***This story has a lot of steamy scenes that are not suitable for minors.*** A hundred years after the war where werewolves lost against humans, Kaiya finds herself imprisoned in an island park where they are hunted on a weekly basis for human entertainment. However, when the ownership of the island park changes, she finds her possessive mate, who is a newly crowned King. *************************** "You are the first freed werewolf, does not mean that you will be the last." "Is that why you freed me? To set an example?" "No. I freed you because you will be my woman." My breathing stops. The way he puts a claim on me makes me want to claim him too. "I-" "Ah! Don't worry about answering me now. I will give you time to consider me." I look at the table and entwine my fingers together. I take a deep breath and look back at him. "I want that too," I whisper. "I want to become your woman too." I answer the surprise on his face by flushing scarlet. Then, he looks away and I can see a blush creeping on his face too. "So, starting now, we are together?" he asks. "Before that, we need to do a promise." "A promise?" I take his hand to mine and say, "You are my mate, whom I promise to love and cherish forever, until the gods and fate separate us." He squeezes my hand and answers, "You are my mate, whom I promise to love and cherish forever, even if the gods and fate may try to separate us."
The wind is strong, and rain is warning us of its impending presence. The trees are swaying with the wind and the waves are crashing against the beach. In the twilight, the clouds lay all over the island, it's overcast and dismal. It's February and there is a bite of cold in the air.
The only consolation is that human hunters might deem today as too inconvenient to go on with hunting us-werewolves who are imprisoned on this island. Hopefully, they postpone the hunting indefinitely.
I sit on a slab of stone that overlooks the angry ocean. It looks as if a typhoon is coming but we all know that it's just the monsoon.
I take a deep breath. The atmosphere is oppressive, and truth be told, I want to hide too, but I can't. Adults like me, especially the strong ones, are morally bound to act as bait for the children. They can't fight yet, not until their training is completed. They still need a few more years to learn and to watch how we survive in this weekly turmoil.
I look around the area. There are only two of us on the beach, me and my best friend, Nowra. We don't have any weapon except our strength and speed, and the fact that we can transform into wolves. It's not a huge advantage though. Humans know our weaknesses. And besides, it's a double-edged sword for most. As time passes, werewolves can no longer control it as efficiently as possible. And that only leaves us with one option, run from human hunters.
We hear the weapons fire–its sound reverberates throughout the island. It only means one thing, no postponement for us.
"Kaiya," Nowra calls.
"Nowra," I answer and bow my head to her.
Nowra and I stand up. We approach each other and hold each other's hand with our palms towards each other. Then, we touch our forehead and whisper, "May we survive this tribulation."
We close our eyes and say our thanks and wishes. And we hope that the moon goddess is still there, listening to her children. It's been a hundred years since werewolves tried to take over the planet. We lost the war and now, all of us are either slaves, prisoners, or in hiding.
We open our eyes and look into each other's eyes. It's our ritual. A way to reassure each other that we will survive this. We prepare ourselves. Even separated, we can watch each other's back. It's been a long fifteen years since I arrived here. It's Nowra who helped me get accustomed to being a slave prisoner in this hunting island park. At werewolves' age, we are still young adults. Five human years is equivalent to one year of aging for werewolves.
Then a silver bullet comes whizzing beside my ear. We both duck and look at the hunters. Nodding at each other, we transform into our wolf form. Like me, Nowra can easily control her werewolf. There is no problem with aggression and the need to kill as well. For us, it is a weapon to escape, to run, to continue hiding in the dark. It's another story for the other werewolves though.
As we are running the length of the beach, we hear growls of pain and death. I clench my jaws and continue backing away from the humans. As always, they are using hoverboards created by the mages which makes them move faster. They fire another bullet in my direction. I jump to a slab of rock and use it as cover. I felt it cracking behind me, and I hope Nowra is safe as she runs to the other side of the beach.
Before the hunter fires another round, I run towards the next stone, then the next tree, until he flattens the surroundings. I face the human. There is a snicker on his face. He's enjoying this faux hunting, just like how the island park owner wants it to be. I can't kill him, because that will just place all the attention on me on the next hunt. All we have to do is to run and wait for the dark to come. Besides, this will only last for three hours.
I live on this island for years. I know the area already. That's another advantage that I have. It's the reason why, after fifteen human years, I can survive the weekly hunting. It's also the reason why the children can still grow into adulthood. They can hide, while we act as bait.
"Are you tired of living now, little werewolf!?!" the human taunts as he stops a few meters away from me.
I scrutinize him. He's a huge human. Seven feet tall. With muscles bulging from his clothes. This one is used to this–to hunting and killing. No. Not just hunting werewolves. I'm certain the human in front of me is a mercenary.
"This is my first time in this wonderful park! Now, come and let me enjoy this thrill!"
I take a step back. I know it. This man can kill me. My gut instincts scream that same litany over and over. He takes a lasso and whips the sandy beach beside him. I groan. He's a mage hunter, worse than a simple human hunter. The silver whip he's holding is something that can inflict pain on a werewolf. One whip is all it will take and it will siphon us of our strength.
"My little werewolf. Don't be afraid. You can try to kill me," he sneers.
I am about to run when the man clicks his tongue. "That's not a wise move. See, the one you are with? I think she needs your help. You see, my leader has a taste for beautiful werewolves. And he is so much more stronger than I am. My question is, do you think your little friend can handle that?"
I growl. This time, I bare my teeth at him. Nowra knows combat, but I am stronger than her. She's smart, but my instincts move faster than her.
"I also notice that your friend is beautiful. Does she already have a mate? My leader can smell that too, you know. A werewolf with a mate. Nothing is more satisfying for him."
I perk my ears. I can't hear Nowra. That's weird. We promised not to go so far from each other that we will cease to feel each other's presence. If she needs help, I can just run in her direction and we will take care of the hunters.
"We're only here to smoke out all the werewolves on this island. We just need to count you guys, but I think I will enjoy hunting you instead." He trembles in excitement, "It's been a while."
He hits the beach again, and the whips crackle with electricity. I pull back, making sure that the electricity won't travel toward me. And then there it is-an ear-splitting scream. I stop in my tracks. It's not from Nowra, but from one of the kids that we are taking care of. It's Apari!
*** This story has steamy scenes that are not suitable for minors.*** Isabella 'Izzy' Garcia is a thirty-year-old female werewolf who enjoys her freedom all too much. She is content with her well-balanced life except for that one thing that causes her anxiety every year — the mate-finding ceremony. And being thirty means that she will soon be trapped by the mate bond that all werewolves suffer from. For her, it is nothing but a permanent prison — the only blight in her werewolf existence. When the mate-bond-sentence has been announced, she realizes that she will not only suffer from one mate, but from three mates! And she knew then, that the Moon Goddess must have hated her so much! Miles Bennett is Izzy's friend and confidant, originally a pack outsider who climbed the rank until he became a Beta. On Izzy's thirtieth birthday, he confessed his love for her, only to be rejected on the same day. Landon Hayes is the proud alpha of Izzy's pack. He is a confident alpha who offered Izzy the position of Luna the instant his mate bond with her activated. But like the rest of her mates, his offer was shot down the instant it was uttered. Carter Grayson is Alpha Landon's beta who is flirty and always has an unrequited love for Izzy. He has always been jealous of Miles, but never wanted to be just a friend to her. He is very vocal about his mate bond with Izzy and believes that the Moon Goddess has finally listened to his pleas. And he is very certain that he won't waste the opportunity given to him.
*** This story has steamy scenes that are not suitable for minors.*** When Cassie discovered that her boyfriend of six months was cheating on her with a married younger woman, she looked for the cheating woman's husband and insisted to have sex with him. However, after the deed, she found out that she got the wrong person and had a tryst with the billionaire Liam Chapman instead. Soon, her life spirals out of control—Liam's expelled son enrolls in her school. Her ex-boyfriend’s cheating goes out. Students complain about her teaching methods. And her co-teachers think that she is having an affair with the education minister because of the speed of her promotion and the number of her awards. Wanting to escape the drama, she resigns and goes to another city, only to meet Liam Chapman again. This time, he has an offer she can't reject. A contract marriage of three years. He will provide all her needs, but in return, she will provide his, and that includes focusing on his little monster of a son who hates studying because he thinks it's very uncool. However, as she stays with husband and son, she falls more and more for Liam and loves his kid as if he is her own. But, time is running out. Soon the contract will end, and she will need to leave the life she learned to love.
Corinne devoted three years of her life to her boyfriend, only for it to all go to waste. He saw her as nothing more than a country bumpkin and left her at the altar to be with his true love. After getting jilted, Corinne reclaimed her identity as the granddaughter of the town’s richest man, inherited a billion-dollar fortune, and ultimately rose to the top. But her success attracted the envy of others, and people constantly tried to bring her down. As she dealt with these troublemakers one by one, Mr. Hopkins, notorious for his ruthlessness, stood by and cheered her on. “Way to go, honey!”
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."
Blinded in a crash, Cary was rejected by every socialite—except Evelina, who married him without hesitation. Three years later, he regained his sight and ended their marriage. "We’ve already lost so many years. I won’t let her waste another one on me." Evelina signed the divorce papers without a word. Everyone mocked her fall—until they discovered that the miracle doctor, jewelry mogul, stock genius, top hacker, and the President's true daughter… were all her. When Cary came crawling back, a ruthless tycoon had him kicked out. "She's my wife now. Get lost."
Kara Martin was known as Miss Perfect. She was a beauty with good personality and successful career. Unfortunately, her life changed at one night. She was accused of adultery, losing her job, and abandoned by her fiance. The arrogant man who slept with her did not want to take responsibility. He even threatened to kill her if they met again. What's worse, Kara was pregnant with twins and she chose to give birth to them. Four and a half years later, Kara returned to work at a large company. As the secretary, she would frequently face their notorious CEO. Kara thought it wouldn't be a problem, but as it turned out ... the CEO was the father of the twins!
Rosalynn's marriage to Brian wasn't what she envisioned it to be. Her husband, Brian, barely came home. He avoided her like a plague. Worse still, he was always in the news for dating numerous celebrities. Rosalynn persevered until she couldn't take it anymore. She upped and left after filing for a divorce. Everything changed days later. Brian took interest in a designer that worked for his company anonymously. From her profile, he could tell that she was brilliant and dazzling. He pulled the stops to find out her true identity. Little did he know that he was going to receive the greatest shocker of his life. Brian bit his finger with regret when he recalled his past actions and the woman he foolishly let go.
Charlee was left at the altar and became a laughingstock. She tried to keep her head high, but ultimately lost it when she received a sex tape of her fiance and her half-sister. Devastated, she ended up spending a wild night with a hot stranger. It was supposed to be one-time thing, but he kept popping up, helping her with projects and revenge, all while flirting with her constantly. Charlee soon realized that it was nice having him around, until her ex suddenly appeared at her door, begging for another chance. Her tycoon lover asked, “Who will you choose? Think carefully before you answer.”