The Games of the Heart
/1/130821/coverbig.jpg?v=7f74e3da9208fbd64237b41f638ad1f6)
Rejected By My Betrothed, Claimed By The Warlord Alpha
I was born a wolfless cripple in the Richmond Pack, but by royal decree, I was engaged to the kingdom's Champion Knight, Emory. During the winter banquet, my half-sister Dessie suddenly tilted backward into the royal ice pond, screaming that I pushed her. In my previous life, I reached out in panic to save her, only to be dragged down and framed for attempted murder. When Emory dove into the freezing water, he swam right past my sinking body to rescue her instead. Once ashore, my own father and my betrothed ignored my desperate pleas. They branded me a vicious, jealous traitor. Emory publicly broke our engagement to marry Dessie, while my father threw me to the executioner to wash away the family's shame with my blood. Until my head was on the chopping block, I didn't understand. Why did my own family want me dead just because I had no inner wolf? Why did the knight who swore to protect me conspire with my illegitimate sister to destroy my life? Opening my eyes again, I was back on the snow-dusted terrace, right as Dessie was setting up the exact same trap. "A wolfless cripple like you should crawl back to the gutter," she whispered, falling backward. This time, I didn't flinch or beg for help. Instead, my fingers shot out like iron clamps, grabbing her wrist, and I dragged her into the freezing depths with me.
Chapter 1
Kalea POV:
"Emory Lambert is destined to be mine," Dessie Richmond, my sister, whispered, her voice a poisonous thread slipping through the frigid breeze of the Royal Lunar Garden. "A wolfless cripple like you should crawl back to the gutter where you belong."
Her amber eyes gleamed with malice.
Before I could even process the violent sting of the freezing air on my face, Dessie tilted her body backward, angling herself toward the black waters of the royal ice pond.
She was setting up the exact same trap from my past life.
She wanted the entire court to see her fall, to hear her screams, and to watch me take the blame for attempting to drown the favored younger daughter of the Richmond Pack.
In that past life, everything had favored her. I had screamed in panic and lunged to grab her, my fingers clamping hard around her wrist and leaving livid grip-bruises on her skin.
When we fell, I thrashed and begged Emory to save me, so when he swam straight past me to lift Dessie first, onlookers called it justice — the Champion saving the victim from her attacker.
The healers found my marks on her, and nothing of hers on me. That was enough for a charge of attempted murder.
Now, everything is different. The terrace is crowded with high-ranking nobles, and I know exactly where her nails will land.
I had already seen through her act completely. I would play along — and turn her own trap against her.
I did not flinch. Instead, I calmly extended my left arm toward her, offering the loose silver-blue cuff at my wrist as if trying to catch her. Dessie, already falling backward to fake her accident, instinctively clawed out and seized my wrist hard to make it look real, her nails digging deep into my sleeve.
Dessie's smug grin instantly froze.
Her eyes widened in shock as she realized she had grabbed me first. Before she could let go, I stopped resisting. I leaned into her pull and let her own backward momentum drag us both off the marble edge together.
A chorus of shrill gasps erupted from the noble onlookers lining the snow-dusted terrace.
Then came the deafening crash of freezing water.
The shock of the sub-zero pond slammed into my chest, squeezing every drop of air from my lungs.
The weight of our velvet winter gowns pulled us straight into the dark depths.
Dessie thrashed wildly, her arms flailing like a dying bird as her silken skirts tangled around her legs.
Even as she thrashed, her right hand remained locked around my left wrist, her nails tearing frantically at my silk cuff.
Her mouth opened in a silent scream under the water, bubbles bursting around her terrified, contorted face.
Unlike my past self, I did not scream, did not beg, did not leave a single mark on her. I stared back at her through the murky blue, cold and completely still.
Pain tore through my limbs, but my mind was clearer than it had ever been in my two lifetimes.
Above the surface, muffled shouts vibrated through the water.
"Someone help! The Richmond ladies have fallen in!"
Through the rippling surface, I saw a familiar silhouette on the bank tear off his heavy velvet cloak.
Emory Lambert.
The newly crowned Champion Knight of the Grand Royal Trials, and my betrothed.
He dove into the water with a clean, powerful slice.
His eyes scanned the depths, searching desperately.
He looked right past my sinking form.
Without a single glance in my direction, Emory swam furiously toward Dessie, wrapping his strong arms around her waist to haul her toward the light.
A bitter, silent laugh bubbled in my throat.
He was supposed to be my promised mate by royal decree, yet his body reacted purely on instinct to save my illegitimate half-sister.
I let my limbs go limp, allowing the darkness of the pond to drag me downward.
I needed this.
I needed every high-ranking noble on that terrace to see him choose her over me.
Darkness began to creep into the edges of my vision.
My lungs burned for oxygen.
Then, the water exploded behind me.
A massive shockwave ripped through the freezing depths, stirring a violent current that pushed the weeds aside.
A shadow moved with terrifying, predatory speed.
Before I could even register the beast-like force tearing through the water, a pair of scalding, calloused hands locked onto my waist.
The grip was unyielding, made of pure steel.
I was yanked violently against a broad, rock-hard chest.
Even submerged in ice, the overwhelming scent of crushing cedar and raw, wild musk flooded my senses, piercing straight through the freezing haze in my mind.
It was the aura of a dominant, top-tier Alpha.
Yet the moment his skin touched mine, the suffocating pressure of his command miraculously softened, wrapping around my freezing body like an invisible shield.
I forced my heavy eyelids open.
Through the distorted water, I looked directly into a pair of piercing, golden-amber wolf eyes.
Gaines Moss.
The notorious young lord of the Moss Pack, heir to the northern iron legions, and widely feared across the capital as an uncontrollable, violent rogue Alpha.
There was no cruelty in his gaze.
Only a dark, frantic intensity that bordered on madness.
The moment my wet shoulder pressed against his collarbone, a sharp, electric jolt surged from his palm straight down my spine.
My frozen muscles trembled beneath the sheer heat of his touch.
Gaines's jaw tightened.
His arm banded around my waist with possessive force, pulling me flush against him as his powerful legs kicked against the current, launching us toward the surface like an arrow.
On the other side of the pond, Emory was already breaking through the surface with Dessie clutched tightly against his chest.
The freezing air hit my face in a violent rush as Gaines hauled me out of the water, his long fingers instinctively cradling the back of my head to shield me from the jagged marble edge.
The deafening roar of the royal court swept over us in an instant.
/0/22428/coverbig.jpg?v=3f0edd4fec773478664395af31f55ad2)
The Games Of The Heart
"Yes, we have, but I still want you to stay.” "Stefano, we just finished arguing, and you did not give me a single reason why I should stay, so I am leaving.” “No, you are not,” He says, dangerously coming close to me “Excuse me,” I say, backing up the wall “You heard me; I won’t let you leave me,”
/0/41421/coverbig.jpg?v=276205caf891912d5bbeeebf5ef3548c)
Between the angel and the demon: Games Of The Heart
It all changed after I met him, the tattooed violent man, he became my new nightmare, it was a mistake to cross path .... 18 years ago, Ivy Medina Hathway died, yet she was alive... Born prematurely out of her mother's dead womb, it was a miracle, yet it was a curse.. She was born as a lifeless
/0/2476/coverbig.jpg?v=fea7cd5f02396bb833b01657a285ad19)
/0/16076/coverbig.jpg?v=b76a02b546d42bb46df936bec8130ad3)
/0/18273/coverbig.jpg?v=6bd28401d5a7a5567748bc7610fea02b)
The Billionaire's Games
Book 2 of The Billionaire's Obsession Zoey writes lifestyle articles for an up and coming fashion magazine in New York. When her close friend Nicolas Woods asks her for a favor she can't refuse. What she didn't expect was the fact she had to work together with playboy Evan Black. She knew his rep
/0/4798/coverbig.jpg?v=559c8528b4ee32e755b01997ea1c4ced)
The Heart of the Range
William Patterson White was an early 20th century American author who was acclaimed for his Western novels and short stories. This was one of his most popular works.
/0/408/coverbig.jpg?v=20171122175103)
The Heart Of The Matter
The Heart of the Matter is a novel by English author Graham Greene. The book details a life-changing moral crisis for Henry Scobie. Greene, a British intelligence officer in Freetown, Sierra Leone, drew on his experience there.
/0/67409/coverbig.jpg?v=897994b865248e184babe6b58022d706)
WHISPERS OF THE HEART
"Whispers of the Heart" is a captivating romance novel that delves into the complex and chaotic relationship between Lily and Leon, two souls deeply entwined in love. Initially, their bond seems unbreakable, but as the story unfolds, Lily begins to discover disturbing secrets about Leon's true natur
/1/107862/coverbig.jpg?v=52f57124d68c3fb9dda7cd1c226df402)
Ownership of the heart
Four hours. Two strangers. One dead elevator.Aria Vance is just a mid-level manager at Blackwood Global, a trillion-dollar empire she's served for years without ever seeing the face of the man at the top. She's overworked, under slept, and currently trapped in an elevator with a man who looks like
/0/13352/coverbig.jpg?v=e4d791d3925304622a10455794ad7fa5)
/0/16075/coverbig.jpg?v=d3eef6133352e485bfeba543b6acd5c0)
The Heart of Nature
This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preservin
/0/61399/coverbig.jpg?v=8129e08c5be673a953fc32d0071ef17d)
Crossroads of the Heart
Faisal and Raka, childhood best friends, have always shared everything—except matters of the heart. They never imagined that their friendship would be tested by the arrival of a girl named Sinta. Faisal secretly falls for Sinta but always assumes she only sees him as a friend. Raka, more open abo
/0/63486/coverbig.jpg?v=c42d4bf965f5e42d138665f90e5e0155)
Rise Of The Heart
Michael Scott is the founder and CEO of Horizon group , a Multi-billion dollar real estate firm. His firm was envied by others because it was at the echelon of the real estate business in London. He encountered a big problem that put his firm in a complicated situation. He is left with 2 options
/0/69379/coverbig.jpg?v=66f6849d550d12abfde90f4e3c280344)
Canvas Of The Heart
Behind the canvas of wealth and power, lies a web of betrayal and desire. Sophia Lynns, a talented but struggling artist, gets entangled in a game of love,art and corruption with enigmatic billionaire, Lucas Hawke. But behind his polished charm, lies a labyrinth of secrets, danger and an unexpec
/0/65962/coverbig.jpg?v=afbf493a8895eadc420bac84175ae349)
The Heart Of The Empire
Diana Hartley, an ambitious and independent architect, has built her life with precision and focus. When she lands a dream contract to design a landmark for the McAlister Corporation-a global powerhouse owned by reclusive billionaire Colton McAlister-she's sure this is the project that will launch h
/0/25345/coverbig.jpg?v=6369c4ca343ca600b159c5725aa92675)
Fasade of the heart
She loathed him, could not even bear to stand near him, let alone sit next to him and shoot wildly out of the helicopter with drug darts. Janice Davis knows of Jeremy Da Camara's feet of clay. As a child, he was her best friend, her hero, until he started dating Lynette ... and refused to take respo
/0/41253/coverbig.jpg?v=5e48473950b062fe570c40287c3f33d0)
Sins of the heart
Sell your virginity to me and I will clear your father’s debt”. Angelique Ryans had a promising future ahead of her. Prestige school, lovable personality, talent. She had it all, until the day her father gambled away their lives to a man famed for brutality. The choice was simple- strip for the ma
/0/60321/coverbig.jpg?v=8984874c69c415853eb154141c5f3aa6)
Contract Of The Heart
Abrar Zafar, a hardworking employee at a prestigious firm, is thrust into an unexpected situation when Zoya Ali, the daughter of billionaire Rehmat Ali, offers him a peculiar contract. Facing an arranged marriage to her father’s business partner’s son, Zoya proposes a contract marriage with Abrar
/0/62005/coverbig.jpg?v=9d5dd5f2f06b0e45a1cbe6659485907a)
The Heart Of Luxury
Struggling artist Sophia Thompson meets billionaire entrepreneur Julian Saint Clair, their worlds collide in a whirlwind of passion and luxury. As they navigate the treacherous landscape of high society, they must confront their own dark pasts and the secrets that threaten to destroy their love. Wil
/0/18545/coverbig.jpg?v=7ef9b58a1106020ea2dc9648f79bc632)
Ecstasy Of The Heart
When he met her for the very first time, Becky was just a down-and-out vagrant who had run away from home. With no roof above her head and not a dime to her name, Becky’s life was in a complete mess. Despite her tattered clothes and greasy hair, Darrow found himself attracted to her charming innocen
