Alora Dennison is an orphaned child from a shamed bloodline, surviving in her family's old pack.On the dawn of her transition pushing her into adulthood, in an unexpected turn of fate, she imprints on the mate she will be bonded to for eternity. Only he isn't the man of her dreams. He is the only one in the entire state she would never have wanted to bond to. Colton Santo is the arrogant, dominant son of the Alpha from a rival pack, which is set to unite the packs and reign in one kingdom. In years gone by, his disdain for her and any from her bloodline has been prominent. Her treatment by his pack has pushed her to live in near isolation, fearful for her existence. And now, on the dawn of her awakening, before all those assembled, they see her imprint on their future leader. Fate has decreed it, but everyone around her is about to try and stop it. Fate isn't about to make it easy on her either, as a long-forgotten war erupts in their lands, bringing an age-old enemy with a thirst for blood back into the forefront of Lycanthrope life.Will she survive long enough to ever find out why she has borne a black mark on her lineage her entire life? And why Colton's father is so eager to see her dead. Will Colton step up and honor the bond, or will he be the one to deliver the final blow?
You know those stories about unwanted rejects, whose loved ones either died or all abandoned them to drift aimlessly through the world? A worthless no one, almost invisible to other people. Nothing spectacular about them, no grand rise from nothing to something as they dawn into adulthood.
Yeah well, that's kind of my story.
My name is Alora Dennison and I am literally hours away from my Awakening Ceremony at the ripe old age of 18 years old, with absolutely no one who gives a crap about me to be there, no support, no family, and definitely no friends. I'm a late bloomer, I guess. Not that it's unusual in my bloodline, as almost every female in my family didn't 'come out' until they hit their late teens from what I can remember. Much like the others in the orphanage, stuck here with me. Another reason we are snubbed and left to our own devices in this hell hole they call a home.
My ceremony has me all churned up inside and restlessly pacing the room I share with Vanka. She's like me, although in all the years we've bunked together I can't say we have ever become friends of any kind. She makes it clear she doesn't like me and much like everyone around me, they all keep their distance. We tolerate one another, but none of us have ever bonded.
I'm an orphaned no-one whose parents died in the war of ten years ago against the vampires. So is she, but it didn't warm her to me in anyway. I guess because she's from a leg of the Santo pack and they have hated the Whyte pack since long before the war. We were feuding before the vampires united every one of us and old scars and grudges are not something that wolves let go easily.
We were just two small girls left with no immediate blood link guardians, put in this place for unwanted cubs, to live out our days in unexceptional ways. It would have been kinder to end our misery back then, than leave us to live as outcasts among our own people, our own kind. Shunned because we are the shameful proof that their own packs failed them. I don't think they knew what else to do with us. So many young with no one left to care for them and raise them in our ways and seen as cursed. They were ashamed of the failings of our families and we are the ones to carry that burden like an eternal black mark painted on our faces.
I'm amazed that kids like us even get to go through with the ceremony, I mean it's kind of a big deal and we are kind of not. We're a bit like the lost boys in Neverland, except.... none of us want to stay here and growing up is the only way out.
Your Awakening is a bit like graduation in a sense. A passing from child to adult and normally where you would find your place, your rank, in the pack, and get a mate. I have no delusions that it means anything of the sort for any of us turning tonight. Of which there are four from the home of unwanteds, and I hear maybe three from the packs around. Just a handful of kids trying to break free, find their path, and all in the great presence of the entire 'Packdom'.
The Packdom being the dozen or so wolf tribes from the state. They all have to convene on the shadow rock to watch you transform fully for the first time, under the first full moon of your birth month. It's not hard to figure out when you're ready. The weeks running up to your birthday, you start to change in small ways and, god damn, it hurts. Like having your insides snapped and stretched in fits of severe twisting pain and zero control over it happening.
The signs are pretty evident to all. Kind of like puberty for werewolves, I guess. Maturing, physical improvements and a massive rise in appetite and aggression. Little moments where you start to transform painfully and then it dissipates just as quickly so you never really reach a first transition, but it's reported, and no one can hide it. That pain, that you know will come with the first time, it's saved for the full moon after your birthday.
Some don't go through it until later in life, and some earlier. Usually, when you turn, is a sign of where you stand in the hierarchy. The longer it takes, the weaker your DNA, according to the Santo elders anyway but my parents never mentioned any of this when I was young. So, being eighteen, puts me way down on the pecking order and just confirms my bloodline were not that of warriors or strong enough to be anything of importance. Vanka is sixteen and she too is turning tonight, but with Santo blood somewhere in her veins, she should have turned far earlier. I guess whatever mix is in her is the reason they reject her as one of their own.
I mean look at the Santo's, they are the reigning pack in the state and everyone in their bloodline turned before the age of ten. Colton, the next heir as Alpha, is nineteen years old, lords over all in our kingdom and he has been running with the pack since he was a mere eight years old.
Every single one of his family returned from the wars, which speaks volumes to the purity of their genes, their strength, and their abilities in battle. He's destined to take over from his father as Alpha one day and the way things are heading, he won't just be Alpha of the Santo pack, but all of us. Something that has never happened in our lifetime but will begin a new dawn in how the packs live.
Santo is not a nice guy, none of them are. He walks around surrounded by his sub pack, looks down at the likes of us and never makes eye contact or responds to anyone below his station. That's how it works here, dominance and strength is everything to wolves. He has his father's arrogance and he knows every female hitting puberty is craving to become his mate. He hasn't officially paired or marked yet and despite having the same girl always by his side, he's fair game until he does.
Faultlessly good looking in that Latino, pretty boy kind of way with far too handsome a face. He's over six feet of muscle and radiates aggression without trying and is a rare black furred wolf on turning, one of the largest among us. I think the one time he actually acknowledged my existence was the day he pushed me out of his way in passing. I tripped in front of him in the corridor to the great hall, and he didn't bat an eye or miss a step in shoving me back aggressively, like I was a lightweight piece of trash. All the girls laughed at me when I landed on my ass and skidded back into the trashcan and I've made sure to never get in his way again.
Not that we have much time in the same place. I live in the orphanage and go to the school nearby that was built purely for our kind, away from 'normal' people. He was ahead of me by one year, so we didn't really cross paths in all that time, and since he lives with his pack on the south side of the mountain, only coming to the shadowy north when required, I never see him or any of his subordinates. Like all the rest of the people who avoid the 'Rejects'.
Our people all moved and convened nearer the mountain from all surrounding areas after the great war. Keeping close to stay protected and no one ever left again. His father is the unofficial Dominant Alpha and likes to check in with all on the mountain when he sees fit. Since Colton graduated school, we only see him when by his father's side for official visits. Lording over their newfound kingdom of obedient and submissive packs, keeping law and order.
Rumor has it the vampires have been brewing and gathering for several months, maybe even years, to regain numbers and launch a new war on our kind. We always knew they would. I mean we won the war, but we didn't defeat them in the way we wanted. Many survived and fled and have been out there for almost ten years, recovering from it and licking their wounds. It's been quiet for so long, eerily so, but there is so much unease and unrest in the air that the packs called together a meeting a month back to decide the fate of our future. Trouble stirring and we could all feel it, our senses on high alert and that vibe that something huge is coming. They think a coming together to create one pack and one unity is the answer to a brewing war. Not that it changes much, as we have been living almost that way for a decade.
We were never united before under just one Alpha though. We fought as separate packs and it almost wiped us out. There was no leadership as a whole and it meant packs like mine, known for peaceful living and farming, were almost annihilated. Many of our kin never returned and those who did, were forever changed. Those like me who lost everyone; my parents, grandparents, uncles, and my brother... we are shunned by people who like to pretend it never happened. My family were lost, none of them came back and therefore in the eyes of the pack hierarchy ... my bloodline is weak. They don't want to claim us as their kind anymore and they sure as hell don't want us procreating and spreading our genes to future wolves.
Warriors came home. The weak did not.
We were never ready for it.
The unexpected death of Rose’s beloved aunt ends up being a driving force in her uneventful life. She gives up her lonely, unfulfilled big city existence for the country home and life from cherished childhood memories. But can it live up to them? All she wants is to find her place in the world; the happiness and independence she has been searching for. With her little dog Muffin by her side and a much needed new friend, it does seem possible - until an encounter with the handsome local Laird of the Munro Estate sends her spiralling from young professional woman to hormonal bundle of goo. Their chemistry is undeniable, but with him not seemingly on the market, this might not be the place for her after all. Thrust into the world of country living, will Rose ever find true love? In this roller coaster of emotions and a whole lot of country charm, one thing is for sure: Rose is certainly not going to be bored anymore!
Sohla Kim has everything you could want in life. Born rich and smart, to a family that has status, money, and power, while dominating the investment world. A pre-set betrothment to her childhood best friend, Jyeon Park. The handsome, equally wealthy, and smart, future heir of OLO, their joint family company. An unbreakable bond between two families, a future that looks bright and rosy. Only the perfect picture is only that, and ten years on, alone, holding her head above water, in a loveless marriage laced with tragedy, her entire world is turned upside down. Everything she thought she had and knew comes crashing down one fateful night. New waters, new faces, and a denial of the past will bring her back full circle to really question everything she was born for. Was it always about money? Was she always a tool to elevate Jyeon to higher levels? Did none of them really love her?
Leyanne Cruden is a very old yet powerful witch in present day who is dissatisfied with the world as we know it. An immortal who stopped ageing in her late twenties. She has lived through so much and lost so many that it has jaded her personality and she no longer knows if she is good or bad. A vision leads her on a purpose to find an awakening hunter who threatens the existence of all supernatural beings. Like her he's young, immortal and everything that can destroy her. His creation was purely for the purpose of wiping the earth free of supernaturals. To prevent this tragedy she must assemble a coven of mixed creatures and figure out how to avert the destruction of magic before it's too late. They do say that sometimes the one thing which is the worst for you is the one thing you want the most - Dante Torres, a hunter with the ability to end her life. She will need to let people in if she has a hope of succeeding, as even a witch as powerful as her can not do it alone. With a collection of supernatural characters, love and heartbreak.
Emma Anderson has everything in her life worked out. She has her perfect job in a Manhattan empire allowing her to live a quiet and organised safe existence. A necessity to her, after a childhood filled with bad memories, abuse, and a mother who was less than useless. But, with it comes a problem, one that could derail everything she thought she needed in her life. Her promotion sends her straight into the close employment of young, gorgeous, playboy billionaire, Jacob Carrero with his formidable reputation for being a player. Stuck as his right-hand man, every waking moment of every single day, she realises he is exactly the type of person who could drive her crazy, and not in a good way. Like chalk and cheese, he is everything she's not. Compulsive, confident, laid back, dominant and fun, with a seriously laid back attitude to casual sex and dating. Jake is the only one with an ability to steamroll over her manicured ice maiden exterior, who is not phased by the closed in demeanour and cool manners, but as much as she wants to, letting him in is another thing entirely. A past that made her man wary and no desire to ever let one close enough to hurt her again, Jacob Carrero has his work cut out. He is not someone who takes NO for an answer and will have to learn how to break through if he wants more than the mask she shows the world. Jake needs to show her that even some one like him can change when that one girl that matters breaks through. Love-able sexy characters and deep emotional topics.
TangShi is a girl without much luck in the world. Despised by her father after her mother died giving birth to her, she has grown up in a cold and unloving environment and hated by her stepmother. Blamed for things she could never control and treated as an outcast by her own blood. Forced to come home after finally escaping to school on a self achieved scholarship abroad, she is promised to the son of the Leng family. To create a beneficial business alliance to further her own father's greed in the corporate world. Only YuZhi Leng is as unwilling as she is, with a girlfriend already in place that he adores and no desire to honor the contract put in place - to produce an heir in the first year of marriage and solidify the two families union. TangShi must bear living as a third wheel in this unwanted life and accept or be thrown aside by her family. Until upon meeting, she realizes that YuZhi may not be the stranger to her she thought he was and recognizes him on sight. Could he be the man she met eight years ago at a masked ball, who swept her off her feet and made her feel alive, and yet left her heartbroken that fateful night? A rollercoaster of a marriage is about to be embarked upon.
On the day of their wedding anniversary, Joshua's mistress drugged Alicia, and she ended up in a stranger's bed. In one night, Alicia lost her innocence, while Joshua's mistress carried his child in her womb. Heartbroken and humiliated, Alicia demanded a divorce, but Joshua saw it as yet another tantrum. When they finally parted ways, she went on to become a renowned artist, sought out and admired by everyone. Consumed by regret, Joshua darkened her doorstep in hopes of reconciliation, only to find her in the arms of a powerful tycoon. "Say hello to your sister-in-law."
In order to fulfill her grandfather's last wish, Stella entered into a hasty marriage with an ordinary man she had never met before. However, even after becoming husband and wife on paper, they each led separate lives, barely crossing paths. A year later, Stella returned to Seamarsh City, hoping to finally meet her mysterious husband. To her astonishment, he sent her a text message, unexpectedly pleading for a divorce without ever having met her in person. Gritting her teeth, Stella replied, "So be it. Let’s get a divorce!" Following that, Stella made a bold move and joined the Prosperity Group, where she became a public relations officer that worked directly for the company’s CEO, Matthew. The handsome and enigmatic CEO was already bound in matrimony, and was known to be unwaveringly devoted to his wife in private. Unbeknownst to Stella, her mysterious husband was actually her boss, in his alternate identity! Determined to focus on her career, Stella deliberately kept her distance from the CEO, although she couldn't help but notice his deliberate attempts to get close to her. As time went on, her elusive husband had a change of heart. He suddenly refused to proceed with the divorce. When would his alternate identity be uncovered? Amidst a tumultuous blend of deception and profound love, what destiny awaited them?
Jane Roberts has been married to the love of her life for two years and just when she thinks they're going to start a family, he divorces her and kicks her to the curb. Hurt and broken, Jane discovers that Marcus had actually been cheating on her with her cousin, Abigail and she had only been his means to an end. Enraged, Jane is determined to get her revenge, but without money and connections, Marcus will never be taken down. Just as she is about to give up all hope, Caleb Lockwood reaches out to her and agrees to help her but she has to get married to him first and their marriage needs to be kept a secret. Jane agrees to it, but will she and Caleb be able to dispute the pools of sparks and passion that threatens to consume their printed marriage? And what will happen when Marcus discovers their marriage and will stop at nothing to destroy their union and win his love back?
After being kicked out of her home, Harlee learned she wasn't the biological daughter of her family. Rumors had it that her impoverished biological family favored sons and planned to profit from her return. Unexpectedly, her real father was a zillionaire, catapulting her into immense wealth and making her the most cherished member of the family. While they anticipated her disgrace, Harlee secretly held design patents worth billions. Celebrated for her brilliance, she was invited to mentor in a national astronomy group, drew interest from wealthy suitors, and caught the eye of a mysterious figure, ascending to legendary status.
Two years ago, Ricky found himself coerced into marrying Emma to protect the woman he cherished. From Ricky's perspective, Emma was despicable, resorting to underhanded schemes to ensure their marriage. He maintained a distant and cold attitude toward her, reserving his warmth for another. Yet, Emma remained wholeheartedly dedicated to Ricky for more than ten years. As she grew weary and considered relinquishing her efforts, Ricky was seized by a sudden fear. Only when Emma's life teetered on the edge, pregnant with Ricky's child, did he recognize-the love of his life had always been Emma.
Rumors said that Lucas married an unattractive woman with no background. In the three years they were together, he remained cold and distant to Belinda, who endured in silence. Her love for him forced her to sacrifice her self-worth and her dreams. When Lucas' true love reappeared, Belinda realized that their marriage was a sham from the start, a ploy to save another woman's life. She signed the divorce papers and left. Three years later, Belinda returned as a surgical prodigy and a maestro of the piano. Lost in regret, Lucas chased her in the rain and held her tightly. "You are mine, Belinda."