Winning The Week Novels & Stories

One year after getting cast out of the Blackrock pack, I bump into my ex-mate, Alpha Felix Barrington, in the Pack Alliance's headquarters. He's there because he wants to register the identity of his newborn pup. Coincidentally, I'm working at the lobby at that time, so I'm the one dealing with his matters for him. Throughout the process, Felix looks like he wants to talk to me, but something's holding him back. Before he leaves, he finally parts his lips. "Wendy, if you're having a hard time living on your own here, you can always return to the Blackrock pack. I'll convince Faith to let you back in." The sight of Felix's serious expression makes me laugh out loud. After all, he's the one who will be leading a difficult life from now on.

On our third year wedding anniversary, Ricardo Gambino finds me in the estate located far beyond the city's boundaries. As he clutches a pregnancy report, he finds it difficult to suppress the smile on his face. "I have good news for you, Isabella!" Ricardo exclaims excitedly. "Lucia is pregnant! It so happens that you're infertile, we'll have her give birth to the baby, and you can raise them! After that, I'll make sure to send Lucia away. You, on the other hand, shall remain as my wife!" Ricardo's tone is starting to drift. He sounds like he's done something amazing for me and wants me to compliment him. But I merely look at him as though he were a jester. What Ricardo doesn't know is that he's the infertile one. Also, we've already gotten divorced from each other. At that moment, I receive a new text on my phone. Then, I see a photo of an ultrasound report regarding the first trimester of a pregnancy. "Isabella, we're having triplets." The next text pops up immediately. "I shall marry you in three days."

I've been in a relationship with my older brother's best friend, Alpha Alexander Parker, for seven years. But there's a twist—this relationship is a secretive one. After having too much moonshine to drink one day, Alexander tells me drunkenly, "Willow, Stella is with pup now. If she doesn't have a mate, she'll get exiled out of the pack by the elders. Is it okay if I give her the Luna position for now?" In a calm and docile tone, I reply, "Okay." In my previous life, I didn't agree to Alexander's suggestion. I also insisted on holding the mating ceremony with him. Meanwhile, Stella Lockhart's belly continued to grow as weeks passed. In the end, she couldn't conceal it anymore. The enraged elders eventually cast her out of the pack. After Stella was gone, Alexander no longer came home, nor did he speak a word to me. I knew that he blamed me for everything. Some time later, I died from overwhelming guilt and depression. When I was about to close my eyes, I saw Alexander rushing into my room in alarm. Stella, who was supposed to be cast out of the pack, trailed behind him with a pup in her arms. That was when I finally realized that while Alexander was Stella's savior, he was never the most suitable mate for me. Now that I'm reborn, I don't turn his suggestion down. Instead, I decide to cut off all ties with him so that he and Stella can live happily ever after.

Every year, my husband, Daniel Trahan, elopes with his childhood sweetheart, Callie Reed, on our wedding anniversary. On that day, they do everything that a loving couple does. On our fifth year anniversary, Daniel ordered me to put on a maid's outfit and serve them on hand and foot for 24 hours. "You've always wanted me to spend more time with you, right? I'm giving you a chance right now. Tomorrow, I'll come home and have one meal with you. "By the way, Callie's lower back hurts. You'll have to support her whenever she needs you." I complete all of my tasks obediently. When we meet up the next day, I hand him a divorce agreement. Daniel scoffs at the sight. Then, he drops his signature casually. "Oh? Are you playing hard to get again? Every time, you'll end up begging me to return to you while crying like an abandoned pet. If you're that eager to let everyone see how big a doormat you are, I shall grant your wish. "When you come crawling back to me this time, I'll stream the whole thing live so that everyone can see how spineless you are." Daniel thinks I'm throwing another tantrum this time. What he doesn't know is that the day of his elopement with Callie is also the day I get to go on my private date. Now, that lover of mine demands a proper title from me.

On our tenth year anniversary, I'm making out with my husband, Don Raimondo Brocchi, in his office. Just as I'm about to secretly slip the pregnancy report into his hand as a surprise, his secretary, Anna Altamura, walks into the office. We're forced to stop our makeout session. Meanwhile, Anna shoots me a provocative look before she begins chatting with Raimondo in fluent Italese. "Don Brocchi, who do you like more in bed? Me or the Donna?" Raimondo lets out a soft chuckle. The vibrations of his voice makes my back crawl with numbness. "You, of course. After all, you're younger and tighter, amore. Meanwhile, Cassia is already 30 years old." Haughtily, Anna picks up a document before returning to her seat. What they don't know is that my Nonno hails from Sicaria. That means I understand each and every Italese word they just said. After forcing myself to calm down, I locate the invitation mailed from Anworth Institute that comes with a permanent position in my inbox. Then, I key in a short response to the person in charge. I agree to travel to the institution. Before my trip, I will make sure to terminate everything that belongs to me.

Cressida, the unloved adopted daughter, marriage is destroyed by her sister. But fate had other plans. A contract marriage brought her together with Alaric, the crippled heir to a business empire. Forced to take her sister's place, she saw an opportunity for revenge and empowerment. With a burning desire to avenge herself, she set her sights on winning Alaric over. But Alaric isn't an easy target; his demon and anger threaten to consume him, so she makes a deal. A deal for the marriage to be their weapon against their enemies. Will she tame the rage in his heart and unlock his true potential? Or will the partnership trap them in a web of calamity and heartache?

After his fated mate died, Alpha Killian Thorne spent ten years resenting me. I was the Omega healer he never chose—bound to him by duty, not love. A substitute. A scar on a bond neither of us asked for. No matter how deeply I healed his wounds, no matter how quietly I stayed by his side, all he ever said was: “If you really want to please me, Clara… then disappear.” But when death came charging, it wasn’t I who fell. He did. Bleeding out in my arms, Killian looked at me one last time and whispered: “If only I’d never met you…” At the funeral, his mother wept. “He should’ve been with Selena. I never should’ve let him mate with you.” His father’s glare cut through me. “Killian saved you three times. Why wasn’t it you in that grave?” Everyone regretted that he had bonded with me. Even I did, too. I was cast out of the pack with nothing— No title. No Luna severance. No den to call my own. And then… perhaps the Moon Goddess took pity on me. She gave me one final chance to rewrite fate. This time, I won’t beg for his love. This time, I won’t tether him to pain. This time, I’ll sever the bond before it begins. I could already hear the gears of fate turning, and this time, I would move first.

I was the fiancee of Lucian Veris, the celebrated Swan Prince, who had offered up the principal role in exchange for my hand. On stage, he was proud and untouchable, yet he surrendered completely to the choreography I created for "Eternal Crown." When I came back after three years in Valmont, I discovered that the understudy who mirrored me had already claimed our private rehearsal hall. At the company's welcome gala, Lucian abandoned a room full of sponsors just to chase after the crying understudy. From behind the velvet curtain, I overheard words he had never spoken to me. "Elara, I chose you only because you reminded me of her. I was looking for a replacement. But you were different. Your choreography captivated me—more than she ever could. Just make sure she never finds out until the closing night of 'Eternal Crown.'" Then came the muffled sounds of their entanglement, followed by his whispered vow. "I'll give you the principal's place." Right there, in that same room, he had once held my hand and sworn that I, Astraea Lynelle, would be his only soulmate in this lifetime. I turned and walked away, the sharp echo of my pointe shoes striking with finality. Back in the dressing room, I dialed his greatest rival, Caelan Thorne. "Mr. Thorne," I said evenly, "I accept your offer to join your company. And one more thing—prepare a gift for me. I intend to turn Lucian's grand finale into the most spectacular downfall the art world has ever seen."

Five years into marriage, Silvia Serra becomes both Dante Valenti's most lethal weapon and his most invisible presence. She shields him from bullets. She crosses a freezing river for him. Her scars accumulate, and his response is an assumption that it is how things are meant to be. In time, Dante grows repulsed by the violence clinging to her. He derides her lack of charm and gives his warmth to another woman instead. He allows others to grind down her dignity, and with a new lover in his arms, he openly stains her name. Silvia tolerates it so she can continue guarding him. Everyone mocks her as if she's numb to it all, driven away again and again, but never truly gone. Then comes the night of pounding rain. Cast aside without ceremony, Silvia erases every sign she was ever there and leaves with finality. Dante treats it as nothing more than sulking, convinced she will return within three days. Later, the once-untouchable Don was seen on his knees at Silvia's feet, stripped of all pride, begging her to turn back and look at him just once.

The mate bond ceremony had barely ended when Simon Thompson, Alpha of the Moonshade Pack, suddenly shoved me aside. "I picked up a human girl at the border. There's a storm tonight. I need to go stay with her." My head buzzed. "If you've already decided I'm your fated mate, why are you seeing her now?" He stood up and pulled on his clothes. The bite mark I had left was still visible on the side of his neck. "Tanya, I love you. But life is long. I need something fragile like that once in a while to feel something new." My throat tightened. "So on our mate bond night, you're dumping your Luna to sleep with a human?" "Well, technically, the ceremony is already over," he corrected me, then bent down and pinched my cheek. "You're the pack's Luna now. You should be more generous." "And if I can't be?" It was as if he had been waiting for that. He smiled. "Then we sever the bond. Just know you might end up exiled as a lone wolf. Think it through, yeah?" I collapsed onto the messy bed. Simon's scent still lingered in the air. Outside the window, the full moon that had witnessed our vows looked unbearably ironic.