Pepper Winters Novels & Stories

He was supposed to be hers. He chose a crown instead. When Cole Winters rejected Mara Voss in front of the entire pack council to marry the Lycan Chairman's daughter, she told herself she could survive it. Rejection hurt. Betrayal healed. Life moved forward. Then he dismantled her father's business piece by piece. Then he showed up at her door with a bottle of wine and a quiet smile, expecting her to become his secret, as if a soul bond could be folded and hidden inside expensive hotel rooms. Mara looked at him and said the truest thing she had ever spoken. "I would rather be with your father-in-law than waste one more second on you." She said it to wound him. Fate heard it as a direction. Caden Holt does not do second looks. He built his entire life around that rule after grief hollowed him out. He runs empires. He settles pack disputes that have lasted generations. He has never in twelve years met a woman worth a second night. Then a she-wolf with amber eyes and nothing left to lose walks into his private study and refuses to apologize for existing. He tells himself it is curiosity. By the third time she crosses his path, he has stopped telling himself anything at all. But Cole is still watching. And as Mara steps deeper into a world of lycan politics and old money, she begins to uncover something that changes everything. Her rejection was not an accident. It was arranged. Someone needed her away from Cole before the bond could complete. That someone has been inside her life the entire time. She walked into his world with nothing left to protect. Now she is the most valuable thing in it. And the most hunted.

"You taste of another wolf's territory, Draven. Wash his scent from your skin, or do not dare demand my submission tonight." For three agonizing winters, omega wolf Lardon Vexley played the flawless, hidden lodge master to the brutal Alpha-Prime, Draven Calder. He endured the pack's cruelty, silenced his own roar, and sacrificed his elite status as a Skyfang Rift Engineering scholar—all to secure a secret mating bond with a beast who treats him like a glorified kennel keeper. But when Draven ignites the sacred crest flares for his high-born lover, Mireya Duskrell, Lardon realizes his silent devotion has earned him nothing but a broken pack-vow and a terminal case of silver-rot eating through his ribs. With his remaining moons numbered, Lardon chooses to reclaim his wild instincts. He signs the dissolution scrolls, strips off his collar, and walks into the cold wilderness to resurrect his buried dreams at Nighthowl Systems, guided by his former childhood protector turned powerful rogue, Aziel Crowbane. But an Alpha-Prime does not surrender his property so easily. When Draven tracks his runaway mate down to a dark, secluded den, the confrontation burns with years of unspoken, toxic fixation. "You think a piece of signed parchment severs what is etched into your bones, Lardon?" Draven growled, his powerful claws pinning the omega against the rough stone wall, his tongue forcefully tracing the sensitive, throbbing skin of Lardon's unbitten neck. "Scream your defiance all you want, but your wolf still slicks the furs the moment my shadows wrap around your thighs. Let me feel how desperate you are to be ruined by my fangs again." Will Lardon survive the lethal decay in his bloodline, or will the predatory obsession of two dominant Alphas tear his world to shreds?

"You think because you pulled me from the Blacktide Waters, you own my bloodline, Franklin?" David’s voice is a low, predatory gravel, his massive frame trapping me against the cold stone of the den. His dominant alpha scent fills the space, thick with pine and raw, untamed heat. "You made the mating pact. Now stand still and let me claim my debt." "I told you it was a joke, Double D," I snap, my fangs pricking my lip as my inner wolf thrashes against the intoxicating weight of his presence. I twist beneath his grip, but his large, heavily calloused hands slide down my spine, burning right through the silver-weave fabric of my tunic. "We are in the middle of a territory war. My family’s manor is swimming in treason, and you're worried about an accidental bond?" "There are no accidents when our wolves touch," David growls, his lips brushing the sensitive skin right below my jawline, making a violent shiver rip down my spine. "Your scent is driving my beast insane, klinton. If you don't shut your mouth and press your body against mine right now, I'm going to take you right here on the stone floor, council rules be damned." Franklin Sterling is a fierce, exiled omega heir who has spent ten harsh winters enduring the brutal Ashgrove Wildlands after surviving an assassination attempt ordered by his own father. But when a violent storm strands him on the treacherous Skullmoon Isle, he drags a lethal, dominant Apex Alpha from the jaws of the Blacktide Waters: David Duskbane, the ruthless commander known across the territories as Double D. Can Franklin navigate the lethal vipers of his old den while fighting a suffocating, erotic bond with the most dangerous predator in the northern hemisphere?

“I, Grayson Stone, take you, Blair Anderson, as my mate and Luna of Redstone pack,” Grayson stated smiling at Blair as they stood in front of the elders. “I, Blair Anderson, take you, Grayson Stone, as my mate and Alpha of Redstone pack,” Blair smiled so brightly, stealing small glances at the crowd. Her eyes landed on me, and she gave a smirk only I seemed to notice. I stood there fighting back heartbreaking pain that radiated through my body as our bond had completely broke. He didn’t even reject me properly. He let the bond snap as he kissed her, as if I never mattered.” Celeste Winters once had a name that echoed across territories, the daughter of the WinterMoon Alpha—fierce, loyal, and born of a legacy older than the crown that now rules the city. But all of that shattered the moment the man she trusted with her soul chose another without a word of goodbye. Cast aside without explanation, stripped of identity and purpose, Celeste ran. She abandoned her title, her pack, even her wolf… burying it all beneath perfume and silence. Now, in the heart of a city that doesn’t know her, she works late-night shifts at a diner and hides her scars behind forced smiles and lingering shadows. Every day she survives, but she does not live. Until the night everything begins to unravel. A rogue attack. A moment of instinct. A power she shouldn’t still have. And a single word whispered by the Alpha King himself as their eyes lock across the chaos: Mate. Celeste never wanted to love again. Never wanted to be claimed, or seen, or remembered. But he remembers her—her scent, her laugh, the steel behind her soft-spoken words. And worse, his wolf wants her. Craves her. But Celeste’s past isn’t just filled with heartbreak. It’s filled with secrets—deadly ones...

On the day of Winter Hunt, Grayson Ashcroft, the future Alpha of the pack, successfully hunts down a white deer, which is very rare to be seen in the woods. He's about to give the prize to me when Raven Black, a she-wolf who has just joined the Northwind pack, speaks up. She points at the deer while saying, "Grayson, you promised that you'd give me a present. Is it okay if I ask for that present to be this deer?" I am Grayson's mate. Before the hunt, Grayson has vowed to the Moon Goddess that he'll give me the first prey he has hunted. All the wolves await the humiliating moment when Raven's request will get turned down. Surprisingly, Grayson gives her the white deer instead. "Since you like the deer that much, you can have it. Winters in the north can be very harsh and cold. I'll have someone make the deer's pelt into a cloak that you can wear." All the wolves in the pack turn to look at me at that moment. Feeling rather conflicted, Grayson says to me, "Ella, I'll give you something else that's better next time. Just let Raven have the white deer today, okay?" It has been less than half a year since Raven joined the Northwind pack. But during those months, Grayson has repeatedly asked me to give away a few things so far. This includes a silver ring that has his baby fang embedded in it, the spot next to him during the Full Moon Assembly, and the bear paw that he has severed during his first solo hunt. As I gaze at Grayson, who expects me to obey him as always, I can only smile in a self-derogatory manner. Since he wants me to let Raven have her way all the time, I might as well give this mate of mine to her at this point. Yes, I don't want him anymore.

On our seventh year anniversary, my girlfriend, Rachel Winters, forces me to drink a glass of drugged champagne before dumping me onto the bed of an 80-year-old widow. "It's Bryon's first time attending a business meeting. He's still pure and oblivious, so he doesn't know how to satisfy an older widow's insatiable desire. "I have no choice but to ask you to seal this business deal on his behalf. Think of this as your way of helping me repay Bryon's family for raising me since young. "Don't worry, Corey. No one will know about this." After that, Rachel turns off the lights and leaves the room while ignoring my pleas for help. But the next day, the video of me and the widow going at it is spread across the Internet. My colleagues look down on me for resorting to such underhanded methods just to get promoted. They can't believe that I'm able to stomach the idea of sleeping with an 80-year-old widow. Thanks to the video, the company's reputation is greatly affected. Rachel holds a press conference immediately to address the issue. I thought she'd defend me, but I didn't expect her to change her tune. "I've already discussed this matter with the Dalton family. Corey Dalton shall take responsibility for what he's done to the widow. As for me, I will get engaged to Bryon Parson." I feel as though lightning has struck me on the spot. I've founded this company with Rachel and has stuck by her side through thick and thin, resulting in us rising as the new-time business moguls. But in the end, she decides to ditch me. "Corey, if you really want to stay by my side, you can remain as my side piece. In exchange, I'll help you shake that old woman off your tail." As I meet Rachel's smug gaze, I shake my head decisively. "I've already thought things through and decided that I'll be marrying the widow."