Sport Feast

On my husband's birthday, I poured my heart into preparing a feast and selecting the perfect gift. Yet, he didn't come home. Instead, I received a picture message—a snapshot of him at the hospital, standing outside the OB-GYN ward, his hand resting tenderly on his childhood crush's belly. Beneath the photo, a message read: [The best birthday gift and a symbol of our decade-long bond.] Furious, I called her. "Don't you know he's married?" Before I could say more, my husband snatched the phone and lashed out at me. "Yvonne just wanted to share the joy of becoming a mother. Why are you overreacting? "Yvonne and I have been best friends for over a decade. Your petty jealousy is disgusting!" I once believed his busyness was for our future, but now I knew—he had been busy supporting the girl of his dreams through her pregnancy. Clutching my own stomach, I bit my lip to stop the tears from falling. Ten years of love had drained away. It was time to let go.

When I pester Sean Sackman, my childhood sweetheart, for a second time, he rejects me. "I don't have time for you now," he says. "It's Valentine's Day today, and the campus belle just agreed to go on a date with me this afternoon." Just as I am about to pleasure myself, his housemate, Chad Huxley, comes back. Several comments suddenly appear in front of me. "This is hilarious. The second male lead is literally burning with desire when he sees the female lead in her nightrobe. But he still has to hold it in and pretend to be unfazed. He's like a grumpy little puppy!" "I think the female lead should turn to the second male lead instead. Every time she goes to find her childhood sweetheart, the second male lead ends up taking a cold shower. Poor guy." "The second male lead might have an addiction, but he always keeps his hands to himself. Girl, a feast is literally right in front of you. Stop getting hung up on that idiot!" My eyes light up as I stare at Chad. "Can you help me with something?"

He smelled like danger. He looked like power. He made Ari's instincts scream one thing—run. But it was already too late. Ari just wanted a normal college life. For a timid bunny hybrid who startles at loud sounds and avoids eye contact like it’s a sport, "normal" means flying under the radar, keeping his ears tucked under hoodies, and staying far away from alphas who smell like trouble. But trouble finds him anyway—in the form of Thorn, a tiger-panther hybrid with a stare sharp enough to slice, and an aura so intense it shuts Ari's brain off completely. Thorn doesn’t ask. He doesn’t beg. He claims. And from the moment he catches Ari’s scent, he decides one thing: Mine. Now Ari’s peaceful life is spiraling into something else. Something darker. Something hungrier. Thorn is everywhere—on campus, in his dreams, always one step away from baring his fangs. But there’s something worse than being hunted by a predator. Wanting one.

After a heart-pounding hunt, the pack gathered under the full moon for a celebration. Because of my contribution, I earned the right to bathe in the Sacred Spring and feast on the Stag King's meat. Just as I was about to take a bite, Emily Carter yanked it from my plate. "This isn't for you!" she snapped. In the pack, our roles were similar, but I outperformed her at every turn. She had been targeting me for months. I ignored her and reached for another piece, sliding it into my mouth. "Are you even listening to me?" she screamed, charging at me. Her hand shot up, ready to slap me. The next second, I grabbed her wrist and tossed her aside. Emily landed on the ground with a growl, her face twisted in fury. "You arrogant little wench! My father is the great Alpha King, Hyde Sullivan! How dare you?" she continued, her voice cracking with rage. "I'm revoking your Sacred Spring privileges!" I pressed a hand to my mouth, letting out a quiet laugh. Hyde was my uncle, and he never had offspring. I was his only successor.

My fated mate, Riven, was the Alpha of a pathetic pack on the brink of collapse. For five years, I was his shadow, his strategist. I built his pack from nothing until the Alliance finally recognized us, and we were set to move to the fertile lands. Riven promised we'd have our mating ceremony once we settled in the new territory. But at the celebration feast, the night before the move, he threw me in a cell. He publicly announced that Jenna—the she-wolf carrying his pup—would be the pack's Luna. I couldn't believe it. I screamed at him, but he just sneered and pointed to a crystal pulsing with dark magic. "Jenna already has proof of your betrayal! Sleeping with Alphas for their support. You make me sick!" I begged him. But he just sliced my cheek with the silver-edged rejection letter, formally casting me aside. But he didn't know who I really was. I am the Alpha King's daughter. The strategies, the power, the alliances—they weren't his. They were mine. So I took it all back.

My nephew, Jason, came to live with my family for three years while he went to high school in the city. I took care of him the best I could, never once thinking it was a burden. The day he got accepted into a top-ranked university, he went live online. He told thousands of strangers about his miserable life living under someone else's roof. "I know I shouldn't say this, but I really suffered through it. "Those days of depending on others… I never want to think about them ever again. "I just want all parents to know this. No matter how poor you are, keep your kids with you. Even eating scraps together is better than watching another family of three enjoy a feast while you sit alone in the corner." He became an overnight sensation, so did I. The people on the internet dug up everything about me. My name, my job, my address. I was doxxed. I died depressed from the online bullying. However, I somehow got to do it all over again. This time, I was not going to be the saint anymore.

Ella Mae Emerson, the girl who stays hidden at all costs, the girl who likes to be alone with eyes glued to the floor, words coming out as stutters, and nervousness her own personal shadow. She's just a girl who's trying to make it through the day with anxiety clinging to her back.Declan Olin Anderson, the new kid who transferred with drooling features and a charming attitude. Football is his sport, you could say he's quite the stellar athlete who's got game both on and off the field. If you push he'll pull, he doesn't quit because no good athlete does.She wasn't like him and he wasn't like her. They each got their own problems but finding each other wasn't one of them.*"You're beautiful Ellie, that's why they're staring." He whispers into my ear. My cheeks go hot as my eyes meet his. I don't know why, but when Declan calls me beautiful I get this feeling that I can't describe. He makes me feel so special. At this moment it's just me and him, he smirks and adds, "You're my girl, not theirs, they are jealous and they should be."

“Show me,” he said, voice low and rough, “how good you're willing to serve me.” I should’ve spat in his face. Except, I nodded…because outside that tent, his men waited. The ones who’d tear me apart piece by piece if I said no. The ones I’d be handed to. I slid my palm between my thighs, breath hitching at my own touch, just a warning stroke and to stay alive. But when I brushed again, deeper this time, I gasped. “Keep going,” Malrik said, leaning back, watching like I was the most fascinating sin he’d ever seen. So I did. With shame thick in my throat and my heart pounding against cracked ribs. I did it for my sister, for survival, for him. *** Kaelith thought being rejected by her mate was the worst thing that could happen but she was wrong. Sold to a rogue warlord as leverage, branded like cattle, and forced into a savage camp where women are broken for sport and pleasure, Kaelith expects to die or worse. But she ends up in the mercy of Malrik Dren, the warlord himself. What happens when a broken girl becomes a weapon, and the monster meant to break her starts to fall?

Derrick Caldwell once promised me that on the night of our pack's founding feast, he would announce that we'd been married for eight years. However, on the big day, his childhood friend, Lilith Sterling, takes my place. She sits beside him—the spot reserved for his Luna. The warriors say, "We heard you have a mate with whom you've been married for eight years, Alpha. Is this her?" Derrick smiles without denying it. He silently allows their assumption to stand. I want him to explain this to me, but he merely says, "You may have helped me become the Alpha, but your lowly birth is nothing compared to Lilith's noble status. As my mate, you need to be more tolerant." I don't argue with him. Instead, I turn and leave the pack he and I built together. Later, I start my own pack and turn it into the largest one in the federation. Derrick stands among the crowd during a ceremony where the Alpha King confers a medal of honor to me. He proudly tells anyone who will listen that I'm his wife. I act like I don't see him, and his eyes turn red with desperation.

Only a fool looks Alpha Denver in the eye when he speaks. You dare not interrupt him, and if you're an omega girl just like I am, it’s best to hide. I learned these tricks early in life. I knew not to look up, not to make a sound, but to make myself invisible in the crowd of people that filled the banquet hall to celebrate the Feast of the Moon. But I never did anything right. When asked to take a step to the left, I ended up on the right. And whether I took a step to the right or not, fate always works in reverse for me. If I sowed well, I reaped misfortune. ******* Skylar Richardson hoped when she turned eighteen, she'd be free from slavery. Then, her fated mate would somehow find her and claim her from her misery. But what Skylar didn't expect is that fate would be so cruel to her, mating her to the one man she least expected. Her Alpha Boss, Denver Ruiz. When she attempts to flee to a different world where no one, not even Denver, could find her, she had no idea Denver had eyes everywhere. “You can run away, Princess, but you can never hide from me.”