"Where are you taking me?" I whimpered as the huge wolf carried me on his shoulders. After a couple of minutes, he put me down. Before I could blink, the huge white wolf shifted before me. The man who now stood in its place was handsome, muscular... and completely naked. * * * Elaine Rutherford has spent her entire life wishing for an escape from her dysfunctional family. But when her wish is granted in the form of being offered up as a human sacrifice to an elite village of werewolves...it wasn't exactly what she had in mind. Every leap year, Stella's Soul receives a mortal woman from the neighbouring city of Moonburn, just beyond the wall, to bear children for the chosen werewolf. And it just so happens this year is a leap year. On the next full moon, Elaine is set to be married to the handsome werewolf billionaire, Tyler Jane Moonstorm. Despite her doubts, she still hopes that this will be a better life than she's used to. At least that's what she thought...
I waited for my father and mother to cease fighting in the car.
We have arrived in Moonburn. Yet, we're still sitting in the car waiting for their argument to end. My sister's baby kept on crying and the sound of my brother's gaming tablet is very much a nuisance to my ears.
I often wished to be like Belle in Beauty and the Beast. At least, she can live peacefully in a castle full of books-never mind the talking dishes and whining furniture.
Finally, my father, who's in the driver's seat, unlocked the door and I went out immediately. I heard my sister's 'scolding' voice for the one thousandth time today, but I just ignored it, like I mostly do.
The neighborhood is calm and peaceful, probably because of the frigid weather or they just don't care about newly-moved folks.
A blonde woman, perhaps in her early forties, waved at me. Her house is just next to us. I smiled and waved back as well. She looks so happy and cheerful upon seeing us, upon seeing me.
But there's something odd about her actions. As soon as I waved back at her, her expression changed. The smile dropped from her previously kind face and she turned her back on me, going inside her house. I was a bit shocked. But for a person who's constantly being turned back by everyone, it didn't bother me that much.
"What the hell are you doing there, Elaine? Go inside and prepare our food!" My mother's thundering voice is the only one loud enough to echo in the silence of the neighborhood.
I glared at her, silently willing her to lower her voice. But, she just rolled her eyes and tried to throw her slippers at me.
I quickly dodged; I'm a pretty good dodger. My family is very chaotic as you can see. Each has their own business and only pays attention to you if they need something.
My younger sister gave birth when she was sixteen. I am eighteen, and yet jobless-again.
I left my friends and job in Maine to be with my family. At least they are a family in some ways. Despite their cruel treatment of me, my mother is still my mother and my father is still my father nonetheless.
I didn't go to college as my parents wouldn't allow me, even though I told them that I'm going to use my own money. My mom told me that instead of spending my money on college, I should give it to them so that I will be at least 'of use' to this family.
"We have raised you for more than a decade. Don't tell me you're not going to pay us back all the money we've spent on you since I gave birth until you graduated in Senior High School!" That was my mother's words every time I mentioned that topic.
And every time she finishes blurting out those words, she always ends it with an attempted slap on my face that I always managed to avoid. As I said, I am pretty much a professional dodger of slaps and things thrown at me. I think if I were Belle from Beauty and the Beast, I would not think twice about going to Beast's huge castle if I have a family like this.
I wandered through the house, exploring my new surroundings on the way to the kitchen. The wallpapers are still intact, no hint of beastly scratches and blood stains. The house wasn't as creepy as I was suspecting. I guess my family is much more hideous then.
The real estate agent told us that the only daughter of the previous couple was abducted on the night of a leap year. And thus, they left-abandoned-this city and went into another city to start a new life.
It sounds like one of those unsolved cases and disappearing people that I used to watch on Buzzfeed. I am an avid fan of the paranormal and supernatural. That's why I am overly happy that the house we are now living in has some supernatural, mystery case connected to it. Especially since it's a leap year tonight, February 29, 2020.
I'm gonna prepare my journal for this year's chilling phenomena. Like the one I caught in my camera last year where I saw the image of a floating lady before my eyes-and I managed to capture it.
"Elaine! Where the heck is our food?!" my sister yelled at me. The four of them were just casually sitting in the living room, watching Netflix on the television that came with the house.
"Coming!" I answered back like how a housekeeper responds to her employer. I better be a housekeeper of this family if this is how they treat me. At least I'll have a monthly salary if I am their housemaid. To be frank, I'd rather be abducted by an alien at midnight or transported to a faery realm rather than continually living with those four huge pigs that call themselves my brother, father, mother, and sister.
I carried a food tray with plates of fruits and vegetables and a bit of meat that were paid for with my last month's salary before I resigned. I used to work as a waitress at a diner in Maine. Well, to tell you honestly, I once even had a brief relationship with my boss before I found out that he only used me-and has been actually married for five years.
I sighed and slowly laid the food on the table before them. Before I could even yield a step back to the kitchen, a dozen people barged in into our house.
Two words could describe my face: utterly flabbergasted. The lady that waved at me earlier was one of a dozen people.
"What the shit is going on?!" My father demanded.
"Who's the eldest female child?" The man carrying a white dress on his shoulder asked.
I frowned. My brows knitted, confusion was visible in my face. So does my family.
My brother, who was still clinging to his gaming tablet, pointed at me. All eyes in the room were fixed on me. The lady from earlier stepped forward.
"Then our sacrifice to the White Wolf is now settled." She spoke more to the people with her rather than to us.
"I'm sorry, what?" I breathed.
"You'll come with us. Bring only yourself. And nothing more," she added.
I tried to protest but the man holding the white dress shouted in anger. "Come with us now before the sun sets!"
My family just looked at me. I was expecting them to stop these people. But my mom just stood and said, "Go. Go with them Elaine. Before they kill us!"
I'm done with them. Even in this last minute, all they think is about themselves. All they care about is their safety. They didn't even stop me or grab me by the hand. The people I called family didn't even fight for me, beckoned me to stay with them. They just handed me to these people that, in the devil's name, we don't even know who they are.
What if they're a cult? A coven of witches? What do they mean by 'sacrificed to the white wolf'? Does that even exist until the twenty-first century? A bunch of thoughts were flooding my mind.
I know that my family is scared of them as these people are holding a rifle, an axe, a rake, and even a rope. Am I some sort of animal to be butchered?
Nevertheless, my family remained silent even as I slowly walked towards the people. This place that we recently moved in minutes ago is definitely odd and creepy and something's fishy. They handed me to them as some sort of bread to be given to the beggars.
A tear slid down from my face but my sister just rolled her eyes, my brother returned to his gaming tablet, my mother's face was just blank, and my father...he hoisted his hand and waved goodbye at me. I blinked, but he immediately averted his gaze and grabbed a newspaper.
They knew. They probably knew this was going to happen. All four of them. And I am the only one who's oblivious to this.
As soon as I left the house, I felt light-hearted. It's as if I am ready to greet death as being this people's sacrifice. I felt relieved by being freed from my family's chain.
At long last, I, Elaine Rutherford, who is now lying on top of a stone table in the middle of a grassy field, can now rest peacefully in this white dress that the man forced me to wear.
Until I saw a huge white wolf approaching me amidst the night of February 29th.
In a werewolf country cursed to be forever cold, Evadne wished under the full moon for many years to find her mate and escape from her hell of a home where her father, Alpha Marcus of the Moonflame Pack, and Elodie, Evadne's sister, constantly made sure her day won't end without her being bullied or beaten by them. When she finally turned eighteen years old, Evadne find her mate, Alpha Gregor of the Fireheart Pack. She promised him that she would be the best mate and Luna for him. However, Elodie reveals he's her fiance and boyfriend and begs the Alpha to ruthlessly reject her in front of the whole Moonflame Pack at Evadne's very own birthday party. Evadne's heart became even more shattered when her father banished her and ordered her to never return to their lives when she humiliated his favorite daughter, Elodie, on that same night. Alone, she was imprisoned in the dungeons of a pack that thought she was a Rogue-when it was attacked by the Alpha King's forces since the said pack was the only remaining one who refused to bow down to him. As she tried to escape the ensuing chaos, she met him, and never had she thought that the Moon Goddess would let her second-chance mate be Alpha King Kallias himself-the cause of the eternal winter and now the most feared Alpha.
“I was looking for a man named Zarion, but I ended up here.” Most of them gasped when I uttered Zarions’ name. “Don’t mention that name because it’s cursed!” someone hissed. My brows furrowed at her reaction. “Why? "He's the Alpha of this pack. He was banished because he didn't want to take the position. Rumour says that he's out in the woods, looking for his mate, and..." she trailed off. "And?" I swallowed. "Kill her. He wants to kill his mate." *** Alpha Zarion is on a quest to find his mate and kill her because he despises the idea of a mating bond. During a winter storm, he met Cassidy Bentley who saved him from death. He knows he has no time to waste but Zarion was curious about her, deliriously wanting every inch of her skin and touch…until he found out that the girl is mated to his number one rival, Alpha Brandon. Alpha Brandon rejected Cassidy because she’s a human—which he greatly despises. She eventually started getting over him, pouring out her love to Alpha Zarion who obsessively wants her. During the night Zarion and Cassidy will mark and mate, the girl's first mate finally comes to his senses and goes to find her. But the first mate already found Cassidy in another man's arm, in his stepbrother’s arms, who was just about to mark her…
In the land of Westfall, three packs rule: the Night Storm Pack, whose wolves are gifted with wind and storm abilities; the Shadow Rose Pack, who are masters of shadows and poison; and the Fire Moon Pack, who can wield flames and render themselves immune to fire. But only the luckiest packmembers have those powers, and not all who possess them have wolves. Meet Sasha Forster, a wolfless and helpless Slave of the Fire Moon Pack-until the ruthless Alpha Alain of the Shadow Rose Pack, the one who was cursed by her mother to marry Sasha and have an heir with her, saves her from her pack's tyrannical Alpha. The Fire Moon Pack now whisks Sasha to be the payment to Alpha Alain and Alain is also trying his best to make her his and end the curse. But Sasha's heart has already begun to beat for her childhood friend and her pack's new Alpha, Ansel. Worse, Sasha became more perplexed when she accidentally revealed to the entire Fire Moon Pack that she has fire powers, and all the pack now either envy her or hate her. When her life and heart bombarded her with difficult choices, would she choose her heart over her mind? Or will she choose responsibility over love?
Wisdom Weisz lost her house and ten-month-old daughter in a fire in a single day. And what’s worse is that on the same day, her husband was making love to her best friend in the latter’s apartment without paying any sort of remorse for her. Frustrated, she was left jobless and spent her remaining money in a luxury hotel’s bar. With destiny as unpredictable as ever, she met the billionaire in the bar who she already came across at various moments of her life. The man offered her a job called, “Wife for Hire”, meaning she will be his wife without any emotional attachments. If she accepts, the billionaire will pay her upfront with a hundred thousand dollars in her bank in just a blink of an eye. Wisdom eventually accepts as she deemed this as an opportunity for revenge to her former husband and best friend. As whirlpool of emotions stirred and a web of conflicts weaved, Wisdom will soon find out that this job was not easy as she thought as her heart begins to fall for the man who had employed her to be his hired wife.
Minerva was so close to tying the knot with her long-time boyfriend Derrick when an unexpected accident fatally killed him. With only five months before she’ll give birth, she had look for various jobs that can raise her and her upcoming child until she met Darwin Gray, the CEO of the biggest company in their city and happens to be Derrick’s half-brother. She was skeptical at first to live with him until Darwin revealed that Derrick actually sold her to him in order to finance Derrick’s gambling lifestyle. Minerva was absolutely heartbroken and was left with no choice than to be his Mrs. Gray. But, as the winds of fate change, Minerva will soon realize that one must never judge a book by its cover—that despite Darwin’s ruthless appearance lies a heart that has long been yearning for a one true love.
Rozelyn found out she is a vampire when she turned eighteen. To make matters worse, her stepmom is secretly a vampire as well and Cyrill, her stepmom's adoptive son, is a werewolf behind the shadows. As she live the life of being a vampire, several people had come for her—including the infamous Blood Mistress, a witch who hunts vampires and werewolves. Rozelyn become more fascinated with the vampire life, especially when she found out that sex plays a huge role in a vampire's everyday living and it acts like blood: once they tasted it, they will crave for it even more. Will Rozelyn be able to voice out her secret love to Cyrill without risking the familial relationship they have built for years? Or will she watch her loved ones perish due to her identity as the most powerful vampire to ever live? Amidst all these, only one thing is certain: Blood is thicker than water—either literally or figuratively.
To the public, she was the CEO's executive secretary. Behind closed doors, she was the wife he never officially acknowledged. Jenessa was elated when she learned that she was pregnant. But that joy was replaced with dread as her husband, Ryan, showered his affections on his first love. With a heavy heart, she chose to set him free and leave. When they met again, Ryan's attention was caught by Jenessa's protruding belly. "Whose child are you carrying?!" he demanded. But she only scoffed. "It's none of your business, my dear ex-husband!"
"Miss Brown, I am the butler here at your service," the butler replied. "My master wants to buy the baby in your belly." "What?!" Does that mean the abortion didn't take place? Did they kidnap her from the operating table just to buy the baby? But why her? "You..." Alice was about to ask a question, but the man in front of her calmly continued, as if he had expected her question, "You're pregnant with his child, and he needs a child. That's all I can tell you." Alice was forced to sign a surrogacy contract and eight months later gave birth to two healthy babies. Fortunately, the man was unaware of her daughter's existence. It wasn't until five years later that fate brought them together again...
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.
There was only one man in Raegan's heart, and it was Mitchel. In the second year of her marriage to him, she got pregnant. Raegan's joy knew no bounds. But before she could break the news to her husband, he served her divorce papers because he wanted to marry his first love. After an accident, Raegan lay in the pool of her own blood and called out to Mitchel for help. Unfortunately, he left with his first love in his arms. Raegan escaped death by the whiskers. Afterward, she decided to get her life back on track. Her name was everywhere years later. Mitchel became very uncomfortable. For some reason, he began to miss her. His heart ached when he saw her all smiles with another man. He crashed her wedding and fell to his knees while she was at the altar. With bloodshot eyes, he queried, "I thought you said your love for me is unbreakable? How come you are getting married to someone else? Come back to me!"
"Ms. Crawford, it’s time for you to divorce Mr. Larsen and come home. You're the only heiress the Master's waiting for.” ~•~ For the sake of love, Amara accepted the arranged marriage with Tobias William Larsen. She did everything to gain her husband’s heart but when his old love returned, she realized that all her effort was all for naught. Tobias demanded a divorce on the night of their wedding anniversary, even at the price of threatening her. Heartbroken, she finally dropped all her illusions about him and returned home to be the heiress. The next time she met Tobias, they were no longer couples but opponents. "Mr. Larsen, should I remind you again? We've divorced." "Amara, that's the stupidest mistake I've ever made. Please come back to me."
Rena got into an entanglement with a big shot when she was drunk one night. She needed Waylen's help while he was drawn to her youthful beauty. As such, what was supposed to be a one-night stand progressed into something serious. All was well until Rena discovered that Waylen's heart belonged to another woman. When his first love returned, he stopped coming home, leaving Rena all alone for many nights. She put up with it until she received a check and farewell note one day. Contrary to how Waylen expected her to react, Rena had a smile on her face as she bid him farewell. "It was fun while it lasted, Waylen. May our paths never cross. Have a nice life." But as fate would have it, their paths crossed again. This time, Rena had another man by her side. Waylen's eyes burned with jealousy. He spat, "How the hell did you move on? I thought you loved only me!" "Keyword, loved!" Rena flipped her hair back and retorted, "There are plenty of fish in the sea, Waylen. Besides, you were the one who asked for a breakup. Now, if you want to date me, you have to wait in line." The next day, Rena received a credit alert of billions and a diamond ring. Waylen appeared again, got down on one knee, and uttered, "May I cut in line, Rena? I still want you."