Under The Stars

Sébastien Perrin n'est pas arrivé à l'heure le jour de notre cérémonie, simplement parce qu'il voulait prendre la défense de ma sœur. Ce n'était qu'à la tombée de la nuit qu'il a demandé à Bêta de me transmettre ce message : « Si tu n'as pas pris le collier de Clara Thomas, elle n'aurait pas passé la journée à souffrir. Je voulais seulement te donner une leçon. » « Si tu refuses de t'excuser auprès de Clara, la cérémonie ne continuera pas. » En un instant, je suis devenue la risée de toute la meute. Même mon frère a pris le parti de Clara en disant : « Si Sébastien a réagi pour elle, c'est l'occasion pour toi de revoir ton attitude. » Je me suis retournée et je suis partie sans un mot. Puisque ni mon compagnon ni mon propre frère n'ont choisi de me soutenir, j'ai décidé que la place d'Alpha serait la mienne.

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."

At the pack's anniversary dinner party, the Alpha, Matt White, told us to write down the gifts we wanted. He would make sure every request was fulfilled. When it was my turn, the newly arrived intern suddenly snatched the paper and pen out of my hands. "Mr. White works so hard managing the pack. We can't let him spend money on us! You shouldn't write down your dream gift," she said. I ignored her, grabbed the list back, and calmly wrote down one item: a washing machine. Peyton immediately flew into a rage and splashed the champagne on the table straight onto me. "I told you not to write anything down! As a Beta, how can you be so inconsiderate of Mr. White?" My coat was completely soaked, and I looked utterly disheveled. I couldn't hold back my anger anymore. I flung the list straight at her face without mercy. She instantly covered her face and screamed, "How dare you hit me! Do you know who my father is? He's the Alpha King! Even Mr. White has to be polite to him. I'll have you kicked out of the pack for laying a hand on me!" I froze. I was the Alpha King's biological niece. My uncle didn't even have a partner, so how would he have a grown daughter?

A week before the marking ceremony, my fiance, Alpha Mason Wallace, suddenly switches the venue to Firefly Grove. His friends tease him. "You changed the venue just because Serena wants to see fireflies? And you didn't even tell Cora? What if she shows up at an empty site? "Besides, Cora's the one who picked Moonlight Bay. Do you really think she'll go along with this?" Mason says casually, "She burned her skin saving me. She won't fight me over a venue change. Besides, she planned every detail herself. She'll notice the update." I stand outside the doorway, listening in silence. Then, I slip away without a word. When the day finally comes, Mason calls from Firefly Grove, panic in his voice. "The ceremony's about to start. Where are you?" I stare at the shimmer on Moonlight Bay and answer calmly, "I'm already here. My ceremony is about to start too."

Before the marking ceremony, Leon Parker crossed out his name on the Moonlight Tree. Then, he carved his brother Cillian Parker's name next to mine instead. A friend teased him, "Just because you lost a bet to Susie Burton, you're changing the name on the Moonlight Tree to Cillian's? Aren't you afraid Madison Lachlan will find out and lose it on you?" Leon replied lazily, "She nearly died for me once. Changing a name is nothing; she won't mind. I've already ruined her marking ceremony 52 times. What's one more? Besides, Cillian's leg is injured, and he's stuck in a wheelchair. No woman would ever want to be with him. Once Madison finds out, she'll come crawling back to me, and I'll still have the upper hand." I stood by the door, listening to every word of their conversation as my heart gradually turned cold. The Moonlight Tree was sacred to all werewolves. Every mated pair carved their names into it, symbolizing the Moon Goddess's blessing on their bond. Yet, Leon was treating something so sacred like it was a joke. I did not make a scene, just slipping away silently. On the day of the marking ceremony, Leon arrived at the venue to find no one there. He frantically called me. I stood in my white wedding dress, looking at my mate across from me. "My marking ceremony is about to start. Are you here to congratulate me on my big day?"

Three months after the mysterious disappearance of my Alpha mate during his patrol, I found him in a bar near the border. He was cuddling his childhood friend, a she-wolf, laughing smugly. "I wanted to get rid of Bethany for ages! Thanks for giving me the idea to enjoy the freedom I've been looking forward to for a long time." The she-wolf nestled delicately against his chest, feeding him wine with her mouth. She asked him when he was planning to return—his answer was nonchalant. "I'll enjoy myself for another week and go back once Bethany's gone mad. That'll teach her not to be such a micromanager!" His close friends all praised them. "Great move! After this, the Luna will obey your every word." "The witch's disguise potion is so useful. No one recognized you all this time!" No one noticed me hiding in the shadows, watching how carefree he was. I called the pack's elder; using my position as the Luna, I announced that the Alpha was dead and that it was time to prepare for the election of the next Alpha.

Adrian had fallen into his brother's trap. Stripped of his Alpha title, he was exiled from the pack. On the road into exile, he was ambushed by rogue wolves. Broken and hopeless, he stopped fighting altogether, ready to die. As Adrian's kept lover, I was about to abandon him and run for my life — until a flood of glowing comments rolled across my vision. [The villainess is finally showing her true colors. Once she's gone, there'll be nothing stopping the hero and heroine from meeting.] [But she doesn't know the hero is still alive. When he reclaims his Alpha title, the first thing he does is exile everyone who ever betrayed him — the villainess included. She gets torn apart by rogue wolves in the end, and honestly, she deserves it.] My blood ran cold. Before I could even think, I threw myself into the rogues and took a claw strike meant for him. Adrian stared at me in disbelief. I turned back to him, forcing a grin through the pain. "Adrian, don't you dare die on me — who's going to keep me fed?"

At seven months pregnant, I overhear my Alpha mate, Christopher Scott, secretly planning to break tradition by promoting his secretary to a Beta and handing the Luna's duties over to her. His friend urges him to reconsider. "Luna is about to give birth. Isn't it inappropriate to throw a promotion banquet for Scarlett right now?" But Christopher dismisses his concerns. "What can I do? Scarlett is carrying my pup too. I can't just ignore her. "Besides, with Rebecca's temper, she'd definitely throw a huge fit if she found out beforehand. I might as well wait until she has delivered the pup and is too exhausted to interfere, and only then will I hold Scarlett's promotion ceremony. I say nothing. I pretend I know nothing at all and walk away. On the day I go into labor, Christopher holds Scarlett Lane's promotion ceremony at the pack's most sacred altar. While the entire pack is celebrating Scarlett's rise, the doors of the altar are suddenly kicked open. My father, the Alpha King, walks in. "Christopher Scott, is this how you treat my daughter?"

A month before my marking ceremony with Jim Luther, my dad, Frank Jackson, was exiled. Jim personally ordered him exiled to the wasteland without even explaining anything to me. "Kelly says someone leaked our pack's secret files, and we found them on your father's phone. Who else could it be?" My dad had come to attend my marking ceremony, yet because of what Kelly Chase said, Jim exiled him. "If you don't give me a reasonable explanation, he'll stay in the wasteland forever. "I won't abandon you just because of your father's actions. Our marking ceremony will proceed as planned in a month." I was devastated by the thought of my dad suffering in the wasteland. If this was how Jim treated my family and me, I didn't want to be with him anymore.

Di hari ulang tahunku, tunanganku menukarkan poin supermarket untuk membelikanku sepasang sarung tangan cuci piring. Namun, di lelang, dia menawar paling tinggi demi membelikan permata seharga 10 miliar untuk cinta pertamanya. Aku marah, tetapi dia justru menuduhku sebagai perempuan materialistis. "Aku kasih kamu uang buat dipakai, bukannya sudah sewajarnya kamu melayaniku? Ini sebenarnya ujian terakhir yang mau aku kasih sebelum nikah. Kalau kamu lulus, kita nikah. Tapi kamu benaran bikin aku kecewa." Aku mengajukan putus, dan dia langsung berbalik melamar cinta pertamanya. Lima tahun kemudian, kami bertemu kembali di sebuah pulau liburan pribadi. Kevin melihatku mengenakan pakaian kerja sambil memungut sampah di pantai, lalu langsung melontarkan ejekan. "Celine, dulu kamu remehin sarung tangan yang kubelikan, sekarang malah mungut sampah di sini." "Sekarang, sekalipun kamu mohon agar aku nikahi kamu, aku nggak akan melirikmu lagi." Aku tidak menanggapinya. Pelajaran praktik sosial putraku berjudul membersihkan halaman belakang rumah bersama orang tua. Ayahnya memperluas halaman sampai ke tepi pantai, membersihkannya sungguh melelahkan.