What The River Knows: A Novel Novels & Stories

"In the presence of the Moon Goddess and all members of the Pack, I, Damian, Alpha of Silvermoon Pack, officially reject Seraphina as my mate!” On the day of my Mating Ceremony when I was twenty, my childhood Alpha and Fated Mate, Damian, brought back an unfamiliar female werewolf, Vivian. He claimed that on the Night of Souls, the silhouette of the Fated Soul he had seen was hers, not mine. “Vivian has told me everything. You gave me a Hallucination Potion to make me believe my Fated Mate was you. Now, it’s time to correct that mistake!” The moment the words left his mouth, my heart felt like it was being torn apart. Pain ripped through my whole body. Our Mate Bond splintered, inch by inch. I dropped to my knees, blood trickling from the corner of my lips as I clutched my chest. My other childhood friend and also the pack’s Beta, Ethan, just watched coldly. “There was never a Mate Bond between you and Damian. Enough with your pitiful act! The more you do this, the more we’ll despise you.” The mate I loved most, and the friend I trusted the most, teamed up to rub my nose in the dirt in front of everyone. Their words were like knives, gutting me open bit by bit. Staggering, I turned and fled from the pack. Once, it was a place that held all my happiness. Now, there was only coldness and betrayal. None of them cared, convinced I was just throwing a tantrum and would come crawling back sooner or later. It wasn’t until weeks later that they learned I had begun the Healer’s closed-door training. All ties must be severed, and complete solitude was required. I wasn't allowed to return for ten years. That was the moment they finally fell apart.

After the doctor confirmed her pregnancy, the first thing Eliza Lockett did was ask her lawyer to draft a divorce agreement. "Ms. Lockett, once both parties sign, the marriage will automatically dissolve after the 30-day cooling-off period." Eliza's expression did not change. "Can I sign his name for him?" The lawyer hesitated, then quickly shook his head. "No. He must appear in person." "He agrees to the divorce," she said evenly. "He's just busy with work and can't come. If you don't believe me, I'll call him now and let you hear it yourself." She took out her phone and dialed Alban Sidham. "Alban, there's something I need to talk to you about—" He cut her off before she could finish. His voice was cold and edged with impatience. "Didn't I tell you to handle your own affairs? I don't have time for your trivial matters."

I'm the heiress of an affluent family. The housekeeper's daughter secretly wears my gown prepared for my birthday party, and I'm about to teach her a lesson. Suddenly, I see real-time comments. "This female antagonist is just jealous that the female protagonist looks better in the gown than she does!" "It's fine. The male protagonists are going to show up soon!" "Let's hang on for a bit more. I'd like to see this antagonist continue being so snobby once her family goes bankrupt!" In the next second, my brother and fiancé show up. They shield the housekeeper's daughter in their arms. Sneering, I commanded the staff, "Strip all three of them."

A three year marriage was ended by infertility. When someone else became pregnant, she was forced out of the family without a single cent to her name…

In the fifth year of my marriage with Caspian Hayes, I finally receive the wonderful news of being able to leave this world once and for all. In my last three days of existence, I decide to play the roles of the perfect wife and the silent mother Caspian and our son, Noah Hayes, want me to play. On the first day, Caspian complains that I'm not prim and proper enough, so he intends to attend the banquet with the fake heiress, Erin Winslow, as his date. I merely iron his suit without a word of complaint. On the second day, Noah doesn't like how nagging I am, so he throws a tantrum and demands to see Erin. With a smile on my face, I deliver him to Erin's doorstep. On the third day, my friend calls me on the phone. She asks me in a disappointed tone, "Aren't you worried that you might lose favor with them for real at this point?" I just smile wanly. "It's fine. I'll be going home soon anyway." That's when Caspian wheels around to look at me. For once, there's panic in his eyes. "Aren't you an orphan, Astrid? You don't have another home other than the one you have with me!"

I was born blessed by the god of fortune. No matter where I work, I can close major deals while lying down asleep. The underboss of the Castellano mafia family discovers this secret. He shows up at my door personally and invites me to join as a consigliere in name only. He offers me a six-figure annual salary and chauffeur service. He even installs a special ten-foot-wide massage bed in my office just for sleeping. After I join the Castellano family, arms deals finalize one after another. Several stalled collaborations come back to life. The Castellano family's reputation climbs steadily. Until the boss' girlfriend shows up to inspect for the first time. She grabs a pair of scissors and, in front of everyone, shreds my mattress to pieces. "Useless! We don't pay you all this money to sleep! "Starting tomorrow, you're working as a bar hostess. And you'll be paid like one too." I rub my sleepy eyes and stare at her in confusion. Last night, to help the Castellano family finalize that casino operation rights contract, I didn't sleep a wink. I barely fall asleep, so how am I useless? The soldato beside her breaks into a sweat. "Signora, she's…" "Shut up!" she cuts him off arrogantly. "From now on, I'm the one in charge of the Castellano family!" Fine. Since there's no place for me here, I'll find somewhere else to sleep. I hear the rival family's boss is willing to give me an entire luxury estate.

Susan Miller, my father's caretaker, often complains that the supplements keep running out. The wild kingroots that are worth 500 thousand dollars are completely used up even though Susan has only made soup with them twice in a row. As I filter through the medicinal residue with a frown on my face, Susan sinks down to her knees and begins slapping herself. "They must have melted in the soup because of my lack of attention! Please dock my pay, Ms. Lawson, but please don't fire me!" But that night, I come across a post uploaded by Susan's son, Roman Cox, on Instagram. "Hi everyone! Today, I'm challenging myself to eat two wild kingroots in one go!" When I see Roman picking up a familiar-lookng giftbox, I feel my temper flaring instantly. Then, I order a packet of potent aphrodisiacs meant for animals on the spot. It turns out that Roman intends to chug down my prized Romanee-Conti in the next episode of his stream. Well then, I'll let him have his feel of drinking something else!

When Jayden Stolt, the Alpha King, is done inspecting the Greyridge pack, he leaves right away. After that, he commands his guards to deliver the Luna Crown and a wedding dress over to the pack. The guard claims that the Alpha King has smelled the scent belonging to his fated mate, and asks us to offer the she-wolf who's meant to become his mate. In the first time loop, Father has delivered Jenna Thornton, my exquisite and gorgeous older sister, to the Alpha King. When Jayden sniffs her scent, he crushes her skull instantly. "You're completely covered in shitty perfume, yet you think you get to become the Luna?" In the second time loop, Father chooses to deliver Malia Thornton, my younger stepsister, who's been foretold to be able to give birth to the strongest pups. Jayden wastes no time in slashing her guts out. "The scent isn't right!" In the third time loop, Father, who has no choice left, can only convince my stepmother, Vanessa Plink, to doll up and meet the Alpha King. Jayden instantly rips Vanessa to shreds. In the time loops after that, the female warriors, the female Omegas, and even the mute she-wolf who's in charge of caring for the horses are delivered to the Alpha King one by one. All of them end up getting slain by Jayden. In the 100th time loop, there aren't any adult she-wolves left in the pack. Only then does Father remember me, a she-wolf without a wolf spirit. "You're the only one left… This must be the correct she-wolf!" Relieved, Father delivers me to the Alpha King. But when Jayden sees me, rage instantly fills his gaze. He crushes all of my bones in my body before throwing my corpse into the woods for the beasts to feed on. "You'd rather die than give my fated mate to me?" In the final timeloop, when the Alpha King's guard shows up with the Luna Crown and the wedding dress once again, Father finally breaks down. He swears to the guard that there aren't any suitable she-wolves remaining in the pack anymore. But the guard just stares Father in the eye. "The Alpha King has already made it clear that his fated mate definitely resides within the Greyridge pack."

Once I get reborn, the first thing I will do is swap mates with my cousin, Clara Evonfall. In my previous life, Clara and I had held our mate-bonding ceremonies on the same day. Clara, a docile and gentle she-wolf, was forced to become the mate of Gilbert Vargas, the cold and aloof Alpha of the Bloodthorn pack. On their bonding anniversary, Gilbert abandoned Clara just so he could be with his childhood sweetheart, Joanna Penning. Because of that incident, Clara and Gilbert gave each other the cold shoulder for the next 50 years. As for me, I've dreamed of becoming a Gamma warrior since I was a pup. But I ended up forming a mate bond with Oliver Stanton, a Beta playboy. Oliver disliked me for not being romantic enough, saying that I didn't know how to doll myself up for him. We argued with each other every day to the point that he rarely came home. When I open my eyes again, I realize that Clara and I have returned to the timeframe of two days before our bonding ceremonies.

I have the same due date as Roxanne Coleman, the childhood sweetheart of my Alpha Mate, Sebastian Graham. However, her pup has been diagnosed with a congenital heart defect. That means it will never be as strong as a normal pup and may not even survive its first shift. Even the healers advise her not to give birth. Just as I begin to pity Roxanne, Sebastian makes a request that shatters me. He asks me to give our pup to her. "Roxanne's pack is harsh on her. They demand she bear a powerful heir," he explains patiently. "If they find out her pup is born with a heart defect, they'll kill her. "Please, I beg you. Save her. Let her take our pup." I stare at Sebastian in disbelief. "Are you saying we should trade our healthy pup for her defective one?" Seeing how resistant I am, he doesn't answer. In fact, he doesn't need to. … A month later, during a prenatal checkup, Sebastian secretly switches my medical report with Roxanne's. I can't believe he truly plans to steal my pup for her. At that moment, I broke down completely. So, I sever our mate bond and leave with our unborn pup. While Sebastian frantically searches for me, I accept the Temple of the Moon's invitation and become the only one who can speak to the Moon Goddess and deliver her oracles. And my pup will be the next Chosen One. From that day on, Sebastian is nothing to me.