The Shadow He Left Ao3

The Shadow Bride is a haunting tale of duty, mystery, and a love that defies fate. When 23-year-old Avery is forced to marry her late sister’s fiancé to preserve a long-standing family tradition, she finds herself leaving behind her dreams for a life she never chose. Set in the quiet, eerie countryside of Montana, Avery is thrown into a loveless union with the brooding and distant Elias—a man mourning the woman he was meant to marry. But Avery soon senses something more than grief lurking in Elias’s eyes. Whispers of secrets buried in the woods, a strange connection to the moon, and a family with a history shrouded in darkness begin to unravel around her. She may have said “I do” out of obligation—but what she doesn’t know is that her husband’s curse is only just beginning to unfold.

I loved Spencer. Even though I knew he only saw Fiona when he looked at me. I clung to the wedding dress he picked out himself, holding onto the dream of a future that felt so close. But on our wedding day, she came back. In front of everyone, he has my dress ripped apart—for her. Now, he knelt before my grave, begging for forgiveness. But all I could think was, even here, he was ruining my peace.

It was not until after I married Bennett that I found out he had a clingy little childhood friend who loved to play the victim. On the very first day of our marriage, at dinner, I simply asked Bennett to pass me a bite of food. She immediately exploded. "Holly, you're disgusting! Bennett already used those utensils, and you seriously asked him to serve you food? What, don't you have hands?" I froze, completely blindsided. Before I could even react, Bennett put down his spoon and went straight to her, wrapping her in his arms like she was the one who had been wronged. Then he turned to me and said I should just get my own food from now on. However, honestly, wasn't it normal for a husband to serve his wife a bite? What was so outrageous about that? I barely got a word out before Bennett shut me down in a low, firm voice. "That's final. If Rosie doesn't like it, then we're not doing it. End of discussion."

Thirteen years of my life were given to Ethan Cross. I believed in his music before anyone else did, stayed through the long nights when success was only a dream, and held on to every promise that I would be the woman by his side when it all finally came true. After eight years as his girlfriend and four more wearing his ring, he walked away. Seven months later, an invitation arrived. Ethan is getting married. And not to me. He is marrying my cousin sister. The wedding is set on a two week getaway meant for couples only. Ethan may think I will stay behind, broken and forgotten, but he is wrong. I will not be showing up alone. My date is Adrian Cole, Ethan’s powerful boss in the music industry, the man who holds his career in his hands and the one rival he never wanted near me. Ethan thought he left me behind. But this time I am not the girl he abandoned. I am stronger, I have found my own rhythm, and I am walking back into his world with the one man who can break him the way he broke me.

The day my husband left the country on a business trip with his assistant, I learned—by sheer accident—that his archenemy was plotting revenge overseas. Without a second thought, I raced to the airport and stopped him from boarding the plane. But his assistant went ahead, alone. And over there, she was killed brutally. Not a trace of her remains was ever found. When my husband received the news, he fell apart. Wracked with guilt, eaten alive by remorse, he spiraled into a relentless, violent mania. In the past three years, I'd been in and out of hospitals more times than I could count because of him. And this time, he pushed me so far—I lost our child. Then I overheard a conversation between him and his secretary. "Sir, Casey is still alive. Why keep pretending you're sick? Aren't you afraid your wife will find out and leave you?" "Leave me? What right does she have to be angry?" He laughed coldly. "If she hadn't stopped me from going abroad, Casey would've never been lured away by that bastard. Everything Linda's suffering now—she brought it on herself."

Being the only daughter of the Calhoun family, a mafia family in Merovia, I am doted on like a princess. This changes when I turn 18, when Mom dies. On the way back from a family meeting, the car blows up, and Mom shields me beneath her. Even as she lies in a pool of blood, her gaze is tender as she says to me, "Don't blame yourself, sweetheart. I love you." Still, after Mom's death, everyone in the family starts blaming me for what happened, including Dad and my older brother, William Calhoun. I go from being the princess of the family to the jinx that everyone hates. Soon after that, Dad brings home a new adopted daughter, Juliet Calhoun. William favors her and detests me. Even my childhood sweetheart, Shawn Kramer, takes a liking to her and ignores me. Dad says his new adopted daughter is way better than his biological one. They all agree to attend my college graduation ceremony. But on the day, they end up taking Juliet onto our family's yacht and holding a cocktail party out on the water to celebrate the official addition of a new family heir. This is the 100th time they ditch me for her. Unable to stop myself from an emotional breakdown, I cry out, "I'm the one who's related to you by blood!" Dad shields Juliet, who backs away from me out of fear. Then, he slaps me on the face. "I wish I'd never had you." "Who wants to have a younger sister like you? I wish you'd died with Mom!" William roars in contempt. This time, I've decided to let it all go. I call Aunt Marissa, Mom's sister. She's the founder and a therapist at MindCare Treatment Center. "Come here. This is your home now." I know that Mom's death was a conspiracy. This isn't just me leaving, but withdrawing myself from the family entirely. I hope that the next time I meet the Calhouns, there won't be tears on my end. Instead, judgment will befall them.

When Zoe Ernest met her fated Alpha Norton, she was carrying her devilish ex-boyfriend's baby. The baby was a scandalous one, an unwanted one. Zoe chose her unborn baby over her fated mate. She rejected him which brought him pain and humiliation. Years later, when Zoe met Norton again, he became her employer. It turned out he planned it all. He wanted her to be in his grip. He wanted her to taste the pain he had suffered. He wanted her to pay thrice for what she had done to him. When he found out the reason behind her rejection, what would he do？ Would he still make her life a living hell or would he let go of the past and fall for her again?

I was never meant to be ordinary—I was meant to be his. In my pack, turning sixteen means shifting into your wolf for the first time, finding your mate, and stepping into your happily ever after. But when I turn sixteen, my world and everything I've ever known shatter before me. The ordinary life I knew becomes something I never dreamt it would be. My wolf isn’t what she should be. My mate isn’t who I thought he would be. And I… I’m not the girl I thought I was before. Secrets are buried deep in blood and moonlight, but now they are surfacing. And every secret I uncover pulls me closer to the fate that killed others before me. This isn’t the love story I was promised as a child. This is the love story that could destroy me and everything I hold dear. This isn't the fairytale everyone else has. This, this is a death sentence.

In the kingdom of Lunaris, where magic and royalty intertwine, a forbidden love affair between Prince Louis and the powerful witch Ayanna sets off a chain reaction of tragic events. Their secret night together, fueled by passion and desire, results in the prince's untimely death, leaving Ayanna to face the wrath of the king. Consumed by grief and anger, King Darius orders Ayanna's capture and prosecution, citing the ancient law that forbids royal blood from mingling with witchcraft. As Ayanna awaits her execution, she discovers she's pregnant with the prince's child, a revelation that only adds to her torment. Despite her pleas for mercy, Ayanna's sentence is delayed until after she gives birth, a decision that sets in motion a series of dark and sinister events. As her pregnancy progresses, Ayanna's powers begin to wane, and she realizes she was pregnant with twins and her daughters will be more powerful than her. In a desperate bid for survival, Ayanna uses her last ounce of magic to escape her prison cell and gives birth to her daughters, Alhambra And Almandra, in secret. But their freedom is short-lived, as Ayanna is captured once more and executed, leaving Alhambra And Almandra to face an uncertain future. Unbeknownst to the king, his actions have set in motion a chain of events that will shape the destiny of Lunaris and the fate of his own rule. The forbidden children, Alhambra and Almandra, born of witchcraft and royal blood, will grow up with a legacy of darkness and a thirst for justice, threatening to upend the very foundations of the kingdom.

Sarah Benson has spent her life surviving. Orphaned young and raising her son, Tommy, alone, she knows hardship intimately. But nothing could prepare her for the day her world turns upside down Tommy is diagnosed with leukemia, and the only person who could save him is a man from her past, a man who took her innocence without consent years ago. Haunted by painful memories and desperate to save her child, Sarah embarks on a journey to find James Savaldor, the father she never wanted to meet again. As fate forces their paths to cross, secrets unravel, hearts collide, and both must confront a past that refuses to stay buried. In a story of love, redemption, and unwavering maternal courage, Sarah and James must navigate guilt, desire, and the lengths one will go to protect the ones they love. But can a fractured past ever truly give way to a future together?