1881 Book(s) Related to max level hero has returned novel

(From 'When His Wolves Sing' comes another epic tale)

"What Is Fate, Alpha Of Alphas?"

Fate:

In the heart of the training grounds, the Alpha of all Alphas stood, his presence commanding and his aura crackling with electricity. With his black hair billowing behind him like a cape, he fixated on a mysterious figure that materialized before him. As his eyes transformed, reflecting the colors of his father's Wolves, his Beta's urgent question fell on deaf ears. Without hesitation, he aimed his wolfsbane arrow at the target, his wolf battling for control. Against the pleas of his inner beast, he released the arrow, piercing the heart of his prey. The aftermath left him shattered, consumed by guilt and sorrow.

But Fate had more in store for him.

As he knelt, broken and weeping, his Lycan roared within him, demanding answers. The Alpha Of Alphas, rising to his feet, faced the lifeless form before him. Tears streaming down his face, he addressed his Beta, speaking softly of the cruel twist of fate that had befallen him. Forty years without a mate, only to be granted one by the Luna Goddess herself-a fierce Tiger, and not just any Tiger, but his sworn enemy.

And then, a voice emerged from the shadows.

A child.

Fate just got a whole lot more badass.

Selene Carey believed the Bloodhowl mating ceremony would be the night her life finally began.

Damon Bloodhowl was her fated mate, the Alpha heir, and the one wolf she thought would choose her when no one else ever had. Instead, he rejects her in front of the entire pack and claims her stepsister, Mira, as his chosen mate.

Humiliated, heartbroken, and abandoned by her own family, Selene expects the night to end with her shame.

Then Alpha Ronan rises.

Damon’s father. Bloodhowl’s ruthless Alpha. A wolf feared, obeyed, and never questioned.

Before Selene can accept Damon’s rejection, Ronan places his Alpha ring in her hand and claims her as his chosen mate.

Now Selene is trapped between the mate who rejected her, the Alpha who chose her, and a pack waiting to see whether she will break.

Ronan’s protection is dangerous. His attention is impossible to ignore. And the more Selene stands beside him, the more enemies begin to circle.

She was rejected by the heir.

Chosen by the Alpha.

But the choice that matters most may be the one Selene makes for herself.

On the night meant to celebrate her "perfect marriage", Tehila Blackwood discovers the cruellest truth of all, her billionaire husband never stopped loving another woman.

Three years of loyalty. Three years of sacrifice. All shattered in one garden confession.

Dalton Blackwood's former fiancée is back, beautiful, broken, and pregnant with his child. Tehila confronts her husband and is handed divorce papers instead of an apology, betrayed not only by the man she loves but by the powerful family that never wanted her. Stripped of her place, her dignity, and her future, Tehila walks away in despair with a secret of her own, she is pregnant.

Tehila walks away in despair with the secret that she is pregnant, only to accidentally discover suspicious clues about the mistress by chance.

"David Rothstein was first. She met him at a charity gala, where she was working as an event coordinator. He was forty-five, recently divorced, and lonely. She was nineteen and knew exactly how to make him feel alive again. They married six months later."

"And he died a year after that."

As the truth behind Dalton’s mistress begins to unravel, Tehila realises this isn’t just betrayal, it is a deadly game. A game where wealth hides blood, love masks obsession, and one woman has already buried men who trusted her.

As lawsuits ignite, lies multiply, and danger closes in, Tehila must choose who she will become:
The discarded wife who walks away…
Or the woman who rises, exposes the truth, and reclaims her power.

Jade was Lucian's secretary by day and his mistress by night.
It wasn't until she became his woman that Jade discovered just how ruthless and promiscuous Lucian could be. When she realized she might be pregnant, the man simply laughed and tossed the pregnancy test into the trash.
"Trying to trap me with a baby? Keep taking your pills."
On the eve of Lucian's engagement, Jade resigned from her job and ended their relationship.
But Lucian assumed she was merely throwing a tantrum. He waited for her to apologize and come crawling back to him, just as she always had before.
Days passed.
Instead of Jade, Lucian got the news that she had a new boyfriend.
His twin brother.
The man who shared his face and happened to be his sworn rival.
Overnight, Jade became his sister-in-law.
Lucian completely lost control. He searched desperately for Jade, determined to bring her back.
But Jade, who was pregnant, had vanished without a trace.

(Love after marriage+Pregnancy+She-power)

For four years, Serena lived as the unwanted wife of Lorenzo Russo, the ruthless Mafia King feared across Europe.
Their marriage was never built on love. Lorenzo believed Serena had trapped him for money and status. Manipulated by his Mother and possessive sister, he ignored every sacrifice Serena made, humiliated her in public, accused her of being infertile, and filled the tabloids with scandals involving other women.
Everything changed when Serena discovered she was pregnant. Instead of believing her, Lorenzo accused her of carrying another man's child.
His sister and mother forged evidence while his trusted men turned against Serena and on the night Lorenzo ordered her execution, Serena escaped with nothing but the lives growing inside her.

Four years later...
Serena is no longer the broken woman who begged for affection. She is the mysterious CEO of the world's fastest-growing luxury empire, admired by billionaires, princes, and business tycoons alike and by her side are her three extraordinary children—triplets whose intelligence, courage, and charm captivate everyone they meet.
When fate brings Serena back into Lorenzo's world, the ruthless Mafia King is stunned to discover the children share his eyes... and his blood.
Now the man who once destroyed her wants a second chance.
But Serena has countless powerful men asking for her hand, three children to protect, and a heart that refuses to forgive.
Can a Mafia King win back the woman he tried to destroy?
Or has he lost his family forever?

On her 18th birthday, Aria Grey is humiliated and rejected by her fated mate, the cruel and powerful Alpha Dominic Blackthorn. Heartbroken and cast out, she runs—only to wake up with no memory in the Manhattan penthouse of Damien Blackthorn, Dominic’s reclusive billionaire twin no one knew existed. He's powerful. He's dangerous. And for some reason, he's claiming her as his mate.
What Aria doesn’t know is that Damien has a vendetta against his brother—and she’s the perfect pawn. But the longer Damien pretends to be her mate, the more real it becomes.
Aria starts unlocking dark memories of her past, ones that might reveal a terrifying truth: she was never supposed to be just a mate—she was bred for something much, much darker…
Setting:

I thought losing my husband was the worst thing fate could do to me.

For over a year, I lived in a pack that never accepted me, holding on because Soren—the Alpha who chose me despite his family's objections—was always by my side.

Then he died.

Our mate bond was shattered.

I thought I had lost the only man I'd ever love.

I was wrong.

Because Soren's best friend had been watching me from the shadows.

Fenric Silvermane.

The most powerful Alpha in the kingdom. The last man I should ever want.

One month after Soren's death, I finally stood beside Fenric at our mating ceremony, ready to choose a future.

Then Soren burst in.

Alive.

My dead husband had just walked into my mating ceremony.

I couldn't breathe.

I thought fate was asking me to choose between the husband I lost and the man I learned to love.

I was wrong.

It wanted all three of us.

One was my husband.

One was the man my wolf chose.

And I had no idea how to survive loving them both.

Imagine being forced to marry a stranger.

Reina's only ever known her family's sunny farm. She can bake bread, mend a fence, and wrangle a goat but she’s never seen a skyscraper or used a subway. Her whole world changes when her grandfather’s old promise lands her in a penthouse with her new fiancé, Orion who looks at her like she’s a mud stain on his expensive shoe.

He’s a wealthy city prince who hates that he’s stuck with a country girl. She’s a whirlwind of chaos who invades his space, breaks his things and has no idea how stunning she is.

He’s counting down the days until he can send her home. She’s just trying to survive the city without embarrassing herself. There’s just one problem: the more she drives him crazy, the less he wants her to leave and the more he wonders if her kind of crazy is exactly what he needs.

But can a girl who talks to goats ever fit into his glittering world? And what happens when the simple farm girl starts to see the lonely man behind the money and decides to heal him, whether he likes it or not?

I thought telling Alpha Kane I was pregnant would be the hardest part of my day.

That was before I found my step-sister naked on his mahogany desk.
I remained committed to my role of Luna for three years while I suffered through his distant behavior because I viewed our mate bond as a holy connection. The moment he wiped her lipstick from his mouth, the bond that connected us to each other shattered in my heart because he had treated me as someone who lacked excitement.

He wanted me to weep while I accepted my lower-status position. I used my mother’s billion-dollar tech patents to lock him out, then I denied him on the pack intercom, before I entered the advanced security facilities of his most dangerous competitor.

Alpha Kaelen, the Lycan King, doesn't function as an uncontrollable animal. He possesses dangerous charisma which combines with his exceptional intelligence. I didn't request his protection; I established the terms for it. I presented him with the blueprints which would lead to our shared enemy's financial ruin. We are currently dismantling Kane's business empire together. Our formal agreement starts to dissolve into an irresistible attraction which develops during our nighttime strategy meetings and our executive boardroom business takeovers.

Kaelen discovers my hidden pregnancy secret, but he does not exile me from his presence. He displays a wicked grin while making his intention to take ownership of his opponent's offspring permanent. Kane will initiate a violent conflict to reclaim me as his possessions disappear and his remorse transforms into a primal fixation.

Will my charming, deadly protector permit me to handle my own conflicts or will we destroy everything my ex left behind?

I was the last of the Holy Bloodline. To the Nocturne Clan, I wasn't a Princess—I was a walking incubator, a terrified blood slave bound by the lowest pact to breed their pureblood heirs.
"I promise you... the next child you bear, I will let you raise yourself," my husband,the Vampire Prince, whispered, holding our newborn son wrapped in his sister-in-law's blanket.
He used my body as a shield against silver blades to protect his sister-in-law.
For nine years, I endured the silver whips, the boiling sunlight, and the agony of watching my babies handed over to another woman.
But when I discovered my husband was the very monster who slaughtered my families, I shattered heart turns to ash.
So, I give him exactly what he deserves—a pile of scorched ashes in a dark prison cell.
By the time the Vampire Prince realizes he cannot live without his wife, I am already “dead”.

I died—not in the way you'd expect, but slowly, painfully, while he was entangled with her.

He called her his savior, the woman who sold everything to rescue his failing empire. Little did he know, it was my money, my life's work, that he squandered.

The betrayal burned hotter than any flame, and I vowed he'd pay.

Now, he's gone—a leap from the heights he once ruled, his fall as swift as his rise.

For the top university in the North American wolf packs, transfer students aren't exactly breaking news. But this one sets the entire forum on fire.

It starts with a photo. A girl standing next to a tall, imposing man. Both faces are deliberately blurred, but that build, that presence... every wolf in North America recognizes it. The Alpha King. The caption reads: "Dad why'd you send me this 😭 I'm not ready to go public yet."

Minutes later, the post vanishes. But screenshots flood the forum.

"Moon Goddess above! Is that really the Alpha King?"

"The girl in the photo... could she be the royal princess no one's ever seen?"

The comments explode. Compliments flood in. Even my aloof boyfriend joins in.

Something feels off. I type out a comment: "The Alpha King keeps a low profile. His daughter should do the same. Posting photos like this... doesn't seem right."

Less than a minute later, the replies come.

"Who do you think you are to question her?"

"Can't stand seeing someone else do well, huh?"

My boyfriend chimes in too: "Quit it. You're embarrassing yourself."

I pick up my phone and dial a number. "Dad, since when do you have another daughter?"

We'd agreed to spend summer break in the Hamptons. Right before break started, my boyfriend suggested we hit the water park out in the suburbs first, just to blow off some steam.

I thought it was a date. Just the two of us. But when I get to the gate, my best friend Sienna is standing there in a string bikini.

I tell her that's not safe to swim in. Her face goes cold and she tells me to mind my own business.

Colton frowns too and dumps his phone, a towel, and Sienna's makeup bag into my arms. "Vivienne, do you have to kill the mood? Sienna's scared to go alone. What's the big deal if I keep her company?"

In the wave pool, he holds her against his chest and the two of them roll around in the spray, laughing.

When they come out, Sienna takes the ice water I haven't even opened and takes a big swig, then hands it to Colton, and he drinks half the bottle right from where her lips were.

I stand there feeling like the hired help.

Two years of killing myself to be the understanding, easygoing girlfriend, and all it got me was a boyfriend who walks all over me without thinking twice.

If he's that close with my best friend, he can't blame me for calling up his best friend since they were kids.

"Julian, can you come get me?"

Serena and I got tricked into vampire territory, forced into blood slavery.
By the time the pack showed up to save us, I was already the top blood slave in that pit, kneeling beside the vampire count, counting his earnings.
Serena was left rotting in a cell, poisoned, pregnant, and barely alive.
The pack offered a huge bounty to find whoever set us up.
I was the only one who knew. And I said nothing.
Morwenna, the Alpha's mother, begged me on her knees to talk. I closed my eyes, pretending not to hear.
The elders pushed. I stayed silent.
My mate, Alpha Kai, dragged me onto the Blood Moon memory altar, furious.
"Serena's dying in that tent, and you're here protecting those animals!"
"Disgusting. How did I ever fall for you!"
"This stone's going to rip your soul apart and drag you to hell with your precious vampires!"
But when the truth finally surfaced, Kai just stood there. Speechless.

To give my daughter, Lily, a childhood connected to nature, I put on worn-out overalls and carved out a small vegetable patch at the edge of the estate.
That was until today, when a vicious dog lunged without warning, sinking its teeth into Lily's calf. Blood instantly stained the dirt.
I threw myself over my daughter like a madwoman to protect her, only to be viciously whipped across the face with a diamond-studded leash.
"Where did this lowly gardener come from! You hurt my dog—can your two worthless lives afford to pay for it?"
A young woman in a haute couture white dress, her pregnant belly protruding, sneered and waved her hand. "Where is security? Beat this crazy, pathetic woman and her little thief of a bastard to death, and throw them out of the estate!"
Holding my convulsing daughter, I said, "Beat us to death? Have you asked the master of the estate?"
The woman giggled coquettishly.
"My boyfriend is the master of this estate! With just one word from him, he could crush you like an ant!"
What a coincidence.
The "masters of the estate" she spoke of... I know them both.
One is my husband.
And the other... is my son.

My daughter helped my husband cheat.

My ten-year-old begged me to take her to a summer camp in Italy. My husband looked at her like she hung the moon. Booked the tickets right there.

I thought I was the luckiest mom alive.

Then I checked the pet camera from overseas.

There he was, fucking my daughter's riding instructor on our couch.

But what really killed me? What he said, "Don't worry. Nina wants that horse bad enough, she'll keep her mom in Europe as long as we need."

Back home, my husband dropped a receipt. Two identical limited edition watches.

He froze. My sweet daughter didn't miss a beat, "Dad used the other one to bribe someone so I could get my horse!"

They lied in perfect sync. That's when something in me broke.

They thought I was still that stupid, trusting wife.

What they didn't know?

I'd already signed a contract. Going back to my art career in New York.

On the way to the hospital to deliver my baby, rain was coming down in sheets.
Suddenly, my husband slammed on the brakes. He'd spotted his ex-girlfriend standing in the downpour with her child.
"She's struggling as a single mom. I'm just going to help her carry those groceries upstairs. Ten minutes, tops."
Clutching my belly through the contractions, I begged him, "But I'm about to give birth. I'm in so much pain."
He just locked the car doors with a click, his voice sharp with annoyance.
"Sarah, can you try to be a little more empathetic? She's soaking wet."
In those ten minutes, my water broke. Desperate to survive, blood on my hands, I crawled out through the back hatch.
While I was fighting for my life in the ER—
His ex posted a snapshot.
In the video, my husband was gently toweling off her hair. The caption read:
[So glad you're here.]

My husband's childhood sweetheart lost her entry for the competition,
so he gave mine to her.
It was I who saved him all those years ago,
and that's why he married me.
But he turned his back on me right after our wedding.
I've been childhood sweetheart all these years.
But this time,
I suddenly feel like this marriage has lost all its meaning.
After handing in the transfer request I had prepared long ago to the factory director,
I rejected his offer to stay.
I can't bear to stay in this place for another day.
I want to go to New York,
start a new chapter in my life,
and let everything that happened before just drift away. all its meaning.
After handing in the transfer request I had prepared long ago to the factory director,
I rejected his offer to stay.
I can't bear to stay in this place for another day.
I want to go to New York,
start a new chapter in my life,
and let everything that happened before just drift away.

I’m the only daughter of the Smith family.
To get back early and see my fiancé, I stayed up three nights to finish the cooperation negotiations with Johnson ahead of time.
However, I accidentally run into my fiancé kissing his wife—the one who was supposed to be “dead.”
And through the bedroom door, I heard my fiancé’s voice:
“Ava? She’s just a bargaining chip in this deal. Her family, the underground fighting arena, the port—sooner or later, they’ll all be ours.”

"And now, he's certain your life is over because he kicked you out. They're probably already placing bets on how long it will take for you to bow and beg at their feet to take you back. But..." He said coldly.

"But..." I breathed.

"Imagine suddenly returning with a husband so wealthy he makes them look like paupers. Not only is he filthy rich, but he's hopelessly in love with you, spoiling you rotten. Imagine their shock, their anger, and your satisfaction that you have exceeded their expectations. Won't that be fulfilling?"

"And... who would that husband be?" I whispered.

"Me." He grinned as he caressed my cheek. "Let's get married, my dear Iris."

••~•

After being humiliated and disowned on her wedding day, Iris is suddenly approached by Gordon Graff, the enigmatic and highly controversial billionaire and also her ex's uncle, who asks for her hand in marriage.

His goal: make her family and ex pay for everything they've done to her.

But what happens when the line between pretence and true love begins to blur, and dangerous secrets begin to unfold?

Will the man who has promised to protect her be her doom? And will she be a casualty in his dangerous game of revenge?

“You’re dripping,” he groaned. “You hear that? You’re making a mess all over me.”


He's the school's willful billionaire bad boy— hot, tall, handsome who made her fall and loosen herself for him just to find out it was all a lie.

A bet.

Well, two can dance a tango, right?

A comeback is all she needs. One that would make the so-called dangerous bad boy fall to his knees.

It wasn't just a game to him.

What if there's something more…

A facade he's hiding behind?

WARNING: Contains strong vulgar languages, sexual scenes, erotic contents, triggering situations, and lots more.

Everything she believed in was a lie.
Keira and Alden were Chosen Mates who built the powerful Stormfang Pack together—until she discovered their Mate Bond was a witch's illusion, and the child she raised was actually his with his true Fated Mate, the Omega Rena.
Broken and ready to leave, a secret letter reveals she is the long-lost daughter of Mooncrest Pack's Alpha, the sole heir to a legacy she never knew.
As her dormant Alpha blood awakens in rage, she vows to reclaim her birthright.
But when Kaelan, the cold and calculating Alpha King, approaches her and claims, "You are my Fated Mate," Keira is thrown into deeper confusion.
Why would he say that? And in a world built on deception, can a bond that begins as strategy ever become real… or is it just another layer of the game?

"Oh, it's you. My useless wife."
"You should've seen it coming. Our marriage stopped working a long time ago."
"You're useless as a wife, Ivy. You've never supported my career. And after all this time—you're still not even pregnant."
Kim Evelyn—known to those closest to her as Ivy—never imagined her third wedding anniversary would turn into a nightmare. Her husband, Rico, didn't just betray her—he brought his mistress into their bed. The pain and humiliation scorched her heart, leaving her no choice but to walk away from the home that once symbolized their love.
But Ivy's escape led her into a night that would change everything. Beneath the glimmering lights of an upscale bar, she met Joshua Miller—a dangerously charming man with a captivating smile and an offer too tempting to resist.
"Help me get revenge on the man who betrayed me—my husband. Can you do that?"
"I'll help you get your revenge—but in return, you'll have to treat me the same way you did last night."
Revenge. Sweet, calculated revenge.
But there was a catch: Ivy had to surrender herself to a game far more seductive than anything she'd ever imagined. As vengeance ignited and passion flared, the line between game and reality began to blur. Dark secrets loomed. Hidden dangers stirred. And Ivy was forced to make an impossible choice—move forward and risk losing everything, or retreat into the scars of her past.
Can Ivy take control of this wicked game? Or will she end up the pawn—consumed by desire, ambition, and a betrayal more dangerous than the one she fled?

Five years in captivity. They said Nora would be free after five years of working for the mafia king but they lied. Now Nora is forced to work permanently for the dangerous mafia king, executing dangerous cons with Noah, her only ally and her most dangerous temptation. The one man who makes her feel human again. But in a world built on lies, trust can be deadlier than betrayal.

"There is no us. There hasn't been for six years."
"You dropped divorce papers at my feet, Aidan. In front of cameras and everyone who mattered. Your mistress called me trash, and you stood there and said nothing."
"He is not yours, Aidan. He has a father. If I had been pregnant with your child back then, I would have gotten rid of it. You don't deserve anything from me."
Six years ago, Evelyn believed she had the perfect marriage.
On the night Aidan Smith celebrated his greatest achievement, she was ready to reveal the happiest news of her life. She was pregnant with his child.
Instead, she was publicly humiliated.
Aidan believed a cruel lie and chose his mistress over the wife who had loved him for years. In front of cameras and high society, he ended their marriage without knowing he was leaving behind a child who would change everything.
Heartbroken, Evelyn disappeared and started over.
Six years later, she returns as Evelyn Cole, a world renowned fashion designer and billionaire CEO. She built an empire, raised her son alone, and became the woman no one can look down on anymore.
Then fate brings her back into Aidan's life.
When the truth finally comes out, Aidan realizes the woman he abandoned was the greatest treasure he ever lost.
He wants his ex wife back.
But Evelyn Cole no longer belongs to him. And this time... he will be the one begging for her love.

My name is Shawna I was raised in a small town with a motorcycle gang. It was rumored that my father was a leader of a motorcycle gang and that my mother was too young to take care of me. I was put up for adoption when I was a baby. For as long as I could remember I was not allowed outside at night. You would hear Harleys and growls coming from the darkness. There was several times that I wanted to explore these noises but my windows were barred and the only way out of the house was through the front door. One night I got off work late and was heading home from work and I was attacked by a huge wolf. Then in a blink of an eye there was a human. He ripped my clothes off and slapped me. Then I heard an Harley pull up and the leader and president of the motorcycle gang was there. Before everything went dark I only heard one word " Mate."

Anna believes she is nothing more than a blood slave—until the night Prince East Anderson smells her blood.

Among dozens of fresh victims at a vampire banquet, East chooses only her. He pays an outrageous price, takes her to his estate, and then does the one thing no vampire should do: he refuses to drink. Even when her scent drives him to madness, even when his eyes turn crimson and his fangs hover over her throat, he holds back.

Anna doesn’t know whether to fear him or fear the reason behind his restraint.

Because East is not just any vampire. He is the prince who once gave Eunice her First Embrace, the key to vampire aristocracy, and a man surrounded by enemies who would kill to possess what he wants. Anna’s blood is becoming a secret too valuable to hide.

But if her blood can awaken monsters… what else can it awaken in East?

I thought ten years of childhood sweethearts could weather any storm.

Until that night when Charles rushed out after her call, leaving me alone in bed with his child growing inside me, not knowing how to tell him.

Seraphina Blackwood, tech dynasty heiress, threatened Charles with her father's billion-dollar empire to marry her. And me? Just an orphan girl who seemed to mean nothing in Silicon Valley's power games.

When I watched him remove our wedding ring, when I saw their sweet photos at the hospital, when I lay bleeding on the floor and he chose her... I finally understood that maybe love really can't survive against money.

But what I didn't know was that while I started my new life in Switzerland, there was a man secretly protecting me with his kidney, his heart, his everything...

Until his assistant appeared at my little bakery, desperation in his eyes: "Ms. Thorne, please, you have to save him!"

Dante Ashford is my stepbrother, and the one person I should never have fallen in love with.

When I was ten, my parents died saving his family. The Ashfords took me in. He was good to me back then. Somewhere along the way, I fell for him.

When I was eighteen, he nearly died in an ambush. I donated blood, then a kidney to save him. I was unconscious for three days. When I woke up, Vivian Ross sat by his bed—and he believed she was his savior.

After that, he pushed me away. Vivian became his fiancée.

In my past life, Vivian's crimes brought disaster to our family. Dante got on his knees and begged me to take her punishment. I refused. She died anyway. Then he pretended to love me, planned our wedding—and on that day, his assistant announced to everyone: "This wedding was a lesson to show Miss Elena Hayes what it feels like to be abandoned by the whole world."

I jumped from the church balcony.

When I opened my eyes, I was back at that moment—him on his knees, begging.

This time, I said yes.

Dante, from now on, we're done.

Damien thought he could balance loyalty to his childhood friend and love for his angel fiancée. He had no idea he was dragging me into a living nightmare. Four years of false heavenly missions turned into endless torment upon the altar. The lies crumbled the moment my angelheart was torn out of my chest. After uncovering Chloe’s deception and his own heinous crimes, Damien meted out brutal justice, gave away all his ducal fortune as atonement, and leaped into hell, hoping to be reunited with me. From the divine realm, I watched him perish with cold detachment. Love that arrives only after everything has been destroyed deserves not an ounce of mercy.

Betrayed and killed by the wolf king in my past life, I came back from hell. On the wedding day, I turned down his proposal without hesitation. I made a blood pact with his greatest enemy—the vampire king. Together, we avenged my child and family, and built a new future in the dark.

The day I died in a foreign country, my boyfriend was in the spotlight with another woman.

He's the man I built from nothing. Five years ago, I saved a broke orphan fresh out of college from the gutter. He said he wanted to be famous, wanted to make it to the top of the hockey world. In exchange, he became my boyfriend for five years.

I gave him the best coaching staff money could buy. Bought an entire hockey franchise and made him the centerpiece. Called in every favor I had to make him MVP.

But while he enjoyed everything I gave him, he refused to make our relationship public. Said it would "hurt his brand." He could make headlines with reporters and models, but nobody could know I existed.

He even said on national TV: "Those owners who just throw money around are pretty boring. Hockey is about skill, not money."

So why did he lose his mind when he found out I was dead?

To get pregnant, I gave up a career my peers all envied. The day I finally conceived, my husband brought his mistress home to live with us.
He shoved me into the table without a second thought.
Nana Mae fell trying to protect me—her head cracking against the marble floor.
"Call an ambulance!" Blood soaked through my hands. My abdomen tore with pain.
"Sienna's too fragile. She can't handle the sight of blood." He scooped up his mistress and walked out, leaving the two of us on the floor.
"You can't leave this bed—it could hurt the baby." I ignored the doctor's warning and stayed at Nana Mae's bedside anyway.
Ten minutes earlier, she'd posted on Instagram: a tiny band-aid on her hand, his fingers wrapped around hers.

I almost died on the operating table trying to give Alexander Volkov a child, unaware he already had a pair of illegitimate twins with his childhood sweetheart.
My heart stopped when I saw the DNA results. Alec, the man who made the New York underworld tremble, the man who flew back on a private jet just to hold my hand, was a flawless liar.
I turned my face away, tears soaking the hospital pillow. My hand drifted to my belly. God had finally decided to give me a break after five years of needles and agony—I was pregnant. But now, it felt like the cruelest joke.
He pulled me into his arms, smelling of expensive cologne and... baby formula.
"Tell me what's wrong, honey. Whoever made you unhappy, I'll make them pay."
I stared into his lying eyes and made my decision.
I would vanish with his unborn child, leaving him to rot in eternal regret.

For the third time, Kael fled before the wedding—this time to deliver medicine to the neighbor girl he grew up with.
As compensation, the pack elders offered me two chests of rare ore and the deed to an island.
Someone, still hopeful, called Kael on speakerphone.
His careless voice echoed through the hall:
“Why bother with compensation? Ella loves me so much; she’ll come around as soon as I go back and sweet-talk her a little.”
“Sophia’s health is what matters now. Once she recovers, I’ll just hold another ceremony for Ella.”
The elders tried to explain, but the surrounding werewolves were all waiting to see the show—waiting to see how much humiliation I would swallow.
Just like the first two times.
But I’d had enough. And I’d lost all interest in Kael.
I kicked over the chest of ore and let my gaze fall on Kael’s uncle.
Then, I smiled.
“I heard the old Alpha left a will: whoever can claim me… becomes the next Alpha.”

My brother Miles blames me for our parents' deaths.
So he chose to adopt the deaf Vivian instead of keeping me.
Later, I met Sullivan.
He gave me a grand confession. He chose me, resolutely.
He also said I hired someone to assault Vivian—that I didn't deserve sympathy.
Five years after being cast out of my family, a dismembered female body was found inside a carnival mascot costume.
Miles, now a police officer, led the investigation. Sullivan, now a forensic pathologist, performed the autopsy.
They saw the bloodstained hearing aid and immediately called Vivian.
"I'm fine. I just saw the news—some big case. Should we tell Sis to be careful too? What if something happens to her?"
They refused, almost in unison.
"The moment she killed our parents, she stopped being my sister."
"She was jealous of you. She did too many terrible things. If she's dead, she had it coming."
My soul hovered in the air, watching them. I laughed until I cried.
But when they found out the victim was me—
Why did they both go mad?

I've been able to see clocks above people's heads since the day I was born. As long as the hands keep moving, the bond between us is still alive.

Once the hands spin backward and stop at zero, that bond is finished.

When I was seven, the clock over my best friend's head just stopped one day. She drowned in the reservoir the next morning.

When I was fifteen, my grandfather's clock started ticking backward, slower and slower, until it stopped completely. He died peacefully in his sleep that same night.

When I was eighteen, my father, a drunk who lied about everything, slammed the door on his way out. I watched his clock vanish completely and knew right then he was never coming back.

Ever since, clocks scare me. I'm always afraid of watching someone I love get taken away from me.

So I keep my head down, holding on tight to the quiet, stable life I've fought so hard for.

Then tonight, I watch the clock above Marcus Hargrove's head start spinning backward.

What scares me even more is Willow's clock doing the same thing.

While I'm still trying to figure out why, the storm hits that night. He walks out on his daughter while she's burning up with fever and having convulsions, and runs straight to another woman.

His clock jumps back another notch.

When Trevor Sullivan had nothing, I gave up billions to follow him to Silicon Valley. Everyone said I was crazy in love with him, until his first love came back to the States right after he made it big.

Seven years of playing the perfect wife and mother, and then I hear him coaching our five-year-old daughter: "Ruby, you can't tell Mommy about my fake wedding with Amber. Not a word, okay?"

"But Daddy, Mommy's gonna be sad..."

"If you tell Mommy, Daddy won't love you anymore. Got it?"

My daughter trembles, nodding frantically.

I stand outside the door, my heart turning to ash.

For the woman he never got over, he doesn't just betray our marriage. He makes our five-year-old lie for him.

Everyone expects me to cry, to beg, to fall apart.

Instead, I dial the number I blocked seven years ago: "Dad, can the family jet still come get me?"

Trevor Sullivan has no idea. I was never some gold digger who needed him to survive. I was the one with everything who made myself small for his sake.