Stars Crossed Lovers

On the third day of kneeling before the statue of the Moon Goddess and praying for Ryan Summers, a sudden row of glowing text appeared right in front of my eyes. [Ryan really is a piece of trash. His little childhood sweetheart, Rowena Blake, ran off the moment she learned he was going to hold a bonding ceremony, so he actually faked his own death just to chase her.] [Ryan and Rowena are out there whispering sweet nothings to each other under the flowers and moonlight, while Jenna Cuttridge cried her eyes nearly blind over that scumbag.] [Too bad Jenna never finds out that Ryan tricked her. When he comes back from playing dead, she even happily marries him.] So this was the miracle the Moon Goddess had bestowed upon me. Thunderstruck, I grabbed my phone and called my Alpha father, Jake Cuttridge. "Dad, remember that alliance bonding you mentioned last time? I agree to it." Half a month later, the news that I would be entering an alliance bonding with an Alpha from the Northridge Pack spread throughout the entire wolf kingdom. Ryan's friend, Luke Carter, who had been in on his plan, rushed over and demanded, "Ryan just died not long ago, and you're already so eager to find the next guy?" "He's dead. I can't possibly stay single for him my whole life."

At my own engagement ceremony, the spot reserved for the future Luna was claimed by another she-wolf. And my Alpha mate Xavier didn't stop her. He told me to hand over my gown and my ring, too. "Claire, you know Yvette's family can't afford this kind of thing. Be generous. Give them to her. It's not like you can't spare one dress." I couldn't believe what I was hearing. "Fine. She took my place, now she wants my dress. Why don't I just give her the Luna title while I'm at it? Make it easier for you two to sneak around." His face went dark. "Claire. Watch your mouth." "If the dress and the ring aren't ready for her tomorrow, I'm calling off the alliance. Your choice." He stormed off with Yvette on his arm. The second they were out of earshot, I opened a mind-link to my father. "Dad. Cancel the alliance. And pull every investment you have in Xavier's pack while you're at it." He wants to be Alpha? He'd better hope I agree.

No meu aniversário, meu noivo usou os pontos do supermercado para me dar um par de luvas de lavar louça. Mas num leilão, ele comprou uma joia de cinco milhões de dólares para o primeiro amor dele. Fiquei furiosa e o confrontei, mas ele me chamou de interesseira. — Eu sempre te dei dinheiro pra gastar. Não é mais que justo você cuidar de mim? Isso era pra ser meu teste final pra você. Se passasse, a gente ia casar. Você me decepcionou demais. Terminei com ele. Ele se virou e pediu a ex em casamento. Cinco anos depois, a gente se esbarrou numa ilha privada de férias. Alex Thompson me viu de uniforme de funcionária catando lixo na praia. Na mesma hora, ele zombou de mim. — Você torceu o nariz pras luvas que eu te dei, e agora tá aqui catando lixo. Hoje em dia, mesmo se você implorasse, eu não te daria a mínima. Ignorei ele. O projeto de estudos sociais do meu filho era limpar o quintal com um dos pais. O pai dele tinha expandido o quintal até chegar na praia. Limpar aquilo era de matar.

Three months after the mysterious disappearance of my Alpha mate during his patrol, I found him in a bar near the border. He was cuddling his childhood friend, a she-wolf, laughing smugly. "I wanted to get rid of Bethany for ages! Thanks for giving me the idea to enjoy the freedom I've been looking forward to for a long time." The she-wolf nestled delicately against his chest, feeding him wine with her mouth. She asked him when he was planning to return—his answer was nonchalant. "I'll enjoy myself for another week and go back once Bethany's gone mad. That'll teach her not to be such a micromanager!" His close friends all praised them. "Great move! After this, the Luna will obey your every word." "The witch's disguise potion is so useful. No one recognized you all this time!" No one noticed me hiding in the shadows, watching how carefree he was. I called the pack's elder; using my position as the Luna, I announced that the Alpha was dead and that it was time to prepare for the election of the next Alpha.

My husband, Gavin Chapman, is giving his secretary, Natasha Gardner, exactly what she wants. He's making her his wife. To pull it off, he fakes a lab accident, pretends to have amnesia, and brings her home. In his office, Gavin wraps his arms around Natasha and murmurs indulgently, "Not just Mrs. Chapman. Even if you want to pretend to be the vice president for a week, I'll let you." My eyes dim, but I let the lie go on. The next day, at a press conference, Gavin holds Natasha's hand and tells the world she's his real wife. He even threatens to kick me out of the company and take over all my research data. Dozens of cameras swivel toward me, waiting for my outburst. But I stay silent and simply sign the termination papers. Gavin doesn't know that the pharmaceutical project he believes will be done in seven days isn't quite finished. There's still one final step, and I'm the only one who knows how to do it.

Maverick Spencer, my husband's older brother, sacrifices himself just to save my husband from a car accident. In order to repay him for his benevolence, my husband, Mateo Spencer, decides to move his newly widowed sister-in-law, Lily Shepherd, into our home. Mateo tells me, "Maverick died saving me, so I must repay him for his benevolence. He was the most worried about Lily when he still drew breath. In order to fulfill his death wish, I must let Lily stay with us. "Lily's biggest wish is to have a child of her own. I have no choice but to sleep with her. It's to repay Maverick, you see. Don't worry, Phoebe. Once she gets pregnant, I won't touch her ever again. You're the only woman for me." But since then, Mateo pays more and more attention to Lily. At the same time, he spends less time with me. When I notice the way he looks at me icily, I feel my love for him starting to get snuffed out. The day Lily finds out that she's pregnant is the day Mateo puts half of the Spencer family's assets under her name. Even the token of love Mateo has given to me on our wedding can be seen adorning Lily's finger. At that moment, I know that it's time for me to leave.

At seven months pregnant, I overhear my Alpha mate, Christopher Scott, secretly planning to break tradition by promoting his secretary to a Beta and handing the Luna's duties over to her. His friend urges him to reconsider. "Luna is about to give birth. Isn't it inappropriate to throw a promotion banquet for Scarlett right now?" But Christopher dismisses his concerns. "What can I do? Scarlett is carrying my pup too. I can't just ignore her. "Besides, with Rebecca's temper, she'd definitely throw a huge fit if she found out beforehand. I might as well wait until she has delivered the pup and is too exhausted to interfere, and only then will I hold Scarlett's promotion ceremony. I say nothing. I pretend I know nothing at all and walk away. On the day I go into labor, Christopher holds Scarlett Lane's promotion ceremony at the pack's most sacred altar. While the entire pack is celebrating Scarlett's rise, the doors of the altar are suddenly kicked open. My father, the Alpha King, walks in. "Christopher Scott, is this how you treat my daughter?"

A month before my marking ceremony with Jim Luther, my dad, Frank Jackson, was exiled. Jim personally ordered him exiled to the wasteland without even explaining anything to me. "Kelly says someone leaked our pack's secret files, and we found them on your father's phone. Who else could it be?" My dad had come to attend my marking ceremony, yet because of what Kelly Chase said, Jim exiled him. "If you don't give me a reasonable explanation, he'll stay in the wasteland forever. "I won't abandon you just because of your father's actions. Our marking ceremony will proceed as planned in a month." I was devastated by the thought of my dad suffering in the wasteland. If this was how Jim treated my family and me, I didn't want to be with him anymore.

Adrian had fallen into his brother's trap. Stripped of his Alpha title, he was exiled from the pack. On the road into exile, he was ambushed by rogue wolves. Broken and hopeless, he stopped fighting altogether, ready to die. As Adrian's kept lover, I was about to abandon him and run for my life — until a flood of glowing comments rolled across my vision. [The villainess is finally showing her true colors. Once she's gone, there'll be nothing stopping the hero and heroine from meeting.] [But she doesn't know the hero is still alive. When he reclaims his Alpha title, the first thing he does is exile everyone who ever betrayed him — the villainess included. She gets torn apart by rogue wolves in the end, and honestly, she deserves it.] My blood ran cold. Before I could even think, I threw myself into the rogues and took a claw strike meant for him. Adrian stared at me in disbelief. I turned back to him, forcing a grin through the pain. "Adrian, don't you dare die on me — who's going to keep me fed?"

Three days before the Mating Ceremony, the Alpha confessed his affair to me. "While you were away on business, I slept with Sophie." "But don't worry — we'll still go through with the ceremony. You'll still be the pack's Luna." My heart went cold. I left him without a second thought. The next day, the girl I'd sponsored for ten years showed up at my door. She rubbed her slightly swollen belly with a smug look on her face. "Vivian, I'm carrying Ethan's child. This baby will be the Alpha's heir — so you can give up now." But what Ethan didn't know was that I was pregnant too. I didn't tell him. I just booked a ticket out of the pack. What I never expected was that after I left, Ethan would lose his mind trying to find me.