Dissonance and Harmony
/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.
/0/21130/coverbig.jpg?v=f1830dbb3ed39f866f6c0a4d9256e10d)
Perfect Harmony
Elizabeth Jael Valmonte is one of the ten undeniably gorgeous and passionate heirs of the Valmonte clan, a ravishing, rich, and famous family known for being business-oriented and having members that are at top of their respective fields. She loves singing more than anything. She's born to conquer
/0/83164/coverbig.jpg?v=bf25a176b00c418376355bc8252f0915)
The Harmony Of The Spheres
"The Harmony of the Spheres": A young woman's journey to restore balance to a discordant planet, exploring themes of harmony, self-discovery, and the universe's underlying forces.
/0/18490/coverbig.jpg?v=495c82dc75d61bc1d0dd272abd1031ec)
The Reincarnation of Empire's Lady
Noble, good-looking and kind-hearted, she was the daughter of the prime minister. She was kind to her father’s concubine, but that woman killed her mother; she took good care of her humble half-sister, but that girl seduced her husband; she supported her husband, but that man killed their stillborn
/0/69920/coverbig.jpg?v=a032b624fca483457175a453941ceba0)
Two Kings For Ellie
"I'm not just the vampire king of tales, Ellie. I'm a talented artist." Vanchure said with every stroke he made on the canvas with his paintbrush. "So you can either be the one posing on my couch, behind the canvas, or be the one whose blood I will use in replacement for paints." In a world that was
/0/67183/coverbig.jpg?v=ebbf2edbf02d9a93d866ad421a9aad35)
The Billionaire's unexpected heir
I slammed my fists against my temples, the pain shooting through my skull like a jagged lightning bolt. "What's wrong with you, Hailey?" I screamed, my voice echoing off the hospital room walls. "Why can't you remember? Just remember who you were!" The machines surrounding me sprang to life, their
/0/63076/coverbig.jpg?v=20541edc1e9631ec75ba3e17429b1143)
Blood And Ashes
When 19-year-old leukaemia patient Rose discovers an urn in her father's basement, she's flipped out from believing the ordinary. Her life would have been perfect if she was left in ignorance of the unknown. Out of her curiosity, she had woken him. Emmett, of history, an ancient werewolf who was sai
/0/13037/coverbig.jpg?v=edd66742050e31f7fc4c71adb835156e)
Fables and Fabulists: Ancient and Modern
Fables and Fabulists: Ancient and Modern by Thomas Newbigging
/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.
/0/6125/coverbig.jpg?v=260ca2fa701f27908f4271ab86e76070)
Smith and the Pharaohs, and other Tales
Dodo Collections brings you another classic from H. Rider Haggard, 'Smith and the Pharaohs, and other Tales.' Sir Henry Rider Haggard was an English writer of adventure novels set in exotic locations, predominantly Africa, and the creator of the Lost World literary genre. His stories, situated at th
/0/35676/coverbig.jpg?v=8a1d88479e36be06bc38c21689610233)
Love and Letters (Ari and Sebastian's Story)
In school, she is the brightest, most cheerful girl you'll ever meet. The one who was lucky enough to be one of the boys. But Ari has held secrets her entire life; the darkness of her home life, and the fact that she has been in love with her best friend David for years. Those were hidden within her
/0/24704/coverbig.jpg?v=ae998a59b1ab07e5c706cb4aaf9fa0fa)
Love and Letters: Dina and David's Story
Dina has always lived a complicated life so she doesn't have many friends. Her Dad is in prison, her Mom is remarried, and she spends most of her time in the streets picking pockets. Dina does this for a good reason though. She needs the money to go home to Botswana, where she can start over again.
/0/5751/coverbig.jpg?v=80d789f50743cd58d8ccd6ed91bece49)
The Angel and the Author, and Others
In this amusing novel, Jerome K. Jerome takes what should be grim subject — bargaining with an angel who is attempting to record one's life's deeds and misdeeds — and transforms it into a thought-provoking and funny meditation on the true meaning of good works, charity and morality.
/0/18263/coverbig.jpg?v=74ebd03ae9604f5c95867b6e4a3ceba1)
My Mr. Soldier
When her boyfriend betrayed her, all light and joy was gone from Cherry’s life. Deserted, bereft of hope, she married a man that she had barely met, but she had never expected him to be her ex-boyfriend’s uncle. Cherry thought that she had finally found her happiness, but she had no idea about th
/0/18729/coverbig.jpg?v=88c0e3f53d269d3e327770bf88b8157c)
Your Adoration Got Me Perfectly
Gracie never knew that she had perfect control over her captor. All she knew was that she had caused an accident three years ago which had put him in a coma, and now he was getting his revenge on her by forcing marriage after waking up. He wanted to avenge himself, but every time he saw her, unbear
/0/18724/coverbig.jpg?v=e06aa05f210895eccd4be03b2c5f5919)
Occupy Your Heart And Love
Peter, who she once lost her heart to, had been Lily’s nightmare for the past five years. The day he broke up with her, she managed to nod calmly, say goodbye politely, and walk away from him forever. A part of her was dead by then. However, he came back to her and sealed her unspoken grievance with
/0/18528/coverbig.jpg?v=b59e969fd68bc5ea1dbf580d263d6b26)
My CEO Daddy
After being framed by her boyfriend and best friend, Nicole ended up spending the night with a mysterious stranger. She thoroughly enjoyed the unexpected rendezvous, but when she woke up the next morning, she couldn’t help but feel bad about what she did. All of her guilt, however, was washed away w
/0/18728/coverbig.jpg?v=b1825bdd0989589fb756648cb47b54f2)
Spicy Mommy: Get Into Trouble With Cold CEO
"Not until when she got pregnant did Nora realize that she was not the one Martin really loved. All of his sweet words were nothing but a romantic illusion. As she got the news that he would be engaged to another woman, she finally gave up and left away with his child. When she came back with their
/0/24297/coverbig.jpg?v=39cda33af5dec699e59c931275387bbf)
ALPHA KING OF FIRE
“PYRO. That’s my name.” Fira was about to die at the hands of hunters when there was a man came to save her. This man had a cold emotion with his unusual strength, good at dodging, and a fighter who can prevent every strike of the opponent without looking at it. She was curious about the identity o
/0/18782/coverbig.jpg?v=4c35ec0cc842b54afcfdcd73fa1d5e0b)
Fanatical About You, My One And Only
He was a ruthless business emperor who had been hanging out with women. She was born with a silver spoon in her mouth, who had been bullied because of her family's decline. They were forced to get married because of a deal. No one thought their marriage would last for a long time, and all the women
/0/18695/coverbig.jpg?v=19e0058a37487e61b292e2bb5b42579c)
Infinite Deep Love
Maggie's tea-making skills at the nightclub were unmatched. She was loved by so many guests for her incredible talents. She was like a lotus blooming in the mud. She had become a local treasure that couldn't be knocked off her pedestal. However, the more untouchable this white lotus was, the more m
