Substitute

Dorine Okpara is perfect in everything, she has the best grades, good friends, great culinary skills and is a wonderful sister to her other half, Doris. All Doris Okpala wants, is a peaceful life and one that she can live her dream of being an amazing actress. She believes she is not the perfect daughter, nonetheless, she loves her twin a lot that she chooses to impersonate Dorine at her request. Matthew Udochi, the son of a wealthy businessman, will not be pleased to find out that he married one of the twins and fell in love with the other.

Without warning, Ezra drags me over to his desk in the corner of the study room and shoves me towards it. There, he rips my dress and pulls my arms behind me, tying both my wrists with the torn cloth. It hurts. I shake my head and a strangled sob escapes my lips. “Part your legs, Alayna.” he growls I try to free my hands but this results in him tightening the cloth further. Ezra presses his himself against my back. “Spread. Your. Legs.” *** The black sheep. The unwanted one. The second choice. Those were the names I grew up with. But when my sister mysteriously vanished on her wedding day, I was forced to take on another name, the Luna. “I never loved you. You’re nothing to me but a substitute.” Ezra's words burn in my mind every night as I lay in his bed, letting him ravage and abuse my body. Tears spring to my eyes with every thrust, with every slap, with every bite of his wolf fangs. It was never meant to be like this, I was never meant to be his Luna, I was never meant to be his whore. He was meant to marry my sister, the beautiful, strong and brave she-wolf of our family. Instead, he ended up with a mute omega; me. My name is Alayna Morningstar. And this is my story.

My CEO wife insists on taking a young, fresh intern under her wing. She wants to train him personally. She says to me, "Don't overthink this. I just value his potential." She's always been stern and stoic, but she starts dressing in pink and pulling her hair back in high ponytails. On our third wedding anniversary, she and the intern even willfully disappear for 48 hours. When others are searching for her like mad, she shares photos of her riding a carousel and holding cotton candy. She captions them, "I found the purest of joys in the most joyful of places—all because of you!" Our company loses a huge project because of this, and I lose my wife. I slip a divorce agreement between the pages of the intern's application to become a permanent staff member. My wife signs it without even looking and says, "Knowing what Elliot can do, he's more than capable of carrying out the role of a vice president." I calmly hand her my resignation. "You're right. That's why I'll make way for him."

On the night of his wedding, the bride ran. And in her place, her younger brother was forced into the Alpha’s arms. Now bound to a man he cannot stand, the young omega is trapped in a world of silk cages and iron chains. His husband is a ruthless mafia king with a heart carved from betrayal. To him, this marriage is nothing more than punishment, a cruel reminder of the woman who abandoned him. But hate burns hot, and desire burns hotter. What begins as vengeance and resentment slowly twists into something neither of them can control. Every stolen kiss, every brutal touch, every clash of wills drags them deeper into dangerous territory. When lies unravel and forbidden bonds ignite, both Alpha and Omega must decide: Will they be each other’s ruin… or their only salvation?

My husband, Matthew Lorenzo, dies unexpectedly. Soon after, my in-laws come to me with an outrageous suggestion. "Why not let Matthew’s twin brother take you in and look after you? After all, your child needs a father." My sister-in-law, Felicia Dare, furiously calls me a shameless woman. I turn to look at Matthew's brother, Michael Lorenzo. It's like staring at Matthew's face all over again. The grief hits me hard. Just as I'm about to talk my in-laws out of this ridiculous idea, I overhear a conversation behind the door between them and "Michael". "Michael was the one who died. Why did you lie and let everyone think it was you?" Matthew sighs. "The one I love is Felicia. Faking my death was the only way I could be with her openly. And as for this nonsense about taking Luna in and looking after her—drop it. "As for Luna, I gave her a child and a respectable marriage. I don't owe her anything." I turn around and see my daughter standing there with her eyes red. She asks, "Mommy, does Daddy not want us anymore?" I kneel down, gather her into my arms, and hold back the ache in my chest. "Sweetheart, your uncle just wants to protect the person he loves. We shouldn't disturb him; it's time we start our new life."

Xylah always had a crush on the sexy Alpha Errol. Even though he didn't put her in his eyes and was just her step-sister's friend, a single glance from him was enough to make her knees weak. On the mating hour, Xylah was happy when the moon goddess chose her and Errol as mates, but the next day at the mate feast, Errol cruelly rejected her in front of everyone. As if that wasn't enough, it was revealed to Xylah that she had been betrothed to the useless prince as a bride, a substitute for her elder stepsister.

Everyone in Vallermoore knew I was Cole Mitchell and Finn Archer's most treasured princess. At 12, Cole saved me from my abusive dad's grip and gave me a second shot at life. He vowed to protect me always. At 13, Finn rented out an entire amusement park for my birthday and whispered that guarding my smile was his mission for life. Now I was 23, and they locked me in a pitch-black, freezing attic for three winter days. As I slowly lost consciousness, they were busy fawning over Zoey Hart, their long-lost childhood friend. "Everything you have is mine, so it's time to give it back." After hearing what Zoey said, I left without making a scene or shedding a single tear. However, for years after, they tore the city apart and tried to find me like mad.

My mate's adoptive sister asked me to go for a walk in the mountain forest and we encountered a sudden flash flood. My mate Nathan, the Alpha of Snow Peak pack, rushed to save us. But because we were both trapped on a breaking tree branch above the raging flood, he could only save one person at a time. To save his physically weak adoptive sister, my mate abandoned me - his Luna who was five months pregnant. I begged him desperately to save me. He watched as the flood waters dragged me under. "Sarah has always been weak since childhood. If we leave her here, she'll die." "Your wolf is strong enough to swim, but Sarah can't swim." But after my death, he went mad.

Charles Jansen's true love returns to the country in my seventh year with him. The first post on her social media after she lands is an intimate photo of them together. She captions it, "I'm glad we've come full circle." Only then do I find out the ring hidden in the living room isn't for me. Charles' proposal isn't for me, either. Suddenly, I feel exhausted.

“Pipay!” galit na sigaw ng aking madrasta mula sa kanyang silid habang abala sa pag-aayos ng kanyang mukha. Halos magputok ang ugat sa kanyang leeg, na para bang ako ang dahilan ng lahat ng problema niya sa buhay. “Bakit po, Madam?” mahinahon kong sagot habang tuloy sa paglalampaso ng sahig. “Madam”—iyon ang itinawag niya sa akin mula pa noong una, at dahil sa takot, hindi ko na rin inusisa kung bakit. Ako nga pala si Piazza Fontana Vega, o mas kilala bilang Pipay. Dalawampu’t dalawang taong gulang na ako, ngunit hanggang Grade 5 lang ang naabot ko. Natigil ako sa pag-aaral noong mag-asawa muli ang aking ama. Simula noon, naging parang alipin na ako ng aking madrasta. Araw-araw, pareho lang ang eksena sa bahay. Ako ang gumagawa ng lahat ng gawain habang si Madam at ang kanyang anak na si Claire ay nag-e-enjoy sa luho ng buhay. Pero kahit ganoon, may lihim akong pangarap. Minsan, sa mga tahimik na gabi, iniisip ko kung darating ba ang araw na makakawala ako sa ganitong sitwasyon. “PIPAY!” muling sigaw ng aking madrasta, na tila mas nagiging galit pa. Agad kong iniwan ang mop at tumakbo sa kanyang kwarto. Kailangan kong magmadali. Kapag natagalan ako, mas matindi ang parusa. “Madam, may kailangan po ba kayo?” magalang kong tanong sa aking Madrasta. "Bakit ba ang bagal mong kumilos? HETO! Labhan mo pati ang damit ng anak ko!” sigaw niya, sabay hagis sa akin ng maruruming damit. Tumama ito sa aking mukha, pero wala akong nagawa kundi damputin ang mga ito. “Opo, Madam,” sagot ko, habang pinipigil ang pagbagsak ng luha.