When mafia heiress Lyra Valente flees her arranged marriage to the ruthless Luca Moretti, she sets off a war between two powerful families-and awakens a destiny she thought she'd buried. Reborn as a hidden omega with secrets even she doesn't fully understand, Lyra seeks refuge in the arms of Damon Kade, a deadly former assassin with ties to her forgotten past. But love, loyalty, and legacy collide as forbidden feelings ignite and enemies close in. In a world where bloodlines bind tighter than chains, and werewolf instincts clash with mafia honor, will Lyra claim her freedom-or become the queen of a kingdom built on lies?
Rain hammered like furied fists against the stained-glass windows of The Grand Anselmo Cathedral as Lyra Valente's heart furiously raced in symphony with the detonation somewhere within her chest. Meanwhile, thunder continued to rip apart the sky. Candlelight swayed and flickered across the polished marble floors of the cathedral as the guests fidgeted in their lavish golden chairs and eagerly awaited the commencement of the ceremony. Valente and Moretti's merging in matrimony was, without a doubt, an intricate wedding masquerading as an epitome of unification. Alliance of sorts. A ceasefire.
A calculated business deal signed in the blood inked between two of the country's leading mafia families.
Lyra...she was the commodity.
Trapped within a gilded cage, the gown encased her body like a shroud marking the grave of her freedom. Burning golden spokes of furiously bright candle flames reminded her of prison and Lilith Shaw.
With slathered crimson, like a corpse dressed in their favorite color, her lips were smirked onto and adorned. "Do close your mouth darling, a bug might fly into that beautiful scone of a jaw of yours and..." the glare on her father's face fiercely burning like the purest blaze, was plastered sideways above a grinning monstrosity whose intel rang sanctified words as her mother did hundred times over.
A shuffling of servile footsteps interrupted her crude still suddenly morphing mortal illusion. "You look splendidly... Heolyohaph?" The speaker attempted to say "glamorous," though those weren't real words anymore. Either Lyra was feeling far too over-polished for a wedding of any variety but it was haphazardly piloted into her necrotic subconscious.
"Perfect, methinks," she mumbled, shaking her head out of distractions like dealing blades of rusted daggers.
And with a skeletal click, her world illumined seamlessly.
Soon obnoxiously blaring funny words like they stepped foot on a sarcastic sitcom sprang into her ears. "Power*u n n...of words liberty," she squirted before nearly crumbling,
compelling her skull beat with deformed tennis ball wrapping eerily like unicorns around still screaming racquets within. Lyra quickly before fainting reached for the delicate silver wreath adorning a parlous neck, once belonging to lilac bleached overcast skies illuminating to cascade down dioramas of her mother.
"It was a chain well spent, might I add," her father's stubborn frown became vertical reconota across pinched waisted silhouettes quakes blaring no shattering along her tune-set back with the cross of abandonded birth pillars to the temple wide open over][.]
"My apologies milady, try dying."
Even if they describe it as love.
This has nothing to do with love.
The words of her father from that very morning gnawed at the centers of her mind: "Do not bring shame to this family. Luca Moretti is your future. You are lucky he even agreed to marry you after what transpired."
What transpired. Like it hadn't been a bloodbath. Like she hadn't died and resurrected in this new form, a new name, a body, within the same wretched world. She no longer was that defenseless omega girl who got stalked for what she possessed up in her mind. She had been trained-to survive, in secrecy. She had allies now-ones she whom mortgaged their existence.
Including the man who she was about to sprint towards.
The organ started to play. Guests stood. The doors to the Cathedral started to creak open.
Lyra ran.
Without any second thoughts. With her skirts in her hands and slipped out the servant's corridor behind the altar to blend with the blizzard. By the time anyone realized she is not there, she will at the very least be halfway across the city. Not towards safety, but danger- the kind she trusts.
Across town: Damon's kade's safehouse.
Lightning flickered through the cracked blinds of Damon Kade's apartment.The muted television buzzed with news while he cleaned his weapons with surgical precision.
"...the wedding between Lyra Valente and Luca Moretti is set to be the most historic mafia union in decades..."
Damon chortled, "Guess again."
He knew the shift was coming. It was a feeling he'd had for days. Something deep within was grasping at him, pulling at his instincts – his wolf was anxious. Famished.
A knock rattled the door.
Quiet as a phantom, and armed with a gun, he rose to open the door a crack.
Wild-eyed and soaking wet, she stood there in her wedding dress.
"Lyra?"
"No time," she exclaimed. "If they catch me, they'll kill us both."
"Thought you were dead," he said.
Damon opened the door wider, allowing her into the room.
"I was," she whispered. "But I okay back. This time, I'm not running alone."
When betrayal shatters his perfect life, noble heir Kaelan Thorne finds refuge in a humble tavern-and in Ivy, a fiery waitress with magic in her veins. But love in Eldoria comes at a cost. To protect her, Kaelan must confront his past, defy the elite, and risk everything for a future built on truth, not legacy.
In order to fulfill her grandfather's last wish, Stella entered into a hasty marriage with an ordinary man she had never met before. However, even after becoming husband and wife on paper, they each led separate lives, barely crossing paths. A year later, Stella returned to Seamarsh City, hoping to finally meet her mysterious husband. To her astonishment, he sent her a text message, unexpectedly pleading for a divorce without ever having met her in person. Gritting her teeth, Stella replied, "So be it. Let’s get a divorce!" Following that, Stella made a bold move and joined the Prosperity Group, where she became a public relations officer that worked directly for the company’s CEO, Matthew. The handsome and enigmatic CEO was already bound in matrimony, and was known to be unwaveringly devoted to his wife in private. Unbeknownst to Stella, her mysterious husband was actually her boss, in his alternate identity! Determined to focus on her career, Stella deliberately kept her distance from the CEO, although she couldn't help but notice his deliberate attempts to get close to her. As time went on, her elusive husband had a change of heart. He suddenly refused to proceed with the divorce. When would his alternate identity be uncovered? Amidst a tumultuous blend of deception and profound love, what destiny awaited them?
It was supposed to be a marriage of convenience, but Carrie made the mistake of falling in love with Kristopher. When the time came that she needed him the most, her husband was in the company of another woman. Enough was enough. Carrie chose to divorce Kristopher and move on with her life. Only when she left did Kristopher realize how important she was to him. In the face of his ex-wife’s countless admirers, Kristopher offered her 20 million dollars and proposed a new deal. “Let’s get married again.”
When Zora was sick during the early days of her pregnancy, Ezrah was with his first love, Piper. When Zora got into an accident and called Ezrah, he said he was busy, when in actual fact, he was buying shoes for Piper. Zora lost her baby because of the accident, and throughout her stay at the hospital, Ezrah never showed up. She already knew that he didn't love her, but that was the last straw for the camel's back, and her fragile heart could not take it anymore. When Ezrah arrived home a few days after Zora was discharged from the hospital, he no longer met the woman who always greeted him with a smile and cared for him. Zora stood at the top of the stairs and yelled with a cold expression, "Good news, Ezrah! Our baby died in a car accident. There is nothing between us anymore, so let's get a divorce." The man who claimed not to have any feelings for Zora, being cold and distant towards her, and having asked her for a divorce twice, instantly panicked.
Darya spent three years loving Micah, worshipping the ground he walked on. Until his neglect and his family's abuse finally woke her up to the ugly truth-he doesn't love her. Never did, never will. To her, he is a hero, her knight in shining armour. To him, she is an opportunist, a gold digger who schemed her way into his life. Darya accepts the harsh reality, gathers the shattered pieces of her dignity, divorces him, takes back her real name, reclaims her title as the country's youngest billionaire heiress. Their paths cross again at a party. Micah watches his ex-wife sing like an angel, tear up the dance floor, then thwart a lecher with a roundhouse kick. He realises, belatedly, that she's exactly the kind of woman he'd want to marry, if only he had taken the trouble to get to know her. Micah acts promptly to win her back, but discovers she's now surrounded by eligible bachelors: high-powered CEO, genius biochemist, award-winning singer, reformed playboy. Worse, she makes it pretty clear that she's done with him. Micah gears up for an uphill battle. He must prove to her he's still worthy of her love before she falls for someone else. And time is running out.
Charlee was left at the altar and became a laughingstock. She tried to keep her head high, but ultimately lost it when she received a sex tape of her fiance and her half-sister. Devastated, she ended up spending a wild night with a hot stranger. It was supposed to be one-time thing, but he kept popping up, helping her with projects and revenge, all while flirting with her constantly. Charlee soon realized that it was nice having him around, until her ex suddenly appeared at her door, begging for another chance. Her tycoon lover asked, “Who will you choose? Think carefully before you answer.”
She was a world-renowned divine doctor, the CEO of a publicly traded company, the most formidable female mercenary, and a top-tier tech genius. Marissa, a titan with a plethora of secret identities, had hidden her true stature to marry a seemingly impoverished young man. However, on the eve of their wedding, her fiance, who was actually the lost heir to a wealthy dynasty, called off the engagement and subjected her to degradation and mockery. Upon the revelation of her concealed identities, her ex-fiance was left stunned and desperately pleaded for her forgiveness. Standing protectively before Marissa, an incredibly influential and fearsome magnate declared, "This is my wife. Who would dare try to claim her?"