Loving Him Was Too Painful
/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.
/1/105894/coverbig.jpg?v=91396f2560b8e1b6fc57fa158e12dfe8)
Marrying Him Was Easy, Loving Him Was Hell
They Faked a Marriage in Summer. But Autumn had a Plan of Its Own. Ivy Monroe is in a bind. She's got a shot at the research grant of her dreams. There's just one catch: it's for couples only. No husband? No deal. That's where Lake Hart comes in. He's a broody, charming filmmaker who needs quick c
/0/51005/coverbig.jpg?v=2dd0f18ca08fa7de3dde51c9f0a1c103)
Loving You Is Painful
I'm walking now with Cheska, we're heading to Zach's office now, I'm going to bring him lunch I know he's as hungry as he is. When we were in front of his office, I was very surprised when it suddenly opened and Zach spat out, who was looking at him indifferently. "For you". I said with the big swe
/0/47501/coverbig.jpg?v=c9716dfe701c939ef87c45025908c2b7)
Loving You Too Long
One Side Love Story Nathaniel Chayton is Haisley Smith's first love and teenage obsession. For Nathaniel's sake, Haisley studied hard to follow Nathaniel to the country where the man lived. Years passed, and Haisley managed to achieve her dream. When she was able to live under the same roof as Na
/0/86847/coverbig.jpg?v=5978b6fc236b7f59c831482b780c2113)
Her Only Sin: Loving Him
For two years, I lived in hiding, a ghost. But they found me. When Liam Stone' s team locked down the hospital, I lay there, a skeleton. What was coming had finally arrived. He stood in the doorway, my husband, his handsome face a mask of indifference. "You deserve this," he said, his eyes devoid
/1/105730/coverbig.jpg?v=811e0b8ba966ab8d564ee718c9e2dcf0)
MARRYING HIM WAS A MISTAKE
Sandra Morrison made the ultimate sacrifice for love-she gave her husband everything. The $240 million real estate empire her father spent his life building. Her position as CEO. Her identity. Her future. She signed it all over to Jimmy Banks on his birthday, believing they were partners, believing
/1/104882/coverbig.jpg?v=afc5626789cf31f3c3781a293d5d334c)
Too Young To Want Him
Ava Thompson never wanted her obsession with her father's stepbrother, Marcus Hale, to become a relationship. But after one night of crossed lines neither can take back, Ava discovers she's pregnant and lies to save Marcus's already fragile marriage. The truth explodes on her wedding day, ruining
/1/126669/coverbig.jpg?v=973fe7946e4c089a37178875d2f1a794)
I died loving Him. Now I'm back
I loved him with everything I had. I did not know that he chose me only to hold onto power, that somewhere behind his silence was a mate he had turned away. I found out the truth the night she came to my room, smiling, telling me I was no longer needed now that his grip on the pack was complete. The
/0/56815/coverbig.jpg?v=8a5993760129345e33fb29a61835b68f)
Forced By Him (But I Ended Up Loving Him More)
Rishi Raj, 25 years old, a very handsome, arrogant, most cunning business man. He loves his family, for him everything comes after his family. For his loved ones he is loving and caring but for outside world, he is a devil. For them he can turn the world in to upside down. Aarohi, 23 years old, co
/0/25944/coverbig.jpg?v=4f66ebb2a96cc546807208188562da75)
Painful Smiles
Synopsis: When twin sisters are exact opposite but somehow gets entangled with the same guy. Michael Louis was a twelve year old young CEO who after the death of his mother lost interest in this world. He was tired of living hence attempted suicide. Claudia Larabee, the opposite twin of C
/0/59046/coverbig.jpg?v=9676429b5aaa8cb0c7204572cf34375d)
Painful Past
Aruna Prasetyo, an ambitious marketing manager, never imagined his life would change drastically overnight. Her parents revealed that they had matched her with Alvino Widjaja, the charismatic young CEO of the company where she worked. Initially skeptical and feeling pressured, Aruna agreed to try to
/0/32230/coverbig.jpg?v=13f4df028810dd09c4fa15269c1f5225)
Painful pleasure
"yes! Your pain is my pleasure" Kimberly Lockwood, a ruthless billionaire who would do anything to make every man tremble at the sound of her name. And the only tools she needed was her quest for revenge. Tien Tyler a ruthless mafian who hated women with passion had fallen in love with the devil h
/0/98418/coverbig.jpg?v=262d0c6319776b6b44801bba09251183)
Her Love for him was Gone Forever
The marriage between Joslyn and Kade was a union of two prominent families in the city, but it also hid her deep, unrequited love. Five years ago, she believed that Kade had lost his sexual function due to a car accident while saving her, so she willingly accepted a platonic marriage. She even co
/0/36538/coverbig.jpg?v=d874d02dc7b6edeb19c08004048dae2c)
Painful seduction
She was surprised as she ran through her past, " So she was planning to revenge and take over the wealth that belong to her sister?". He used her to exact revenge on his brother, he assaulted her and manipulated her into seducing her sister's husband. She's finally in love with him, will she
/1/119379/coverbig.jpg?v=6a3db5af0187d5c5901739624337bb78)
Too Late, Guardian: I Choose Him Now
I rushed through the freezing rain to deliver medicine to Derrick Harmon, my guardian and the man I had secretly loved for ten years. But the door was opened by a famous supermodel wearing his dark silk robe. Derrick looked at my soaking wet clothes, casually dismissed her as a "casual fling," and
/1/103295/coverbig.jpg?v=4fb4544c0f72c1146e588a96b06100df)
Too Late: The Spare Daughter Escapes Him
I died on a Tuesday. It wasn't a quick death. It was slow, cold, and meticulously planned by the man who called himself my father. I was twenty years old. He needed my kidney to save my sister. The spare part for the golden child. I remember the blinding lights of the operating theater, the sterile
/0/55013/coverbig.jpg?v=f7760b193126c15b01909383c73fff86)
Painful desire
"Leave me alone, Shantal!" ash said annoyed to me. He's my husband, actually I'm probably the only one who calls him husband because he never once considered me his wife. And his family just forced him to marry me, so he followed it against his will. I smiled at myself in front of the mirror and
/1/102860/coverbig.jpg?v=fb1450ebea277ac6119b3b112743e9b6)
He Thought I Was A Doormat, Until I Ruined Him
The sterile white of the operating room blurred, then sharpened, as Skye Sterling felt the cold clawing its way up her body. The heart monitor flatlined, a steady, high-pitched whine announcing her end. Her uterus had been removed, a desperate attempt to stop the bleeding, but the blood wouldn't clo
/0/36875/coverbig.jpg?v=6fb2c28009813efb9c12e8001cf26afb)
Loving
Lyra Mitchell is the owner and operator of 'The Sweet Spot', a local bakery in New York. One day, when a little girl walks in, Lyra's life changes forever. Brandon Cole is the CEO of Cole Enterprises. Rich and young, he is any girl's perfect man. And while Brandon had a wide selection of girls to c
/0/98560/coverbig.jpg?v=a4b6d4b36eb404ef95f7682537d7f1b0)
The Billionaire's Most Painful Regret
I was the wife of the De Luca crime family's Underboss, a beautiful statue whose only purpose was to produce an heir. But after five years, my body had failed. The day my husband, Alessandro, told me I was barren, he also introduced me to my replacement. He called her a "vessel," a temporary arrang
/1/109195/coverbig.jpg?v=f8e0b7ec136169fbe23ae21e30e1c4eb)
Loving him is a sin I can't escape
Five years ago, Elena Moretti walked away from Dominic Russo without explanation-leaving him to face the collapse of his father's empire alone. Now Dominic is no longer the reckless man she once loved. He's a ruthless billionaire CEO with power, influence... and a memory that hasn't forgotten betray
