And Then Came Love
/1/118699/coverbig.jpg?v=1bf72c7e122ab2ea31302562a1751bd1)
His Defiant Mate: The Lycan King's Chosen Luna
I was waiting at the Registry Hall to formalize my mate bond with Gabe, my childhood sweetheart and the Alpha of our pack. He was thirty-two minutes late. When I finally found him in a private VIP lounge, his hands were buried in my cousin's hair, their lips locked together. Hailee was supposed to be my maid of honor. Instead of apologizing, Gabe looked me dead in the eye and used his Alpha authority to publicly reject me. The severing of our ten-year bond tore my soul apart, but the nightmare didn't stop there. My grandfather immediately called, demanding I clean up a mess Hailee had made. When I refused, he disowned me on the spot, froze every single one of my bank accounts, and stripped me of my family name. Within hours, my entire pack erased my existence, gleefully announcing Hailee as their new Luna. I had given my entire life to a family and a man who discarded me like worthless trash the second I became inconvenient. I was left broken, humiliated, and utterly penniless in the blink of an eye. But as I stumbled out of that sterile hall, a terrifyingly beautiful stranger stepped out of the shadows, radiating a primal power that made my knees weak. He was Caden Sinclair, the ruthless Lycan King, and he was dodging a forced political union of his own. "You need a shield. I need a wife. Marry me." Without hesitation, I signed the Eternal Vow.
Chapter 1
Audriana POV:
"I'm sorry, Ms. Sullivan, but Mr. Black's appointment was for half an hour ago."
The clerk's voice was polite, but his eyes held a pity I refused to acknowledge. I glanced at the sleek watch on my wrist. Thirty-two minutes. He was thirty-two minutes late.
"He's on his way," I said, my voice smoother than I felt. My stomach was a tight knot of cold dread.
I stepped away from the polished walnut desk, the scent of lemon cleaner and old paper filling my nose. The North American Inter-Pack Alliance Registry Hall was designed to be imposing, with its marble columns and vaulted ceilings, meant to impress upon werewolves the gravity of the contracts signed here. Today, it just felt cold.
The air conditioning ghosted across my bare arms, raising goosebumps. I unconsciously twisted the delicate silver chain bracelet on my wrist, a nervous habit I'd had since I was a child. The tiny links were cool against my skin.
My phone buzzed in my clutch. A message from my assistant, Maya.
'Apex Ventures deal is ready for your final review. They're getting antsy.'
I typed a quick reply, my fingers flying across the screen.
'Tell them to hold their breath. I'm handling something personal.'
Personal. That's what this was supposed to be. The final step. Gabe and I, registering our intent to bond, a formality before the ceremony that would tie our packs, our families, our futures together.
I closed my eyes for a second, focusing, trying to pull his scent from the air. It was a game we used to play as kids. I could always find him. That familiar, comforting scent of pine and damp earth.
But all I could smell now was a cacophony of strangers-stale coffee, cloying perfume, the metallic tang of anxiety from a dozen other wolves waiting in this sterile hall. A wave of nausea rolled through me. Something was wrong.
My phone buzzed again. Not a work message this time. An unknown number.
The message was short, brutal.
'VIP Lounge 3. He's waiting for you.'
My breath hitched. VIP Lounge 3. I knew the layout of this building. It was at the end of the private corridor, reserved for Alphas of significant standing. Gabe's father had used it last year to finalize a trade agreement.
My fingers tightened around my phone. It was a trap. A cruel joke. It had to be.
But the knot in my stomach pulled tighter, a cold, hard certainty.
I pushed open the heavy glass door that separated the main hall from the private corridors. The sound of the bustling hall was instantly muffled by the thick, plush carpet. My heels sank into the crimson pile with each step, silencing my approach.
As I moved down the hallway, a new scent cut through the sterile air.
Cherry blossom. Sickly sweet and artificial.
Hailee's scent.
My steps slowed. My heart, which had been hammering against my ribs, gave a painful lurch and then seemed to stop altogether. It couldn't be. She was my stepsister. She was supposed to be my maid of honor.
I reached the door. Room 3. It was heavy, dark redwood, and slightly ajar. Just a crack.
Through the gap, in the dim, intimate lighting of the lounge, I saw them. Two figures, tangled together on a leather sofa.
Gabe.
His hand was buried in her blonde hair, the same way he used to touch mine. Hailee's head was thrown back, her laughter a low, throaty sound that made my blood run cold.
The world narrowed to that sliver of a view. The sound of my own blood roaring in my ears drowned out everything else.
I didn't think. I acted.
My hand shot out and slammed the door open. It crashed against the interior wall with a sound like a gunshot.
They sprang apart, their faces a blur of shock and panic. Gabe scrambled to his feet, his shirt rumpled, his face flushed.
"Audriana! What the hell are you doing?"
Hailee, true to form, immediately dissolved into a picture of terrified innocence. She shrank behind Gabe, her eyes wide and already filling with tears. "Audri, it's not what it looks like."
A laugh escaped my lips, but it was a harsh, ugly sound. "Not what it looks like? You're half an hour late to our registration, and I find you with your tongue down my stepsister's throat. Please, Gabe. Enlighten me."
"You were following me?" he roared, his voice bouncing off the wood-paneled walls. He took a step forward, trying to use his Alpha presence to intimidate me, to make me shrink. It was a tactic that had stopped working years ago.
"Don't be stupid," I snapped, my voice like ice. "I can smell her on you. You reek of cheap perfume and betrayal."
Hailee let out a sob. "We couldn't help it! The bond... it's just so strong between us. We never meant to hurt you."
The bond. She dared to speak of the bond.
I ignored her, my eyes locked on Gabe. On the man I had loved since we were children. The man my wolf had recognized. The man who was supposed to be my future.
"Give me an answer, Gabe," I said, my voice dangerously quiet. "A real one. Now."
He looked from my face to Hailee's tear-streaked one. She gave a little whimper and tugged on his arm, the perfect damsel in distress. And in that moment, I saw his decision. His jaw tightened. His eyes, which I once thought held the whole world, turned to stone.
"I, Gabe Black, Alpha of the Blackwater Pack," he began, his voice formal and loud, ringing with the ancient power of the rite.
The air in the room crackled. The words were a physical force, slamming into me.
"Reject you, Audriana Sullivan, as my mate."
Pain. It wasn't emotional. It was physical. A spear of white-hot agony that started in my chest and ripped through every nerve in my body. It felt like my soul was being torn in two. My breath was stolen from my lungs. My knees threatened to buckle.
I bit down on my lower lip, hard. The coppery taste of blood filled my mouth. I would not scream. I would not cry. I would not give them the satisfaction.
My fingernails dug into the soft leather of my clutch, the leather groaning under the pressure.
For a flicker of a second, I saw something in Gabe's eyes. A flash of regret. Of pain. But it was quickly smothered by the cold, hard wall of his decision. Hailee's hand was on his arm, a triumphant possessiveness in her touch.
I forced myself to stand taller, to straighten my spine, even as the world tilted around me. I met his gaze, and I let him see the abyss that had just opened between us.
I cleared my throat, my voice a raw, broken thing. But it was steady.
"I, Audriana Sullivan," I rasped, each word costing me a piece of my shattered soul, "accept your rejection."
The bond snapped.
It was a sound no one else could hear, but for me, it was a cataclysm. A final, brutal severing. The pain intensified for a blinding moment, then settled into a deep, hollow ache that I knew would never truly leave.
Behind Gabe, Hailee's lips curved into a small, victorious smile.
I looked at them, and in that moment, the labels fell away-fiancé, stepsister, family-until all that remained were two strangers, standing on the ruins of my life. Two pieces of trash I had found on the side of the road.
Worthless.
Without another word, I turned my back on the wreckage of my life. I walked out of the room, my steps even and measured, down the long, silent corridor, and away from the man who had just ripped my heart out of my chest.
/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
/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
/0/71030/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
/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
