Stomach Growl

After I lost the baby, I gave up everything my mate, Alpha Rhydian, hated. I stopped using our bond to sense where he was. I could sleep soundly even when he didn't come back to our bedroom all night. I didn't even tell him when a rogue's silver blade sliced my arm during a border skirmish. The pack doctor told me to notify my family. I just answered calmly, "I don't have a family." The doctor recognized me. "You're the Luna. Alpha Rhydian is at headquarters. Should I inform him?" I shook my head gently. "No, don't." But half an hour later, Rhydian came anyway. His tall frame cast a shadow over me, his voice ice-cold. "You're hurt. Why didn't you call me through the mind link?" I lowered my eyes. "It's just a scratch. No need to bother the Alpha." A low growl rumbled in his chest. The air crackled with his fury. He was about to speak when a guard whispered outside the door, "The Alpha cares so much for Isla. She just pricked her finger on a rose thorn, and he gave her the pack's most precious moonlight herb." I saw his jaw clench. His gray-blue eyes shot to me, searching for the jealous rage I always used to show. I gave him nothing. Not even a blink. I just leaned back against the cheap hospital pillows and closed my eyes. But Rhydian's composure finally shattered.

The Legend Continued... The rejection was supposed to be her end. Instead, it was her awakening. After the devastating fallout at the Scarlett Vale engagement, the Silver Ridge Territory is a powder keg waiting for a spark. Avery Monroe is no longer the mute trophy or the discarded wife. She is a woman reborn from the ashes of betrayal, carrying the ultimate secret: the true heirs to the Montgomery throne. But freedom comes with a price that smells of blood and cedar. Hudson Montgomery has finally realized that the "dormant" wolf he cast aside was the only soul capable of anchoring his primal rage. Driven to the brink of madness by the severing of their bond, he has turned from a protector into a relentless predator. He doesn't just want Avery back—he wants to cage the fire he was too blind to see. But the man who once ignored her silence now finds himself deafened by her defiance. Standing between the hunter and his prey is Blake Donovan. The rival Alpha didn't just find Avery’s wreckage; he found his match. As Blake offers Avery the sanctuary of the Donovan lands, a feverish, erotic war of dominance begins. He wants to heal her, to claim her, and to raise her pups as his own—an act of ultimate defiance that would strip Hudson of his legacy forever. The Hunt is On. The Pack is Divided. The Mother is Lethal. Inside the Pages of Book 2: "You think a Mate-Contract is what tied me to you?" Hudson’s growl is a low, vibrating threat against the shell of her ear as he corners her in the shadows of the neutral grove. His scent—pine and storm-clouds—is an intoxicating suffocant. "I am your Alpha, Avery. Your skin remembers my touch, and your wolf... your wolf

"you will abort the baby" Anthony's voice was cold and rough. "I don't want a child" "I can't abort it" Avery's voice was small, fear hidden beneath it. Her hands went to her stomach instinctively and wrapped around it protectively. "It's not a request." Anthony's voice was calm but threatening and it stirred a warning inside Avery. A warning that he wasn't to be messed with. "It's an order. I own you for the next one year and you will do as I say" Avery wanted to yell at him but she couldn't. Even as he sat in a wheelchair, he still looked powerful and threatening. There was just something about him that scared people. "Now get lost" he rumbled and Avery's chest tightened. She couldn't bear to get rid of her only reason to hope. Her father kicked them out of the house months ago with no apparent means of survival and her mother had become gravely ill, bills piling up, and no one left to turn to, she agrees to the unthinkable. An arranged marriage to a dying billionaire she barely knows. He’s cold and cruel. And he makes it clear he wants nothing more than a convenient end to this marriage. But Avery’s not giving up that easily. If she’s going to sacrifice everything, she’s determined to make him fall for her, for hope and for the future neither of them planned

I grew up alongside Griffith, the Alpha of the Avalora Pack. Everyone said I was the luckiest woman in the entire kingdom of Mycintia. Griffith rejected the mate bond arranged for him by the Moon Goddess to be with me. He declared to the world that I was his one and only love. But after my miscarriage, I accidentally overheard him speaking to the healer, "Find a way to drug the Luna and remove her womb. Make sure she can never bear children again." Then, I saw him gently caressing another woman's stomach and saying, "Give her the best prenatal medicine. I want her to give birth to the strongest and most intelligent child." I knew that woman. She was Giselle, the fated mate the Moon Goddess had originally chosen for him. Griffith's voice turned grave as he issued his next command. "The Luna must never find out about this. And you must take care of her health at all costs. Otherwise, you'll suffer the consequences." Pain sliced through me. I had never imagined that the man who once swore he loved me more than life itself could betray me so cruelly. In the end, I left without a word. Since they wanted to be together so much, I stepped aside to let him and his destined mate be together. Yet, he told me later that after losing me, he lost the ability to love.

“The babies you carry are mine. You're mine, Lyra. And you do not have a choice. He growled, his eyes narrowing. You’re my Luna and you belong to me.” “Don’t talk to me about belonging!” I shouted. “You threw me away the day you chose Eloisa. On our son's death anniversary, Damian!” His face twisted with anger. “You think you can just run off from the Blood Nest Pack? You’re making a fool of yourself.” Damian's voice rang through the tent. I looked up at him, refusing to cower under his burning stare. “You lost me the day you declared Eloisa your partner. I do not belong to you, Damian!” I yelled through gritted teeth. He stepped forward, taking hold of my arm. Rylan sprang forward, baring his wolf fangs. “Let her go now. She is under my protection,” he commanded in a low growl. Damian's grip on me weakened and he stepped back, not willing to tango with the brute rogue who was his enemy, and also, my second fated mate. Damian's eyes stayed on my stomach for a while. “I'll claim my babies, Lyra. You can't stop me.” It was as much of a promise as it was a threat

He pressed our hands together, mixing our blood as he spoke the words that sealed my fate. “I, Alpha Kayden Maxwell of the Blood Moon pack, reject Leah James as my mate.” The words hit me like a punch to the chest, knocking the air from my lungs. The pain that followed was unbearable, like my soul was being torn in two. I gasped and clutched my chest as the bond between us snapped. “I… I, Leah James, accept your rejection.” Kayden turned away from me as if I was nothing more than a nuisance. “Now that that’s done, I have another announcement. Selena will be my mate. She has all the qualities of a future Luna.” The crowd erupted into cheers. Their approval for Selena was loud and clear. I watched as she stepped forward. She leaned into Kayden as if to mark her territory. The sight of them together made my stomach turn. ********************************* Leah’s world shatters when her fated mate, Alpha Kayden, rejects her for another. Heartbroken, she discovers that she is not just an ordinary wolf. In fact, she is the last heir to a powerful bloodline. As dark forces rise and her hidden powers awaken, Leah must face the truth about her past and the dangerous future ahead. With a prophecy threatening to destroy everything, Leah is forced to choose between love and power. Can she and Kayden stop the coming storm or will her destiny tear them apart forever?

My husband, Gabriel Buckner, and I had been married for three years. I'd gotten pregnant twice, but I'd lost both babies. It was all because of my in-laws' parrot that could talk. The first time I got pregnant and went to their house, the parrot stared at my belly and kept repeating, "Get rid of the baby! Get rid of the baby!" The second time, the same thing happened. It looked right at my stomach and said the same words. I thought it was just nonsense, but to my shock, my in-laws actually took the parrot seriously and forced me to end the pregnancy. I even showed them the prenatal checkup report from my doctor to prove that the baby was perfectly healthy and begged them not to do it. But they dragged me to the hospital anyway and made me have an abortion on the spot. When I got pregnant a third time, I wanted to be extra cautious. I went straight for an amniocentesis. The report confirmed the baby was healthy and even showed a 99.9% DNA match with Gabriel's. I thought everything would be fine this time. But as soon as the parrot saw me again, it repeated the same words—"Get rid of the baby." And just like before, the Buckners immediately tried to drag me to the hospital. I couldn't understand it. The baby was perfectly healthy, and the DNA report proved it was Gabriel's child. So why would they rather believe a parrot and insist that I get rid of the baby?

My girlfriend Chloe Bennett's childhood buddy, Daniel Miller, binds himself to a transfer system. Everything he eats gets sent straight into my stomach. He creates a live stream channel and eats nonstop for 12 hours a day to rake in money. Meanwhile, I end up in the ER with acute pancreatitis. I try to explain everything to Chloe, but she just looks at me like I've lost my mind. "How could something that ridiculous exist? If food could magically transfer, nobody would starve in the world. You're just jealous he's making money from streaming." Afterward, Daniel's every live stream triggers another pancreatitis episode, sending me back to the ER until I'm barely holding on. I get tested, but the doctors can't figure out what's wrong. They even want to admit me to psych. Later, in a desperate bid to outdo another streamer, Daniel downs ten pounds of mashed potatoes at once. The overload destroys my spleen and stomach, causing massive internal bleeding that kills me. When I open my eyes again, I'm back on the day of Daniel's very first live stream. This time, I rush out and order 20 takeout dishes before him. "This time, I'm eating first."

After I am diagnosed with stomach cancer, I ask for some money to buy medicine. I don't want to be in excruciating pain when I die. My three elder brothers rush into the ICU. Andy Lewis—my eldest brother—slaps me hard across my face. He scolds me for ruining his beloved younger sister, Summer Lewis' coming-of-age party. My second brother, Sherman Lewis, calls me a liar. He accuses me of pretending to be sick to swindle money from them. Jimmy Lewis, who is my third brother, calls me useless. He tells me that I deserve to die. My parents, Kenneth Lewis and Autumn Farrow, don't believe that I'm sick. They pin me with looks of contempt and ridicule. "You still haven't stopped that lying habit of yours even though you're all grown up. You even learned how to blackmail us with your death. "If you want to die, do it sooner. It'll spare us from being disgusted when we're forced to look at you day in and day out." I end up dying on the first day of the New Year. Before I breathe my last breath, I send a message to the family group chat. My entire family goes crazy after reading it.

I've spent a huge sum of money on a custom-fitted gown just so I can go on a date with my fiance, Vincenzo Rossi, on New Year's Eve. He's also known as the rising star of the mafia underworld. But Vincenzo sounds very impatient on the other end of the line. "Can you stop being so clingy, Grazia? I have an important business gathering to get to on New Year's Eve!" His younger sister, Valentina Rossi, adds, "My brother's doing this for the sake of your shared future, Grazia. Stop causing trouble for him, okay?" I end the call, feeling disappointed. After that, I console myself, saying that Vincenzo is working very hard for the sake of our future. But that illusion only lasts till the moment my friend sends a video clip to me. Vincenzo can be seen hugging a gorgeous woman in the clubhouse. They are in the middle of making out with each other. Valentina, on the other hand, leads her friends on as they cheer for the couple. It turns out that Vincenzo's "important business" is to spend the night with another woman. I drain my glass of the strong alcohol. Scorching pain flares from my stomach immediately. Since Vincenzo can find himself a woman to toy with, then why can't I do the same? I swipe a finger across my phone and dial the number of the rival family's Don. "I want you to order the two most good-looking male escorts for me right now."