Aurora Everley has always been the overlooked daughter, the one that gets shadowed by her sister Margot. She thought that once she turns eighteen and meets her mate, she would have someone whose attention would just be on her. But she is wrong. Because her mate happens to be the one her sister brings home, introduced as her boyfriend and Alpha Heir, Mason Chase. Now, she has to sacrifice herself again. She has to sever their mate bond, even when her heart screams not to do it. But what happens if someone else is waiting at the sidelines for her? Someone who's been watching her every move, desiring her in ways no one ever did before?
Chapter 1
Aurora's POV
A pair of cool blue eyes pierce through the darkness, so bright that I flinch when they meet my gaze. I stagger back, my feet getting caught in a protruding root. I fall back, and that's when the wolf emerges.
It's sleek white fur glows in the dark, but it's spattered with so much blood that I can only see spots of it. The smell of copper fills the air, getting stronger as it draws closer to me, baring its teeth. Hunger is emanating off it. Starvation.
But how come I can't bring myself to look away?
"Wake up," I tell myself. I know this is just a dream, but now it's getting painfully real and I want to get out of here. "Wake up, Aurora...."
But I don't stir. Not even a little. The white wolf just stares at me, its gaze way too intelligent. Too predatory.
It's going to attack, I thought. But no. Instead it starts to shift into an image of a naked man, glorious under the moonlight, all muscle and smooth skin. I trace my gaze up to his face, but before I can make out his features, his voice rings across the forest.
"Take your dress off for me. I need to see you."
My body jolts with an unexpected wave of desire, and my confusion is so great that it coaxes me right out of the dream.
I sit up with a gasp, my hand flying to my throat as I struggle to breathe. My skin is still hot with longing, my back slick with sweat. The sheets are pooled around my middle like I've been thrashing in my sleep, and now my face is hot with embarrassment.
Seriously. I see one naked man in my dream and I'm a mess? I didn't even get to see... all of him.
"Stop it," I scold myself, swinging my legs off the bed.
I'm about to head to the shower when my Mom's voice rings out from downstairs. "Rory, come down! You got a delivery!"
"Coming!" I yell back.
Still out of it, I pick up a robe off the floor and shrug into it as I run down the stairs. Mom is standing by the door in front of a bored-looking delivery man, who just hands me a compact box and points at his pad for me to sign.
Once he's gone, Mom squeezes my shoulder excitedly. "First present of the day!"
"Present?" I echo, then I realize that it's my birthday today.
"Happy eighteenth birthday!" Mom greets, kissing me on the cheek. "Now go open your present!"
I'm about to do so, but when I turn the heavy package around, I catch a glimpse of the empty sender address and my blood goes cold.
"Actually, Mom, I don't feel well." My words are coming out as stutters. "I need to go."
I race to my bedroom, the package hanging precariously in my arms as my whole body trembles. I rest my back against the door, tearing the tape off the box and finally breaking it wide open.
Three things fall out.
A red see-through brassiere tangled with matching lacy panties and stockings. A soft pink vibrator in the shape of a rose. Then an envelope, addressing my name in neat handwriting.
I collapse against the door. I don't know why I'm even surprised when this has been happening for three years now. First time it happened was on my sixteenth birthday. I received the very same thing, except that it contained a small dildo and a baby pink lingerie. There was a note back then too, which told me to look pretty and pleasure myself on my birthday.
Who sends that to a sixteen-year-old?
Most importantly, who sends it over the course of three years?
No address. No name. No anything. Even the delivery service gets baffled.
I don't want to open the note. I just want to toss everything straight into the trash and burn them when no one can see. But curiosity gets the best of me.
I rip open the envelope, pulling the single note inside it to reveal the same handwriting that's now getting annoyingly familiar.
"My gorgeous girl, I know you know that you're all mine. Save yourself for me, and me alone. Don't mess around with any other man, even your mate. If you do... you might just find him gone."
Is this a threat?
I toss the note across my room. How disgusting!
I will find this pervert, and when I do, he's the one who will be gone.
* * *
My birthday passes smoothly after that ordeal. My parents surprise me during breakfast and give me gifts, which makes me forget all about the 'present' I had earlier.
However, their biggest surprise comes during lunch, when Dad looks at his phone and says, "Margot's coming home for your birthday dinner, Rory!"
The only thing I can do is pretend to be happy.
Margot and I have a strained relationship to say the least. It doesn't help that we look drastically different. She has long blonde hair while I keep my ginger hair short and wavy, never going past my shoulders. We both have blue eyes, but hers are like violets, bright and vivid while mine look like the shadowy parts of the ocean. She has golden skin, while I'm pale as a sheet of paper and littered with freckles.
Dad says I look like my grandma, and Margot always laughs at that comparison.
I expect her to be mean to me now, as she arrives for dinner wearing a long-sleeved red dress that hugs her figure perfectly. She's upstaging me in my own birthday, in my simple green blouse and white pants. But what else can I expect from her?
Her eyes fall upon me as I sit at the center of the table. I wait for the sharp insult, but she just nods at me. "You look quite nice, Aurora."
"Green does suit her," Mom adds as she lays some food on the table. I notice that she's laying out an extra plate. "I'm just going to get your cake."
She vanishes, so I turn to Dad. "Who else is coming?"
It's Margot who answers. "It's my boyfriend. I told Mom and Dad earlier. I would be introducing him to the family."
"On my birthday?" I blurt out. "My day?"
"Who says everyone has to freeze and be nothing on your birthday?" she snaps at me, facing Dad who said nothing. "Anyway, I think you're going to like him, Dad. You actually know him, since he's the Alpha Heir of Black Dawn Pack."
My eyes go wide. "Our pack?"
Margot just simpers. Even though I'm annoyed, I can't help but be impressed. She finally did it. She went off and snagged an Alpha Heir.
The doorbell rings, and she jumps to her feet. I can hear the door opening, and a certain scent comes wafting in along with a deep male voice. I can't make out the words, but I can make out the scent. It's pine and musk and mint and citrus, all blended into this intoxicating fume that seems to be consuming me from the inside out. I keep inhaling like an addict, taking it in. I can feel my entire body getting flooded with desire before I catch myself.
The scent is coming from Margot's boyfriend.
Then Margo shows up with a tall young man, both full of smiles.
But my smile just vanished, and I don't think it's coming back.
I lock eyes with him, and my planets align.
Her boyfriend is my mate.
At one point we were both abandoned in the woods. Our meeting started with distrust. His wounds were more than the gnashing scratches of the wilderness, it extended to trash his memories and kept him from truth more than once. Her wounds were more than the bruises of the poisonous wilderness, it extended to crush her security and increased her self doubt. It was an exile that led a prideful yet underestimated prince and an tortured daughter of a successful merchant. Our tale only began when we acknowledged our desires, yet the world around us conspired to thwart our every step. The both of us didn't want to doubt, yet, would our resilience and trust be enough to navigate through the jungle of doubts?
She was wolfless. All her life, Holly Ambrose had been longing for her family to reciprocate the love she had been working hard to get from her father and her sister, Irina. Unfortunately, they only saw her as an embarrassment to the pack and used her instead so that Irina could refuse to marry Alpha Evander Edgerton: the ruthless and cold-blooded Alpha of the Blackwood Pack. Thinking that it was the only way to escape them, Holly accepted the proposal. Alpha Alec, her former mate and her sister’s fiance begged her not to. He confessed he still had feelings for her and wanted her back as his mate. Too late because there was no stopping her from having her freedom. But would Holly be truly free if Irina had no intention to stop destroying her life after Alec left Irina to claim Holly back? Would she stay with Alpha Evander even after she found out that his former mate came back and was pregnant with his child?
His body collapses into mine as my back slams on the wall. “You were touching yourself because of me weren't you” his musky scent suffocating me. My core immediately picks up a heart beat with our proximity as he pins my hands above me on the wall. My bare nipples harden at his touch. I can only think of two words at this moment. Touch me. ***************************************************** Never in Ivy Carter's life did she ever think that she'd fall for a man she couldn't have,especially when the man was not only her professor but also her new step brother. Caden's heart has always been where his pack is, gilded by the pack's legacy but the minute he lays eyes on Ivy Carter his walls come crashing down. But he can't have her even though she's his mate. Their worlds collide with an irresistible force and it's only a matter of time till they cross the line, breaking all restraints with an unholy attraction.
Audrina, a powerless omega, becomes entangled in a web of deception created by her own flesh and blood. Her crafty stepsister sends her into the arms of MistyMoon Pack's Alpha, James, where she meets a guy whose icy demeanor conceals his powerful and fair character. With chiseled features and a stare that could melt steel, James is both hot and gorgeous. Their one-night affair suddenly blossoms into a lifetime commitment with the news of a kid on the way, leaving them divided between desire and danger. But behind the surface of their undeniable mate bond, there lies a hidden identity and buried truths that could ruin the spark that was just beginning to ignite.
Leaving everything Lily had behind, she moved to a far countryside Pack and made sure no one would be able to find her anymore. Her perfect life back then turned upside down raising twin children with her under a small Pack a kind-hearted stranger brings them into. She was determined to live her life being tied and stuck to her poor situation when out of nowhere her ex-boyfriend, Wade, whom she left hanging years ago when she ran away came to visit the Pack she’s currently residing in. The worst part is that he will spend his stay under the same roof with her. Would their interrupted love rejoin this time around? Or the bitterness of the past will prevail.
Betrayed by the one she called her mate, and sister, Bella was humiliated and thrown from the pack. She vowed to take revenge on those who hurt her. When Alpha Arthur found her bleeding and left for dead by the side of the road, he healed her and took her to his pack. After rejecting Bella, he regretted it very much. When he met Bella again, there was Arthur by her side.
When they met again, Jason cast aside his paranoia and pride, warmly embracing Chelsey. "Please, come back to me?" For three years, she had been his secretary by day and his companion by night. Chelsey had always complied with his requests, like an obedient pet. However, when Jason declared his plans to marry another, she chose to stop loving him and to let go. But life took unexpected turns. His unyielding pursuit, her pregnancy, and her mother's greed gradually pushed her to the brink. Eventually, she endured tremendous suffering. Five years later, when she returned, she was no longer the woman she once was. Yet he had spiraled into five years of chaos.
My family was on the poverty line and had no way to support me in college. I had to work part-time every day just to make ends meet and afford to get into the university. That was when I met her—the pretty girl in my class that every boy dreamt of asking out. I was well aware she was out of my league. Nevertheless, I mustered all my courage and bravely told her that I had fallen for her. To my surprise, she agreed to be my girlfriend. With the sweetest smile I had ever seen, she told me that she wanted my first gift for her to be the latest and top-of-the-line iPhone. I worked like a dog and even did my classmates’ laundry to save up. My hard work eventually paid off after a month. I finally got to buy what she wanted. But as I was wrapping my gift, I saw her in the dressing room, making out with the captain of the basketball team. She then heartlessly made fun of my inadequacy and made a fool out of me. To make things worse, the guy whom she cheated on me with even punched me in the face. Desperation washed over me, but there was nothing I could do but lie on the floor as they trampled on my feelings. But then, my father called me out of the blue, and my life turned upside down. It turned out that I was a billionaire's son.
After three loveless years, Neil's betrayal deeply wounded Katelyn. She wasted no time in getting rid of that scoundrel! After the divorce, she devoted herself to career pursuits. Rising to prominence as a top designer, skilled doctor, and brilliant hacker, she became a revered icon. Neil, realizing his grave mistake, tried in vain to win her back, only to witness her magnificent wedding to another. As their vows were broadcast on the world's largest billboard, Vincent slid a ring onto Katelyn's finger and declared, "Katelyn is now my wife, a priceless treasure. Let all who covet her beware!"
This is a story about two damaged people who came together because of one's desire and the other's fear. Cassandra She was young, innocent, loving, and pretty with big eyes that showed her soul. She was stunningly beautiful but broken and alone, trapped in a world of monsters. Then he appeared. People say he is the worst monster of all, someone you pray never to meet. Will she escape him, or will he become her whole world? Dominic He was ruthless, aggressive, and merciless. Everyone feared him, and he was proud to be the king of his world. But he was also broken. Then she appeared. She was like a fragile doll, his doll. Will he take what he wants and move on, or will she become his life? "Let me go, please," she begged. He buried his face in her neck and tightened his grip around her arms. "Shhhh... breathe, love," he whispered. She cringed at his nickname for her, and he continued, "You are mine, and I am never letting you go. I will give you everything, my love, except your freedom from me."
"The entire wealthy circle in Seattle knew how much Stella Carlson loved Aaron Malone. People watched the childhood sweethearts grow from inexperience to maturity, finally getting married in a grand wedding ceremony. On the day of the wedding, despite the alliance between the Carlson and Malone families, the groom ran away. Stella knew that Aaron had rushed to L.A. to take care of his ex-girlfriend, who had attempted suicide. Unwilling to become the laughingstock of all Seattle, she gritted her teeth and dialed the number of her adversary, her tone almost commanding, "Ethan, come and marry me now. This is your only chance for revenge." On the other end, Ethan Powers raised an eyebrow as he gripped his phone, staring at the floor littered with cigarette butts. "Did the groom run away?" he asked. "My darling."
For two years, Bryan only saw Eileen as an assistant. She needed money for her mother's treatment, and he thought she'd never leave because of it. To him, it seemed fair to offer her financial help in exchange for sex. However, Bryan didn't expect to fall for her. Eileen confronted him, "You love someone else, yet you always sleep with me? You're despicable!" The moment she slammed the divorce papers down, he realized she was the the mysterious wife he married six years ago. Determined to win her back, Bryan lavished her with affection. When others mocked her origins, he gave her all his wealth, happy to be the supportive husband. Now a celebrated CEO, Eileen had everything, but Bryan found himself lost in another whirlwind...