Sarah J Maas Books

My mate Derek, Alpha of the SilverCrest Pack, secretly marked me two years ago. But he still hasn't held our mating ceremony to publicly announce my position. I've been working as his "assistant," helping him manage pack affairs all this time. Every time Derek cheats with his childhood sweetheart, Vivian, he promises to finally hold our mating ceremony. Two years. Ten promised ceremonies. Ten broken promises. The first time, he said Vivian's dog had died. "I can't hold a celebration while she's grieving," he told me, his eyes not quite meeting mine. "It wouldn't be right." The second time, Vivian had a stomach ache. He left the ceremony venue minutes before it was supposed to start, rushing off to cook soup for his precious childhood friend. After that, each scheduled mating ceremony fell through because his childhood sweetheart always had some kind of emergency. I've cried. I've screamed. I've begged. Derek always gives me the same answer: "Viv and I are just friends. You're my true mate. Taking care of pack members is your responsibility too. Don't be so jealous." After the tenth canceled ceremony, I finally gave up. I slid the mate bond dissolution papers across his desk. "The Alpha Council has approved our request to break the mate bond," I said, my voice steadier than I expected. "You and I are no longer connected." That’s when the powerful Alpha went crazy...

After my secret crush was discovered, my adoptive uncle Kieran, who always loved me, completely became a different person. He no longer smiled at me, and he began to stay far away from me. I tried everything, even stripped naked and stood before him begging him to mark me. All I got in return was his words of rejection: disgusting. Three months later, he even brought my best friend Scarlett home and claimed her as his fiancée. Looking at the deep wariness in his eyes toward me, I suddenly smiled with relief. I agreed to my Alpha grandfather's tentative proposal for an arranged mating. But when I finally gave up him and mated to another Alpha, why did he beg me to come back?

Warning sewarning-warningnya! Khusus 21+ "Saya... butuh lebih dari sekadar teori.” Ariella Anata, seorang penulis cerita dewasa yang berkali-kali gagal menerbitkan karyanya, kembali ditolak mentah-mentah oleh editornya, karena tulisannya dianggap hambar dan tidak menggugah. Putus asa dan kehilangan arah, ia disarankan sahabatnya, Silvi, untuk belajar dari seorang pakar seksologi terkenal—dr. Nathan Xander—yang sering menjadi narasumber di majalah dewasa. Meskipun seminar dr. Nathan hanya diperuntukkan bagi pasangan suami istri, Ariel nekat menyelinap masuk demi “riset langsung” untuk tulisannya. Namun, keberaniannya justru berujung pada pertemuan yang memalukan. Setelah ditolak mentah-mentah oleh Nathan karena dianggap belum pantas, Ariel nekat mencium sang dokter demi membuktikan tekad dan keberaniannya sebagai penulis. Ciuman itu mengubah segalanya. Bagi Ariel, itu adalah langkah pertama menuju keberanian dan obsesi barunya terhadap sosok dingin dan berwibawa itu. Bagi Nathan, ciuman itu menjadi gangguan yang tak seharusnya ada—namun sulit ia lupakan. Pertemuan nekat itu menandai awal dari kisah penuh ketegangan, rasa ingin tahu, dan godaan antara dua dunia yang bertolak belakang: sang dokter rasional yang berpegang pada etika, dan sang penulis muda yang rela melanggar batas demi menemukan “rasa” dalam tulisannya. "Ugh.. jangan terlalu keras! Kalau kau memegangnya seperti itu, pria manapun tak akan bisa menikmatinya." "Ma‐maaf, Dok..."

On my eighth Mate-Marking anniversary, I had carefully prepared a special celebration ceremony. My Alpha mate, Derek, told me the pack had an emergency and the ceremony was canceled. When I arrived at the venue, I was shocked to see the ceremony proceeding as planned. Scarlett, once my best friend, was walking hand-in-hand with Derek onto the ceremonial platform. Her daughter and my son were being led by their hands, one child with each adult. The four of them stood closely together while other pack members, unaware of the truth, praised them: "The Alpha of Shadow Pack and his mate look so happy together." I stood up in the crowd and applauded: "I didn't know Shadow Pack had replaced their Luna with an Omega. They make such a perfect couple." The next moment, Scarlett's face turned pale as she collapsed on the platform. I ignored the chaos and walked straight home. The following day, Derek stormed back home and confronted me: "Scarlett's condition has barely improved. Why did you have to provoke her?" My son pushed me and accused: "It's all your fault! You made little Emma cry!" I pulled out the mate-bond dissolution agreement and threw it in their faces: "Yes, it's my fault. So I'm stepping out. Now you four can be one happy family." But my mate and son suddenly began to panic.

I discovered my Alpha mate Ethan's secret. The ring he gave me on our wedding day was actually used to track and monitor me. But I didn't cry. I pretended my eyes hadn't healed, and witnessed firsthand how Ethan and his mistress clung to each other, entangled in affection. Ethan's voice was low and husky: "Let's be quick. Selene usually wakes up after an hour of rest." The mistress covered her mouth and giggled softly: "She's just a blind wolf. What does it matter if she wakes up? As long as we don't make any noise." Hearing this, Ethan glared at her in warning. "Even though Selene has lost her sight, she's still the person I love most, and she's my bottom line. If you disrespect Selene again, whatever is between us ends right here." But what he didn't know was that my blindness had been cured. I could see everything clearly now. After getting out of bed, I wiped away my tears and made a phone call. "Tell the Alpha of the Shadow Pack that I'm willing to become their Chief Healer."

They say that when you love someone, tell them. I told him and we became lovers- a celebrated couple and business partners. I was the veritable Cinderella who has caught her Prince Charming. We had two blissful years until I woke up to the harsh reality that he never loved me and was just a stand-in for his true love. After a tragic incident, my Prince Charming turned into my worst nightmare. Overnight, he stripped me of my identity and everything that goes with it: name, wealth and protection. He let me suffer humiliation and pain. He left me broken and almost made me lose my precious sons. The children he did not deserve to know about. Now, I am back on my feet. With the help of my four long-lost brothers, I regained everything my ex-husband took away from me. With an empire behind me, it's time for revenge. “It's time to make you pay for what you have put me through. And I won't stop until I win.” “Now, who lost everything, my dear Ex? Certainly not me.”

On my 18th birthday, my triplet brothers adopted a fifteen-year-old orphan girl. To make their newly adopted sister happy, Matthew gave her my coming-of-age gift, Daniel sent away the dog that had grown up with me because she was allergic, and William coldly told me to get out of the house and stop making their little sister upset. I didn't say another word. I just packed my bags and left. They all thought I was just throwing a tantrum and would be back in a few days. My three brothers canceled their busy work schedules to take the orphan girl abroad to relax her nerves. They went to see the Northern Lights in Alaska – the place I had always dreamed of visiting. Many days later, when they returned from their vacation, they suddenly learned that I had volunteered for a twenty-year medical research mission in a remote frontier. I would never be coming home again. That night, they fell apart.

Victor Gunner, my husband, is a man of his prime - wealthy, attractive and the brilliant CEO of Gunner Holdings, Inc. with stakes in the aviation and maritime industries. People often question why he married me because it was certainly not a love match nor was it a union of convenience. I believe it was because Victor felt ready and I was available. When I accepted his proposal, I naively thought my love was big enough for the two of us until he proved me wrong. Three years and our marriage began to crumble. For one, I can’t give him an heir. Then came Victor’s past love with a child in tow. A child who looks strangely like my husband. For the first time in years, I saw excitement filling Victor’s eyes. He dotes on them, recreating the dream of a perfect family, while I was gradually being cast aside, relegated to watching them enviously on the sidelines. I tried fighting for my place, but how can one fight a battle lost before it has begun? I had no place in his perfect family so when he proposed divorce, I accepted and never looked back. When we met again, I was an emerging heiress divorcee of our time, given countless accolades due to my work with women who underwent trauma in their relationships. It gave me immense satisfaction that for the first time, Victor saw my worth and wanted me back. Unfortunately, he has to fall in line. Three other men want me, too. All are wealthy, attractive and doting not only to me, but to my triplets as well. I watched in amusement how our roles quickly reversed. Now, Victor scrambled to beat all those men. But can he win this fight? Can love bloom beyond goodbye?

To save the three most important men in my life, I made a deal with the Moon Goddess. Trade my life for theirs. If I could make any one of them truly love me within five years, I'd get to live. But on the final day of the countdown, all three still had negative feelings toward me. According to the rules, I'd failed. My life was about to be erased. "Moon Goddess, could I send one last message? One final try?" Maybe out of pity, she granted me this last attempt. This message was my final shot. I hit the voice button in our group chat, fighting to keep my voice steady. "Could you guys love me just a little? I'm really going to die." After a moment of silence came their merciless laughter. "You'll do anything to compete with Lidia for attention, won't you?" "Cut the lies. This just makes us hate you more." "If you're so desperate to die, then just do it already." Mission failed. I gave them exactly what they wanted. But when I was about to die, they all freaked out.

A week before our marking ceremony, I told Ethan Stormwind I wanted to break up at his friend's party. Everyone laughed. They all knew that for the past six years, my life's goal had been to become his marked Luna. With only a week left until the ceremony, how could I possibly want to break up? Even Ethan thought I was being unreasonable. "Just because I need to take Selene to the healer for her follow-up on our ceremony day, you're throwing a tantrum about breaking up?" "We're both adults. Can you act more mature? You could just reschedule the ceremony. Why do you insist on that specific day? I don't have time for your jealous games." I nodded silently. Yes, something needed to be changed. But it wasn't the ceremony date. It was him. I was going to accept someone else's mark instead.