Stray Synonym

Ten years of devotion. Two years of a hollow marriage. One night to break it all. Lanka Monroe was a stray, a broken pup rescued from the dirt and raised within the cold, prestigious walls of the Wolfe Crest Estate. For a decade, he worshipped the man who saved him—Andrew Wolfe, the lethal, untouchable Alpha of the North. But the hero of Lanka’s youth became the tyrant of his adulthood. To the pack, Lanka is the seductive social climber who drugged the Alpha to secure a mating bond. To Andrew, Lanka is a stain on his reputation, a burden to be endured until his "true" match returns. When Andrew’s old flame, Serena, reappears to reclaim her throne, the fragile peace shatters. Lanka is tired of being the ghost in the hallways. He’s ready to tear the ancestral earrings from his flesh and walk out of the estate with his pride intact. But as he hands over the divorce papers, a dark secret in the Wolfe bloodline comes to light. Andrew doesn’t just want a mate anymore—he needs a donor. And suddenly, the Alpha who wouldn't touch Lanka is the one pinning him to the bed, demanding the very pup he once forbade. In a world of ancient pack laws and silver-tongued lies, Lanka must decide: Will he remain a sacrificial lamb for the Wolfe family, or will he let the bond burn to ashes to find his own freedom?

Elena stifled a smile, but he already saw her mouth start to curve upwards and he grinned at her. She ignored him. "I'm serious, Chandler." His smile was instantaneous. "Noted." She licked her lips. Her eyes were wide and nervous, and she tucked a stray hair behind her ear. "And you can't me." Chandler tilted his head to the side and studied her. Pushing away from the car, he took a step closer to her. She held her ground, lifting her chin at his approach. "What if you ask me to you?" he said quietly. "Then can I?" Elena exhaled shakily. "I won't do that." "No?" Carefully, he touched his thumb to the curve of her chin. She shook her head, and his hand fell away. "Maybe you won't," he told her. "But hear me right now, love, I'd love it if you asked me for a ." —------ When Elena Davis decided to move to Vacaville, she had just one thing in mind — to start her business over after she'd failed the first time she tried. It'd be nice to live in the same city as her twin sister, and getting reunited with her university crush, Elijah Kendrick doesn't seem like a bad idea. But fate, however, has its own plans and she finds herself drawn to someone else—his brother, Chandler Kendrick.

Caleb Smith's best friend, Kevin Baker, calls me in a panic and tells me that Caleb has been in a terrible racing accident. Without a second thought, I rush to the hospital and donate two pints of blood to save him. As I walk past a hospital room, I freeze. There's Caleb—standing perfectly healthy beside a hospital bed. Kevin throws his head back and howls with laughter. "It's April Fools' Day. We actually managed to trick Winnie Jewel into donating two pints of blood. Too bad that it's useless, though. We might as well feed it to the stray dogs." Vivian Jewel, lying in a hospital bed, looks up at Caleb. "Caleb, don't you think that's a bit much?" A fond smile curves Caleb's lips as he replies, "I can't help it. Where does Winnie get the nerve to take your place? She should have stayed in the orphanage, but since she forced her way back into the Jewel family, she can't blame us for taking your side." Kevin jumps in eagerly. "This year marks the eighth year since she returned to the Jewel family, and the eighth year we've been pranking her." Their undisguised mockery spills out of the room. I pull out my phone and contact my aunt, Gianna Jewel. "Aunt Gianna, I’ve decided. Let's leave the country."

On the night of Halloween, my best friend, Mina Corvelle, rushes to save the black cat before me, triumph dancing in her eyes. That is when I, Elora Aldridge, realize that she has been reincarnated, too. In my past life, she scorned the stray for being filthy, so she kept her distance. So, it was I who took pity on the cat and rescued it. When I walked past an old blind woman manning a roadside stall, she told me that the cat was a rare dark fortune cat. Once it recognized a master, it would draw dark riches from all directions and bring unimaginable wealth. I dismissed it as superstition. Yet, the very next day, I was inexplicably promoted to director of the department. Soon after, my family's dilapidated old house found itself part of a redevelopment scheme, and we were given compensation of eight apartments and 30 million dollars in cash. Even the enigmatic golden boy of Lakeshire, Cassian Mercer, started to pursue me relentlessly, declaring that he would only marry me and no one else. But not long after I married Cassian, Mina trapped me—and the black cat—inside the apartment. She then set it on fire, burning us alive. Outside the inferno, she screamed, "Why should you get everything without even lifting a finger? All those riches should've been mine!" When I open my eyes again, I find myself back at the very intersection.

My in-laws were old-fashioned. They insisted that spending New Year's in their hometown was a must for a smooth year ahead. We could not get train tickets, so we decided to drive back. When my wife’s first love heard about it, he insisted on coming with us. He even brazenly took the front passenger seat from me. “Charles, I get carsick easily. I can only sit in the front.” Evan shot me a disdainful look. "It's just a seat. Why are you being so touchy?" “If you knew how to drive, would this even be an issue?” My in-laws chimed in as well. “You’re a grown man. Why are you making such a fuss over something so small?” Outnumbered, I had no choice but to squeeze into the back seat with my in-laws. Then, when we were passing a toll booth, Yvonne spotted a stray dog and was suddenly overcome with compassion. “That poor dog. Let’s bring it home with us.” I immediately objected, “The car is already full. If we bring a dog too, we’ll be over the limit. We won’t even be allowed on the road.” Before I had even finished speaking, Evan turned on me without hesitation. “Charles, in that case, why don’t you give up your seat for the dog? You can just take a cab back!”

“Elion,” Brielle’s voice was soft but charged with intent as she stepped closer, her eyes locking onto his. “You keep telling me to stay away, but I see the way you look at me when you think no one’s watching.” She brushed a stray lock of hair from her face, her fingers lingering just a moment longer than necessary. “Maybe it’s time we stop pretending. Maybe it’s time we risk everything—for us.” Elion’s breath hitched, torn between duty and desire. “Brielle, you’re so young… and I’m your Alpha, your guardian. Crossing this line could destroy everything.” She smiled, a mixture of challenge and invitation. “Sometimes the greatest risks lead to the most unforgettable rewards. Don’t you want to see where this could go?” ======= In the shadowed city of Silvercrest, eighteen-year-old Brielle Crest’s rare healing blood marks her as both a miracle and a target. Orphaned by a brutal attack that shattered her family, she is taken in by Elion Zaphiel, the formidable thirty-five-year-old Alpha of the powerful Zaphiel Pack—a man whose protection blurs the line between guardian and something dangerously more. As political alliances tighten and rival packs close in, Brielle and Elion must navigate a forbidden love complicated by their seventeen-year age gap, defying tradition and igniting fierce jealousy within their ranks. With dark magic, deadly enemies, and their own haunted pasts threatening to tear them apart, can their bond survive and change their fate?

"I won’t accept a dirty, poverty-stricken stray as my mate. I reject this bond." Solange Park spent her life clawing out of the dirt. Born in a brothel and haunted by her mother’s debts, Alistair’s rejection nearly cost her life. After being hunted and nearly sold into slavery, she rebuilt herself using the very thing she always despised... her beauty. Alistair Vance thought rejecting his fated mate was mercy. He believed a poor, bastard girl would ruin everything he has built. He thought he was protecting his reputation; instead, he shattered his own soul. By the time he realized his mistake, it was too late. Now, six years later, she is back with a new name, a successful life, and a human protector she actually trusts. When fate forces them together, Alistair becomes dangerously obsessed, willing to do anything to win back the woman he’d carelessly discarded. Solange sees his desperation, laughs in his face, and offers him a deal. If he wants her, he will pay for every second. She becomes his sugar baby, taking his money and protection, but never his bond… the one thing he wants. Because this time, the Alpha is not the one in control. Alistair accepts the punishment, enduring every cruel rejection for a chance to keep her by his side in any capacity. But obsession is a dangerous game, especially when you are no longer the only man fighting for the girl's heart.

"Kneel, Madison. Or did you forget that a stray like you doesn't deserve to stand in the presence of a True Alpha?" Austin’s voice was a jagged blade, but the heat of his hand on my throat told a different story. He’d traded me for my sister—the "real" daughter—claiming my scent was too weak, my blood too thin. He threw me to the dirt, watching with a smirk as my adoptive father tossed a few hundred-dollar bills at my feet and told me to disappear into the slums. They thought they broke me. They thought I was heading toward a life of hunger and shame with a family of "nobodies." They were dead wrong. When the black helicopters darkened the sky and the most powerful Lycan King in history stepped out to bow to me, the look on Austin’s face was worth more than his pathetic pack. My "impoverished" biological family didn't live in a shack—they owned the world. And my five "starving" brothers? They were the most lethal Alphas on the planet, and they were hungry for the blood of anyone who touched their sister. Now, I’m back. Not as the girl who begged for scraps, but as the Zillionaire Queen with enough silver to buy their souls and enough power to burn their legacy to ash. But there’s a problem: Ethan Harper. The Cursed Lycan King. A man who smells like midnight and looks like sin. He wants my heart, he wants my throne, and he’s determined to prove that while revenge is sweet, submission is delicious. He thinks he can tame the White Wolf. I think I’ll enjoy watching him try.

I was eighteen when I left Italy for Chicago. My brother Leo handed me over to his most powerful ally for “protection.” Don Damien Volkov. His eyes locked on me the first time we met. They never looked away. By day, I was his private doctor. By night, I was the only thing in his bed. His seduction was a slow, deliberate hunt. The way his body brushed against mine during an exam. A stray kiss that landed behind my ear. The weight of his hand resting on the small of my back. I fell fast and hard for his dark charm. I gave myself to him, letting him claim me, again and again. For four years, our affair was a secret hidden in the shadows. In that time, he sculpted my body, teaching it to crave his touch, molding me into his perfect obsession. Then she came back. Isabella, his exiled ex-fiancée. He sent his private jet for her. I swallowed my pride and crashed his reunion. An hour ago, his hands, still smelling of blood, gripped my chin. He forced his kiss on me. But now, right in front of me, he was stroking another woman's hair. "Elara, you're the one who climbed into my bed four years ago." "You act like a whore, but you expect me to treat you like a Donna?" The way he looked at Isabella was so tender. The way he looked at me was pure scorn. Shame burned through me. Head down, I sent my brother a coded text. Accept the Moretti proposal. I looked up. A smile bloomed on my face. "Fine. Then this is goodbye, Damien."

Ever since I was little, I knew my future mate would be one of two Alpha candidates: Mitchell or Jax. Even with all their Alpha pride, I never once doubted that set future. The pack elders always said it was natural for Alpha candidates to focus on getting stronger and controlling the pack. My mother, Lyra, even told me that every brutal fight they got into was so the winner could give me, their Luna, the ultimate honor. That is, until I and Elara – this Omega stray they'd taken in – got ambushed and captured by our old enemies, the Nightshade pack. Mitchell and Jax only had enough of the life-saving Moonpetal herb for one of us. And they both chose to give it to Elara. To save myself in that fire, I forced a shift. The power surge was too much. The heat twisted my cheekbone, and just like that, I was disfigured. After they dragged me out – like an afterthought – I watched those two future Alphas crying over Elara, who didn't have a scratch on her. "Thank the Moon Goddess, Elara, you're alive." "Once we sort out who's the new Alpha of Blackwood, whoever it is will give you the most honored spot right under the Luna, Elara. Don't you worry. We'll give you the best of everything our pack has, make sure you never suffer again." "Elara, you're the real Luna in our hearts." When I came to, I cut off that ridiculous mate bond for good. Empty promises and a trampled destiny? I was done with it. But after I left, they stayed by my cave every day, begging me to come back.