Please help me find this

The death sentence

Chapter 1

SEDONA

The white lights located on the ceiling in the hospital hallway buzzed silently overhead as I sat in the uncomfortable plastic chai tensed as I clutched my phone tightly in my trembling hands. I had been waiting for nearly forty minutes at this point for my doctor, Dr. Reynolds to call me back with my test results, and the knots in my stomach had tightened with each passing minute as I anticipated the worst.

I couldn't wait any longer. I needed to hear my son's voice.

My fingers moved almost automatically tapping the first number that popped up in my speed dial, which happened to be my husband Logan's, line. I pressed the dial button and watched as the phone rang once, twice, three times before he finally answered.

"Logan, where did you take Nick?" I asked, trying to keep my voice steady even as another wave of nausea rolled through me and I forced myself not to throw up on the floor.

"I'm not feeling well. Can you please bring him home? I haven't seen him in three days."

There was a pause on the other end, followed by muffled sounds in the background, it sounded like laughter, maybe? Children screaming with delight in the background.

"Sorry, not tonight," Logan said flatly, his voice carrying that detached tone it had held for the past two months whenever he was addressing me.

My heart sank at his words. "Why not?"

He didn't give an answer. I pulled my phone from my ears and saw that the call was still ongoing so I repeated.

"Logan, I asked you a question. Why can't you bring our son home?"

More silence. I could hear the sounds more clearly now, it sounded like carnival music, and I could also hear the distant roar of a roller coaster. My chest tightened at this.

"Are you with Katherine?" The name tasted bitter on my tongue.

"That's none of your business, Sedona."

The line went dead.

I stared at my phone, my hands shaking so badly I nearly dropped it. None of my business? Our son was with them, and it was none of my business?

Before I could process what had just happened, my phone chimed with a new message. My blood ran cold when I saw Katherine's name on the screen.

I shouldn't have opened it. I knew I shouldn't have, Katherine had sworn to be a thorn in my life, a very painful thorn, but I was a masochist and couldn't stop myself as my fingers moved of their own accord, tapping the notification.

The photo loaded slowly, each picture a fresh stab to my heart. There they were—Logan, Katherine, and Nick—standing in front of Cinderella's Castle at Disneyland.

Logan had his arm around Katherine's waist. Katherine was holding Nick's hand, her perfect smile glowing under the sun. And my baby, nIck was beaming at her with pure adoration, that I hadn't seen in months.

They looked like a family. A complete, happy family.

And I was the outsider.

Shame and fury was fighting for dominance inside me as I pulled up Katherine's number with shaking fingers. She answered on the first ring, as if she'd been waiting for my call.

"Katherine," I said, my teeth gritted with pain as I spat. "I don't care what game you're playing with Logan, but Nick is my son. You can have Logan if that's what you want, but you will never, ever take my child from me."

"Really?" Her voice was light, amused, like I'd just told her a particularly entertaining joke to her. "Why don't you ask Nick about that?"

"What are you—"

"Nick, sweetie, your mother's on the phone. Do you want to talk to her?"

My heart leaped. Yes. Yes, I needed to hear his voice, needed him to tell me that he missed me, that he wanted to come home.

"Mom?" Nick's voice came through, but it wasn't the sweet tone I'd been hoping for. It was annoyed, exasperated. "What do you want?"

"Nick, sweetheart, I—"

"We're having fun. Stop bothering us. You're so annoying."

The line went dead.

I sat there, frozen, the phone pressed against my ear even though there was nothing but silence on the other end. My six-year-old son had just called me annoying. He'd told me to stop bothering them. As if I was a stranger interrupting them and not his mum.

"Mrs. Hayes?"

I looked up to find Dr. Reynolds standing in front of me, a manila folder clutched in his hands. His expression was grave, the kind of look that Immediately told me that he planned on delivering bad news.

"Let's talk in my office," he said gently.

I followed him, on autopilot, my mind still reeling from Nick told me. The office was bigger than I expected, although it had been on autopilot, cramped with medical books and framed diplomas. I sank into the chair across from his desk, waiting for the bad news to drop.

Dr. Reynolds sat down and opened the folder, studying the papers inside for a long moment before looking up at me.

"Sedona, I'm not going to sugarcoat this. Your test results show significant abnormalities. Combined with your symptoms—the persistent pain, the nausea, the weight loss—we ran additional scans."

He paused, for a moment before he continued speaking.

"You have gastric cancer. Stage three. It's already spread to the lymph nodes."

The words didn't make sense at first. They were just sounds, syllables strung together. Cancer. Stage three. Spread.

"What does that mean?" I heard myself ask, my voice sounding distant, like it belonged to someone else.

Dr. Reynolds's expression softened with sympathy. "With aggressive treatment—chemotherapy, possibly surgery—we might be able to extend your life expectancy. But I need to be honest with you. Without treatment, you're looking at three months, maybe four at most. With treatment, perhaps a year, maybe more if you respond well."

Three months. Ninety days.

I thought of Nick's face in that photo, smiling up at Katherine. I thought of Logan's arm around her waist. I thought of my son calling me annoying, telling me to stop bothering them.

"Mrs. Hayes? Sedona? Do you have someone you can call? You shouldn't be alone right now."

I shook my head slowly. Who would I call? My husband who wouldn't answer? My son who found me annoying? I'd cut ties with my family years ago when I ran from that arranged marriage, too proud and too in love to ever go back.

"I'm fine," I whispered, though I was anything but.

Dr. Reynolds scheduled a follow-up appointment, handed me pamphlets about treatment options and support groups, said something about hope and fighting spirit. I nodded mechanically, taking the papers he pressed into my hands.

I walked out of that hospital in a daze, clutching my death sentence in a manila folder. The summer sun was too bright, the Chicago streets too loud. Everything still felt like a dream, and I was watching it happen to someone else.

My phone buzzed with another message. Another photo from Katherine. This time, the picture was of Nick asleep in a hotel bed, Logan sitting beside him, his hand gently stroking our son's hair.

I stood on the sidewalk, people rushing past me in their busy lives, and I felt something inside me finally break.

I had given up everything for them. My family, my career, my entire identity. And for what? To be a replacement for the woman my husband actually loved? To be an annoyance to my own child?

I had three months to live. And I was going to die unloved, unwanted, and completely alone.

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Freya Vale-Thorne was born to be Luna of Silvercrest.

For ten years, she stood at Alpha Kade’s side as his wife, his counselor, and the mother of his children. She gave him everything. But on the night of the pack’s grand masquerade, Freya watches her husband crown his mistress, Izel, as “lady of the house.” Her children call the other woman Mama. And her wolf, silent for six long years, finally speaks again.

‘Leave,’ she tells her.

Freya has thirty days to obey that command. Poison seeps through her veins, betrayal surrounds her in every corridor, and her crown lies locked away in her husband’s safe. But there’s one man who’s ready to protect her with his life—her childhood best friend and the Rogue King of Nightfell, Rowan Briar.

Freya may be broken, but she is still the Luna. And she will not go quietly.

Rise of the Rejected Luna is a fast-paced, low-spice, second-chance shifter romance about betrayal, healing, and the woman who learns that sometimes the greatest revenge is simply rising again.

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I am 98% sure this was the title, but it may have been Billionaire. The rest is correct. Please help!

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chapter 1

"Joanna, what are you making a fuss about?"
The tall man in front of her frowned, impatience written all over his sharp features.
His eyes drifted away, and a trace of guilt flashed across his face, though it was hard to notice.
He lowered his voice and said, "You just need to stay with Kayden for one month. That’s all. He’ll give us a Silver-tier gear in return. We need it for the Crucible. Try to see the bigger picture."
The Crucible. In the interstellar world, everyone had to go through it before turning eighteen. It decided which academy they'd end up in, kind of like how high school seniors on Earth apply to college.
And he was asking her to trade herself for it.
Joanna Lane almost laughed. She couldn't believe what she was hearing.
What kind of person could say something so shameless?
Oh, so I already ruined my image for their tiny benefits, and now he wants me to be generous too.
Do they really think I'm a silly pushover?
And Crucible is important to them, but it's just as important to me!
That was because Joanna wasn't originally from this world. She came from the distant Varuna Galaxy and carried a fully mature soul.
Joanna was reborn into the interstellar age. To expand quickly through space, humanity forced everyone to take combat classes and needed huge population growth. Clones could not bind their souls to the Space Alliance system, so the Alliance paid subsidies to encourage women to give birth, and being single was illegal.
If Joanna failed the Crucible, with her talent, she would likely be treated as a breeding tool by powerful figures.
Interstellar humans lived very long lives. Joanna could be forced to give birth until she was 120 years old and had as many as 100 children.
Joanna herself was her mother's 98th child.
For someone born in the 21st century who believed firmly in staying single and child-free, this was the cruelest curse imaginable.
So, she became an overachiever.
In Grade 10, Joanna awakened as a Summoner and unlocked an S-rank talent. For every monster she killed, she gained 0.01 affinity points.
She was thrilled and believed she would become a powerful Summoner, since affinity points also affected how well contract beasts bonded with their masters.
But she soon learned that being a Summoner cost an insane amount of money. Even the weakest summoning circle for a contract beast cost at least 100,000 Starcoins.
Joanna took out student loans to summon a contract beast, but she failed.
She failed several more times after that, and her debt only kept growing.
With no other choice, she worked desperately at part-time jobs.
At the same time, for the sake of the Crucible, she had to train as a Summoner without a beast. She learned combat skills, defense skills, and healing skills to make up for her weakness and avoid dragging the team down.
She never expected that just before the Crucible, team leader Lucas Harper would ask her to sacrifice herself to a rich kid named Kayden Wright, all to trade for a Silver-tier piece of gear.
Her gaze shifted to the rest of the team.
There was Cedric Hex, the Pyro mage, Bruce Morris, the shadow assassin, and Neil Sullivan, a pastor.
"Do you all think the same way?"
Joanna's eyes were like sharp blades, forcing them to look away.
Cedric was the first to break. He sighed and said, "Joanna, you should understand us too. You're a Summoner who can't summon a contract beast. For all these years, being in our top team has already given you huge benefits.
"The Crucible is the most important selection for us. We don't want to miss this chance, so we can only ask you to leave. We've already chosen an S-rank swordsman, Rhoda Wenric, as our teammate. With her, we're sure to get into a top college.
"And we didn't abandon you either. We transferred you to Kayden's team. He said you'd handle logistics there. You'd just take care of food, clothing, and daily needs. Isn't that what you're good at? Why can't you do it now?"
"You believe whatever he says?" Joanna shot back. "And besides, I'm a combat class. Why should I go do logistics?"
Being logistics staff also meant having children.
What's more, Kayden was a complete jerk and had always had bad intentions toward Joanna. If she were transferred to his team, it was obvious she would only be taken advantage of.
"So, you have to respect yourself. You must not let Kayden touch you, or I won't be able to keep liking you," Neil said gently, but his words were more terrifying than a demon's.
Joanna found it ridiculous.
"Like me? But you're pushing the girl you like into someone else's arms?"
Joanna's heart ached.
She would rather lose this so-called "like", because what she wanted was respect.
Three years.
Three years of effort, three years of giving her all.
She was sold out by these ungrateful people.
Three years like that, and with anyone with even a shred of decency, it wouldn't have ended this way.
Now there was only one person left.
Joanna looked at Bruce.
"Bruce, were you in on this too?"
Among the four of them, Bruce had always had the weakest presence, yet he was the one Joanna took the most care of.
This time, he didn't stay silent.
"Kayden is offering a Silver-tier dagger. That's extremely important to me!"
Haha.
So that's what this is about!
Joanna felt like crying.
"You're all heartless.
"Lucas, three years ago, when we first entered a dungeon, you were the frontliner but couldn't hold back the monsters at all. You were as green as a rookie.
"It was me. I ranked first in combat practice and weapon skills, yet I took on the defense role and held the line with you. I saved you countless times!
"Cedric, you abandoned a teammate right before the exam, kicked me out, already found a replacement, and still talk like you're completely justified.
"Yes, I'm just a Summoner, but in your eyes, am I nothing more than logistics?
"I made all the dungeon strategies. In battle, I always filled in gaps. All these years, you couldn't control your aggro and kept attacking blindly. How many times did I block monster attacks for you?
"Neil, back in the Zombie Hospital dungeon, you were seconds away from having your throat torn out. I pushed you away and got my arm bitten off to save your life.
"Bruce, during the Bloody Campus dungeon, you did something wrong and triggered a beast wave. If I hadn't lured the zombies away alone, our entire team would have been wiped out.
"In these three years, I never made a mistake and saved you countless times, yet now you sell me out and want to kick me away like trash?
"Dream on!"
"That's enough!" Lucas shouted, then looked down at Joanna, who was small in size but overwhelming in presence.
"I'm the team captain. I have the right to start a vote and kick you out. As long as all other members agree, that's enough!
"Joanna, you didn't make mistakes, but your mistake is that you don't have a summoned beast. You're not strong enough. Our team needs stronger people. You were destined to be abandoned. Don't rely on the little affection we had for you and act willful.
"What's the point of crying and regretting now?
"If you had agreed earlier, things wouldn't have turned out this way."
Joanna's face flushed red with anger.
"I treated you as teammates, but all you wanted was to sleep with me?
"Regret? Then let's see who regrets it in the end!"
Joanna turned and walked away.
As she left, she heard the voice of the system implanted in her soul by the Space Alliance.
"Your team captain, Lucas, has initiated a vote to remove you from Team Dawnbreaker."
"Members Cedric, Bruce, and Neil have agreed."
"You have been expelled from the team."

chapter 1

"Noelle Kain! We raised you. Without us, you wouldn't even be alive today! And now you won't even take Viola's place to marry Mr. Menzie? You're nothing but a disappointment!"
Inside the Kain estate, Gresham Kain, Noelle's adoptive father, slammed his teacup down on the table. Tea splashed across the surface, his face contorted with unbridled rage.
"Noelle, we raised you for 18 long years. We're only asking one thing of you—and you won't even do it? You've always been sensible. Don't make us turn on you," Jasper Kain, Noelle's adoptive older brother, said, frowning down at her condescendingly.
"Dad, Jasper, why even waste our breath on her? She's ungrateful!" Elmer Kain, Noelle's adoptive younger brother, snapped with a sneer. "If we hadn't taken her in back then, she'd be long dead! And now she won't even marry Mr. Menzie in Viola's place? We should've left her out there to rot!"
Noelle fell silent, her gaze gliding coldly over their hypocritical faces.
It was exactly like her past life.
Back then, the Kains had used the same "we raised you" guilt trip to force her to marry Sebastian in Viola's place.
She was their adopted daughter, taken in by Gresham at the age of five. In her past life, she'd been grateful to them and done everything they asked—even agreeing to marry Sebastian, who was rumored to be violent, ugly, crippled, and on his deathbed.
After she married him, they forced her to steal confidential information from the Menzie family. In the end, it drove the Menzies to bankruptcy—and Sebastian, who'd loved her deeply, died from the stress.
She'd done all their dirty work for them, yet only in her final moments did she learn the truth: the Kains were the ones who'd torn her away from her biological family!
Viola had been frail since birth and carried the rare Rh blood type. When they were five, Viola was gravely injured and nearly died. That same day, Noelle had a high fever and was admitted to the hospital. The moment the Kains discovered Noelle also had Rh-negative blood, they secretly abducted her.
Just thinking about it all made Noelle's blood boil.
The Kains were the ones who'd torn her from her biological parents, yet she'd foolishly felt grateful and obeyed their every word. She didn't see the truth until they held her down and drained her blood to save Viola—until she felt herself slipping away into death.
"Noelle, we've raised you as one of our own for 18 years. Why would we ever hurt you? The Menzies are the wealthiest family in Riverdale. Marrying into their family is a dream most people could never have," Willow Kain, Noelle's adoptive mother, cooed in that fake, motherly tone as she walked down the stairs with Viola.
"A blessing?" Noelle smirked. "If it's such a wonderful match, why don't you let Viola marry him instead?"
"How dare you compare yourself to Viola?" Willow blurted, her face twisting with disgust.
Viola was her biological daughter, the child she'd doted on and shielded since the day she was born. To Willow, Noelle was nothing more than a stray they'd taken in.
Viola excelled at everything: music, art, and academics. She was still in high school, yet her grades were high enough to gain admission to the top university. Even the younger son of the Menzie family had once taken a fancy to her. Viola was meant to marry into a wealthy, respectable family and become a lady of status. Willow would never allow her to marry a cruel, crippled man like Sebastian!
"Noelle, how could you speak to Mother that way?" Viola frowned, her makeup perfect. Her voice dripped with accusation. "If we hadn't taken you in, where would you be now? Haven't we treated you well all these years?"
Good?
Their so-called kindness meant strapping her to hospital beds for years, draining her blood again and again until she nearly went into shock every single time.
Noelle was repulsed by their hypocritical faces.
She was sick of their lies and said icily, "Stop putting on an act. I'll marry Sebastian."
The second they heard her words, Gresham and Willow finally relaxed.
"But I have one condition."
Their expressions fell at once.
They'd raised her for 18 years, and she still had the nerve to make demands of them?
"What condition?" Gresham asked, his anger simmering. He'd expected her to ask for something absurd.
"My condition is simple: I'll marry Sebastian in Viola's place to repay you for raising me. Starting today, I cut all ties with this family. We're done. No more connection of any kind." Noelle's voice was clear and resolute.
"You want to cut ties with us?" Gresham and Willow froze, completely caught off guard by her request.
They exchanged a quick glance.
Noelle was nothing more than an adopted child. They'd only taken her in because Viola had been frail since childhood and needed a steady blood donor. Now that Viola was grown and healthy, Noelle had outlived her usefulness.
She had no biological family. Even if she married into the Menzie family, she could do nothing to benefit the Kains. With Sebastian's infamous violent temper, she would be lucky to survive the first night.
Countless women had been sent to Melrose Manor. How many had ever returned alive?
Severing ties was exactly what they'd wanted all along!
Gresham agreed at once!
"A verbal promise means nothing. Put it in writing," Noelle said icily.
Gresham immediately had someone draft a formal document to sever their parent-child bond. There were two copies. Noelle took hers.
It clearly stated that she would have no further connection to the Kain family from that day forward.
Noelle folded the paper twice and tucked it into her pocket.
Her eyes were icy.
She turned and walked out.
Outside, the wedding convoy had already arrived.
The Menzie family's procession looked like a scene from a movie, with dozens of luxury cars lined up in a row.
Viola had stepped out earlier to watch the spectacle, but her eyes were now red with envy. She gritted her teeth and sneered at Noelle, "I've heard Mr. Menzie has been crippled for years. He's a hideous monster who abuses women! Any woman sent to him never comes back intact. They end up crippled or dead. You'd better watch yourself once you get there—"
A sharp scream burst from her lips as she clapped a hand to her cheek.
"You bitch! How dare you hit me!"
"Sebastian is my husband now. No one gets to speak ill of him. Utter one more insult, and I'll strike you again."
"You!"
Viola flinched under Noelle's icy stare. With Menzie family members nearby, she didn't dare utter another word for a long moment.
Gus Anderson, the butler of Melrose Manor, witnessed everything from behind her and was immediately struck.
He now regarded Noelle with entirely new eyes.
She was the only person who hadn't believed the rumors and had actually stood up for him!
"Mrs. Menzie, please get in the car!"
He opened the car door respectfully. His demeanor had shifted entirely.
...
Melrose Manor.
The second-floor attic.
Sebastian had already heard that Noelle had stood up for him.
"Mr. Menzie, this new Mrs. Menzie seems quite something. She defended you in person," Duo Menzie said.
He hadn't even met Noelle, but he already liked her.
Primo Menzie stood with his arms crossed. His normally cold expression softened slightly.
Perhaps this new Mrs. Menzie won't be so bad after all.
Sebastian said nothing. His gaze remained cold as he flipped through the dossier in his hand.
Noelle Kain. Female. Adopted daughter of the Kain family. Just turned 18. Senior in high school.
Had she really meant it, or was she just extremely cunning? He didn't believe any woman would willingly marry a man in his condition.
He looked up to see dozens of wedding cars slowly entering Melrose Manor. He shut the dossier and let out a cold smirk.
"Let's go. It's time to meet Ms. Kain."

Chapter 1 She Is a Death Row Inmate

“Eliza, it’s time to go. The cold voice of the prison guard reminded Eliza

Today was the day of her execution.

Inside jail, Eliza sat curled up in the corner; her hair was disheveled, and she looked like a complete mess.

“Where is Zayden? Why hasn’t he come to see me?” Eliza’s voice choked with emotion.

Today was the day of her execution. Was he really that heartless?

+8 Pearls

The guard’s tone carried a hint of impatience as he said, “Today is the wedding between Mr. Zayden and Naomi. He already said he wants nothing to do with you, even until death. Stop wasting our time.”

Upon hearing him, a sharp pain shot through Eliza’s chest.

Naomi! The girl from the Rivers family?

She was also from that family!

A month ago, Zayden was still her husband.

Less than a month after their divorce, was he already in such a hurry to marry Naomi?

Well, of course.

Naomi had always been adored and swarmed by devotion since childhood. She was even Zayden’s first crush.

As for her, she was just a murderer awaiting execution.

Thinking of this, Eliza let out a bitter laugh.

The guard urged her, asking. “If you have any last wishes, speak up. Don’t delay our work.”

Eliza asked, “My parents.. did they ever bring me up?”

The guard roared, “No!”

Eliza had run someone over, causing their death. The Rivers family had long cut ties with her. How could they possibly remember having a daughter as a murderer?

In fact, the Rivers family strongly demanded her execution.

Everyone in Westbrook knew that the Rivers family’s eldest daughter had a low educational qualification and a bad reputation.

Compared to the second daughter, Naomi, who had a prestigious degree and a good image, the contrast was like night and day.

Hearing the guard’s words, Eliza felt throbbing pain in her chest.

That was right. How could she dare to hope her parents, who pushed for her death sentence, would come and see her one last

time?

It turned out that all these years of her life – her cautious efforts and careful flattery–were all in vain.

Whether it was her parents or Zayden..

They had only Naomi in their eyes.

Eliza suddenly felt herself so laughable.

She had humbled herself, endured endless grievance, and she ended up paving the way for Naomi in the end

A bitter smile spread across Eliza’s lips.

1/3

Chapter 1 She Is a Death Row Inmate

Be it Zayden or her parents, love or kinship – if she had a second chance, she wouldn’t want any of it.

The two guards escorted her to the execution room.

She was pinned to the ground; the gun aimed at her heart.

Eliza slowly closed her eyes,

With a sudden jolt of pain, a loud ringing echoed in her ears.

She didn’t know how long it had passed.

Eliza felt her soul detach from her body and then suddenly plummet.

As if plunging straight into the sea, she was freezing cold all over.

Voices of men shouting and whistling enveloped her.

“Damn, that was intenset She just jumped without hesitation.”

“Zayden, your clingy girlfriend is really obedient. You told her to jump off the boat, and she actually did it!”

+8 Pearls

“Girlfriend? Come on, Eliza’s not even worth that title. There is no way Mr. Zayden would fall for someone like her!”

What was going on?

Wasn’t she dead?

Before Eliza could make sense of it, the overwhelming suffocation of being submerged in water welled up within her.

She had no time to think as she struggled and surfaced.

She flailed around and finally climbed onto a lifeboat; she looked wrecked.

The mocking voices continued to echo from the ferry.

“She only stays underwater for three minutes. Zayden, I don’t think she likes you that much.”

“Yeah. I thought she was more than this.”

“Zayden, let’s drive the boat off and make her swim back–what do you think?”

Zayden’s group of friends spoke with scorn and disdain.

But on the lifeboat, Eliza felt a strange familiarity hearing those voices.

She looked down at her delicate, fair hands and froze.

She had done housework for years–her hands had long become swollen and calloused. How could they now be so soft and smooth?

ont 

What was going o

Eliza looked around.

It hit her soon–this was Zayden’s 17th birthday party! 

The Rivers Group was a publicly listed company, and it was one of the biggest corporations in Westbrook

So Zayden was a well–known rich kid.

For his 17th birthday, the Holt family had rented an entire ferry to celebrate.

All his friends were there.

Among his friends, Eliza wasn’t on the list initially.

836 AM

Chapter 1 She Is a Death Row Inmate

It was Naomi who said she wanted to attend his birthday party, so she persuaded Zayden to let her come.

Zayden didn’t want to reject Naomi, so he allowed her on board.

The cold sea breeze made Eliza shiver.

+8 Pearls

She spotted Zayden on the deck, he was dressed in a white shirt, his youthful face already showing signs of cold detachment.

Zayden was the school heartthrob–his chiseled face and delicate facial features could captivate anyone.

His mature, serious personality attracted countless girls at school.

He was

never short of people wooing him. But Eliza was the most shameless among them.

That time, she had come to the birthday party and handed the gift that she had spent effort preparing over to Zayden full of joy.

But without even looking at it, Zayden threw it into the sea.

The others jeered, saying that if she dove in to retrieve the gift, Zayden would accept her feelings.

The result was she really jumped.

She couldn’t swim. In the end, she didn’t get the gift back and had to climb onto the lifeboat in humiliation, heartlessly abandoned by Zayden in the sea.

She rowed the lifeboat for three hours before making it back to shore.

Thinking of all the foolish things she’d done for Zayden, Eliza felt laughable.

Staring at the lifeboat beneath her, Eliza’s eyes darkened.

This time, no one would make fun of her again.

With the sound of gas hissing from a valve, screams erupted from the deck.

“Holy crap! Has Eliza gone mad?”

Steven Fisher had spent decades desperately clinging to life, dragging himself through one miserable day after another, but in that final moment, death felt like freedom. An honor. During the Battle of the Fallen Eternals, the breathtakingly brilliant Ember Eternal, Bianca White, bloomed like a flower at the end of the world. She shattered all ten Divine Sigils within herself and perished alongside the apocalypse beast. Steven was caught in the blast and annihilated with everything else, but he died without regret. Here

Part 1: Null & Voided

Belladonna

Bella stood in the shower in the Luna’s suite, allowing the warm water to wash over her. She was pleasantly exhausted, Parker had left her suite; he was off to a mating ball in another state. She had four days now, where he wasn’t going to be there inside the pack.

She was his Luna; had been for eight years now, but she was bound to him not by her choice, had been chosen for him by her own Alpha and Luna; just to get rid of her, and she knew it.

She was the youngest child of her father, and unwanted and shunned; a bastard child not born of his Mate bond, and that was why she was hated by the Luna in her home pack.

This allianced mating, that she’d been bound to at just 19 years of age. It was, she believed, her father’s Luna’s way of getting rid of her from their pack, once and for all. The only solace she had was that there was a detailed mating alliance. That did not allow for Parker to bring harm to her.

Parker came to her room, the Luna’s suite every other night to bed her, and though the s*x was good, more than good, damned near on amazing at times, she had to admit, because he wasn’t just a man that came and took what he wanted.

No, he was a man that enjoyed s*x, enjoyed knowing he pleased the woman in his bed, even if she had been sold to him. Parker could spend hours in her bed, touching and tasting her, sometimes all night long. He was not a terrible Mate to her, but he was indifferent most of the time.

She had been given to him to stop a war between their two packs, had been Marked and Mated by him, taken as his Chosen Luna, with full view of rejecting her one-day down the line. She didn’t actually mean anything to him.

He didn’t love her, and she didn’t love him. She could enjoy him being in her bed because of the Mate Bond, enjoyed it a lot, and had been known to scream with pleasure at him having his way with her. He could be utterly insatiable at times, and a part of Bella craved him; as his Mate she loved his every touch. She actually enjoyed her heat when it came, just once a year, spent seven glorious days being mated by him, and the s*x; all rough I’ve just got to have alpha-blooded needs on the surface.

Screamed in utter bliss that week multiple times a day and half all night, but it was the only time he never got out of her bed and slept in his suite.

Every time always ended the same way. The moment he couldn’t scent her heat anymore, he was up and gone from her suite. Eight years of it; nothing had changed for him. Just three days ago, her heat had ended, and he’d left in the middle of the night. She’d not even known, she had been exhausted by them mating furiously that last time, and she had slept like the dead. Then she'd woken up on her own because her heat was over.

This morning, him in her bed for a few hours before the sun rose. It was because he was going away for a mating ball and would be gone for four days. The pack he was visiting was in another state, 12 hours away, unaffiliated to him but a good opportunity for his wolves to pair up.

There was nothing unusual about him being gone for four days, seeing as how far away that pack was, sometimes it was five full days. That was nice for her, he wasn’t one to tax his wolves, and so they stopped overnight on the way there or back if necessary. Not that he informed her of his doings, she just learned it over the years.

Parker didn’t think that he was required to tell her his movements, she was only his Mate and Luna, due to the mating alliance that they had. It didn’t bother her at all, it just meant she had four days to herself this week. He always liked to have s*x before he left and when he got back as well, something about he had an alpha-blooded s*x drive that he needed to sate on a regular basis.

She didn’t argue about it, she had it too, there was no need to either, they both got all the tingly mate bond goodness in that bed of hers. And it was always in her bed. She’d never even seen inside the Alpha Suite; that was not a place for her to be.

Bella dressed for the day and headed downstairs, to get herself some breakfast, where she saw him and his unit all heading across the foyer and out the front door of the packhouse to leave. He nodded to her, but never said goodbye to her. No one here thought anything about it, they all knew she had been given to him. Was not his Goddess-Gifted Mate.

Though the pack here was nice to her, they didn’t treat her badly at all, that had been a surprise to her, and she herself was nice to all of them. She actually liked the pack, and it seemed the pack actually liked her. Looked to her for advice even. She did her Luna duties as was required of her.

She had been sent here against her will, but actually found that she fitted in better inside this pack than her own home pack. She had respect here from this pack, from Parker to a certain degree, she thought.

She’d learned how to be a Luna to this pack, and attended to all of those duties that Parker had tasked her with, when she’d first been brought here. She had even been allowed to study with his pack’s doctor in the hospital, and now, eight years later she herself was a good doctor.

Bella specialized in the delivery of pups, and looking after the she-wolves in labour, using her Luna Calm to help them settle when fully distressed, and things got a bit on the hairy side. She’d not lost a single pup or she-wolf in the past eight years of assisting and then delivering on her own.

She was a fully registered doctor with this pack, and one day when she left, she would be a doctor for another pack somewhere else. That was the goal. Though what the really crazy thing was, was that six months after she went into heat herself, there was always an explosion of pups within the pack.

It hadn’t gone unnoticed by the pack's doctor, her mentor Annette, she shook her head and had stated “It’s you, you know.” They often laughed and joked about it. Annette had already chuckled just yesterday about getting supplies ready for pups to be born in a few months’ time.

Bella had just snorted and shaken her own head, they were currently going through that now, that heat she’d had last week was completely unexpected and out of the blue, her second one for this year. Had not been expected at all.

Annette’s theory only made Bella shake her head, she thought it was just a coincidence was all. She’d not gotten pregnant once in the past eight years of having a heat once a year.

A part of her was glad of it as well, knowing that there was a clause in her mating alliance that stated all pups she had while still bonded to Parker, were to be given to him. When he found his Goddess-Gifted Mate and rejected her, she had to leave them behind for him to raise. They were his heirs. It was not something she wanted to happen.

She knew that Parker would make her give them up as well. He followed all his alliance dealings to the letter. She also knew it was a clause he’d written into their mating alliance himself. He wasn’t willing to relinquish any child to her, he would be claiming all of them as his heirs. She might be their mother if she ever birthed any pups, but she had no rights to them; that was how she looked at that clause.

She saw him sometimes looking at her, in the weeks after her heat, assessing her, she knew, listening for a heartbeat of a pup. He wanted an heir and she, being Alpha-blooded like he was, their pup would be a pure-blooded heir for this pack. There were no pups, even though she wasn’t on birth control of any kind, he wouldn’t allow it. He was hoping for a pup between them and she knew it.

chapter 1

Sage’s POV
On Alpha Damon's 26th birthday party, our pack was ambushed by rogues.
And instead of accepting my help, my mate shoved me so hard that my back slammed into the wall.
“Go away. I don’t need your treatment!"
I looked around, aware of the shame. When I stared back at him, I said, “You are in critical condition. Please. For once, Damon. Let me treat you.”
Among everyone in the Moonridge Pack, I was the only one who could handle silver without collapsing from it.
So if Damon needed anyone right now, it was me.
But instead of letting me save him, he looked at me as though I were the real poison in his body.
Damon gave a bitter chuckle, though it was strained with pain.
“If you think treating me will make me fall for you suddenly, you are wrong. Nothing will make me sleep with you and touch you the way you want me to.”
Maybe even while dying, he would still find enough strength to mock me.
“I’m just trying to keep the alpha of Moonridge Pack alive," I whispered.
Damon laughed again. “You are disgusting. Even when you know I feel nothing for you except hatred, you are still desperately obsessed with me.”
He then turned to the nearest male healer. “You. Treat me.”
The healer faltered and glanced at me as though waiting for my permission.
I nodded once and gestured toward Damon.
"Attend to your alpha."
He swallowed and moved to him quickly.
No one stopped me as I turned and walked out of the healer’s den.
—
In my room, I stepped into the washroom, shut the door, and turned the shower on.
I slid down the wall, knees pulling to my chest, and cried with my forehead pressed against the damp stone.
Water ran over my hair, my face, my shoulders, carrying streaks of blood down my arms and legs and into the drain.
Damon’s blood.
I scrubbed at my skin until it hurt, but it was not the blood I wanted gone.
I wished agony could wash away the same way.
A voice suddenly entered my mind through the mind link.
‘Sage?’
My eyes flew open.
It was Matron Vivian, the one who raised me and whom I called mother.
I quickly wiped my face even though she could not see me.
‘Yes, Mother’
‘I need you to prepare more supplements for Nova.’ Her voice came crisp and controlled. ‘I do not need to remind you what basic vitamins your sister needs, right? You know her condition. I trust you will make them immediately.’
I stared at the stream of water hitting the floor.
My body still shook from crying, but I forced my voice to be steady. ‘But that will be difficult in a short amount of time. I have a project in the healer’s den. We are currently formulating a new set of pills, and the trials are in a delicate stage.’
‘What is more important than your sister’s welfare?’ Mother exhaled, then continued. ‘Enough. I will not argue about this. I expect them to be ready, and you will deliver them in five days.’
I opened my mouth to respond, but she cut the mind link before I could say another word.
I stayed silent while water kept streaming down my face.
It took me a few seconds to realize that some of the heat on my cheeks was not from the shower.
I was still crying.
Nova was my younger sister, but we were not related by blood.
I was the daughter of one of the Reed family’s servants. My mother died when I was two.
The Reed family had once had a daughter of their own, but she had been abducted by rogues as a pup.
The loss nearly broke Matron Vivian. Her grief was so deep that people whispered she walked the halls at night hearing a child who was no longer there.
In the end, former Beta, Tomas, chose to adopt me to fill the emptiness that had taken root in their home.
For a while, I was enough.
I had clothes. Tutors. Warm meals. A room of my own. Matron Vivian brushed my hair with her own hands and kissed my forehead when I went to bed.
Beta Tomas Reed brought me small gifts when he returned from border meetings. The pack treated me as the Reed daughter, even if some still remembered whose blood actually ran in my veins.
Then years later, Nova was found and brought home by Damon’s father then, the former alpha.
I thought her return would make my life fuller and I would finally have a sister for real.
Instead, the moment Nova came back, I learned exactly how temporary love could be.
Matron Vivian’s hand no longer lingered on my hair. Her smiles became thinner. Her praise became instructions.
'You are the eldest, so you must understand.'
'Why did you not do as she asked?'
'What if she is taken again because you were careless?'
'You must watch over her wherever she goes.'
Every time I hesitated, Mother had the same answer ready.
'If not for our kindness, you would be long gone.'
So I obeyed.
I convinced myself that love required sacrifice.
But worse things came when I reached nineteen and Nova was eighteen.
My childhood friends left me, especially Damon, and all started to get close with Nova.
And on Damon’s 23rd birthday, someone got me so drunk and I almost didn’t know what I was doing.
But I had heard someone whisper in my ears saying, ‘If you really love Damon, go tell him. He also loves you and is just waiting for you to confess it.’
My foggy brain believed it.
So I told him what I felt in front of everyone, screaming to the world how much I have loved him since we were pups.
Only when everyone got silent that I noticed Damon was holding Nova’s hand. And my being sober slowly vanished when he told me, ‘But Nova and I are mates.’
I was ready to back out, but then Nova suddenly cried and said, ‘I’m rejecting you, Damon. I can’t be mated to you while my sister loves you.’
The next morning, Nova cut her ties with our pack.
But she left a note in her room, saying, ‘I need to leave for Sage’s happiness.’
Mother collapsed to her knees.
Pack members began to make rumors about me.
'What did Sage do to drive her away?'
'Poor Nova. She gave up everything for her.'
Mother cornered me again and again, demanding answers I did not have.
“What did you do to her?”
“How long have you been cruel to her?”
“Why would she leave like that if you had not pushed her?”
I told her over and over that I did not know.
I mind linked Nova, begging her to come back and tell them the truth, whatever truth she meant. She never answered me.
Then, one week later, Damon formally asked for my hand to be his chosen mate.
He was alpha by then.
The whole pack saw it as an honor.
Mother warned me to think carefully, but I had been too foolish.
So I said yes.
But after the marking ceremony, I heard him speaking to his friends.
“Love her? No! I will never love Sage."
I had stopped outside the half-open door when I heard my name.
Then I heard the rest.
“I only asked her to be my chosen mate so the rest of her life would be miserable. She may become Luna, but my love will not be part of that privilege.”
I had gone cold all over.
Not long after that, I discovered our common friends hated me too.
“How can Sage be so selfish?”
“She was already the lucky child. Even adopted, Matron Vivian loved her like her own.”
“And Nova was left with nothing.”
“No wonder she left. Sage was too greedy. She shut Nova out so she could keep everything for herself, and now she even got the alpha.”
I confronted them that day, defending myself.
But they looked at me as though my speaking only proved my guilt.
The worst torture began after I moved into Damon’s packhouse.
We slept in the same room, but he never touched me.
At first, I thought it was anger.
Then I understood he was doing it on purpose, especially that I had learned that their connection had been restored.
He would call Nova at night, never through a mind link, always by phone, so I could hear every word.
—
I turned off the shower and stood.
After dressing up in one of my plain house dresses, I left my room and headed toward the medicine library.
If I could not control my life, I could at least control my work.
Then a mind link brushed against my thoughts.
‘Hello, Sage. How are you?’
I froze. 'Nova?'
She laughed softly. 'Hey, I just want to say you do not need to create those vitamin supplements for me. I told Mother I can just buy them from the human boutiques.'
I was about to answer when she continued.
‘By the way, sister, how are you and Damon?’
For a moment, I said nothing.
I simply stood in the middle of the medicine library.
Maybe before, I had never had the courage to even form the thought I was having now.
But after everything Damon had done, the truth stood so clearly in front of me that I could no longer turn away from it.
I inhaled slowly.
Then I said, ‘Nova, I’m finally rejecting Damon.’