Rites

Notice: This Book Contains Two Separate Books That Can Be Read As A Standalone! The first Novel features Samantha, who saves a bleeding, disoriented stranger who collapses in her arms. To keep him calm, she tells a lie that spirals into something far deeper. With him, Samantha rediscovers the kind of warmth she thought she’d lost forever. But love built on borrowed truth has an expiration date. When the truth about his real identity surfaces, their fragile world crumbles—revealing a past powerful enough to destroy them both. Because the man she thought she saved… might be the one who was never meant to be found.

“Unfortunately, you must die, Luna Lyara,” Alpha Kaelen whispered. It wasn't enough that I had to endure the curse to replace him, and his decision to turn his face away from me for another woman, he still betrayed me until the end. He stabbed me with his own hands and pushed me off the cliff. When I thought everything was over, time spun back and brought me back to the past, exactly three weeks after I was cursed.  This time, I won’t be the victim. I’ll free myself from the curse, reverse fate, and protect the people I love. I won’t be dragged along by the predetermined path set by that scoundrel Kaelen. I’m determined to write my own destiny with my own hands! *** “…Lyara.”  I didn’t know what he was saying. I could only catch one word, my name, which he whispered softly.  Ah, there’s still someone who cares about me like this. With trembling hands, I tried to reach his face. The sticky sensation flooding his cheeks, I knew it. He was crying. Was he crying because of me? “Don’t… cry…” I said, my words breaking off.   The pain and tingling in my throat brought back the painful cough. My right hand fell onto his chest. Unintentionally, my fingers touched the pendant necklace around his neck. A unique and beautiful sun-shaped pendant.  “Thank you,” I said with a bitter smile.

In the third year of my relationship with Dante Santoro, heir to the Santoro family fortune, I got pregnant. The night before the Don's birthday banquet, he finally brought me home as his girlfriend. Giulia Costa, the housekeeper's daughter, smiled sweetly and asked about my food allergies. I mentioned I was allergic to truffles. In the end, every dish at dinner was loaded with truffles. I swallowed my irritation and grabbed a slice of cake that looked safe. Two bites in, I heard her laugh. "I got creative and mixed truffle powder into the frosting. How is it?" Before I could answer, my throat closed up and I could not breathe. Giulia gasped and covered her mouth. "Ms. Leone, your skin is turning purple! Do you have some kind of contagious disease?" Everyone watched as I was carried out like trash. The moment my allergic reaction cleared up, Giulia insisted on helping me pack. I told her multiple times not to touch my ring. In the few minutes I spent in the bathroom, she "accidentally" knocked it down the drain. That was the wedding ring Dante gave me. I lost my temper and confronted her, but Dante just laughed it off. "She's jealous of your pretty ring. Don't be so petty." That night, Giulia brought sleep-aid drinks to my room as an apology. Dante convinced me to accept her peace offering. I drank a few cups and felt drowsy almost immediately. When Giulia walked me back to my room, I told her to lock the door behind her. Ten minutes later, a group of men shoved their way inside and beat my stomach until I miscarried. The baby was gone. Giulia's eyes filled with tears as she claimed she never saw anyone enter. She said I never wanted the Santoro family to have an heir and had orchestrated my own abortion. Dante went white with rage and ordered his men to dump me in the ocean. When I opened my eyes again, it was the night before the banquet.

"I'll make you fall for me," Alexander whispered, his breath hot against Isabella's ear. "By the time our contract ends, you won't want to let go." Isabella's life was already complicated enough - a struggling hotel worker by day, anonymous artist by night, all while caring for her sick sister. The last thing she needed was to get tangled up with the notorious playboy heir to a luxury resort empire. But when Alexander offers her a deal she can't refuse - a contract marriage to secure his inheritance - Isabella reluctantly agrees. It's just business, after all. As they navigate the world of five-star hotels and high society, unexpected sparks fly. But Alexander's ambitious half-brother Nathan is determined to claim both the company and Isabella for himself. Caught between two powerful men and buried secrets from her past, Isabella must choose: The devil she knows? The tempting stranger? Or the freedom she craves? In this world of wealth and betrayal, love might be the most dangerous game of all. Will her heart survive the game of love and power? Will Isabella follow her head, her heart, or her art?

It has been three years since Hailey and Knox signed a marriage agreement. It was an impromptu agreement where everyone got their share of the deal. Knox got a beautiful wife to please his grandmother. However for Hailey... Her father's crumbling family business was revived. The only reward she was getting out of the deal was the clause where it was stated that none of them was obligated to perform sexual marital rites towards the other. But, Knox's grandmother died and the contract was no longer valid. However after the divorce, the man was beginning to feel the void left of her presence in his life. He began to notice her more. Until eventually, he found himself falling in love with his ex wife.

In this part of the world, every werewolf is given a chance to have two mates. Omega Aria has already found her first mate, Prince Wade, and wants nothing other than a bright future as his Luna. Things are fine until Aria's adoptive parents discover she has a great destiny, as well as a powerful mate. They want the same for their daughter, Bree, and that's why they want Aria's wolf, thereby forcing her to undergo the wolf-swap rites, which to Aria's surprise, Wade fully supports. Aria's wolf is swapped with her step-sisters, and as a result, she is left with an unexpected mate who changes her life and the course of her destiny forever. Will she overcome the obstacles that stand in the way of fulfilling her path in life even without her wolf? Find out in Fated To The Wrong Mate.

BLURB She followed her friends to a nightclub during a festival in Monaco—a faraway country where the rites of royalty brought together princesses from every kingdom, including hers. Lyriana was a 25-year-old royal from Callista... and she had never even had her first kiss. That changed the night she met a charming British-accented stranger. One kiss turned into one night, and she lost her virginity. By morning, he was gone with no traces. Months later, she discovers she’s pregnant. Desperate to find him, she returns to the hotel over and over again, but reality dawned on her. She was left to bear the consequences alone. But the man from that night wasn’t a stranger. He was the Crown Prince Alaric of Ardonia—Callista’s longtime rival. And worse, he’s betrothed to a noblewoman in a political alliance that cannot afford scandal. Now, everything is at risk. The throne, her baby...and her heart. Will the palace accept her? Will he claim the child? Will love defy royal duty?

She was to be set out as a debt to be paid. He is known to be the ruthless Alpha of a pack, feared by many and dared by none. By ancient rites and moonlight ceremonies, turning eighteen means everything to werewolf shifters. It is aligned with their tradition, holding a great celebration. For Kiara, it should be a day to be merry, the day she finally confirms her bond with her boyfriend and future Alpha, Jason. Rather, it becomes the moment her world is blurred. "I, Jason, hereby reject you as my Luna." Ridiculed as a “freak” for her inability to shift, Kiara is publicly rejected by the boy she loves — replaced by her sister, Erina, and humiliated in front of the entire pack—Heartbroken, backstabbed, and renounced by everyone including her family. Kiara is sent out against her will to live with Alpha Ryder, who had provided a handsome loan to her parents to cure an ailment. Her stay at the Alpha was prolonged and intriguing. She discovers that she has never been a freak but rather descended from the Lunaries. The drama unfolds, tragedy awaits, torn between love and war. She learns great strength and endurance. She becomes a body of attraction to the Alpha. Would her stay in the new pack be worth her first rejection or would it consume her?

When Selovia's soldiers seized me, I sent Leon ninety-nine letters, each one begging for rescue. He tore them apart. "I sent Aya back to her duchy after she struck Mira—but I gave her my finest escort. Selovia could not have touched her." A sharp breath. "I allowed Mira the ceremonial gown, nothing more. And now Aya makes a spectacle to win back my favor. It shames her." He paced once, restless. "Mira's brother died protecting me. He was my Captain of the Royal Guard. I swore to guard her in his place. Tell Aya this—no matter how she rages, I will not cast Mira aside. If she keeps making a spectacle, I will delay the wedding." Three days later, he rode into Valecrest with the marriage contract in hand, ready to wed me. That same hour, Selovia's envoys delivered an ornate gift box. Leon glanced at it and exhaled. "So the dowry is prepared. All this noise was Aya stirring unrest." The lid opened. Inside— My head. From the tower, mourning bells began to toll. Slow. Heavy. Final. The chapel doors parted. The officiant stepped out, robes dark, face set in solemn lines. "Her Grace, Aya Valecrest, Duchess of Valecrest, has been returned to us. The burial rites begin at once."

Le jour de notre victoire au championnat de cheerleading, tout le stade nous acclamait. Pourtant, mon frère Sacha Baume m'a jeté une bouteille d'eau depuis les gradins en criant : « Pour gagner, tu as blessé Mia juste avant la compétition ! Tu savais pour sa leucémie… Son dernier vœu était de remporter ce trophée. Tu l'as trahie par ambition. Je ne veux plus de sœur comme toi. » Wilfrid Marais, mon fiancé et sponsor officiel, a annulé ma victoire devant tous : « Tu as pris des substances interdites. Tu ne mérites pas ce titre. » Les supporters m'ont boycottée. Ils ont même retouché mes photos en faire des avis de décès et me les ont envoyées. Je les ai gardées précieusement. Je savais que j'en aurais bientôt besoin : mon diagnostic de tumeur maligne au cerveau datait déjà d'un mois. Avant de mourir, j'allais devenir celle qu'ils attendaient de moi : une femme polie, raisonnable, qui protège sa sœur cadette et qui ne ment plus...