Pampering Artinya

Three years of contract marriage, and Silas has been the picture of icy restraint — buttoning his shirts all the way to the top. Knowing he doesn't love me, I decide to stop lying to myself. But just as I'm about to flee with the divorce papers, I stumble upon a forum called Mischief & Mayhem. The pinned post screams in red letters: "URGENT! I'm actually an incubus. I've spent three years pretending to be cold and celibate so I won't scare my wife. But she just asked for a divorce and I can't hide it anymore... HELP: How do I win her back in 30 days without revealing what I am?" In the attached photo, a black heart-tipped tail is shamefully coiled around a suit trouser leg, its tip hooked around a tie. That tie — I bolt upright in bed. That's the limited-edition tie I gave Silas. My iceberg husband is secretly a lovesick male incubus?

When I inherited the title of Alpha Female, the Witch prophesied that my pack would fall within eight years. Only finding my fated mate could avert the coming disaster. I searched for eight long years. With just seven days left before the prophecy's deadline, I received word that our sacred altar had been bombed. The one responsible was Lucian Grey — the same man who had tried to poison me. When I confronted him, he had only one thing to say: "I'm from the real world. I'm here to save you." In that moment, I knew — my fated mate had finally found me.

For three months, I’d been seeing a guy named “Rex.” A total stranger I’d only met online. We were in the thick of it, that honeymoon phase where every night my phone would blow up with messages that made my pulse jump. “Miss you, sweetheart.” “Dreamt of you again last night. You were all over me, begging for it.” I was about to suggest we finally meet. But then he sent me a picture, a casual shot of his desk, and I saw something familiar: the crest of the Falcone crime family. And I work for a company owned by the Falcones. For three months, I’d been sexting a dangerous man, a made man in the mafia, who could be right under my nose. And just when I was trying to figure out who he was, I saw them. The custom black onyx cufflinks I’d picked out for “Rex”… on my boss, Marco’s, wrists.

At my wedding, a video of my fiancé cheating was exposed. I didn't make a scene; just turned around and walked away, left him to clean up the mess himself. I went back to my room and kissed my younger boyfriend. We were halfway through when we got interrupted. My fiancé stormed in, face red with shame and rage. "Is this really the time? All you can think about is kissing?" I smacked my lips, still savoring the moment. "Weren't you the one who introduced us?"

In my ninth year of being with Tyler Freeman, he flaunts his relationships with other women while I'm only allowed to come and go from his bedroom. He doesn't acknowledge me as his girlfriend, yet he allows his friends to address me as such. I have a name but not an identity. His friends are bored during a private party and want me to perform a strip dance on stage to liven things up. I expect Tyler to at least turn them down on my behalf, but all he does is sip his wine and say, "Go on. You're the owner of this place, aren't you? Aren't clubs supposed to satisfy their patrons' needs? Don't let my friends down!" I look at him emotionlessly. I don't cry or throw a fuss. Instead, I splash a glass of liquor in his face. The following day, I trash the club. Three months later, Tyler finally thinks of calling me. "Where are you? Aren't you gonna get the hell back here? Do you really expect me to beg you to come back? Do you think you're worthy of that?" I pull my newlywed husband to the camera. "Sorry, Mr. Freeman. I'm getting married. You don't need to come, but do get me a wedding gift." Unexpectedly, he threatens to show my husband intimate videos of me when he sees me in a wedding gown.

I was reborn, back to the day before my wedding. The first thing I did? I swapped husbands with my sister. Last time around, I married Julian, a mild-mannered tech mogul. He couldn't handle my fiery temper, and I couldn't stand how soft he was. Our marriage crashed and burned in a year. My sister, sweet and timid, was in an arranged marriage with Robin Kane, the Don of New York's biggest crime family. She couldn't handle the brutal, chaotic life. Tormented by Robin's so-called childhood sweetheart, Isabella, she fell into a deep depression and died. So when I came back, I made a decision. I’d be the one to marry the Don. But I never expected that after the wedding, the cold, stoic Don would become a different man. Every night, he’d be on top of me, kissing me like he was obsessed, whispering, "Good girl. I'll make you feel good. Just one more time, baby?"

A year ago, a witch planted a curse on me. Afflicted with the Silver Moon disease, my life hung by a thread. At the risk of his life, Sebastian Garland, the Alpha and my boyfriend at the time, ventured into the deadly Dark Woods. He suffered for 99 days, braving countless dangers, just to bring back the antidote that could save my life. From that moment onward, I swore that no matter what kind of mistake he made, I would forgive him 99 times. Soon after my vow takes effect, Sebastian betrays me. He starts bringing back countless lovers to our home. "This is the reality of being a Luna. You should get used to it," he says to me. On the anniversary of our relationship, he brings back another lover. "Cassandra, Isabella doesn't have a gown she can wear to the party. Give her the one you wore on your wedding day," Sebastian heartlessly orders me. Despite believing that I've grown numb, when I hear those words, my heart still feels like it has been ripped apart. My voice trembles with rage as I cry out, "You can't keep hurting me however you like just because you think I'll bear with it! I won't put up with this forever. I'll break my bond with you!" All of the werewolves in the pack laugh hysterically, as if they have just been told the most ridiculous joke in the world. Sebastian's repeated humiliation of me has left me without a shred of dignity as his Luna. No one believes me. While eyeing me derisively, Sebastian says, "I'm sick of hearing that. It's even more nauseating than the moans you make in bed!" I close my eyes, allowing my tears to fall. This is the 96th time. Once he uses up all of his chances, it'll be the day I'll finally be free.

With the return of his memories, my husband, Trevor Beaumont, recalled that he was the Alpha of a wolf pack. He walked away, leaving me with a ruby necklace as compensation. The jewel shimmered amid my sleep, and a tall, burly man stood before me. The compensation came with a hidden bonus after all. Later, I sent a message to my ex. “Thank you for your necklace. The guy inside comes in handy. “We’re getting married, and since you brought us together, we’d hope you can be the best man.” Trevor drove through the night to our wedding venue, veins popping out of his face as despair swallowed him. “Who the hell put the man inside the ruby?”

I took a poisoned silver arrow for my Alpha, Kaiden, during an assassination attempt. In doing so, I lost my wolf forever, falling from a proud warrior to a disgrace to my pack. Driven by guilt and duty, he kept me as his mate for thirty years, but our relationship was built on polite distance. On my deathbed, I discovered that the 199 memory crystals I had filled with a lifetime of love for him had been tossed into a dusty corner of a storage room. All the while, he kept another she-wolf's crystals locked away in a magically sealed safe, treasuring them above all else. As I lay dying, all I felt through our bond was his chilling indifference. Kaiden arrived late. The last words he whispered in my ear were, "Next time, don't take the silver arrow for me." I finally understood. He would rather have died than be shackled to me by a life debt. When I opened my eyes again, I was back before the tragedy. The Moon Goddess had granted me a second chance. This time, I would sever our fated bond before he could mark me. But when the silver arrow flew toward me this time, he was the one who threw himself into its path. "This time, let me protect you."

I've been with Hansen Fullerton for seven years. One day, he tells me he's sick of me and dumps me for a younger, more vivacious woman. I don't kick up a fuss this time. Instead, I throw away my ring and cut up the wedding gown I've just bought. Then, I take a red-eye flight away from Gold City. His friends place bets on how long it'll take for me to return and beg for reconciliation. Hansen sneers. "She'll be back in less than three days, crying and begging me to take her back." However, more than three days pass without any news from me. Hansen loses his cool and calls me for the first time. "You'd better come back once you've had enough of this, Christine." All he hears is a man's low chuckle on the other end of the line. "You shouldn't have taken this long to pacify a woman, Mr. Fullerton. Look at how someone's already taken her away from you." Hansen snarls, "Tell Christine to answer the phone!" Landon Shore lowers his head to kiss me. "She can't—she's still out of it. I have to kiss her awake first."