The Appalachian Mountains

Six years earlier, Avery Walters relentlessly pursued the law school heartthrob, Lucien Holmes. After three months of dating, she brushed him off with a careless line—“I got bored of sleeping with you”—and ended things without a shred of hesitation. Six years after the breakup, the two met again. The once-privileged heiress and the penniless man she once knew had completely traded places in life. He rose to the top as a powerhouse at an elite law firm, while she was burdened with debt, raising a daughter, and trapped in an abusive marriage. Lucien appeared as her divorce attorney, his gaze toward her filled with open mockery. “This is all your own doing.” Avery knew that Lucien hated her to the bone. She deliberately avoided any further entanglement with Lucien. On the day she left, she smiled and wished him a happy marriage. Yet this man crossed mountains and long roads just to find her. At a small-town inn, he cornered her in a dimly lit room, his eyes red as he pulled her into a tight embrace. “Do you really have the heart to abandon me again?”

The young and beautiful daughter of a hunter, Isabella Abegail Bannister was born with a silver spoon in her mouth and yet unlike other rich man's child, her life is more challenging than most. As the only descendant of her father, she has to become the head of their clan and that is to protect the human against wolves. The Northern region was at peace for a while ever since her family and the Alpha of the North signed an agreement of peace treaty. The wolves are not to enter the city, without permission from the head of the leader while the people in the City are forbidden to hunt the mountains that belong to the Vernice. The signed agreement was respected and maintained until the heirs took over. As Alpha Zero passes his leadership to his son Charles, Isabella becomes the head of the Bannister hunters. What would happen to peace and the promise of co-existence? When both of them have their grudge against each other. But faith will turn the tables around after Alpha Charles falls into the charm of a beautiful female hunter named Isabella. And Isabella needle his help in her fight against the other pack of wolves. That she wouldn't mind seducing him to get back at her enemies.

On the day my boyfriend and I moved into our new home, his ex-girlfriend gave us a mysterious gift. The moment I opened the front door, a swarm of hornets came flying out. I screamed in fright as I felt seven or eight stings from them. His ex, Erica Loft, jumped out from behind the door with a giggle. She shouted, "Surprise! "I went up the mountains to visit a master craftsman. I wanted to get you this specially brewed hornet wine, and I even brought back a hornet's nest for you to decorate your new house with! "Isn't this a great gift?" Erica made a face at us. She was gleeful at the messy predicament I was in. My boyfriend, Joe Fulham, clenched his teeth. He rushed forward to grab Erica by the wrist as he shouted angrily at her. "Are you crazy? Don't you know that hornets are venomous?! Is this really a surprise, or are you trying to hurt us?" I listened to another one of their huge arguments from behind the door, feeling like an outsider in my own relationship. As I felt the stinging pain in my arm, I knew this wedding was about to fall through.

Sharon McKinzie's husband's first love was dying. He often said to Sharon, "Sharon, Kelly doesn't have much time left. Don't be petty and hold things against her." To make up for the regrets of his past, he traveled with Kelly—through mountains and rivers, beneath starlit skies and over distant seas. He even handed over the wedding they had planned—his and Sharon's—to Kelly Walt, without shame or hesitation. Even their five-year-old son clung to Kelly. "Mommy isn't even half as pretty as Kelly," he said. "Kelly's pretty. Why can't Kelly be my mommy?" Sharon decided to grant them their wish. She left behind the divorce papers and walked away without a word. Later, her ex-husband and son knelt before her—her ex-husband full of regret, her son's cheeks streaked with tears. "Honey… please come back to us." "Mommy… do you really not want us anymore?" Just then, a handsome man wrapped his arm around Sharon's waist. "There you are, honey," he said gently. "Our son's still at home, waiting for you to feed him."

Even though I've been with Eric Blackclaw, the heir to the Alpha title, for three years, he's still unwilling to mark me. Later, he falls in love at first sight with my stepsister, Layla Talbot. Thus, he begins courting her in a grand manner in the pack. This time, I no longer throw a tantrum, nor do I question Eric like I did before. Instead, I just burn all the gifts he's given me and rip my gown for our marking ceremony into shreds. On Eric's birthday, I leave Northpine Woods on my own. Before I board the private jet bound for another continent, Eric sends me a message via the mind-link. "Avril, why aren't you here yet? Everyone's waiting for you." I don't respond to Eric at all. This time, I just sever my mind-link with Eric. What he doesn't know is that I've already accepted Alpha Marcus Howler's mating proposal to me half a month ago. Once the private jet lands in the new territory located in Frosthill Mountains, Marcus and I will become mates with the Moon Goddess as our witness.

My insanely wealthy parents always tell me that they came from a poor background. As their children, my siblings and I mustn't waste our lives away on fun and games. They set up a trial for me by requesting that I submit an application in advance for all expenses that are over 50 cents. On the day I'm supposed to take my SATs, it's raining heavily outside. Since my exam venue is located 18 miles away from home, I decide to submit an application for a 100-dollar Uber fee. But my dad slaps me in return. "We used to scale over mountains just to get to school back in the day! Don't think you get to enjoy the perks of transportation just because we have money!" After that, he empties my pockets before kicking me out of the house. I end up all sprawled on the muddy ground while feeling raindrops pelting on me relentlessly. When I finally reach the exam venue on foot, I notice the news being played on the huge screen across the street. It turns out that my parents and William Gentry, my older brother, have spent ten million dollars on a popular band to celebrate my adopted sister, Selene Gentry, earning a passing grade on her math test. Apparently, passing her math test is her trial.

After ten years together, my boyfriend bailed me and marked my sister—Rose Howell. Right after, Jack Sterling—Silvernorth's youngest professor—blasted our engagement on the academy site. We were bonded seven years. He acted like the perfect mate—quiet, loyal, like I was his whole world. Then I caught him talking to a colleague. "Rose is the most promising healer in Silvernorth now. How long are you gonna keep faking it with that she-wolf?" "For Rose to have peace, I'll keep Wyettta around. She won't dare mess with their bond." Seven years, trashed like a strategy memo. His journal? All her name. [May Rose shine.] [Let Rose be the happiest she-wolf alive.] [I'd stay mated to someone I don't love if it makes her smile.] Seven years, and I woke up in a nightmare. On our mark anniversary, I took the gondola. Sun rising. Drop, endless. Blocked the mind link. Drank the potion. Severed our mate bond. Jumped. Soon as word spread, Jack led Silvernorth's top warriors into the cliffs, launching the most brutal search the region's ever seen—trying to recover his "lost mate." He howled my name into the mountains like regret could bring me back.

Aria could never imagine herself walking down the aisle, flashing a smile, and wearing a beautiful white wedding dress. Never had ever crossed her mind to get married. She's sure and knew it better than anyone. As cliché as it is, Aria's meant to marry the son of her mother's best friend, Ashton. Aside from the fear of commitment, she also doesn't want to be with someone she doesn't even love. After all, she is just a woman who never experienced true love before. Months passed when the preparation for her wedding came. She met Easton, a famous fashion designer in the Philippines. As Easton was taking measures for her gown, he accidentally clasped her two little mountains resulting for Aria to act instinctively and greeting him with a powerful uppercut that made his nose bleed with ketchup. There's no doubt that their expected first encounter was a total disaster. The day of her wedding came, and she finally decided to run away before she could even set foot in the sacred church and taint her soul. At that time, all that she could think of was to run and before she knew it, she finally arrived at her desired destination. . . unknowingly at Easton's wounded heart.

On the road, I met a woman unlike anyone I had ever seen before. Her name was Janet Smith. She seemed slow and almost childlike, yet she had been wandering alone for two years without ever going home. Even with one leg crippled, she had forced herself to climb the Highveil Mountains. This time, however, she was caught in a blizzard. Injured and stranded, she could no longer make her way down. As her vision blurred and her strength slipped away, tears covered her face. She placed a pair of small handmade clay dolls in my hands. "I'm probably going to die here," she murmured. "Please give these to my adoptive brother, Chester Graham." She was clearly at death's door, yet her smile was soft and unexpectedly serene. "Tell him I've seen enough of the world. I don't love him anymore. And tell him he doesn't need to worry. I'm not so foolish now. I won't cause trouble for anyone again." Chester? At the sound of his name, I stood rooted to the spot. In Riverton City, everyone who worked at the harbor knew him, the so-called Ship King. Right before I left for the mountains, news of his engagement had been everywhere.

Morrigan has always been an outsider in her own pack, known for living in the snow-capped mountains of the north and their “survival of the fittest” mentality. Her parents passed soon after she was born, and so she was raised by two very different uncles. Idris, her mother’s brother and Gamma of the pack, has nourished her intelligence and strength, training her almost daily. Oskar, her fathers brother, who temporarily holds the Beta position until Anders, her older brother, is of age, could care less about her, banishing her to the basement of his home and isolating her from the rest of the pack. When she turned eighteen and didn’t meet her mate in the pack, she knew that she had to leave, and she knew just how to do it. Every year, the Royal Guard comes to packs across the kingdom to watch and train the warriors, and if someone impresses them enough, they may be invited to attend Royal Guard training at the capital. Being so difficult to get to, they only go to The Summit Keepers every ten years, and this is the year. When Morrigan gets recruited, it feels like a dream come true, but as she arrives in the capital, she realizes things may not be as they seem. Will this new world truly be like she thought? Or will she run into trouble?