

The night of my first shift at eighteen, my two older brothers brought home a twelve-year-old orphaned Omega. My alpha brother seized the rare healing herb I'd spent all my savings on—herbs meant to ease my first transformation—and gave them to her instead. "You're strong enough," he growled. "You don't need such precious herbs." My beta brother snarled with fury, pointing toward the door. "Get out! Don't come back!" I said nothing more, just grabbed my packed bag and left. They assumed I was merely throwing a tantrum, that I'd return in a few days. My brothers, finally free of my presence, took the orphan girl on an international vacation to the Caribbean islands I'd always dreamed of visiting. Many days later, when they returned to the pack, they were shocked to discover I'd accepted an offer from the neighboring pack's Head Healer. The position required fifteen years of isolated herbal research. I could never return home. That night, they fell apart.

Lin Wei, a werewolf girl, was once loved by her two brothers. But after they took in fake orphan Li La, she was abandoned and hurt deeplyHeartbroken, she left to study medicine alone for fifteen years. Her brothers later regretted bitterly.Fifteen years later, she returned as a strong healer with an antidote. She let go of the past and devoted herself to medicine

Nolan Ward, a submarine captain, faked his death and vanished for two years to stay with Talia Black, the woman he believed had saved his life, while she evaded investigation. Upon returning to the United States, he was convinced his childhood sweetheart Ella Morgan would still be waiting for him. He condescendingly proposed to her again and demanded that Ella continue to tolerate Talia. What he did not know was that Ella had long uncovered the truth behind his faked death. During those two years, she cleared her name, married Declan Grant, and gave birth to a pair of twins. Faced with Nolan’s public humiliation, biased favoritism and slap across her face, Ella offered no further explanations and refused to look back. She then traveled to Paris with her husband and children as originally planned. After Ella left, Nolan still blamed everything on her change of heart. It was not until the military reopened the old case that he learned Ella was the one who had given him her oxygen during the deep-sea accident. Talia had falsely claimed the act of heroism, spread rumors for years, intercepted messages, and framed Ella. Meanwhile, Declan confessed his long-hidden crush on Ella and gave her a proper proposal and wedding. At the wedding venue, Nolan received an arrest warrant. He was disgraced over charges including obstruction of justice, dereliction of duty, and faking his own death. In the meeting room, Ella revealed to him that she had been promoted to chief submarine captain and Deputy Chief of Fleet Operations. She had known all of his lies long ago. She bid farewell to her past for good and stepped into a new life with the man who truly cherished her.

The night I died, my whole family was busy celebrating my twin sister Elena's eighteenth birthday. Everyone thought Elena was going to die the next day. We're elves. My father worked as a clan guardian, and after Mom gave birth to Elena and me as twins, she stopped working altogether. We should have been a happy family. But from the moment we were born, Elena and I were bound by a witch's curse. Because Elena came into the world one minute before me, she took the full weight of it onto herself. She was never supposed to live past eighteen. From the day we were born, Elena was the family's treasure. Mom and Dad treated me like I owed her something. New toys went to her first. New dresses were always her pick. Every night, Mom would sit in Elena's room for at least an hour before she'd turn off the light. I always fell asleep alone. One night I had a nightmare and ran barefoot to find Mom. She was holding Elena and didn't even look up. "Go back to bed. Stop making a fuss." I kept telling myself: she's dying, of course they're kind to her. But every time I let something go, that splinter in my chest pushed a little deeper. Then the day the curse was supposed to take effect finally came, and naturally, that was the day my stomach cramped so badly I could barely stand. Mom and Dad didn't hesitate. They shoved me into the cellar and locked it from outside. I crouched on the stone floor with the smell of mildew everywhere and knocked on the door over and over. "Mom... Dad... my stomach really hurts, I can't even stand up... let me out, please..." One sentence came back through the door. "Your sister is dying tonight! Can you just give us one day? One day!" "But... Mom... I'm scared..." Nobody answered after that. The cellar went quiet. My eyelids grew heavy. My last thought was: if I were the one dying of a curse, would they come hold me too.

The night I died, my whole family was busy celebrating my twin sister Elena's eighteenth birthday. Everyone thought Elena was going to die the next day. We're elves. My father worked as a clan guardian, and after Mom gave birth to Elena and me as twins, she stopped working altogether. We should have been a happy family. But from the moment we were born, Elena and I were bound by a witch's curse. Because Elena came into the world one minute before me, she took the full weight of it onto herself. She was never supposed to live past eighteen. From the day we were born, Elena was the family's treasure. Mom and Dad treated me like I owed her something. New toys went to her first. New dresses were always her pick. Every night, Mom would sit in Elena's room for at least an hour before she'd turn off the light. I always fell asleep alone. One night I had a nightmare and ran barefoot to find Mom. She was holding Elena and didn't even look up. "Go back to bed. Stop making a fuss." I kept telling myself: she's dying, of course they're kind to her. But every time I let something go, that splinter in my chest pushed a little deeper. Then the day the curse was supposed to take effect finally came, and naturally, that was the day my stomach cramped so badly I could barely stand. Mom and Dad didn't hesitate. They shoved me into the cellar and locked it from outside. I crouched on the stone floor with the smell of mildew everywhere and knocked on the door over and over. "Mom... Dad... my stomach really hurts, I can't even stand up... let me out, please..." One sentence came back through the door. "Your sister is dying tonight! Can you just give us one day? One day!" "But... Mom... I'm scared..." Nobody answered after that. The cellar went quiet. My eyelids grew heavy. My last thought was: if I were the one dying of a curse, would they come hold me too.

When her Alpha husband, Leander, gives her adopted sister the only antidote that can save her, Viola Hawthorne stops begging to be chosen. With her parents and even her own son against her, she gives them one final gift: a life without her.Her death leaves them shattered, and Leander turns to forbidden magic to bring her back. But Viola awakens in the care of Kai, a powerful werewolf leader who has loved her for years. Now her former mate will do anything for a second chance.He brought her back to life. That doesn’t mean she’s coming back to him.

"In our tenth year together, the King of the Gods, Aetheon, threw the grandest wedding I had ever seen on the peak of Mount Olympus. And at the ceremony itself, he calmly told me he had cheated on me. ""Go on with the rite, or stop it right now. It's your call."" He swirled the wine in his cup, bored. He told me that just before the ceremony began, he had sex with a mortal girl. The world went cold around me. I stared up at the king standing high above me. ""Do you love her that much?"" His brow creased slightly, as if he thought I was making too much of it. ""Not really. She's a fragile little mortal, nothing more."" ""You've just been so proper, so well-behaved these past ten years. Never a flaw I could find. It was interesting, for once, to be adored by someone who didn't know any better."" He turned the thunder ring on his finger as if none of it mattered. ""Don't worry. If you choose to go through with the ceremony, you'll still be my queen—no question. And if you want to throw a fit about it, fine. Throw your fit. I won't stop you."" I stood frozen on the altar platform. I had waited ten years for this day. And now the perfect ceremony in front of me pressed down on my chest until I couldn't breathe."

Kidnapped and brutally dismembered, Nora's ghost returns home to find her police-parents doting on their adopted daughter. But karma hits hard when they're called to autopsy a mutilated corpse. The horrifying truth shatters them: it’s Nora—their neglected biological daughter. Their agonizing regret comes far too late.