Thirty Six

There's this unspoken rule in werewolf high society: no matter how tight the mate bond is, business banquets mean booking a hostess. Six years into our bond, my Alpha mate—Brian Stormclaw—met one. Louise. A scrappy Omega with too much pride and not enough sense. When he offered her his black card, she pushed it back and said, "I'm not some Alpha's pampered pet." Brian? Instantly hooked. Like the Moon Goddess herself had dropped her in his lap. He chased her like he wanted her mark on every pack crest. But he forgot something—I was the Luna he wrote ninety-nine love letters to before I said yes. I didn't beg. Didn't snap. Every time he chose her over me, I lit another letter. First one burned on our anniversary—he bailed to wait outside Louise's flower shop, just to walk her home. Letter thirty-four? He left me stranded in a dangerous hunting ground to keep her company. Said she was scared of the dark. Fifty-two? Torched the second he replaced our wedding photo with some sketch she made on. ... And when the ninety-ninth turned to ash, so did whatever was left of us. I walked away. For good.

Katherine Iris Thornton was getting married in two months but all she could think of was her university crush Aidan Flint Waldorf. Six years ago, they had been best friends but Aidan had never known about the romantic feelings she had been harboring for him. How could she have told him when he had been dating her other best friend Jennifer Avery Calhoun? The past was catching up on her and she could not determine whether it was merely bridal jitters or her feelings for Aidan was more than a mere crush? Years ago, Aidan Waldorf had caught his girlfriend in the arms of his best friend Ryce Connor at his graduation party and from that day he had stopped believing in love. However, when he received the marriage invitation of one of his best friends Kate, he felt all the pain coming back to haunt him and vowed for payback. What happens when all four best friends reunite before the wedding? Sparks and revenge are expected but will they be able to sort out the past and become friends again? Will there be love in the air?

When I was six, I spilled hot water, slipped, and burned my face. My face was ruined. My parents learned their lesson and never let my younger sister do housework. To everyone they met, they praised her beauty, her charm. They turned to me with nothing but disdain. When I was ten, I had a high fever. They didn't think much of it and let it drag on until my brain was damaged, leaving me slow and dull. They learned their lesson again. From then on, if my sister so much as coughed, they would rush her to the hospital in the dead of night, showering her with care. I was like a failed experiment. Every mistake they made with me, they corrected for her. I was ugly, silent, dim-witted, unwanted. She was beautiful, sweet-talking, clever, adored by all. When I was diagnosed with depression, I gathered what little courage I had and told them. Mom lashed out, called me sick in the head, and accused me of being petty. If I was so capable, she said, I might as well die. It wasn't until my sister pushed me off a high-rise that they found out, by sheer accident, that she wasn't their child at all. I was their one and only biological child.

I had taken leave from the sealed research institute where I'd been confined for six years, just so I could attend my daughter's kindergarten graduation. The moment I stepped through the gates, I froze. A woman holding a little boy by the hand was shoving my daughter, Amy, straight into the gutter. She slapped Amy across the face, then sneered for everyone to hear, spitting venom as she called my little girl a filthy wretch. Drenched in filthy water, Amy dropped to her knees before the woman, trembling in humiliation. Rage burned through me. I stormed forward and slapped the woman across the face. But instead of shame, she jabbed a finger at my nose and shouted, "Do you even know who I am? To offend me is to offend the entire Grant family!" Tears welled in Amy's eyes as she tugged at my sleeve, pleading in a choked voice, "Please leave… she's my dad's nanny. My dad will punish you if you hurt her." The woman planted herself in front of me, her arrogance towering. "The Grant family rules this city. You think you can run from us?" For a brief moment, I stood stunned, then calmly pulled out my phone and dialed my husband. "Your nanny says you run Bexley City. Well, I think that's about to change."

"I need you. Make love to me, please," her breathy whisper hung in the night air. His tender arms drew her closer, and his lips gently met hers. "Before this night is over, there wouldn't be part of your body that wouldn't know my touch." . . Cherry Silverbella Moores: She's the twin who doesn't give a damn. A fighter, troublemaker, and a chaotic soul. She strikes fear into the hearts of the poor people of Castle Lore. Cherry indulges in casual relationships but avoids meaningful connections like a plague. She likes to fuck but despises physical contact. She has locked away her emotions for over a decade, feeling nothing except anger and cold indifference. Ixora Crystabella Moores: She's the twin everyone adores, the nurturing mother hen. Always eager to lend a helping hand, she cleans up after her chaotic twin, managing her messes. According to the people of Castle Lore, Cherry is the 'whore,' while Ixora is the 'nun.' She is soft-spoken and shy, but when angered, she can be as volatile as her twin sister. Jake Brown: A former special agent turned medical doctor, mourning the loss of his beloved brother who died six months ago in a bomb explosion. A vital part of him has been torn away by his brother's death, and he struggles to keep himself from crumbling. Kind and gentle, he is loved by everyone due to his patience and compassion. However, he becomes a storm when provoked. Then, there's Jerald Brown: The brother everyone believed was dead but has been alive and in captivity, planning his escape for six months. He's grumpy, hates people, and prefers to keep to himself. Their lives are intertwined; two brothers who thought they had lost each other forever, and identical twins who are as different as day and night.

Liliana Patrick, a twenty three years old timid and clumsy lady who lost everything in a blink of an eye. Suffer was an understatement in her case, she had nothing, no shelter, no friends, no family. But when she steps her leg in to Kings Company, she was introduced to another world she never knew about. Nicholas King, an example of rude and arrogant, cold, dominant, commanding and heartless. The thirty years took over his late father's property after he passed away, he shows no mercy to his workers, he can fire you with just a little mistake. But when his eyes roam her body as she walks into his office, he claimed her as his. I took a seat in front of him. "Good morning Sir-" I greeted but he cuts me off. "Did I ask you to seat?" His voice, so raspy, so deep, so sensual, so husky and so......British? I never knew the Kings were British. But what took my attention were those words he said. "Uhh....." I stood up immediately. "I'm sorry" I apologize but he looks angry or something. "You came sixteen minutes late, left my door opened, sat on the chair like you own the place" he snarled at me..... okay, Mr rude. "I.....I said I was sorry" I look away from him, he shuffle and his cologne filled my nostrils, sandalwood and lavender oil. "You are not to talk back till I ask you to. Sit" he ordered and I did. He grabs what looks like my resumè, he looks at me in an instant. His blue orbs holds no emotions in his eyes as he stares at me, but what was so intriguing was the fact that he's intimidating me really bad.

When Aria was forced to sell her first night on the Auction three years ago, she never thought that she would find her true mate, Derek, on the Auction – The powerful Alpha heir of Silverstone Pack. Derek took her home and gave her everything, except claiming her as his Luna. After three years of being Derek’s secret lover, Aria found herself fall in love with her mate. But Derek abruptly terminated their contract when his childhood sweetheart Natalie Windsor, the Alpha heir of Windsor Pack, came back. Aria found that she was just a substitute. What was even more, Aria was informed that she had only six months to live due to a fatal heart condition. She decided to leave Derek and enjoy her last moments of life. The powerful Alpha went crazy when he discovered that his mate left him forever. He searched for Aria all around the world and begged her to come back. No one knew that Aria was actually not a fragile Omega, but a legendary rare white wolf whose real power would be fully awakened after experiencing death. Can Aria maintain her dignity in the face of rejection from her true mate? Will Aria forgive Derek when the powerful Alpha begged her to come back? Can she awaken her true power?

Kelsey was originally just a rogue, but she unexpectedly became the mate of Alpha Marcus of the Blade Wolf Pack. However, for three years, Alpha Marcus never acknowledged her as the Luna. Three years later, under the influence of the full moon, Alpha Marcus's wolf nature flared up, and Kelsey discovered that she was pregnant with a cub. But she was rejected by Alpha Marcus. Heartbroken, she chose to accept the rejection and then left the Blade Wolf Pack. Unexpectedly, she found her own relatives. It turned out that she was actually the princess of the Lycan King. Not only that, but she also had six powerful and handsome older brothers. And Alpha Marcus's new Luna showed off that she was a Lycan and that these six men were all her older brothers. Unexpectedly, those six powerful Lycans stated that Kelsey was their real sister. Alpha Marcus regretted it and wanted to win back Kelsey's heart. But Kelsey refused.

To love someone is not easy, even more so when this someone doesn't even know of your existence. Today, anyone who looks at the powerful, dominant, charming, conquering, self-confident man cannot imagine how much he has suffered. Bullying marked his entire childhood, but big, round violet eyes saved his little world when he was only six years old, and since then his heart has been decreed to belong to her. A few years go by, they go to the same school, determined not to be an invisible part of the girl's life anymore, things could only go wrong. Now she is the one whose world has been turned upside down, victim of the wickedness of the teenagers in her class, her parents leave her in the gutter and everyone turns their back on her, Iuri tries to go after her, but she despises and humiliates him. Seven years after the incident at school, they meet again, Iuri determined to get revenge on her and she determined to earn his forgiveness. He is now the CEO of Stevens Construction and she is his secretary. Will he be able to leave her after one night?

"I’m a good girl—until I got drunk in Vegas and married a panties-flaming-hot Irishman. Oops. I’ve always lived my life by the rules. Unlike my two sisters, I’m the good one. The responsible one. Going outside my comfort zone is when I wear red lipstick before five PM. That comfort zone of mine? It’s smashed to smithereens on a wild night in Las Vegas when I met—and married—Liam Gallagher. After one shot of tequila, then two, then too many to count, a good girl’s rules tend to disappear. And so do her panties, and her bra, and various other articles of clothing when she’s with an Irishman who knows his way around a woman’s body. Now my husband wants us to stay married. For six months. He says it’ll be worth my while. Considering our chemistry underneath the sheets, I can’t say that he’s wrong. Liam isn’t safe, though. Liam definitely isn’t comfortable. He’s like the male equivalent of wearing red lipstick in the daytime all wrapped up in an irresistible, dangerous package. Yet this stubborn Irishman isn’t about to let me go, drunken Princess Bride-themed Vegas wedding or no. Now I have to decide if I’m brave enough to break the rules for love."