Quietly Hostile

On my eighteenth birthday, I married my mate; except he didn't know I was his fated mate, and he hated me for condemning him alongside myself when I was forced to accept this arranged marriage. "You will marry the Alpha heir of the Burning Moon pack before next month." I quietly watch as the packhouse buzzes with activity as my stepfather's command continues to engulf my troubled thoughts. It's just a few days shy of my 18th birthday, but they aren't preparing for my birthday. They are getting ready to welcome the Alpha and Luna of the Burning Moon pack, along with their Alpha heir. A month ago, my step-father, Alpha Donovan, arranged a marriage contract between the Alpha heir of the Burning Moon Pack, Weston Mercury, and I. I have never met him before. As a diplomatic pawn, that was my biggest value as the Alpha's step-daughter and the daughter of the previous Alpha. --------------- Violet Donovan was the daughter of a fallen Alpha; her mother was taken as the new Alpha's Luna to save her daughter's life. As her 18th birthday approaches and her impending nuptials are around the corner, Violet struggles to accept her new future with no hope to ever find her own fated mate once mated and marked in this arrangement. Weston Mercury is the future Alpha of the Burning Moon pack. He has no interest in the marriage arrangement his father has agreed upon since he has no intention on honoring it. When his plans are detailed, he pledges to make cause pain and misery the rest of their lives; Afterall, vengeance is a meal best served cold. Will he be strong enough to hold steadfast in his convictions, or will he destroy his destiny of glory and passion before it's unveiled?

"I never imagined that in my new environment, I would feel at ease, much less like I would fit in. Although I don't know where I'm going or how long I'll walk, I just want to live my life by reaching out to the people who matter. I've always thought the journey is long and exhausting, but as I wear these shoes, I feel strengthened "— Kiara Michaelson. "I've come to understand that, despite our best efforts, life often presents us with unexpected twists that we are forced to deal with. I had to accept and experience this twist because it was mine "— Ian Calloway ******** Meet Kiara Michaelson, a typical person who only wants to live peacefully and in the moment with the people she loves the most. But for some reason, she was trapped in a society where everything she did was watched, and everything she had ever worked so hard for could go in a matter of seconds. Ian Calloway is everyone's dream boyfriend and the nation's hero. Despite the advantages of his job, he longs for privacy and the ability to live quietly like everyone else, yet that goal in and of itself is unattainable. What happens when fate decides to play a tragic game with these two people after they encounter. Will they stand up for what they have each worked for and value, or will they give up? Join Kiara and Ian as they fight through life's ups and downs and discover what its true plan is for them.

My husband—one of the top elites of Raventon Street, cold and ruthless to his core—keeps a stray orphan girl he rescued from the slums hidden in an apartment. Rowena Fletcher is clean and fragile, like a newborn creature untouched by the world. And somehow, that innocence softens something in Micah Benson—a man who's spent years clawing his way through the brutal wilderness of capital. He thinks this secret game of his goes unnoticed, but I find out anyway. At the Benson family's charity gala, I smash his favorite antique vase in front of everyone. He doesn't even flinch as he simply signals the bodyguards to clean up the mess and then hands me a divorce agreement. "Sign it, Sabrina. The penthouse in Ashbourne City is yours." I burn the divorce agreement—and that's when he finally shows his true colors. He freezes all my accounts and launches a hostile takeover of my gallery. On the night the storm hits, I get a call from the hospital. My sister, Roberta Slater, has been in a car crash—she needs emergency surgery. In the security footage, he stood there, watching coldly. "Sign the papers, or start planning a funeral." I dropped to my knees and slammed my forehead against the floor, blood trailing down my face as I begged, "Micah, please… don't…" A long, flat beep echoed from the other end of the line, slicing through the sound of rain. Then a voice on the line says, "We did everything we could." However, I have gone back in time—to the day I first found out about Rowena. This time, I no longer cry. Instead, I plan my divorce on my own terms. I call Valebrook Bank that same night and begin preparing for a quiet disappearance. But the moment I truly vanish from his world, Micah loses his mind.

The year the Lawson family was on the edge of bankruptcy, my father made a deal with Rory Lawson and arranged for me to marry him. I didn't know he already had a fiancée, who was also his childhood sweetheart. Later, when my father became embroiled in a scandal and the company faced collapse, Rory brought her home, promising her the grand wedding she deserved. I didn't cry or make a scene. I just quietly packed my bags. Rory sneered, "Don't pull that hard-to-get act. You think you're still the pampered heiress?" Unknown to him, I had the divorce agreement he signed while drunk. In seven days, I'd be leaving the country with my father.

You are nothing to me but a lowly slave, you don't deserve to be my mate!" Jane suffered once again when her fated mate, the Alpha of the blue-moon Pack, pushed straight through the door and left. All the members of her pack had been brutally slaughtered by their enemies eight years ago, and she had been taken to a hostile pack to be used as a slave, humiliated, and beaten through her lonely formative years.But it was at this time that she was brought back to his pack by her mate, Alpha Gillian of the Blue-moon Pack. Here she truly has friends and feels that the future is full of hope. With their encouragement, she tries hard to become stronger, but what comes with it is not a life full of happiness. Her mate is disgusted with her slave status and weakness and rejects her. She is insulted over and over again, used as a spy, and put into the custody of a hostile pack. She is once again plunged into the depths of despair. It is not until she is on the verge of death for his mate that she discovers that she is a descendant of the moon..

Celine Winston is the girl who was rejected and disowned by her family for a crime she never commited. Now she is living quietly as a lonely waiter at a restaurant. Williams Herringbone is the CEO of the Diamond Empire, a multi billion dollar global company he inherited from his grandfather. He is hated by his step siblings and father for this very reason. How could two such opposite fates collide in such a steamy fashion? What about the deadly mafia boss, Lucius Del Aviv, who wants to hurt Celine for supposedly killing his only brother? Don't forget vengeful exes plotting and manipulating ways to get their selfish desires, enemies posing as blossom friends to cause harm and family members with nothing but gaining wealth on their minds. When terrible secrets from their pasts comes back to haunt them, everything seems to fall apart. For how could Celine claim to love the man who destroyed her life years ago? Can the love between Celine and Williams survive all this and more? What keeps such a precarious relationship going strong?

My Alpha, Ethan Alexander, and I are supposed to hold our private wedding this morning in Moonlight Forest. But he only shows up at the airport at the very last minute. Just as we are about to board, he gets an urgent phone call from his Omega assistant. "My dear, my future Luna, there's an important business deal back at the pack that I have to handle myself," he says apologetically, pulling me into a tight hug. "Why don't you go on ahead and have a good time while you wait? Just give me a few days. Once I've taken care of everything, I swear in the name of the Moon Goddess that I'll come running straight to you." Disappointment crashes over me like a wave, knocking the breath from my lungs. But pack matters always come first. I swallow the ache in my chest and force a smile as I tell him I understand. The moment Ethan turns and walks away, I rip my plane ticket into pieces. I decide to see for myself which foolish pack dares to bypass me, the true power behind Moonveil Pack and the only daughter of the Werewolf Alliance Leader. I try to negotiate a so-called important deal with an Alpha who holds the title but wields no real authority. After all, I had quietly taken back every bit of Moonveil Pack's territory and wealth just hours ago.

After eight years of loving him in vain, my boyfriend, Gilbert Hughes, finally proposed. The wedding is set for a week from now. However, just as I'm happily preparing for it, I accidentally overhear a conversation between him and his friends. "I have to give it to Gilbert. The moment he proposes, his first love, Cheryl, gets restless." "But now that Cheryl's back, what are you going to do with your girlfriend?" Gilbert pauses for a moment, then replies casually, "It's fine. I'm not actually going to register my marriage with Jennifer. At worst, I'll just hold a wedding and play along." At the party the next day, he wraps his arm around me dotingly and socializes with our guests. Yet, the moment Cheryl Manning runs out in tears, he instantly lets go of me and chases after her in a panic. I follow quietly and watch them embrace tightly in the dark, kissing each other deeply. With my heart completely shattered, I turn away and dial a number. "Want to get married? I need a groom."

When my best friend died, his wife, Mia Lewis, was eight months pregnant. Mia said she didn't want her baby growing up without a father. I owed my best friend my life. He saved me, literally pulled me from death's door. So I stepped up, marrying Mia and raising their son as my own. Mia loved her career, so I quit mine. Traded my job for diapers and school runs. For seven whole years, I cooked, cleaned, folded laundry, and handled the housework. Rain or shine, sickness or health, I was there—every single day. Mia, though? She stayed cold, distant. Her warmth only surfaced in the bedroom—and even then, it was a flicker, never a flame. Just soft sighs and breathy murmurs, like she was playing a role she couldn't wait to finish. Afterward, she would quietly check the condom, as if she couldn't trust me. Then came New Year's Eve. A snap. A tear. A broken condom. Her fury struck like a thunderclap. She locked me out on the balcony, left me standing in the freezing rain, soaked to the bone as the wind howled like a wounded beast. Teeth chattering, I shivered as I watched the door like a dog, waiting to be let in. Then I saw him. Our boy, Ethan Bailey. Six years old. My son, at least in name. He came running with an umbrella in his hand. For a second, my heart leapt. 'Maybe, just maybe…' But he didn't even look at me. Just walked past in silence and handed the umbrella to the nanny heading out. Right then and there, something inside me cracked. I knew it was time to go.

The day after we set our wedding date for the tenth time, my fiancé reached past me to kiss his adopted sister. He presented crimson roses to her as she descended from the stage. "My princess, in this lifetime, I'll only ever be your protector." I stood quietly beyond the cheering crowd, then turned and walked away without looking back. After five years of engagement, this was the moment I finally gave up hope.