Shattered Bonds: A Second Chance Mate

“Are you trying to punish me? I…I don't know how many times I can apologize even if it wasn't my fault that I almost—” “I never asked you to. You do whatever you want, Niya, and I really don't care. Neither should you bother with what I do.” “You're hurt. You're hurt, Alex, and you're acting out. Don't worry we could talk this through. This isn't you.” I try to reach him again but he shoots me a deadly glare that pierces through my skin like a dagger. “Sure it is. You've just never seen me like this. You don't know what I look like when I'm not in love with you,” his brows grow together. “Now we’ve had enough of your drama. You'll find the papers and enjoy the party or use the fucking door.” He pulls away and my eyes cloud again. My ears and heart find it hard to process what is actually going on. The looks on their faces tell me it is awfully too late—I have already lost everything. “Niya, careful now,” my grandmother slowly tugs at my arm as if that will somehow make everything better. “We have guests. Don’t cause a scene.” A scene? I have literally just seen a whole movie, ma. ************* My name is Niya Kendrick. I’m 25, an author who once believed she had the perfect life. But how quickly can everything I love be stripped away in the blink of an eye? Or worse, what if the life, the family I’ve cherished has always been a blatant lie, a mere fragment of the truth? Now, I’m awake, and reality is far harsher than any dream.

The day my husband, Eric Johnson, brought his foster sister home from overseas, he gave her our master bedroom. "Yvonne just lost her husband. She's heartbroken, so I want her to feel comfortable," he said. I nodded obediently. "Okay." The next day was my birthday. Yvonne said she was feeling down and wanted her brother, Eric, to go stargazing with her. Eric turned to me and said, "She really needs me right now. I'll celebrate your birthday with you later." Still, I smiled and nodded. "Okay." Ten years of marriage and I was ready to walk away from it all… Because I have lived this life once already. In my previous life, I made the mistake of asking Eric to stay with me on my birthday. I did not let him go stargazing with Yvonne. She ended up falling into the water in her sorrow and was rushed to the hospital. After that, Eric shoved my head into a bathtub and held me there until I drowned. In this second life, when Eric handed me the divorce papers and said, "I’m only marrying Yvonne to help her revoke her foreign citizenship and restore her citizenship here. Once it's done, we'll remarry." I did not hesitate. I signed my name without a second thought. By the time he came looking for me again, I was already sitting on his archenemy's lap, smiling like a flower in full bloom.

I had just won the Hawthorne Scientific Laureate on the international stage when my father called me back home. "Bring the betrothal gifts to the Hayes family. That childhood engagement should finally be fulfilled." Afraid of getting stuck in traffic, I took my modified motorcycle, carried the national heritage porcelain obtained through generations of the Keane family's military merits, and headed toward their house. Just as I arrived at the community gate, a Porsche suddenly cut across the lane, nearly knocking me over. A heavily made-up woman, Zoey Mercer, stepped out of the car, raised one sharp high heel, and kicked the top box off my motorcycle. "You rode this junk motorcycle yet dared block my way? If you dent my car, your whole family won't be able to afford the compensation!" My heart sank. I quickly opened the case, only to see the entire box of celadon porcelain shattered. "So you’re just some delivery guy. Think this pile of trash is worth even one of my shoes? "You even know whose neighborhood this is? It belongs to Kingshore's Hayes family! My best friend’s family developed this place! Believe it or not, I can have you thrown out right now!" Right then, my fiancee, Lauren Hayes, called me. "Where are you? My friend just messaged me saying there’s a delivery guy causing trouble at the entrance."

Benedict Quinn, also known as Tristan Drake, once stood at top of the world with his supernatural abilities. For the sake of his beloved woman, he gave it all up and married her, supporting her quietly from behind and protecting her. Yet, when she attained success, she despised him for being useless and demanded a divorce. When Tristan Drake's name spread across the world, she eventually knelt for forgiveness, weeping uncontrollably out of remorse…

Lumina has tried her best to make her forced marriage to Xen work for the sake of their child. But with Riley and Sophia- Xen's ex-girlfriend and her son in the picture. She fights a losing battle. Ollie, Xen's son is neglected by his father for a very long time and he is also suffering from a mysterious sickness that's draining his life force. When his last wish to have his dad come to his 5th birthday party is dashed by his failure to show up, Ollie dies in an accident after seeing his father celebrate Riley's birthday with Sophia and it's displayed on the big advertising boards that fill the city. Ollie dies and Lumina follows after, unable to bear the grief, dying in her mate's hands cursing him and begging for a second chance to save her son. Luna gets the opportunity and is woken up in the past, exactly one year to the day Sophia and Riley show up. But this time around, Lumina is willing to get rid of everyone and anyone even her mate if he steps in her way to save her son.

"I just want to love my husband every day, even though it seems impossible for him to love me back. We're married, but the painful truth is, Audric doesn't feel the same way about me. How could he ever love me? Especially now, with Ivony, the woman he truly loves, back in his life. She should rightfully be his wife. They'll be a happy family together. And me? I have to step back and distance myself, even though I'm carrying Audric's child from a night he claimed me. I need to move away even though it feels like my soul is being torn apart from the pain."

After giving birth, I lost my beauty when I started adding weight in all the wrong places. Stretch marks. A soft stomach. Tired eyes. The same body that carried our child became the body my husband couldn’t stand to look at. “I can’t take you anywhere like this.” That was what Marcus Hawthorne my powerful, untouchable CEO husband said the night he stopped bringing me to events. The whispers followed after that. She let herself go. He deserves better. How embarrassing for a man like him. I heard them all. And Marcus? He never defended me. Instead, he grew colder, crueler and distant everyday. The same man I sacrificed my everything for made me feel like I was no longer worth loving. And when tragedy struck and I lost the only thing keeping me togheter —our child. I realized the bitter truth not only was I meant to grieve a failed marriage alone but a dead child too because Marcus didn't hesitate to replace us with his new family. And that was my breaking point. Determined to start all over I fled the country for my sanity. Worked on the body that once made me hate my reflection. Rebuilt the career I had abandoned for love. Became the successful woman I was always meant to be. Now, seven years later, I’m back. And guess who can’t take his eyes off me? Marcus. Only, he isn't the man I left behind. Haunted by a serious problem that only I can help him with he’s willing to do anything to get me back. But here’s the problem. The woman who would have forgiven him no longer exists. And the woman standing here now? Isn’t sure she wants anything to do with him ever again.

She's given up on love, but he’s just begun… After five hundred years of servitude, Dragon shifter Callius Falk and his three brothers are finally freed from their bonds. Callius has one mission, to find his true mate. Winifred Castillo spends her nights tending bar at The Thirsty Dog, a local favorite in Maccon City, New Jersey. After her boyfriend skips town with her rent money, she’s sworn off men. For good. But what’s a Werewolf to do when a dark-haired stranger with golden eyes and rippling muscles claims her as his mate?

As a single mom, she’s been weathering life’s storms alone, until a fateful contract tethers her to three extraordinary men—each a paragon of power, charm, and unyielding desire. Once torn apart, their broken bonds now rekindle in a whirlwind of second chances; bound by a marriage on paper, love begins to bloom unexpectedly in the heart. Between obsessive devotion that borders on possession and a protectiveness that wraps her in an unbreakable embrace, every moment is a thrilling tug of war of passion and fate. Caught in the crossfire of three deep, overwhelming loves, how will she choose?

Isabella: Five years ago, I thought marrying Damien Reeds would be my fairy tale ending. I was wrong. He never loved me—I was just a pawn in his family's business deals. When the merger fell through, he threw me away like I meant nothing. He divorced me publicly, in front of over 500 people, then kissed another woman while cameras flashed and I fell apart. What he didn't know was that I was pregnant. I disappeared, gave birth alone, and spent years building a life for our daughter—a daughter he knows nothing about. I became stronger, fiercer, and learned to survive without him. I thought I'd never see him again. Then I walked into a job interview... and there he was. Now he's discovered my secret, and the ruthless CEO who destroyed me wants to claim the child I've protected all this time. Damien: I thought divorcing Isabella was the right choice. My mother convinced me she was unworthy, that Sophia was my true match. For years, I buried whatever I felt under business deals and cold ambition. I told myself I didn't care. I told myself I'd moved on. Then she walked back into my life—confident, successful, and completely out of my reach. The shy girl I once knew is gone, replaced by a woman who looks at me like I'm nothing. And then I saw her daughter. My daughter. The child she kept hidden from me for five years. She says I don't deserve to know her. But I'm not the same man anymore, and I'll do whatever it takes to prove it—I never stopped loving her. Now, with a child caught between them and a past full of betrayal, can two broken people find their way back to each other—or will the truth destroy them both?