William J Stanton

Meine Schwester Aurora und ich hatten uns mit Zwillings-Alphas gepaart. Fünf Monate nach Beginn meiner Schwangerschaft wurde ich von einer Gruppe Streunerwölfe angegriffen. Ich versuchte, meinen Alpha-Gefährten Alexander über den Gedankenbund zu erreichen. Aber er ignorierte mich – neunmal. Die Streuner umzingelten mich, bissen in meine Arme und Beine, rissen mit jedem Angriff Fleisch heraus. Schmerz durchzuckte meinen ganzen Körper. Mit einem letzten verzweifelten Ruf erreichte ich ihn ein zehntes Mal. Diesmal durchbrach Alexanders kalte Stimme meinen Geist: „Hast du dein Theater bald beendet? Meine Schwester Vicky wurde entführt. Belästige mich nicht weiter.“ Victoria war ihre Stiefschwester – diejenige, die sie wirklich liebten. Nun hielt sie nichts mehr zurück. Die Streuner stürzten sich auf mich. Einer riss mir mit den Fängen den Bauch auf. Ich sah entsetzt zu, wie sie mein ungeborenes Kind in Stücke rissen. Als ich dem Tod nahe war, fand Aurora mich – sie kämpfte gegen die Angreifer. Doch es waren zu viele. Bald lag auch sie schwer verletzt und blutend neben mir. Sie rief ihren Gefährten Ethan über den Gedankenbund, doch alles, was sie erhielt, war: „Ich suche nach Vicky. Belästige mich nicht.“ Aurora blieb keine Wahl. Sie verwandelte sich und schleppte mich auf ihrem Wolfskörper davon. Sie raste den Berg hinunter, doch ein plötzliches Gewitter löste einen Erdrutsch aus und begrub uns unter Matsch und Geröll. Zum Glück fanden Grenzwachen uns rechtzeitig. Aurora und ich überlebten nur knapp. Als ich im Rudelkrankenhaus aufwachte, war mein erster klarer Gedanke: Den Gefährtenbund lösen.

I was the pack's chief healer, but my fiancé Domine was just an ordinary warrior from the neighboring pack. I didn't care about that because I believed in the guidance of the moon goddess. I worked hard to earn money, bought a house, and supported us both. But just a week before our Mating Ceremony, I discovered that Domine wasn't some ordinary warrior, but actually the Alpha of neighboring pack. He hid his identity to get close to me just to seek revenge for his first love. Three years ago, his first love secretly entered the forbidden zone and ate poisonous fruit. I fought with all my might to save her life, but she framed me for intentionally poisoning her and causing her to lose her wolf. Domine believed her. He even promised to publicly extract my heart’s blood during the ceremony to supplement Ella's strength and turn me into a complete cripple. He even stole my father’s life-saving medicine to make scented candles for her, which caused the death of my only relative. After discovering the truth, I didn't hesitate to turn around and leave. But Domine, who harbored a deep hatred for me, completely broke down. He knelt in the snow for three days and three nights, begging me to look at him just one more time.

I stand on the brink of a past I've lived and a future I've yet to claim. Five years ago, my world crumbled when Lucan, the Alpha I loved, the man destined to be my mate, chose betrayal over loyalty; my sister over me. His blatant rejection of my love but refusal to reject our bond, kept me on a string for years. Until my sister decided to orchestrate my murder when I fell pregnant with Lucan's child. Fate, it seems, holds a twisted sense of mercy. I find myself back in time, five years before my life turned into a nightmare, on the night my Mate Bond with Lucan snaps into place. But this time, I'm not the same Verena. I refuse to be the victim, the one walked all over. With a resolve forged from pain and betrayal, I stand before our pack, our family, our friends, and I shatter the expectations of fate. I reject Lucan, and the ripple of shock is my first taste of victory. But my plan doesn't stop there. I aim higher, daring to entangle my fate with his enemy, Alpha Niklaus King, a man as dangerous as he is ruthless. It's supposed to be a game, a strategy to topple Lucan from his throne. I didn't anticipate the fire Niklaus would ignite in my soul, a passion fierce and consuming. As I grow closer to him, the lines blur; my heart, once set on revenge, now beats a different rhythm. Torn between the past's shadows and a future that's as uncertain as it is thrilling, I find myself questioning everything. Lucan's betrayal branded me, but Niklaus offers a chance at healing, at power. Yet, can I trust this new bond, or will it become another chain?

My mate Ryan's first love Sarah Blackwood and I both had eight-year-old sons. Sarah's boy killed an innocent wolf. Instead of facing pack law, my mate asked our child to take the blame for Sarah's son. "Marcus will only serve five years in Silver Prison," Ryan growled at me. "Sarah and Jamie have no protection – exile will kill them both! Our son is strong enough to survive this!" While he rushed them abroad for a vacation to escape justice, his parents' guards dragged our innocent pup to prison. By the time Ryan returned, I disappeared.

After being accused of killing her father, Azura Riverstone runs away from her pack when her mate and husband orders his Gammas to hold her as the captive. Torn between hurt and betrayal from her mate and step-family, she decides to seek the Alpha King for help but the only way to get to him is participating in the Alpha combat where only Alphas are allowed. How will she find the true murderer of her father when her ex finds her and offers a deal which she can't deny?

After forgiving Lucas for the tenth time, I stopped paying attention to his smell and whereabouts every day. The Pack Council had unanimously voted for me as the Chief Healer. However, Lucas used his Alpha authority to secretly give the position to his first love Sarah, a rogue wolf who had just returned to the pack. He noticed my silence but felt no guilt. Before leaving to answer Sarah’s mind link plea again, he held me. "Elena, this job is Sarah's only lifeline to stay in the pack. She’s been a rogue for too long. She needs an official rank for protection." "You’re different. Your healing gift is a blessing from the Moon Goddess. You shine anywhere." "She only gets a title. You have my complete love. Isn’t that enough? Don't be mad." My wolf, usually scratching to get out due to his neglect, was unusually quiet. "Okay." I didn't plan on keeping him or the job anyway.

Five years after I mated to Alpha Derek Blackwood, his childhood sweetheart broke her mate bond with another Alpha and returned to our pack. Even worse, I had depleted my life force saving Derek when he was mortally wounded, and now I was dying. In the less than six months I had left to live, I continued to play the role of Derek's good mate. Until I passed away. And Derek, after reading the journal I left behind, completely fell apart.

To save my family, I was dying of silver poisoning, my fiancé Marcus, the Alpha who had promised to never abandon me, now wanted to harvest my healthy kidney for my parents' adopted daughter, Celeste. Nobody cares if I live or die So I refused the conservative treatment plan. I injected myself with the witch's life potion. The price? In 72 hours, I would die from complete organ failure. In those three days, I gave my private healing center—the one I'd built with my own hands—to Celeste. Mom and Dad beamed with joy. "Good girl, you've finally grown up. You're taking care of your sister now." Marcus wanted to postpone our wedding to care for Celeste. I accepted it calmly. He praised me for finally being understanding. I even gave up my position as the pack's chief healer to Celeste. My parents and Marcus were so excited they planned to throw her a grand celebration ball. They invited every important person with status in the pack to honor her new role. I was just curious about one thing. After I died, would they shed a single tear for me?

The Moon Goddess offered me her protection. If I died, I'd get one chance to be reborn through the werewolf trials. I was born with "sensory impairment." I wasn't an Omega, but I couldn't shift into a wolf. I couldn't see or sense wolves in their lupine forms or their power. When I appeared alongside ninety-nine other trial candidates in an ancient rainforest shrouded in thick fog and darkness, everyone assumed I wouldn't make it past the first day. But here I was, in the terrifying rainforest nests, treating a ghostly wolf pup, drowned for its unusual coat color, as my own little cub. And, I flirted with a bloodthirsty vampire spirit who took pleasure in killing, treating him like a lover. I even befriended the evil twin Hexenbiest, treating them like sisters. The first time we met, I reached out and ran my hand over the vampire's abs. "Nice body," I commented, "just a bit on the short side." He let out a humorless laugh, reattached the head he'd been holding to his neck, and gripped my chin. "I'm six-foot-five," he said. "Want to take another look?"

After being forced to go to rogue wolf territory to exchange my mate's kidnapped childhood sweetheart while three months pregnant, I was tortured to death. Before my death, my eight-year-old daughter begged her father three times. The first time, my daughter took her father's hand and said, "Daddy, mommy is pregnant with my little brother. She can't go to the rogue territory." The alpha wolf let out a cold laugh: "How dare your mother teach a pup to lie." Then he had his beta guards drive my daughter out of the pack house. The second time, my daughter grabbed his sleeve and told him the rogue wolves were torturing me with silver. The alpha frowned: "These rogues were hired by your mother to kidnap Willow. How could she really be tortured?" The guards stepped forward and once again pulled my daughter out of the room. The third time, my daughter lay on the floor, desperately clutching his pant leg, crying that I was dying in the rogue wolf territory. The alpha finally lost his temper. He slapped her away with force. "I told you, Ava won't die. She's strong. If you come running back here to disturb Willow's rest again, I'll definitely throw both of you out of the pack territory." To save me, my daughter gave her most precious possession to the most powerful warrior in the pack—the healing gemstone I had given her for her birthday. "Please, can you use this to help save my mother? I don't need protection anymore. I just want my mother to live." The warrior took her healing gemstone, but before he could leave to rescue me, Willow stepped in his way. "Sorry, little pup," she smirked. "The warrior needs to stay here to protect my dog. Your father was afraid I would be sad if anything happened to my pet."