Chrystal, the young Luna-to-be, has long waited to be bonded with her childhood betrothed, Darius. On the night her world was to be made complete, it is completely shattered by the moon goddess' decree! Her mate is the vicious killer and rogue wolf, Castian, and now, thanks to the bond, so is she! Marked as a traitor by her own pack, Chrystal is forced to flee the only home she has ever known, or face death. Trapped by a wolf and a bond she does not deserve, Chrystal must choose between running for her life or facing the growing connection she starts to feel with a man she should fear. Will she fight her fate? Or embrace a love that could destroy them both?
The scent of burning sage filled the night air as the Blood Moon rose over the Barone pack's sacred grounds.
The flames of the ceremonial pyres flickered, casting long shadows over the gathered wolves.
The night was warm, and the air was electric with excitement from both the wolves about to be mated and the crowd surrounding the fires.
Chrystal Barone stood in the center of the stone ritual circle, dressed in flowing white robes, her heart pounding, filling her ears with a rushing sound and causing her hands to shake.
Tonight was the night she had prepared for her entire life. The moment she would bond with Darius Strigan – the noble Alpha, her childhood friend, her destined mate.
Darius stood across from her, tall, golden-haired and confident, his piercing blue eyes locked onto hers. His trim, fit frame standing at alert. His hand twitched at his side, anticipation thick in the air.
The Blood Moon Bonding Ceremony was ancient and absolute. Under its power, fated mates would be drawn together, their souls binding forever.
There would be no mistakes. No second chances.
The two had waited for this day, and now, with their families and entire pack in attendance, the hour was near.
A stiff breeze blew, shifting Chrystal's gown and blowing strands of her long, honey-blonde hair into her face.
She shyly brushed her hair behind her ear, glancing away from Darius, who stood beaming at her, his Luna.
At exactly midnight, a deep voice boomed from the head of the circle.
"Step forward, children of the Moon. Let the Goddess reveal your fate." The elder who was leading the ceremony called out, his arms spread toward the couple.
Chrystal and Darius had been betrothed since childhood. This day, this moment, was meant to come.
Chrystal inhaled sharply and took a step forward. Darius did the same. The moment their feet touched the circle's glowing runes, the magic pulsed to life.
For the Blood Moon ritual, if the couple were not fated but still wanted to be together, arrangements would be made for them in another ceremony.
It was not a death sentence or a loss if the Bonding ceremony did not work.
But for the couple standing before their clan with their backs and shoulders straight, shining eyes fixed on the elder before them, they knew there would not be any issue.
They were fated, and it would be shown to everyone tonight.
Warmth spread through Chrystal's chest as the sacred bond awakened – then suddenly, that warmth turned to ice.
A brutal snap shot through her bones and she gasped, clutching her chest.
Something was wrong. Very wrong.
It should not feel like this!
This is a bond between mates!
Why such pain?
Chrystal wondered, her mind racing as she glanced up at Darius who was staring down at her, his lips parted as his eyes widened.
He's not affected?
Nothing is happening to him?!
"Argh!" Chrystal cried out as her knees buckled.
The bond was forming – but not with Darius.
Pain coiled around her ribs, burning, twisting, causing her to almost double over as the whole crowd stepped forward as one.
The connection yanked at her soul, pulling her toward someone else.
Someone who was not in the circle.
There was a collective gasp from the crowd as Chrystal staggered forward, away from Darius.
Darius' eyes shifted to where Chrystal was heading.
From the shadows, beyond the ceremony, a low, dark chuckle echoed through the night as a deep voice that sounded like water running over rocks droned, "Well now, isn't this something?"
The crowd began to buzz as many who recognized the voice jolted, gazing among themselves in disbelief.
Darius' eyes widened, and his body stiffened as the man with the voice stepped into the clearing.
Chrystal was being pulled toward someone forbidden.
Tall, broad-shouldered, with storm-gray eyes and a face carved from stone, the rogue Alpha, once a member of the Barone pack – the Moonblaze pack – approached the gathering with long slow strides.
Scars lined his forearms, a testament to countless battles. His black cloak barely concealed the lethal muscles beneath as the night breeze pulled at it, revealing his broad chest and taught torso.
Whispers swept through the crowd.
A name fell from someone's lips, tinged with horror.
"Castian Rhodes."
"The rogue Alpha." Another whisperer said.
The traitor. What no one said.
And now, Chrystal's mate.
Chrystal's breath hitched as she struggled against the pull.
No. No, this can't be happening! Chrystal wailed in her mind.
Darius! I'm supposed to be with Darius!
She screamed in her head as Castian's gaze met hers.
His expression was unreadable, but there was a flicker of dark amusement in his cold eyes.
The mate bond pulsed between them, hot and undeniable.
He can feel me fighting it.
Fighting him.
Chrystal mused as she watched his steady approach.
As she gazed at him, she knew why he had come forward – the pull was affecting him too.
He could not have stayed hidden if he had tried.
Her dry lips pursed as she struggled to stand.
Darius's expression twisted in fury.
"This is a mistake!" He growled, stepping forward, between Chrystal and the advancing rogue.
"She's mine!" He spat, his piercing blue eyes on the man striding leisurely toward the stone ring.
The magic disagreed.
The runes on the ground flared red, binding Chrystal and Castian's fates together.
Her father, Alpha Mason Barone, stood frozen on the dais, his face pale as death.
From the moment his daughter cried out, he had been on his feet. But as the Alpha King, he had to maintain his poise.
The first person Chrystal's eyes had gone to after the pain stared, after Darius, had been her father, but the intense pain had drawn her eyes toward the source of the fierce pull on her heart – Castian Rhodes.
Without any warning, chaos erupted.
Darius lunged backward, toward Chrystal, his hand reaching for her arm, fury blazing in his eyes.
"She's my mate!" He snarled, as if directing his rage at the magic circle, the world or the moon goddess herself.
The warriors surrounding the circle drew their weapons.
"Kill him!" Darius bellowed, dragging Chrystal behind him.
"End the traitor!" Someone else shouted, and the warriors rushed forward.
Blades flashed in the firelight as the pack warriors turned against Castian instantly.
Chrystal barely had time to scream before Castian moved toward her, faster than any wolf she had ever seen.
One moment, he was standing still. The next, he was a blur of motion, taking down three warriors in the span of a breath.
He didn't hesitate. Didn't falter as he swept toward her, the mate bond still fresh and pulling them together.
Darius lunged at Castian, claws unsheathing, but Castian wasn't there.
"I reject you Marian Storm!" Those were the words she could never have dreamed to hear from the Alpha heir to her father's pack. And certainly not at the New Year's Moon celebration, in front of the whole pack. Leaving the pack compound that had been her prison for three years, Marian was heartbroken and determined never to return. But she knew she would, she must. After her rejection, the only desire left in her life was to kill the Alpha who had taken over her father's pack, failing that, she would leave the pack and become a rouge wolf. She returns home for Christmas to attend her fallen family's memorial service. On Christmas Eve, during the pack's mistletoe ceremony, she receives a gift she never expected, a gift no one wanted – Reyland, the biological son of the Alpha she has sworn to kill. Would this gift given to her by the moon goddess help Marian fulfill her desire to reclaim her pack, or would it stir up new passions within her broken heart and consume her instead?
Fate! Chance! A terrible accident changes the course of Karen's life. Thrown into the world of enigmatic billionaires Taylor Grey and his father Marshal Grey, she must find her way out of the cage presented to her by their family. Karen thought Taylor Grey was offering a helping hand after causing the accident that took away her livelihood, but she soon discovered that his father had other plans for her that she could never have imagined. Forced to play a role she never wanted, can she escape before it's too late for her to return to her own life? Torn between two very different men, who will she turn to for the freedom she desperately seeks? Will Karen find redemption or stay trapped by a family that will do anything to have their way?
Marcia and Jullian were inseparable in college; they were like two halves of one whole. Everyone thought they were a forever couple. On the day of their graduation, Jullian vanished without a trace, and Marcia's world came crashing down. Five years later, after rebuilding her life abroad, Marcia is back home, fully focused on her new company, the new love of her life. Just as things are falling into place, Jullian suddenly reappears, still as captivating as ever. His reason for coming back? To "help" Marcia and to "correct" his past mistakes. Jullian has a proposal – one that feels more like a challenge – sell your company to me and let me take care of you the way I should have years ago. What follows is a battle of wills. Will Marcia hold on to the independence she fought so hard to achieve, or will Jullian's return and his offer of security be too much to resist? It's a showdown between the woman who craves freedom and the one who once let her go.
After two years of marriage, Sadie was finally pregnant. Filled with hope and joy, she was blindsided when Noah asked for a divorce. During a failed attempt on her life, Sadie found herself lying in a pool of blood, desperately calling Noah to ask him to save her and the baby. But her calls went unanswered. Shattered by his betrayal, she left the country. Time passed, and Sadie was about to be wed for a second time. Noah appeared in a frenzy and fell to his knees. "How dare you marry someone else after bearing my child?"
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.
Natalie used to think she could melt Connor’s icy heart, but she was sorely mistaken. When at last she decided to leave, she discovered that she was pregnant. Even so, she chose to quietly leave his world, prompting Connor to mobilize all of his resources and expand his business to a global scale—all in a bid to find her. But there was no trace of Natalie. Connor slowly spiraled into madness, turning the city upside down and leaving chaos in his wake. Natalie finally surfaced years later, with wealth and power of her own, only to find herself entangled with Connor once again.
She thought she was the love of his life, and he became the love of her life that fateful day she had seen him at the pack's party. Selene Grace was only a replica of Alpha Leo's real mate, and when he spotted her, Leo immediately claimed her as his Luna in order to suppress the rumors of him being mateless. Being unable to conceive turns Selene's marriage into a nightmare, and as if that wasn't enough, Alpha Leo finally reunites with his long time lover and mate, rejecting a pregnant Selene as a result. 5 years later, Selene, a now successful doctor, receives an invitation to the moon shadow pack in order to rid the pack of a deadly disease which has struck it. Will Selene return back to the pack which had caused her so much pain, and what would she do when she realizes that she is mated to the Alpha who had betrayed her in the past?
"You're a creepy bastard." His eyes smolder me and his answering grin is nothing short of beautiful. Deadly. "Yet you hunger for me. Tell me, this appetite of yours, does it always tend toward 'creepy bastards'?" **** Widower and ex-boss to the Mafia, Zefiro Della Rocca, has an unhealthy fixation on the woman nextdoor. It began as a coincidence, growing into mere curiosity, and soon, it was an itch he couldn't ignore, like a quick fix of crack for an addict. He didn't know her name, but he knew every inch of her skin, how it flushed when she climaxed, her favourite novel and that every night she contemplated suicide. He didn't want to care, despising his rapt fascination of the woman. She was in love with her abusive husband. She was married, bound by a contract to the Bratva's hitman. She was off-limits. But when Zefiro wanted something, it was with an intensity that bordered on madness. He obsessed, possessed, owned. There'd be bloodshed if he touched her, but the sight of blood always did fascinate him. * When Susanna flees from her husband, she stumbles right into the arms of her devilishly handsome neighbour with a brooding glare. He couldn't stand her, but she needed him, if she was ever going to escape her husband who now wanted her dead. Better the devil you know than the angel you don't. She should have recalled that before hopping into Zefiro's car and letting him whisk her away to Italy. Maybe then, she wouldn't have started an affair with him. He was the only man who touched her right, and the crazy man took no small pains in ensuring he would be the last.
6 years ago, Lydia suffered a brutal betrayal orchestrated by her own husband and step-sister, who drugged her and framed her. In a twist of fate, she ended up having a one-night stand with a stranger. Don't even remember what he looked like. Later, in the throes of death, she discovered the truth about her mother's death all those years ago. In the blink of an eye, she lost everything. 6 years later, Lydia returned with her genius son, vowing to exact revenge on all her enemies! Little did she know, she encountered an incredibly familiar man at the airport! *** The man was briskly pushing open the door to the restroom, heading to the urinal. Even with such a mundane action, he did it with unparalleled elegance and grace. Lydia, following him in a daze, saw his fierce lower body and suddenly snapped back to reality. She let out a high-pitched scream, instinctively covering her eyes with her hands, her cheeks flushed, and stood there stiffly, unsure of what to do. Lambert furrowed his brows slightly but remained calm as he continued to relieve himself. The sound of water hitting the urinal made Lydia's face even redder. She angrily shouted, "You pervert!" Little did Lydia know that Lambert, seeing her in this state, had a flicker of recognition in his eyes. Memories from many years ago flashed through his mind, and his heart couldn't help but stir. It was her!