Reluctant Crossword Clue

On the day of my mate-bonding ceremony, someone threw a corrosive potion at me, leaving my face disfigured. In front of everyone, Oliver Fielding—my fated mate, the one promised to me for eight years—coldly rejected me and claimed the Alpha's younger stepsister, Isabella Dorsey, instead. That same night, Alpha Lucas Dorsey placed a moonstone ring in my hand. "If Oliver won't claim you, then I will. And I'll make sure you get justice." He brushes his fingers over my corroded, scarred cheek and whispers tenderly, "Evelyn, even in such a state, you're more beautiful than anyone else." Since he claimed me, Lucas has treated me like something sacred. He remembers every little thing I love and hate. Even when the painful memories overwhelm me and I lash out in panic, he just presses a kiss to my palm, his pain lingering in the touch. How could I not be completely lost to him? However, three years later, I overhear Lucas speaking with his assassin outside the council chamber. "That silver-laced corrosive potion I had you prepare—was the dosage correct?" The assassin hesitates before replying, "Alpha, if you care about Evelyn so much, why would you—" "Isabella wants Oliver, so I'll help her by removing the obstacle—Evelyn." He runs his thumb over the herbal sachet I made him and murmurs, "It's just… I've grown strangely reluctant to let Evelyn go. She's my pawn, after all." I wipe away my tears. If I'm nothing more than an obstacle to him, I'll save him the trouble and walk away on my own.

“Are you crying?" She shook her head and wiped at her face as more tears were falling. “I’m so stupid.” she groaned. "Now I am truly and utterly alone. If I had just said yes to marrying him, none of this would’ve happened. I wouldn’t have dragged you into this mess.” Without warning, I turned sharp to the side, putting the car to a sudden stop close to the curb. “Don’t ever say that again. You think marrying a man you don’t love, a man who doesn’t care if he hurts you, just to please your family is the right thing to do?” I turned to her slowly. “That would’ve ruined you.” “But I would’ve had a home to go to, I would’ve been taken care of. Now I have nothing,” she looked away. I reached over and gently took her bruised hand in mine. “You did the hardest thing anyone in your position could have done. You saved yourself. That takes more guts than standing there and pretending to be happy.” I tucked a hair behind her ear. “You think you are alone? You’re not… you have me.” ___ Alina Etienne has always lived a life dictated by her parents. She is groomed to be an obedient daughter, a perfect public image, and now, a bride to a man she doesn’t know or love. On her wedding day, crushed by the weight of expectations, Alina does the unthinkable... she says “I don’t” and flees the altar. On the run and scared with nowhere to go, she crosses paths with Mikhail Antonov. A cold, guarded man with a past he doesn’t talk about. What began as a reluctant act of kindness turned into something neither of them expected.

“You know what you have to do,” Blake said, his eyes bearing hatred into Cassandra, “You don’t like me.” “No,” Cassandra answered, she had been rehearsing how to sound nice while she rejected his proposal but it was impossible. “What?” He asked surprised “I said no, I am sorry, I can’t do that.” She muttered. “You don’t have any idea what you are signing up for, do you?” He asked, both his hands balled into fists on the table, while she watched him silently. “How much did my grandfather pay you?” He asked again and then she looked away from his magnetic gaze, feeling embarrassed. “I’m sorry, I told Mr. McKnight that I would marry you. I don’t think anything would change my mind.” She feigned confidence, holding onto her own hands to stop them from trembling. “We can just try to get along.” “Get along? What was I expecting from a gold-digger?” he asked with deep seething frustration. “You all are the same.” I wanted to ask what he meant by that but I couldn’t. “This wouldn’t be easy I assure you, princess, there would be a price to pay, a fucking expensive one.” He gets up and puts on his cap. “See you later, dear wife.” Unable to say a word she watched him storm away, her heart hammering painfully at his threat. Cassandra’s life took a total turn when her uncle forced her to get married to his partner’s grandson. Even though she was reluctant at first but then she didn’t have a choice but to agree, if there was a way she could escape her cousin, Lance. She would gladly marry even the devil because what has she got to lose?

Ayla is a wolf born into a respected pack in Lunaria, a world where your necessity is defined by one thing: the ability to shift and become a wolf. While her siblings transform early and have prospects of becoming enforcers.Ayla remains unchanged, completely human in a society where that is almost unacceptable. Because of this, she is separated from normal wolf training and forced into combat lessons. Within her family, Ayla exists in a quiet state of disconnection. Her parents never acknowledge her, she is just tolerated but never fully accepted. Even in her own home, she feels like an outsider, she could see the silent disappointment in their eyes. Everything begins to shift when Ayla stumbles upon a forbidden encounter in the woods where witches are performing a ritual . There she meets a masked stranger with piercing grey eyes who stops her escape and speaks directly into her mind, warning her to leave. Instead of fear, she feels something– curiosity, and a pull she cannot explain. He disappears, but not from her thoughts. He returns in her dreams. At the same time, her world begins to tighten. Kael, the Beta’s son, enters her life through combat training. What begins as rivalry slowly transforms into reluctant respect as Ayla surprises everyone, including him, by holding her ground despite her limitations. Their dynamic becomes complex. But Kael is not the only force drawing her in. The masked stranger reappears, calling her “Little witch,” a word she rejects but cannot ignore. And above them all stands the Alpha King, whose presence and grey eyes mirror the stranger she cannot forget. As war brews between wolves and witches, Ayla finds herself caught between two worlds and something inside her begins to awaken, quietly threatening to change everything she thought she was.

She was always the shadow. He was always chasing the light. Lavinia Hartwell had learned early that love was rarely for girls like her. She was the quiet one, the overlooked one—always second to her luminous best friend, Verity Langford. Even Henry Wynthorne, the boy whose compassion had unexpectedly caught her heart in high school, only had eyes for Verity. But years change people. Henry’s dreams of studying abroad collapsed with his father’s death. Verity left. Success became his only compass, and alcohol his only escape. And somehow, in the wreckage, there was Lavinia—never demanding, never judging, quietly holding him together in ways he never noticed… until she was gone. When an arranged engagement threatened to give her to him, Henry assumed she was being forced into it and set her free. Lavinia smiled, thanked him—and walked away, taking with her the steady presence he had taken for granted. Only then did Henry begin to notice the ache. The way her absence unsettled him. The way another man’s hand on her waist ignited a heat that was not anger, but something darker, sharper, and dangerously possessive. A single night blurred the lines forever—her lips on his, soft at first, then desperate, as though she’d loved him all her life. Desire flared, undeniable. But in the morning, she was gone again. Now, with Verity back and the past colliding with the present, Henry must face the truth: he no longer loves the woman he once chased. But has he realized too late who truly held his heart all along? Slow-burn, sensual, and laced with aching restraint, this is a story of unspoken devotion, of a man’s reluctant fall, and of the quiet girl who was never anyone’s first choice—until she became the only choice.

She smirks, before asking "do you like that, my little mate?”. I’m too far gone to even care about the “little” part. “Yes..” I manage to breathe out, before she licks me again. “Say please, my little mate” she taunts, her eyes still glued to mine and her hand still pleasuring me. “Please Lola” I breathe out. And just like that, she wraps her mouth around the tip, before taking in my c*ck until it hits the back of her throat. “I… I’m cumming” I croak out, when I feel I’m about to topple over. She pulls her mouth off, and immediately places my c*ck between her perfect . I move up and down slowly, as my starts to cover her . ****** Lola is an omega within the Red Dagger pack. She was found as a baby in the woods. With her curvy body, blonde hair and green eyes she is the total opposite of all the other wolves. And as a result, is treated like an outcast. Lola long awaits the day she turns 18, gets her wolf and is able to leave Red Dagger. All she has to do is withstand one more schoolyear, despite the constant struggles to reign in her anger. But what happens when the bucket runs over and her restraint finally snaps? As the story unfolds, she will come across those who desire her and her fated mates, the Lycan princes. Lola has never wanted a mate and after all betrayals is reluctant to trust anyone anymore, but will she let any of them in eventually? And what happens when her wolf is revealed to have special powers? Will she find her happy ever after with a mate, her fated mates, or will the darkness swallow her whole?

*NO UPDATES ON SUNDAYS* Two months. Claire only asked two more months from her ignorant husband to save her marriage from falling apart. She loved him too much to let him go. Hunter MacIntyre was reluctant that it would change anything between them. He could never bring himself to fall for Claire while his heart belonged to someone else. But he anyway agreed, and much to Claire's determination, it worked out between them. Hunter was slowly coming out of his aloofness and showing his tender side to her. However, on the much awaited day of their second marriage anniversary, Hunter abandoned her to be with his ex-girlfriend. "It was all a pretense to save myself from going through that wife-hunting shit again after our divorce, Claire. But now she's back. Sign the divorce papers and set me free. I want to be with the true love of my life." She bit back a curse and nodded sternly, "Fine! If that's what you want, I'll set you free. But don't come crawling back to me in the future. Because I won't accept you." Six months later, indeed he came back to her! Want to know what Claire did with her ex-husband? Start reading now;) Ps. At moments you'll hate Claire for her decisions, but trust me, every decision has a motive behind it (which you will love certainly;) (Trigger warning: there might be scenes some may find heartbreaking/disturbing/annoying etc. Please beware. It's a work of fiction and purely meant for entertainment. If you can't handle betrayal, divorce, panic attacks, depression, etc than do not pick up this book. You've been warned! Rest others, who like a spicy story with lots of drama, welcome;)

Everyone thinks I've lost my mind when I marry Bryan Sable. That's because I'm the daughter of the richest family in town, while he's just the owner of a small company. Everyone says he's only marrying me for my money. They don't know that he's willing to risk his life just to be with me. He also spent years pursuing me. On the day of the wedding, apart from the wedding ring, I also give him 99 free passes, saying, "If you ever upset me, you can use one of the free passes to cancel it out. But once you've used up all 99 of them, this marriage ends." Bryan swears he will never even use a single one of the free passes. But not long after we get married, he gets involved with his secretary, Roxy Upton. From that moment onward, the free passes get used up in rapid succession. He uses one when he misses my birthday party because of her. He uses another when I find a hickey left on his neck by someone other than me. It gets to a point where even our butler can't help but remind Bryan, "Mr. Sable, I think Mrs. Sable is upset right now. Are you sure you want to leave now to go to Ms. Upton?" But Bryan doesn't think much of it. "If she's upset, let her be upset. What's the worst that can happen? I'll just use one of the free passes. I've only used about 50 of them. I've got plenty of chances left." He has no clue that he only has three free passes left. And by now, I no longer kick up a fuss. I'm simply waiting for the day he uses up the final chance. I'm going to watch him dig his own grave, losing me as well as everything I've given him.

"Does it feel good when my brother touches you?" Edmund's expert hands were caressing her body, making her want more. "Edmund! We shouldn't be doing this! I am your brother's girl…" breathless Emily was shuddering under his touch. "Mine!" Edmund groaned in her ear, his warm breath was driving her crazy. "This is soo.. wrong.." Emily bit her lower lip to suppress the emerging moan when Edmund kissed her jawline. She can't wait to feel his cushion soft lips pressed with hers in a passionate kiss. Emily groaned in frustration when he intentionally left her lips untouched. "You are greedy, my sweet little Emily!” "Does my brother make you feel this good?" His rough voice sent shivers of pleasure and excitement to her entire body. "Ask me to take you! I am planning on pleasuring you all night" He planted soft kisses on the burning skin of her neck before nibbling on her sweet spot roughly to leave his mark. "Mmm" Emily moaned, her eyes rolled back on her head by the thrilling sensation. "EDMUND! Leave my MATE at this instant!" growled Brian furiously from behind. "She is my MATE too!” ………………. Emily Donavon, a rogue, who was blissfully enjoying her human life, having no clue about her true identity. Everything in Emily’s life was going smoothly like a fairytale until the day of her parent’s sudden accident which caused them their lives. Her normal existence took an abrupt U-turn when two equally gorgeous Alphas entered her life and tried to claim her. What will happen when she will discover that under the disguise of successful billionaires, they are untouchable Alphas of two equally powerful packs? How will she react when she will get to know the truth about her own identity?

{MATURE — mid slow burn with yearning MMC. Knotting, claiming, mate frenzy and rutting. Check the trigger warnings. The FMC is a plus-size woman who insecure about her body, but as the book progresses, she'll learn to love herself.} ✧ SNIPPET ✧ My body hummed with desire as I tilted my head. "Fuck, you smell so good, sweetheart." He nipped at my jaw, his voice rough and primal. "I want to pound you so hard, knot you, and breed you with our pups." I gasped, clutching his shirt. "What are you waiting for? " I whispered. "Claim me. Mark me. And make me yours." His eyes flashed, and a growl rumbled through him. "Careful, sweetheart. Once I claim you, you'll be mine—body, heart, and soul." "Then take me." ~**~ Christmas was meant to be magical—yet for Rosie Martinez, it became the night her world ended. A cruel bet. A viral video. A betrayal that left her reputation in ruins. Desperate to breathe again, Rosie runs to a quiet mountain town where no one knows her name—where she hopes she can disappear. She didn't expect him. Jude Winters—hockey captain, future Alpha of the Winters Pack, and the stranger who saved her in the snow. The moment he touched her, he knew. Mate. His. Forever. Rosie has no idea what she is to him. No clue about the supernatural world hidden beneath this frozen town. She only feels the way her body awakens around him… and the way he watches her like she's the only woman he's ever wanted. But when her past crashes into their peaceful relationship—threatening the one person he cares about—Jude's control snaps. And Rosie learns the truth: Wolves are real. Mates are fated. And she's his. And Jude Winters will burn the world before he lets anyone take her away.