The Escape Artist

On the night of our mating ceremony, my mate, Damon, marked another she-wolf right in front of me. He said that if I wanted to be his Luna, I had to accept him having us both. In my past life, I screamed at him, accusing him of defying the Moon Goddess. Pressured by the Elders, he was forced to banish Lyla. She was run down by rogues and fell from a cliff to her death. After that, Damon refused to ever mark me. He even framed me, luring me into the forbidden lands as a pretext to banish me. Then, he hunted me down and killed me himself. I remember my body being picked apart by birds, the agony of it all. But now, I just stared at Damon's cold face, and at the Omega, Lyla, cradled in his arms. Then, I calmly reached up and removed the sacred symbol of our fated bond. "I refuse." And with that, under the shocked gazes of the entire pack, I walked away, heading for the frozen lands of the North. This time, I will make every single wolf who hurt me pay.

When Marcus, a notorious playboy billionaire, makes a bet with his friends that he can get any woman to marry him, he never expected to fall for the one woman he chose purely on a whim. Nicole is a struggling artist, barely making ends meet, and when Marcus offers her a sum of money to enter into a contract marriage with him, she reluctantly agrees. At first, their relationship is purely business, but as they spend more time together, they begin to realize that there's something deeper between them. Marcus is a complex man with a troubled past, but Nicole sees something in him that no one else ever has. As they navigate the difficulties of a contract marriage, they begin to fall for each other, despite their initial reluctance. However, their newfound love is threatened by outside forces. Nicole’s ex-boyfriend, a jealous musician, tries to sabotage their relationship at every turn, and Marcus’s cutthroat business rivals see his marriage as an opportunity to bring him down. As they fight to protect their love, Marcus and Nicole must confront their demons and learn to trust each other to build a real, lasting relationship.

La novena ceremonia de unión entre el Rey Alfa, Thorne Ravencrest, y yo, finalmente ha llegado. Sin embargo, una vez más, no logré convertirme en su Reina Luna. No porque él rompiera su promesa, sino porque no estoy lo suficientemente calificada. Los Ancianos dejaron muy claro que, cada Reina Luna reconocida por la Diosa de la Luna, a lo largo de la historia debe cultivar 365 Flores de Luz de Luna, utilizando su propia esencia de sangre. Pero cada año, en la víspera de la ceremonia, sin importar cuánto cuidado tenga, siempre falta una flor. Este año, casi me desangré por completo y apenas logré cultivar el número correcto. Extasiada, voy a buscar a Thorne, queriendo sorprenderlo. A través de la puerta entreabierta de la sala del trono, escucho a su Beta decirle: —Rey Alfa, Sera lo ha estado esperando por ocho años. ¿Alguna vez se unirá a ella? Thorne sacude la cabeza. —Le prometí a Willow que este año tampoco podemos unirnos. Su Beta vacila. —¿Y si Sera realmente logra cultivar suficientes Flores de Luz de Luna? Thorne se queda en silencio por un momento y luego aplaude. Un lobo de las sombras aparece y se funde en la oscuridad. Poco después, el lobo regresa con una Flor de Luz de Luna entre sus mandíbulas. Él desgarra la flor hasta hacerla trizas y deja escapar un suspiro. —Sera tiene sangre de sobra. Olvida un año; ella podría seguir cultivando flores por otros diez años y estar bien. Pero Willow ha sido envenenada con acónito. Soy todo lo que le queda, y ella me quiere a su lado en sus últimos días. No soporto rechazar a Willow, lo que significa que Sera simplemente tendrá que esperar un poco más. Me muerdo el labio con fuerza, apenas capaz de creer lo que escucho. Así que las Flores de Luz de Luna que desaparecían misteriosamente siempre fueron destruidas por él. Convertirme en Reina Luna ha sido mi sueño desde la infancia. Pero si él nunca tuvo la intención de unirse a mí, entonces es hora de que lo deje.

Before my wedding, I went to find my fiancé with a pregnancy test in hand, intending to surprise him. Instead, I overheard a heated argument between two men on the terrace. "My dear brother, didn't you personally send her to my bed just to get revenge for Elena?" The man, identical to my fiancé, twirled a USB drive in his hand, a wicked smirk playing on his lips. I had been with my fiancé for seven years, yet I had no idea he had a twin brother. What was worse, I never realized that during those passionate nights when I thought my fiancé was finally showing me affection, the man lying beside me was actually his twin. And all of this happened simply because their "savior" despised me. To repay his debt to her, my fiancé tacitly allowed this humiliation. It turned out that the love I had cherished for seven years was nothing more than a twisted game of revenge the brothers had orchestrated together, all to please another woman.

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My husband and I have been legally married for five years. This is the tenth time he's canceled our wedding ceremony. This time? His student, Laura, is competing in her first international violin competition—and he 'needs' to be there. I still remember the last cancellation: an awards ceremony he had to attend with her. The time before that? She fell ill, and he stayed at her hospital bedside. The other times? I've lost count of the excuses, but it doesn't matter. The reason is always Laura. Her needs always outweighed my wedding. My marriage. My life. Fine. If he wanted to stand by Laura so badly, he could stay there forever. This hollow, five-year farce of a marriage? It's over.

I was born with a strange condition. I couldn't recognize faces and could only identify people by their clothes. Vincent Lancaster, my boyfriend, never minded. He said it didn't change the way he loved me. That was, until our wedding day. He answered a phone call. His childhood friend, Grace Langley, was in labor, life hanging by a thread, and she demanded he come immediately. My voice shook with despair. "Vincent! If you drive away now, we'll never be husband and wife!" But he left anyway, not looking back. Grace had always loved seeing him in white, so he threw aside the black suit I had sewn for him with my own hands and changed into white. A year later, Vincent returned. By then, my belly was swollen with life, and I was holding onto another man while hosting a baby shower. And the man wore the black suit Vincent had thrown away. Vincent went mad, claiming he was my husband, but no one believed him.

I was the Holy Maiden of the Beast World, foretold by the High Priest. I was also the future Beast Lady. Three of the best males were carefully selected to become my mates. However, I knew that they disliked me, even planning to kill me on our wedding night and hand my Holy Maiden position to my half-sister, whom they truly loved. Thus, when my father asked me to choose one of them to be my chief mate, I knelt on the sacred ground and drew lots, hoping the heavens could help me. Unexpectedly, I drew the clan's High Priest.

She paints beauty. He sees obsession. Crystal Morgan,a young lady who majored in art with a rising reputation, though her talent would open doors– gallery showcases or even peace. But when unsettling messages begin to appear, her recent pictures – Crystal realizes someone has been watching her. Someone who knows too much. As her world turns darker with each brush stroke,the line between admiration and fixation blurs. And the masterpiece he's obsessed with ….is her.

Agatha is a writer at a publishing company. She is single and ready to mingle, provided that no commitment. Even sex is not a problem as long as no strings are attached. On the other hand, Lexie is a happy-go-lucky actress but not as famous as others. They are best friends with opposite personalities, but they get along. They have no secret except one. Lexie didn’t know her best friend was a femme lesbian.