Shirley Library

The Don of the Falcieri family was assassinated by a rival family, leaving behind his widowed wife, Livia. His younger brother, my husband Caius, took his place as Don. With the title came a duty: to secure the Falcieri bloodline by putting a child in his brother's widow. "Alessia's been barren for years. It falls to Livia to do what she couldn't. The Falcieri family cannot be without an heir." The Madre's voice dripped with scorn. Caius held me close, whispering promises. "As soon as Livia is pregnant, I swear I'll never touch her again." "Alessia, you're the only one I love." Three months, and he hasn't set foot in our bedroom. After he ignored me in front of everyone, choosing Livia time and time again, I finally left. I took what was mine and left one thing behind: a DNA test. It was my final gift to Caius.

Ketika suamiku, Rocco dari Keluarga Fauzian, menutup teleponku untuk ke-99 kalinya, aku menyeret tubuhku yang sudah berada di tahap akhir leukemia melangkah masuk ke kantor penasihat hukum keluarga. "Selamat siang, saya ingin mengajukan perceraian." Namun, sepuluh menit kemudian Rocco sudah menerima kabar itu dan menerobos masuk bersama keluargaku. Pemimpin keluarga itu baru masuk, lalu langsung menamparku. "Demi mengacaukan pesta kenaikan jabatan Sofia, kamu menyalahgunakan nomor komunikasi darurat? Otakmu taruh di mana?" Laporan diagnosis yang kugenggam, direbut paksa oleh ibuku. Dia melirikku lalu mencibir sambil tertawa sinis. "Pura-pura sakit untuk cari simpati, cuma supaya kami memperhatikanmu. Claire, dari kecil sampai besar, berapa banyak kebohongan yang sudah kamu buat?" Sofia menarik lengan Rocco sambil menahan tangis. "Maafkan aku, Kak Claire. Aku seharusnya nggak menerima kenaikan jabatan itu. Kumohon, jangan sakiti dirimu dan Rocco lagi!" Aku menyeka darah yang terus mengalir di sudut bibirku, lalu kembali menghadap pengacara. "Aku sudah nggak punya keluarga lagi. Demi tidak menunda proses kremasi jenazahku tiga hari lagi, tolong bantu selesaikan proses perceraian secepatnya."

Aku hamil delapan bulan. Satu kontraksi serasa seperti sebilah pisau yang merobek tubuhku. Namun suamiku, Darren sang bos mafia, menolak membawaku ke rumah sakit. Anggi, istri dari mendiang kakaknya, juga sedang menunggu waktu melahirkan. Untuk membuka jalan agar dia bisa melahirkan lebih dulu, Anggi menunjukkan apa yang disebut-sebut sebagai bukti perselingkuhanku, bersikeras bahwa anak yang kukandung tidak memiliki darah Keluarga Pandita. Karena pewaris Keluarga Pandita haruslah cucu laki-laki pertama yang lahir. Darren memercayainya. Dia mengurungku di sebuah gudang anggur tua yang terbengkalai. "Jangan sedetik pun kamu pikir aku nggak tahu apa yang sudah kamu lakukan. Dengar baik-baik. Kamu nggak akan melahirkan anak haram itu sebelum aku memastikan sendiri garis darahnya." "Anak Anggi berdarah murni. Aku harus memastikan anaknya menjadi cucu laki-laki pertama keluarga ini." Aku berusaha mati-matian untuk menjelaskan semuanya. "Air ketubanku hampir pecah! Aku mohon, bawa aku ke rumah sakit! Dia anakmu! Aku bersumpah demi nyawaku!" "Aku nggak akan pernah memperjuangkan posisi pewaris! Aku cuma ingin bayiku selamat!" Darren menendangku dan melirikku dingin. "Siapa yang tahu kalau nanti kamu berubah pikiran? Jangan khawatir. Aku akan kembali setelah Anggi melahirkan. Saat bayi itu lahir, aku akan melihat sendiri siapa ayahnya." Beberapa saat kemudian, ketika dia menatap bayi yang menangis di pelukan Anggi, barulah dia teringat padaku. Namun, salah satu anak buahnya datang melapor dengan suara gemetaran. "Bos, Nyonya ... dan anaknya .... Mereka berdua sudah meninggal."

Tras la muerte de mi hermana, firmé un contrato matrimonial por cinco años con su esposo, Horton Falcone, un hombre de la mafia. Me convertí en la madrastra de mi sobrino de cinco años, Luca. El día de mi cumpleaños, me puse el collar con la cruz de diamantes de mi difunta hermana, sin darme cuenta de lo que representaba. Durante la cena familiar, Luca se me acercó con una copa de vino tinto y me la aventó a la cara. El vino tinto escurrió por mis mejillas; su olor penetrante me ardía en los ojos y manchaba mi vestido blanco. Echó la cabeza hacia atrás para mirarme; tenía los ojos tan crueles como los de su padre. —No creas que vas a reemplazar a mi mamá nada más porque te casaste y entraste a la familia Falcone —dijo con una sonrisa maliciosa—. Tú tienes la culpa de que esté muerta. Ojalá te hubieras muerto tú. Así podría romper tu lápida en vez de celebrar este cumpleaños estúpido. ¡Cuando sea grande, voy a tirarte al Río Hudson! El recuerdo ardía tanto como el vino, y lo único que me quedaba era un sabor a desesperanza. Me quedé mirando al niño que había criado como propio durante cinco años y sentí mucho dolor. Había pensado que podía entregarme a la familia Falcone, que podría ganármelo con mi cariño. Pero ahora, ya estaba harta. Era una familia sin amor, con un niño que me veía como su enemiga. Dejé de engañarme. Era hora de dejarlo ir. Pero después de irme, ese padre arrogante y su hijo regresaron arrastrándose hacia mí como perros para suplicar mi perdón.

When my Prince shattered our Eternal Blood Vow for the ninety-ninth time, I dragged my drained, broken body to the Tribunal of Vows. "I am here to request the dissolution of my Eternal Blood Vow with the Prince of the Kindred." Ten minutes later, Damien stormed in with Isabella in tow. The Prince of the Kindred strode toward me, his hand shooting out to clamp around my neck before he slammed me against a cold marble pillar. "You'd go so far as to dissolve our vow just because you're jealous of Isabella's promotion? Has the bloodlust driven you completely insane?" My mother Eleanor's voice echoed icily through our bond. "Forging lab results to play the victim, all for his attention. You've always been so deceitful." Tears of blood welled in Isabella's eyes as she tugged on Damien's arm. "I'm so sorry, Seraphina. I never should have accepted this position. Please, stop putting yourself—and the Prince—through this!" I wiped away the tears of blood seeping from my eyes and faced the tribunal official once more. "I no longer have the protection of a clan. So that I may turn to ash in three days, please help me complete the dissolution ceremony."

My Vampire fiancé, Vincent, was the powerful prince of New York's most influential coven. He had lived for centuries and was notoriously ruthless, yet he bestowed upon me, and only me, every honor imaginable. But one month before our Union Ceremony, he suddenly insisted on postponing it. The reason was his childhood friend, Camilla, was dying from a rare condition known as Bloodline Degeneration. To repay a life debt from long ago, he wanted to hold a mock wedding with her to fulfill her last wish to wear a wedding gown. I refused outright. It was a flagrant violation of coven dignity. But he pressured me relentlessly, using a supposed ancient code of honor as emotional blackmail. Then, two weeks before the ceremony, I received an anonymous email containing an advanced blood analysis report. Only then did I learn that he hadn't just been preparing a wedding; he had already secretly formed a Mutual Blood Bond with her, a pact that would bind their lives together for eternity. In that moment, I finally understood. My two centuries of devotion to him had been nothing more than a joke. And so, I called off our union and set fire to everything he had ever given me. On the day of the ceremony, I traveled to Europe's Supreme Institute for Vampiric Research in Italy and took charge of the Institute's most secret and critical project. From that day forward, I would have nothing more to do with the noble prince. We were finished.

During the pack's wilderness training, my adopted sister, Tessa, shoved me from a cliffside thick with wolfsbane. My Alpha, Fenrir, turned and left with Tessa feigning injury in his arms, leaving me for dead at the bottom of the ravine. I died instantly, but my soul lingered, watching everything with cold detachment. I watched as Tessa's tearful complaints swayed him into blaming me for my own disappearance. "Will Selene ever stop causing me trouble?" "She's weak and always looking for trouble. How could she possibly be fit to be our Luna?" He had no idea I was already dead at the bottom of that cliff choked with wolfsbane. Five whole days. The poison hit my bloodstream like liquid fire, racing through my veins with merciless speed. As my body decayed under the moonlight, my love for him faded with it. The title of Luna, the magnificent coronation I had dreamed of, everything I once cherished was now meaningless. The Selene who loved him was well and truly dead.

I was Alpha Kade's secret mate for four years. The night he marked me, in the throes of passion, he gazed into my eyes for a long, long time. "You know, Anya," he'd said, his voice husky, "what I love most about you are your beautiful eyes." To protect his claim to the Alpha title, I agreed to remain by his side, posing as a Beta warrior. That is, until I watched him publicly wrap his arm around my half-sister's waist, beaming with pride. It was only when the whispers grew louder, when everyone murmured that the beautiful she-wolf the Alpha brought home had my eyes, that the devastating truth finally hit me. It was never me he loved. I confronted Kade, demanding an explanation. His face was a mask of contempt. "An explanation?" "What did you think this was? It was a temporary mark, nothing more. I've only ever seen you as a sister." I didn't cry. I didn't make a scene. I simply opened a mind-link to my childhood friend. "I accept the invitation to become Head Warrior of the Silver Crest Pack." Later, when Kade discovered I had caught the eye of his greatest rival, he went absolutely insane.

J'étais la compagne secrète de l'Alpha Kade pendant quatre ans. La nuit où il m'a marquée, dans l'ardeur de la passion, il a plongé son regard dans le mien pendant un long, très long moment. « Tu sais, Anya, » avait-il murmuré, la voix rauque, « ce que j'aime le plus chez toi, ce sont tes magnifiques yeux. » Pour protéger sa prétention au titre d'Alpha, j'avais accepté de rester à ses côtés, en me faisant passer pour une guerrière Bêta. Du moins, jusqu'au jour où je l'ai vu passer son bras autour de la taille de ma demi-sœur, rayonnant de fierté devant tout le monde. Ce n'est que lorsque les murmures ont commencé à enfler, lorsque chacun chuchotait que la belle louve que l'Alpha avait ramenée avait mes yeux, que la vérité m'a frappée de plein fouet. Ce n'était jamais moi qu'il aimait. J'ai affronté Kade, exigeant une explication. Son visage n'exprimait que le mépris. « Une explication ? » « Tu croyais que c'était quoi, tout ça ? Ce n'était qu'une marque temporaire, rien de plus. Je ne t'ai jamais vue autrement que comme une sœur. » Je n'ai pas pleuré. Je n'ai pas crié. Je me suis simplement connectée par lien mental à mon ami d'enfance. « J'accepte l'invitation pour devenir Cheffe Guerrière de la meute de la Crête d'Argent. » Plus tard, quand Kade a découvert que j'avais attiré l'attention de son plus grand rival, il est devenu complètement fou.

I'm going to die. In the eyes of the underworld, I was a sinner. My death would be a final, cursed dishonor. But even with the Ricci family in ruins, I was still the noble Principessa. The Ricci pride in my blood would not allow my body to fall into the hands of a rival Family. Humiliation. Desecration. Photographs flaunted for all to see. I didn't much care if my body became a trophy to celebrate their victory. But if the world knew the last of the Ricci bloodline had become a plaything for our enemies, it would be a disgrace to the entire Family. After weighing my options, I dragged my broken body to the turf of my ex-boyfriend, the man I'd left seven years ago, now the Don of the Falcone family. "After I die, I need you to handle my body." He was silent for a long moment, then let out a cold laugh. "Of course. I'll sink you in the Hudson River with a tombstone tied to your feet, engraved with the name of your filthy family."