And Then Came Love
/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:
"Sister, Emory Lambert is destined to be mine," Dessie Richmond 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 already saw 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, a familiar silhouette tore off his heavy velvet cloak on the bank.
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.
/0/80824/coverbig.jpg?v=88095691aa08da8121b5852b773e3f4f)
When Love Kills, And Then Reborns
I was a successful Silicon Valley mogul, a man of immense wealth and, as it turned out, even greater naivety, deeply in love with my beautiful fiancée, Ava. Our meticulously planned future seemed perfect until tragedy allegedly struck: Ava "died" in a devastating rock-climbing accident, leaving my w
/0/20164/coverbig.jpg?v=d4dcac2e4eb7b5e7421d9f63b5feb15b)
And Then There's You
What do you think will happen if an emotionally damaged woman meets an emotionally lost man? This is a story about two strangers with their fair share of heartbreak. Fion Scott is an emotionally damaged woman because of a failed relationship. Her ex-boyfriend made her believe that she's too hard
/0/38763/coverbig.jpg?v=0709970bfecd1f5fe412002907769292)
Love Came Along
She was supposed to keep it short and as professional as possible, if she wanted her mother to be well. What Kate did, she fell in love with Kevin, the man whose reputation she was supposed to destroy. What happens when Love Comes Along? Original Author: Story Godmother
/1/113844/coverbig.jpg?v=1b8ffbe4dd8208ce10aacc7644f4ad86)
"He Chose Her... Then Came Back to Me"
"You don't get to hurt me and then make me responsible for how guilty you feel about it." "Friends don't stand next to you, learn everything about you, and then use it to get close to the one person they know matters." Aria thought she knew two things for certain: she was going to graduate with he
/1/105203/coverbig.jpg?v=da5bc2911f0d34562ec6980140097061)
Love Me Then Destroy Me
She woke up in a billionaire's arms in a penthouse with a view of the Seine. She was wearing a ring she didn't remember saying yes i do to When Lana Cruz wakes up after a terrible accident, the only person there is Adrian Black, the powerful CEO who says she is his wife. His touch is familiar, and
/1/124185/coverbig.jpg?v=b76af4a724f8c55d9f984006629f806c)
Came Back Hotter With The Heir's Love
Three-year-old Adria Carlisle was dragged out of a warm car into the freezing rain by her father, Herman Rich. He shoved her small body into the mud outside a dilapidated orphanage, stuffing a crumpled fifty-dollar bill into her teddy bear. "From today on, you don't have a father," he said coldly.
/0/7368/coverbig.jpg?v=337ec6e4d308effc7ab2280041f4dc36)
And Then the Town Took Off
The town of Superior, Ohio, certainly was living up to its name. In what was undoubtedly the most spectacular feat of the century, it simply picked itself up one night and rose two full miles above Earth. Radio messages stated simply that Superior had seceded from Earth. But Don Cort, stranded on th
/0/444/coverbig.jpg?v=20171117175509)
Daisy's Necklace And What Came of It
This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally
/0/31681/coverbig.jpg?v=7ac7d6fdbecd3e34e05d5a6fd6817d07)
Love and *
Damon’s hands were performing their own magic, she could feel his erection probing the center of her already moist vagina and she widened, giving him closer access. Her panties were already soaked with the wetness. His hand began moving, caressing her inner thighs before they came upon her center.
/0/4255/coverbig.jpg?v=c0bd55ed3b93bda9b66aba1d0d932744)
/0/38331/coverbig.jpg?v=7f9da140486bca5e94fcaa3bc19b7bf5)
She Came from Hell
Judith Pate was driven out of the Pate family at fourteen years old and was sold to an illegal factory by her beloved brother. At that time, she thought she was dead. But she met a soldier who saved her. Therefore, she wanted to be alive and find this man. Four years later, she came back home as the
/0/46468/coverbig.jpg?v=261467c034f295ca0b48d7f6325aa996)
Mr Billionaire, I Came Back To Love You
"Hubby, I am hungry." He looked at her with a gaze full of tenderness and asked, "What do you want to eat?" He asked her. "You..." she said shyly to him. She said her face was red. Hubby, I love you so much." "Hubby, how do I look?" "Hubby this, Hubby that..." ..... Olivia Fred was happy
/1/110370/coverbig.jpg?v=8b0af0a98110978f82bc9b0ce0dfca4f)
Divorcing the Don: And Then I Took Everything
For six years, Isabella Rossi used her family's immense wealth to save her husband's Mafia empire from bankruptcy while he fought on the front lines. Her reward? Don Damien Moretti returns with a mistress, a secret son, and a demand: Accept them, and keep paying the bills. He expects her to swallo
/0/71030/coverbig.jpg?v=30f570e047c742a62f5897bc56ff6a19)
She Came to Conquer
Elizabeth's life was never easy, but she worked hard to turn things around-until her fiancé, Daniel, betrayed her. Teaming up with her childhood friend, Stephanie, he cheated, stole her wealth, and left her to die. But fate gave Elizabeth a second chance. She wakes up in the body of Aurellia Black
/1/104957/coverbig.jpg?v=b5ed2588c16b9801fa94991b4ea8aee6)
My Love for my Ex-husband Never Came Back
After receiving a prenatal injection, I received an anonymous video on my phone. In the video, a man sang nursery rhymes with a little boy wearing a birthday hat. He dabbed a bit of cream on his finger and smiled as he smeared it on a woman's nose. Then he bent down to kiss it away. My phon
/0/87393/coverbig.jpg?v=66b37eb8b1c7502e6e58caeab2c07925)
Kiss me, Then Hate me
They were never supposed to fall in love. Not after what he did. Not after what she became. In the high-stakes world of Manhattan's elite business scene, Ariella Blake is a fiery, self-made marketing executive with a sharp tongue, a red dress, and a past no one dares ask about. She's brilliant, bol
/0/86533/coverbig.jpg?v=be14766b2a4ff9dfd929608d877cd40f)
Lies, Love, and Loss
My wedding was three days away when the police told me my fiancé, David Reed, was dead, lost to the sea in a hiking accident. Just like that, I became a pregnant widow, my world turning gray. Then, David' s older brother, Mark Reed, returned from Africa. When I saw him, the resemblance to David was
/0/50179/coverbig.jpg?v=2f4c0918b7f2f7db734a2be73d8f4e53)
MATILDA'S LOVE AND RETRIBUTION
Matilda is conflicted with love and betrayal, as a difficult part of her past life is being revealed most unexpectedly. Will Matilda's affection for Jaden prevent her from avenging her parent's deaths? Or will she make use of the opportunity and lose her beloved lover?
/0/45187/coverbig.jpg?v=49ca7f94cd0e94491eec50b5eba654a4)
Between Love and Passion
"A Bid for Dreams: Virginia and Mariana defy convention and change their lives in unexpected ways. The unusual twist? Virginity up for auction! When a millionaire offer knocks on the door, Virginia doesn't hesitate to hand over her only trump card to the highest bid. However, destiny holds surprises
/0/68718/coverbig.jpg?v=44ebdabb2ad0923e78978a76b95a7589)
LOVE AND LIE
LOVE AND LIE (A...Heartbond...Contract) AN ORIGINAL NOVEL WRITTEN BY AUTHORESS OYINKAN Genre: Mafia Romance Theme: Heartbreak, love, betrayal, self-discovery. Tags: Mafia, contract marriage, romance, Death, jealousy, Hidden secrets. <<<SYNOPSIS<<< Stephanie, a 25
