She Left, They Begged Novels & Stories

As Gamma of the Creed Pack, I'd held the Northern Border alone for three full years. Every time I called in to ask when I could come home, my mate — the Alpha of Creed — picked up the phone himself. He told me the rogues weren't cleared. He told me the rival packs were still circling. He said, "Nora. One more year. Once we have completely eliminated all our enemies, I will hold the grandest mating ceremony for you. I swear it on the Moon." I believed him. When I dragged myself out of a pile of dead rogues with a silver arrowhead still lodged an inch from my heart, bleeding too fast for a medevac, my warriors had to shift and run me back in wolf form all the way to Creed territory. The moment we crossed the border, I saw fairy lights strung from every streetlamp along the road to the pack house. Pack wolves on the sidewalks were talking loud, smiling at each other. "The Alpha's Mating Ceremony is tonight. He's taking the Elder's daughter as Luna. Three years of peace on the border. It's a good time to be Creed." I coughed dark blood into the fur on the back of my warrior's neck and laughed, short and bitter. He hadn't needed me holding the border. He just hadn't wanted me home.

In order to find clean water for his beloved Liana Hughes to bathe, Castiel Fenton, my brother, left the base with all the able-bodied men. But among the zombies, a sentient Zombie King emerged and took it as an opportunity to invade the base. June Morgan, my pregnant sister-in-law, was torn in half by zombies while protecting me, and Poppy, my little niece was devoured down to the bone trying to help me escape. To save the base, I called Castiel for help. Upon hearing the news, he had no choice but to abandon Liana and rush back with his men. Eventually, the zombies were driven out of the base, but Liana was eaten by a passing zombie. Castiel said nothing and only collected Liana’s remains expressionlessly. On the day of Liana’s funeral, Castiel deliberately pushed me into a horde of zombies and let them feast on my body. “If you hadn’t called me back, Liana wouldn’t have died! You must pay for her life!” When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the day the zombies invaded the base.

She entered his life as a contract but she left as his greatest regret. Miranda Jones marries Adrian Cole under a contract to save her broken mother. On their 3rd year anniversary, his first love returns, and he divorces her, convinced that she used him. Without saying a word, Miranda disappears. When she returns, she’s no longer his divorced wife but the heiress of a powerful empire and the director of the company he’s desperate to beat. Now she's gone, Adrian will do anything to get her back…but she's no longer the woman who loved him. He destroyed her once. Now he'll beg for a second chance she may never give.

The SAT results have been released, and my younger brother, Alvin Bellamy, got a score of 1400. To celebrate his achievement, I set aside my usual frugal habits and throw him a party. Amid the lively cheer, he suddenly says, "Sandy, I'm legally an adult now. It's time for you to give me Mom's life insurance payout, yeah?" I shake my head in response, but just as I'm about to explain why, he flies off the handle. "I've had enough of the pressure of studying in this country! I didn't even bother applying to any colleges, and the application deadlines have closed, so I'll be stuck attending a community college. If you don't want to ruin my future, you have to give me the money so I can study abroad instead!" Feeling disappointed and disheartened, I transfer Alvin 5,000 dollars on the spot. However, he assumes I'm keeping the lion's share of the money to myself. Not only does he threaten me in front of everyone, but he even teams up with our biological father, who cheated on our mother many years ago, to spread lies about me. "You've been hoarding all of our dead mom's life insurance payout, living it up this whole time while refusing to give any of the money to me, your own brother! What did I do to deserve a sister as vicious as you?" Looking right into the eyes of the nasty ingrate I've doted on for over a decade now, I scoff and throw out a pile of invoices. "Where do you think the money that's been spent on you all these years came from? In fact, if we're going to settle the score properly, you owe me 580 grand."

I have been in a long-distance relationship with my boyfriend, Eugene Walsh, for three years. I finally have enough leave time to visit him after working overtime for an entire month. But when I arrive, I can't reach him. I wait alone in an unfamiliar city for ten full hours before he finally replies. When the call connects, my best friend, Haley Woodward, greets me with a cheerful laugh. "Surprise! I explored Oakhaven for you in advance. It's so much fun! Eugene is an amazing tour guide!" She chatters nonstop about all the fun they've had, as if she never notices the 30 missed calls displayed on Eugene's phone. I listen quietly. Only when she says she's cold does Eugene finally take the phone from her and say to me, "I'll take her back to the hotel first. Wait for me a little while more." The moment he is done speaking, I ask, "Do you know how long I've been waiting?" Eugene pauses for a second before saying icily, "She's your best friend. Do you really have to compete with her over this?" The unmistakable accusation drains away any desire I have to keep talking. I hung up. Just then, the cab that will take me back to Centuria arrives. The driver takes one look at me and can't help but comment, "Miss, it's already past midnight. This area isn't very safe. How can your family leave you here all alone?" I look down at my shoes that are soaked through by snow and slush. In a soft voice, I say, "Yeah." Then, I smile and add, "They won't. Not anymore."

She gave him seven years of love, sacrifice, and a body broken by hope, yet never a child. Ava, Luna of the Nightfall Pack, spent her marriage desperately trying to conceive for Alpha Lucas Dan, enduring treatments, rituals, and silent humiliation as her body failed him over and over again. But what shattered her more than infertility was the truth she was never meant to hear, Lucas had never wanted a child with her at all. When a devastating fire takes everything, Ava dies… only to open her eyes back in the past. Seven years earlier. On the very night everything began to fall apart. This time, she watches Lucas choose another woman without hesitation, saving his long-lost love while leaving Ava behind in the flames. And in that moment, she understands that he has also been reborn, and this time he chose differently. So she lets go. But fate is not done with her yet. When a cold, mysterious firefighter pulls her from the fire, something inside her awakens, something stronger than heartbreak, stronger than betrayal. Because in this life, Ava will no longer be the woman who begs to be chosen. She will be the one who chooses herself. And maybe… the one who finally discovers what true fate feels like.

Before I was wheeled into surgery, the nurse kept urging me to call a family member. At last, a delivery runner rushed into my ward, out of breath. "Hello, Ms. Wexler. Mr. Adrian Prescott placed an order for me to accompany you through surgery in Ward 907." My phone buzzed twice with a new notification. I lowered my head and saw Sophie Lane's latest post. "Caught a cold and sounded a little stuffy, and Mr. Prescott noticed right away. He insisted on taking me to the doctor and even made ginger tea for me. So spicy, but so sweet." The picture showed a tall, lean man with his shirt sleeves rolled up, pouring ginger tea from a saucepan into a thermos. His eyes were focused and gentle. I stared at the photo in a daze. I had been hospitalized for five days. My husband of five years, Adrian Prescott, had never visited once. He said he was busy with work. But once again, I saw him in Sophie Lane's social media post. That careful, gentle Adrian Prescott, the man who knew exactly how to love someone. Before I was pushed into the operating room, I submitted my resignation and made one phone call. "Mr. Powell, please print the divorce agreement."

Seven years married to Adrian Locke. For me, he tore the unbreakable scale from his own body and left the deep sea for dry land. For him, I left everything and moved to the beastkin world. To everyone else we were the most loving couple. Even I believed it. Then he started coming home carrying a fox scent that wouldn't wash off, and every illusion I had about him shattered. The late nights came more often. The nights he didn't come home at all came more often. I knew it was time for us to end. And then that woman sent me the results of her pregnancy test. I filed to dissolve our marriage with the Beastkin Authority and bought a one-way ticket back to the human world. Adrian, if you can't promise me your love is mine alone, then I won't take any of it. From now on, we never see each other again.

I was bleeding out in a corner after a hit from a rival family. My husband, Dante—the Torrino family’s underboss—was in his car, holding his best friend's little sister. He gave me one cold look and said, "Leave her. She's a nobody." Later, after someone else saved me, I walked home, soaked in my own blood. I found Dante cradling Seraphina, fussing over her. All she had was a scraped knee. The blood covering my clothes? He didn't even see it. I just watched. Said nothing. Then I pulled out my phone and called my mother. "Mom, I need to come home."

At our college graduation, my fiance suddenly proposed to Lillie Stewart, my best friend, in front of everyone. I became a joke in front of everyone. Right after Lillie accepted my fiance’s proposal, Lloyd Becker, heir to the biggest mafia family on the West Coast, publicly said he loved me. Lloyd was known in the mafia world for being serious and never getting involved with women. So, when he showed an interest in an orphan like me, it made the news. We got married, and for five years, he was so sweet and treated me like a princess. But one day, I accidentally overheard him talking to his friend. “Lillie is already set to become the future lady of the Gacira family. Are you really going to keep the act up with Nelly?” “If I can’t have Lillie, it doesn’t matter who I marry. As long as I’m with Nelly, Lillie can live peacefully.” He even gave Lillie the symbol of the Becker family’s lady. He helped Lillie build her career while letting me fade into the background. After five years of marriage, I finally understood. On our fifth anniversary, I pretended to die in a shooting so he could be with the woman he truly loved. But instead of being happy, Lloyd completely broke down.