Supreme Magus

I check on family businesses in the countryside with my girlfriend, Mildred McClure, in tow. At noon, we stop by my uncle, Barron Cortez's, place for a simple lunch. Just as we are getting ready to leave, his new wife, whom he married just six months ago, Hilda Ross, rushes out and demands that we settle the bill. "Elden, you two just had the Supreme Farmhouse Set Meal, which is 1,888.80 dollars, and your girlfriend picked three organic, pesticide-free tomatoes in the garden. That's 199.80 dollars. "With an 80% service charge, your total comes to 3,800 dollars." Mildred is stunned. "Elden, do we have to pay to eat at your uncle's place?" I start to feel embarrassed, and my expression darkens as I look at Hilda, my supposed aunt, who's barely any older than me. "I've grown up eating at my uncle's place and never paid a single penny. Besides, your prices are downright outrageous!" Hilda calmly whips out a price menu and righteously declares, "That's all ancient history. Now, we're running a farmhouse business where all prices are clearly marked, so everyone pays the same rate. "Barron said you're some big boss in the city. Surely you're not going to stiff us over a little bill, are you?" She steps in front of the gate to block the exit with her body and shoots me a contemptuous look. "Even family settles their accounts. If you don't pay up today, don't even dream about stepping through this door!" While Mildred panics, I laugh in disbelief before taking out my phone and dialing Barron's number. "Uncle Barron, Hilda wants to settle accounts between family, so don't you think it's time we settled our accounts too?"

Lumina gave Ethan Cole everything: her heart, her trust, her future. As fated mates, they were destined by the Moon Goddess herself. But when pack politics demanded a marriage alliance, Ethan didn't just reject her privately; he destroyed her publicly. In front of over 200 pack members at his engagement ceremony to another woman. His words of rejection shattered her. But they didn't kill her. Eleven months later, Lumina has rebuilt herself. She's Crestwood's most sought-after healer, strong, independent, and sworn never to trust a mate bond again. Then, Supreme Alpha Dylan Virelli crashes into her clinic, bleeding and half-dead. Dylan is the most powerful werewolf on the East Coast, feared, untouchable. He's also been tortured by insomnia for seven years. But when Lumina's hands touch his skin to heal him, something happens: he sleeps. For the first time in seven years, he finds peace. She's his cure. His sanctuary. His second chance mate. But not everyone is happy about it. Cruella Hayes, Dylan's obsessive ex-lover, refuses to let go. Ethan realizes what he lost and wants Lumina back. And Morgana, Ethan's cruel wife, has set her greedy eyes on Dylan. When enemies close in from all sides, Lumina faces impossible choices. She is kidnapped twice. Tortured twice. The first time, she survives, but her body pays a price. The second time, she pours everything she has into protecting her unborn twins, but one dies. And the betrayals don't stop there. The people closest to her are not who she thinks they are. Her best friend. Her mentor. The ones she trusted most are the ones who cut the deepest. Will she survive long enough to fight for the mate who will burn the world to keep her safe? Or will the shadows of betrayal destroy everything?

"Do you really think someone like you is worthy of love?" he whispered in Eleanor's ear, making her body shudder in fear. "I... I don't know," she stuttered, her voice trembling, eyes fixed on the ground to avoid his piercing gaze. "I would never love a weak wolf like you, an aberration," he spat with disdain, his words filled with anger. "You shame our kind, Eleanor!" She slowly lifted her eyes to meet his intense gaze. "Do you hate me for this?" she asked, her voice faltering. "Hate?" He tilted his head, a cruel smile forming on his lower lip. "Hate is too soft a word. I feel repulsion towards you, disgust at being tied to such an insignificant being." Eleanor fought back tears as she heard his next words. "I, Asher Bennett, future Alpha of the Bloody Moon Pack, reject Eleanor Parker as my mate!" he growled angrily, turning away with contempt. "Never dare to say you're my mate again, You have a choice, Eleanor. You can bow down and accept your miserable fate... or you can fight, like the fool you are, thinking you have any chance." "A miserable fate for a wretched girl, what more could Eleanor Parker expect? After being brutally rejected by her mate and betrayed by her stepsister, sold like an animal by those who wished her dead, she rises from the ashes beside the great and supreme Alpha King Lynca, the cruelest of all werewolves capable of killing anyone who dares to disobey him. "I thought I signed my death sentence with the bloodthirsty Alpha King, responsible for hundreds of deaths. Yet, he became my rebirth, making me feel alive. Love drew me toward the abyss between us, where I could easily lose myself." Eleanor sighed, meeting his mesmerizing arctic blue eyes.

The Clan Healer told me that without the vial of Progenitor's Blood, the Blood Blight afflicting me meant I had only seventy-two hours to live. But my husband, Miles, the new Duke of our world, gave the only vial of the precious cure to my adopted sister, Vivienne, the woman I had turned three years ago. "She's in agony from the rejection, Isolde. It's a pain you can't possibly understand." His tone was self-righteous, devoid of any concern for the patch of skin on my collarbone already turning to stone. I nodded, watching as the life-saving, dark red liquid slid down another woman's throat. I accomplished a great deal in the time I had left. As I signed the documents, the lawyer's hand trembled. "Are you certain you want to transfer everything, Your Grace? The territorial rights of a thousand-year-old clan..." I didn't hesitate. "Yes. To Vivienne." My adopted daughter, Lily, the girl I had risked everything to save, who was now forever frozen at the age of eight, cowered in Vivienne's arms, pointing at me and screaming, "Aunt Vivienne is my real mommy! You're the witch who turned us into monsters!" I offered no defense. "Yes, that's right. Be a good girl and listen to your new mother now." The Progenitor's Ring, the symbol of the clan's supreme authority, now rested on Vivienne's hand. "Oh, sister, you're too kind," she sobbed, her sobs a practiced performance. "I'll be sure to protect the family in your stead." I nodded. "You'll run things better than I ever did." I even signed away my control over the Elder Council, a council sustained by my own blood. For the first time in a century, a shadow of complex emotion crossed Miles's face. He stared at me,"Isolde, stop fighting. It's better this way. You need to rest." Yes. On my deathbed, I had finally become the perfect, submissive Isolde they always wanted. An Isolde who was about to turn to dust. The seventy-two-hour countdown had begun. I wondered, when I finally turned to ash,