eyes, I was back. This time, I would shatter this sham of a marriage with my own hands. But I never expected that this time, something about Aiden would be… different.