"Banishment!" came the voice of the elder. "She is to be banished!" Framed for a crime she didn't commit, orphaned from a young age, Aurelia Davids had grown used to being an outcast and didn't dare yearn for something else. But she found her mate and she began to think that everything would be fine, until her world came crashing down and he rejected her publicly. Would she be able to forge a new life for herself and move past the ruins of her former life? And will she have a second chance at love?
AURORA'S POV
It was cold. Very, very cold. The air seemed made of ice and every breath I took in was torture. The hard floor on which I sat was also cold and the coldness seeped through my flimsy clothing and into my skin but I could not move nor stand from my position and even if I could, there was no space to shift to. The cell that I had been thrown in was filled to the brim with young girls that were no more than my age. The only difference between me and them was that I had stopped crying ages ago. Tears hadn't stopped them from throwing me out of the only place I had ever known.
When my rejection and banishment had just taken place, I had cried and cried, thinking that perhaps my tears would move my former pack members and mate, but it had been for nothing. They had thrown me out and turned their backs on me.
I turned into a wanderer, a rogue with no roots. Days and nights had passed with me crying at the edge of our pack borders, hoping and praying they would take me back. Hoping and praying that they realize they had made a mistake and that I had been wrongly accused. My life at the pack hadn't been great, but it was the only life I had, the only life I had ever known.
It had taken me three days to realize that they didn't want me
anymore and that I would starve to death if I didn't leave there and find something to eat. I had wiped my tears and left, my survival now on the forefront of my mind.
Where would I go? Where would I stay?
I had survived and had been surviving until I stepped into the borders of the most vile, most unlawful pack in our history. The BloodMoon pack.
I had been chasing a squirrel, intent on catching it for breakfast that I didn't know when I stepped into their territory, and automatically I knew I had lost my freedom.
The pack members were well-known traffickers, selling most of their captives to breeders or whoever needed them. There were brutal and absolutely without mercy and their women were nothing more than their playthings. They had no say in anything other than the home and raising of their pups.
There was no chance of me ever getting away. I might as well be dead. There would be no one to mourn me anyways. So I would welcome death or whatever hellish world awaits me.
A WEEK AGO: FLASHBACK
I listened quietly as some of the girls in the pack spoke excitedly and gathered around Brie and gushed about how lucky she was that her longtime boyfriend, the Alpha's son, turned out to be her mate afterall.
Brie is the IT girl of the pack. You know, the one that everyone adores and tries to be friends with, so I think it's only natural that she gets the most eligible of the males in the pack irregardless of the fact that she totally despises me.
A whole lot of people don't like me in this pack but I think her hatred overshadows theirs. It wasn't hard to figure out why. Her uncle, the then beta, had been the man my mother rejected as mate. My mom had rejected him because he was a cruel man with no heart, and not only had she rejected him, she had gone ahead to fall in love with a rogue and had gotten pregnant with me. The Rogue, who was my father, had been exiled from his pack after being framed for killing his mother and brother. My father disappeared shortly after I was born.
Gone, they said, but my mother knew that the men she had rejected had something to do with her lover's disappearance. There was no evidence though, so there was nothing she could do. A year later, she died and I was left all alone. So yeah, my life had been bumpy from the beginning.
I tuned into the conversation around me when I realized that the girls had now moved closer to me and were now addressing me.
"What about you, Aurelia? " Brie said as she reached out and toyed with a lock of my golden brown hair. "Have you gotten your mate yet?"
"Um, no."
"Oh," she cooed in fake sympathy, "So sorry about that. Then again, we shouldn't hold our breaths or anything. Who knows if the moon goddess remembered to pair you with someone."
Lola, Brie's best friend, snickered. "She wouldn't know what to do with a mate, Brie. She would probably reject him."
"You're right, Lola," confirmed Brie. "Like mother, like daughter."
I hissed in a sharp breath of pain at the mention of my mother but I was used to this so I did not let my face betray my emotions. I kept it blank, devoid of any expression. Betraying my pain would only make them target me more.
"You made your point, Brie. Now move along, please."
The moment those words left my lips, I regretted it. I should have just kept quiet and let her run herself out, but now it was too late. She would begin ranting in earnest.
I watched as Brie opened her mouth, a scornful twist to it, but before a word could make it past her lips, a masculine voice rang out towards us, "What's going on?"
The scornful twist to Brie's mouth turned into a pout as she saw who it was that had appeared.
It was her mate, Gabriel. With the pout still on her face, she went towards him and clung at his chest.
"Baby," she began, "does she-" Brie pointed at me, "- have to be at the mating ceremony tomorrow?"
Tomorrow, a party was being thrown in celebration of the Alpha's son, Gabriel, finding his mate.
"Yes, baby," Gabriel replied. "Aurelia will be there. The whole pack is invited. Everyone is coming."
Out of everyone in the pack, Gabriel is one of the few who treated me decently in the pack and I couldn't help but wonder why the Moon Goddess paired him with such a bitch as a mate. If I were Gabriel, I would have prayed to be mateless than to have someone like Brie as a mate. The torture would have been to much for me to endure.
But who knew what the moon goddess had in store for me, I thought as I stood up to leave.
And that was where I went wrong. I shouldn't have wondered. I shouldn't have imagined.
Brenna lived with her adoptive parents for twenty years, enduring their exploitation. When their real daughter appeared, they sent Brenna back to her true parents, thinking they were broke. In reality, her birth parents belonged to a top circle that her adoptive family could never reach. Hoping Brenna would fail, they gasped at her status: a global finance expert, a gifted engineer, the fastest racer... Was there any end to the identities she kept hidden? After her fiancé ended their engagement, Brenna met his twin brother. Unexpectedly, her ex-fiancé showed up, confessing his love...
For as long as Emily can remember, she has wanted to overcome her shyness and explore her sexuality. Still, everything changes when she receives an invitation to visit one of the town's most prestigious BDSM clubs, DESIRE'S DEN. On the day she chose to peruse the club, she noticed three men, all dressed in suits, standing on the upper level, near the railing. Despite her limited vision, she persisted in fixating on them. Their towering statues belied the toned bodies concealed by their sharply tailored suits-or so she could tell. The hair of two of them was short and dark, and the third had light brown-possibly blond-hair that reached the shoulders. The dark, crimson background incised their figures, exuding an air of mystery and strength. They stood in stark contrast to the unfiltered, primal energy that pulsed through the club. Shocked by the desires these men aroused in her, she was disappointed to learn that they were masters seeking a slave to divide and conquer. She couldn't afford the fee, and she also realized that they were outside her league. Emily hurriedly left the club, feeling disappointed and depressed, unaware that she had also caught the group's attention. A world of wicked pleasure, three handsome men. Over the years, they have lived a life of decadence, their lavish lair serving as a stage for their most sinister desires. But despite the unending parade of willing subjects, one woman sticks out. A mysterious stranger with white porcelain skin and a killer body, a slave, a name with no address, the first lady to attract their eye and they will go to any length to obtain her no matter the consequences.
"I, Erika Blackwood, stand before you, Alexander Robertson, with a heavy heart. I hereby reject you as my mate. The bond we once shared has grown fragile, and my soul yearns for a different path. May you find solace in the love of another, and may we both find the happiness we seek." Alexander didn't say a word and looked at me. But he refused to accept. *********** Erika Blackwood is the next Alpha in line of the Ironclaw Pack. She hides her identity and gets mated to the Alpha of the Moonforest Pack, Alexander Robertson. Three years passed, but Alexander is still unwilling to let go of his childhood sweetheart. Erika is mistreated and eventually framed by the same childhood sweetheart. Now she leaves with that humiliation, and goes back to her pack, swearing vengeance on those who hurt her. They all waited for her to return and beg, but what happens when they realize that the famous Ironclaw Pack that was going to help in the rogue war, was ruled by a woman named, Erika Blackwood. Now her Ex mates want her back. Other Alphas want this woman.. But will she accept any of them? Or will she stay independent forever?...
P-please, I beg you. Come let's go tell Christian I had no hand in whatever happened, p-please." I clutched the lapel of his jacket desperately. "Let's go. You need to tell my husband you were paid." "Young lady, you're harassing me." His tone was cold and his stare granite. But I could care less. "You harassed me first! You had sex with me without my consent, my husband knows and now I'm pregnant with this child he doesn't want. You ruined my marriage! I-I hate you!" ************************************ Caught by her husband with another man on their matrimonial bed the morning after her birthday, Hailey Codza could not defend herself. As though it's not enough, she gets pregnant. Her enraged husband decides to pay her back for her infidelity by having an affair with his ex-girlfriend - Denise Kellers, the family Hailey never knew she had. Losing her family's wealth and company to her husband and his ex (now girlfriend), she is devastated, homeless and penniless as all her credit cards are blocked by her husband. She sees the man who is responsible for her pregnancy. The man she has no idea how he'd found his way to her matrimonial bed - Jared Johnson. Jared is annoyed when this strange woman disrupts his meeting and accuses him of ruining her life, marriage and impregnating her. It affects his business deals and having no choice, he marries her to calm the public whilst engaged to someone else. But he loathes her and allows his family treats her badly. Hailey who has fallen in love with Jared is broken when she can no longer take the humiliation. She signs the divorce papers and leaves, only to arrive six years later to the country as a self-made, secret billionaire and a mother of twins. Now her two ex-husbands are begging to have her back...
For ten years, Daniela showered her ex-husband with unwavering devotion, only to discover she was just his biggest joke. Feeling humiliated yet determined, she finally divorced him. Three months later, Daniela returned in grand style. She was now the hidden CEO of a leading brand, a sought-after designer, and a wealthy mining mogul—her success unveiled at her triumphant comeback. Her ex-husband’s entire family rushed over, desperate to beg for forgiveness and plead for another chance. Yet Daniela, now cherished by the famed Mr. Phillips, regarded them with icy disdain. "I’m out of your league."
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."