Sapphire's life took a dramatic turn at the tender age of six when she underwent a mysterious transformation, revealing her as a member of a werewolf lineage long feared as cursed harbingers of death and misfortune. She spent her years concealing her wolf form, and after her mother's tragic demise, she became. Her sole mission in life was to reject her destined mate, the one who could trigger the ancient curse within her. To achieve this, she willingly jumped into the arms of Alpha Ajax, a descendant from a powerful lineage of gifted werewolves that had forsaken mate bonds in pursuit of unparalleled strength. He, too, believed he could never have a mate. Unbeknownst to Sapphire, a miraculous twist of fate linked her to Alpha Ajax as his true mate. He refused to let her slip away, even though she remained oblivious to her significance to him. Yet, as Sapphire's true nature is unveiled, and long-buried secrets from the past resurface, safeguarding their extraordinary bond becomes an insurmountable challenge.
"Mummy, why can't I let everyone know I have a wolf now?" The little girl asked, her lashes twinkling with curiosity as she stared at her mother. Her mother smiled, reaching her hand out to ruffle the girl's short golden copper-brown hair. The girl ducked a little out of habit.
"Because the only way to keep you safe is to make sure no one ever knows you can shift. Now, what is the one rule you must never break, sunshine?"
"No matter what I do, regardless of what situation I find myself in, even if facing death, never let anyone know or see my wolf. I cannot shift, I have little strength, little speed and no wolf. Staying alive is my number one priority."
"Very good, darling, excellent. And remember..." she cupped her daughter's rosy cheeks with a teary smile, "Mummy will always be here to protect you."
______
She lied.
She left me, she left me to face the cruel world all on my own. And it pains me most to know that it was my fault. If only I took her regular wolf colour, if only I wasn't me, she would still be alive. She left to find any possible solution to my problem but never came back alive. She's dead, she's buried, and I'm alone.
"Sandy! Sandy!" I raised my head, lifting my gaze to the door. I knelt on the floor, trying to scrub a deliberate stain off. I don't know how they expect me to get permanent ink off the wooden floor. "San... oh, there you are!" I nodded, raising myself to sit on my legs properly. The female's face turned into a scowl, briefly eying my position and work. "You're still trying to clean this!" I nodded. "How do you expect to get permanent ink off? It's called permanent for a reason." I tilted my head, giving her a look. "Right, those sisters of mine. Stand up, forget about this. I'll handle them if they try to cause you trouble. Mother needs you in the kitchen, so hurry."
Nodding my head obediently, I slowly rose to my feet. "I'll get another omega to deal with this, you just hurry before you get in trouble." I bowed in appreciation and daintily walked around the slippery floor. I didn't speak, I didn't show any emotions. I'd never been one to speak, I was always more of a listener and observer, never a speaker. But over the years, especially after my mother died, I lost my voice.
I'd forgotten how my voice sounded, as I didn't speak to myself. I had no reason to and had no one to talk to. Even when I did speak, it only make my pain double. For almost six years, I'd spoken only in my mind that I forgot how to speak. I never actually attempted to speak, and I wasn't going to. The pack chalked it up to grief, but it was more than grief, more than the pain of losing the only person in the world who loved and cared for me. She was the only one who cared enough to know what I had to say, the only one who would listen, so why bother?
Ranked as an omega because to them, I had no wolf, I was treated like one but slightly worse. My inability to speak and show emotion irked most of them. Not only did I not have a wolf, but I was also disabled. And, as the females would put it, "a threat to their mates." Physical abuse was levelled to a average; just slaps, punches and kicks, and a few hair pulling and ultimate starvation, but nothing worse. They, however, made up for that with the excessive work we are given, especially me.
Everyone was the same, treat the omegas badly, emotionally and physically abuse them because they are under your feet. The only kindness we received was from the kind children, Luna, and the Alpha's first daughter. They weren't exactly the nicest, but they were nice enough to barely starve, overwork or hit us. It was good enough for me.
I made my way downstairs, to the kitchen, to assist the Luna. She hummed as she moved around the kitchen like she always did, her blonde hair packed into a ponytail and dancing behind her. A male omega knelt on the floor, trying to cut the large meat given to him for the preparation of the food. Looking around the kitchen, I could see how much of a mess the omega and the Luna were making. Luna was a fabulous cook, but she was extremely terrible with tidiness. I hate it.
Moving first to the omega, I tapped his shoulder and then placed my hands on my hips. He raised his head from the meat. His eyes brightened when he saw me. The poor guy must have been struggling for hours. "Thank God!" He exclaimed, causing the Luna to turn around. She smiled when she saw me.
"Sally, nice of you to join us! Please, save me!" I smiled a little. She, after all, was the only one that can draw a half smile from me, only when she was in chef mode. If I could speak, I would have reminded them all that my name is Sapphire, not Sally, Sandy, Sadie or any other Sa name. They didn't remember my name, just knew it started with an 'S' and an 'A'. Typical.
"Hey, Maurice, get lost." The guy stood up gladly. I took over, starting by picking up the board and taking it to the kitchen island. I went ahead to change the knife to a larger one, before proceeding to butcher the meat. After that, I helped her with cutting the vegetables, handling the pastries-since she was not so good with that-and then cleaning up the kitchen. She left me to set the tables, which I would end up resetting anyway, while I washed the dishes.
When done with the kitchen, I left another omega in charge to make sure the food didn't get burnt. I reset the table according to order like it had been literally slapped into my head by the alpha. While arranging it, alpha junior-a year younger than the first daughter-walked in. He was a bigger ass than most males in the pack.
In the past, I escaped countless rape attempts by him and his gang, until his sister found out and reported it to their father. Of course, the alpha made a declaration that if they wanted sex badly, they were only allowed to get it from the willing omega females, which was practically all of them. And being the only unwilling one protected by Luna, I was safe.
In fact, her protection was the nicest thing she has ever done for me.
"Sabbath," he called, throwing his leg on his father's chair, a cocky smirk on his face. "What are you doing?" I looked at him, then back at the cutleries in my hands. I pointed the cutleries to the table. He wasn't that dumb, but he would do anything to get a reason to punish or hit me. Avoiding him, avoiding all of them, was my number two priority.
"Hmm, what did Mother make for dinner?" I blinked, not replying to him was the best. He hated hand signals, and couldn't understand it to begin with. "Is there meat?" I nodded.
He kept throwing stupid questions my way, while I tried my very best to avoid anything that would warrant any form of punishment. After arranging the table, I walked past him, but he smacked my ass. Flinching a bit, I scurried off to the kitchen.
Deep breath.
'I really don't see why you put up with them,' my wolf, Zinnia, scoffed.
'How about keeping us alive?'
'Humph.' She went back to where she came from. I was fairly lucky. Even though I had a wolf, except if I decide to let her presence be known, I smell like a human. It was the one thing that kept me alive, apart from how good I was at hiding.
An hour later and the huge pack house was packed with self-righteous members. Like the rest of the omegas, I stood with hands clasped in front of me and head bowed, never to look into the eyes of anyone because I was 'below' them. I served them along with everyone else, ignoring when the males rubbed their palms on my behind or reached forward and groped my breasts. The clever thing to do was to step back after serving them, don't react, don't cause a scene.
"Urgh!" Alpha's second daughter screamed with annoyance, shifting backwards in her seat. She spilled her drink on herself. I didn't need to be screamed at before I set to work.
Grabbing a wet wipe, I walked over to her. I always carry one because they always stain themselves. They had all gotten so used to getting pampered and taken care of by the omegas, that they didn't know how to wash their own underwear.
I knelt down beside her and scrubbed lightly on the stain. It wasn't enough, even if I knew that from the start. At least, I tried. "Get away from me, you wolf-less scum," she snapped, giving my body a hard push. My head hit the thick edge of the table, causing a few seconds of dizziness before it stopped. "You're useless! You can't ever get anything right! All you know how to do is take up space in this house, eat our food and be useless. You don't have any markings, heck, you are not even a shifter!" I slowly rose from the floor and bowed apologetically. "Just get out of my sight, your worthless form is irritating me."
I don't know why they keep trying. A little to none of their words ever affect me, why do they keep trying? I didn't need to let it get to me. I had a wolf, I cook the food she eats and take care of the pack and alpha apartment. All she ever did was sit still and look pretty. Why should I be intimidated?
"Edna, leave the omega alone. You are fully aware that there is no way she can wipe that off, just like she can't wipe off permanent ink from the floor." Eloise, the first daughter, spoke with a small glare her younger sister's way.
"Even still-"
"Enough, girls, no arguing over meaningless people." Alpha spoke. I didn't suppress the sigh that left my lips. My mother used to call me the most special. From special to meaningless. Rock Bottom is a terrible place to be.
"You all know what is going on with Alpha Ajax, how he was angered to the point of wiping out Parempi susi and Must Kuu hing Pack, and how he recently enslaved most of Alpha Reece's pack. I'm afraid his anger might push him towards us next. So, I've decided to give him a call and make an offer to show that we don't want trouble. Alpha Kash and Alpha Larry did it and it worked for them, so I'm doing it too."
"What is it, Father?" Eloise asked worriedly, fear apparent in her eyes. I had a feeling she knew already. "Scratch that. Father, you know they gave up their warriors and high-ranking wolves to be simple commoners, including acting as sex slaves to his monstrous warriors. Are you really going to do that?"
"Something like that. My offer is this instead. His men can come into the pack to search for their mates, and if none is found, he can take four selected members of the pack as omegas."
"Alpha-"
"I'm not telling you all this to object, but so you can prepare yourselves. I'll be giving him a call tomorrow evening and hope he accepts the offer, or there might be serious trouble." I hope the alpha accepts and takes his children away, maybe then he would understand the true meaning of his statement. Anyway, it wasn't my business, I already had my miserable life to deal with.
I hated my life, I hated having to hide all the time when I shift to let her out for a few minutes, but I had no choice and I would never have a choice. My wolf is cursed, I am cursed, and the life of hiding is our destiny.
Lavender faced the ultimate betrayal after discovering that her fiancé, the man she loved most, had been using her all along. He had only dated her to seek revenge against her father and to claim everything her late mother had left her as a gift to his real fiancee. Devastated, Lavender lost everything she owned to him, and her family was plunged into dire poverty as a result. Heartbroken, she fled her past, running away from her disowned father and the agonizing pain. She dedicated her life to caring for the "blessings" her ex-fiancé had left behind. But just when Lavender thought she had found a measure of peace, everything starts falling apart again. Forced to reconcile with her ex, Lavender is torn-he is a changed man now, but to her, he remains an enemy. As her bottled-up emotions resurface, past cases reopening, and his persistent efforts to win back her affection intensify, how long can Lavender's hatred last?
Arabel Lee was tired of her boring life, even as a beloved celebrity. She wished for more, wished to return to the time when she wasn't the only one among her sisters who didn't have a love life. She felt like there was more to her existence but the shock of the truth behind everything is more than she bargained for. With her new powers comes a new responsible to bear the winter witch and protect her from her evil aunt, and with her new mission comes the package deal of a mate. But after years of protecting her daughter, Arabel met her demise, leaving the cold-hearted killer hungry for revenge. The only thing Krystal knows how to do is destroy everything in her path, and until she finds who killed her mother, she will never rest. However, when her aunt asked her to attend a school for the gifted, what she didn't expect to find was the mate she dreaded meeting, the arrogant, playboy but powerful and blessed alpha of the strongest pack and another childish playboy who she has a strange protective attraction to. The new school doesn't just bring her two devilishly beautiful guys, it came with friends and emotions she wants nothing to do with but Krystal finds out that escaping them is impossible.
Xyra Lumina Crescent, first born child to two full-blooded alphas and an alpha female. Xyra is hidden away from her pack, from the outside world and even from herself as she has no idea why she cannot shift or why she is hidden away in a temple to train, train and train. Far away from her family and younger siblings, Xyra sought freedom and to be able to be with her family. But she is trapped and watched by the ladies of the temple of females. A vision of an attack on her pack force Xyra to break free in other to save her parents who would die in the attack, and her people who would be taken hostage. Xyra returns home, but she does not just get the easy life she thought she would get. She discovers that maybe staying at the temple where life was easy was better after all. Who is Xyra? And what is The Last Daughter? ____ ‘What will happen if he finds his mate and she dies?’ I asked the most obvious question. Dad's wolf gave mine a look. ‘Xyra, did you see anything?’ ‘Yes, not clear, but a strong enough warning. He's going to run mad, isn't he?’ ‘All lycans do when they lose their mates. Which is why the goddess restrain from giving them one.’ Which was true. With how easy they lost their minds after losing their erasthasis, it was best they didn't have one. No one wanted a powerful lycan to go wild and wipe out an entire population, just because their soulmate died. It indeed was why they didn't get one too often. In fact, one could stay for a thousand years and not hear of a lycan finding a mate. They usually just fall in love and get married or get married without love. The king was the strongest like I read. If him losing his mate would turn him against the entire population of living creatures, then maybe it is my duty to protect her. Maybe, just maybe this is what I am meant to do.
"Sage?" "Yeah?" She asked with a laugh. I took in a deep breath, closed my eyes and let it out. "Victoria came to me in my dreams last night after I begged her to and I think she is trying to tell me something but I cannot remember exactly what she was saying." I rushed out. Sage had gone silent. I opened one eye to see her expression, she didn't look surprise at all, only had a serious face on. "I know," she replied calmly. "You know? How is it that you know?" "The very moment I stepped my feet into this house, I felt her presence, but I wasn't sure. The third night we slept here, I woke up in the middle of the night to get something to drink, but as I got closer to the kitchen, I heard someone singing while cooking. At first, I thought it was you, but when I got there, I only found an empty kitchen. The stove wasn't on, but it was hot, like someone was just using it. I pondered on that the next day, that was why I was extremely quiet. It was after you mentioned Victoria always loved cooking at night, that I realised that the singing voice did sound exactly like hers." I was shocked by the revelation, she kept it to herself. "I didn't mention it because I didn't want to scare anyone or get you all worried over nothing. Judith have seen her too, on the fifth night. According to Judith, she couldn't sleep so she went out to the balcony to look at the stars. Judith said when she got there, she saw a girl with glowing white dress staring at the stars too. She wiped her eyes but when she opened it, the girl was gone. And you know Judith, she only shrugged it off as her imagination." I took in a sharp breath and held it there. "Victoria always loved looking at the stars with Judith, they would talk for hours as they admired the stars." "My thought exactly," ~~~ All Candace wanted was to fulfill the last wish of her best friend, the girl who brought them together and made them the star they were. A simple last wish leading herself and her three friends to a small town they were more than happy to visit. Their lives could never be better, but things are not the way it seems. She finds out a secret that changes all their lives. Discovery that leads to lost, love and a future that is uncertain. Victoria is a powerful spirit more than five hundred years old and there is a darkness that blankets the not so peaceful town. One that she alone can stop.
Elena, once a pampered heiress, suddenly lost everything when the real daughter framed her, her fiancé ridiculed her, and her adoptive parents threw her out. They all wanted to see her fall. But Elena unveiled her true identity: the heiress of a massive fortune, famed hacker, top jewelry designer, secret author, and gifted doctor. Horrified by her glorious comeback, her adoptive parents demanded half her newfound wealth. Elena exposed their cruelty and refused. Her ex pleaded for a second chance, but she scoffed, “Do you think you deserve it?” Then a powerful magnate gently proposed, “Marry me?”
My marriage to Mathias was supposed to make me the happiest woman in the world. Although I knew he didn't love me, I thought he would fall for me once I showered him with all the love I had to give. Five years passed and Mathias still didn't give a damn about me. Instead, he met his true love and cut all ties with me because of her. He showed her off; something he never did for me. His abandonment pushed me into depression. I was broken in every sense of the word. Even on my deathbed, my so-called husband didn't come to say goodbye to me. When I opened my eyes again, I found myself reborn. I was still Mathias's wife and it was two months before he met his true love. In this life, I refused to be hurt by him again. After talking some sense into my head, I asked him for a divorce in other to escape being heartbroken like I was previously. Mathias tore up the divorce papers time and time again while also shutting me down. "Rylie, stop all this nonsense! Playing hard to get doesn't work anymore!" To show him that I was dead serious, I went ahead to file for divorce. Only then did he panic. He abandoned the "woman of his dreams" and came to my side. "Please give me a second chance, Rylie. I promise to do right by you. You'll be the only woman in my heart from now on. Don't leave me, okay?" A war broke out in my mind after this apology. On one hand, I didn't want to be hurt again. And on the other, I didn't want to let go of the man I loved so dearly. What should I do?!
"Listen, Gadreel Ødegaar," she looked at him, not hesitating this time. "It's my anniversary present for you. Let's divorce." *** Ivory Remington had sacrificed five years to look after her husband Gadreel who was in a vegetative state after an accident and a few months ago, he finally awakened like a miracle. She thought it was the start of their happy life but Gadreel still had no heart for her. On their anniversary and her birthday, she received a cheating video of her dear husband and her stepsister. Heartbroken, Ivory chose to quit this stupid game. She decided to set him free but the reason she left on the divorce agreement pierced Gadreel's noble pride. *** "Impotent? Are you serious?" He gripped her wrist and a dangerous glint flashed in his eyes. "I'm a woman, Gadreel. I'm tired of being in a sexless marriage. Let's end it once and for all." "Sexless, huh?" he chuckled lowly and without warning grabbed her chin in between his hands, pulling her face closer. "Turns out my wife was so eager to get a man between her legs? "
Two years ago, Ricky found himself coerced into marrying Emma to protect the woman he cherished. From Ricky's perspective, Emma was despicable, resorting to underhanded schemes to ensure their marriage. He maintained a distant and cold attitude toward her, reserving his warmth for another. Yet, Emma remained wholeheartedly dedicated to Ricky for more than ten years. As she grew weary and considered relinquishing her efforts, Ricky was seized by a sudden fear. Only when Emma's life teetered on the edge, pregnant with Ricky's child, did he recognize-the love of his life had always been Emma.
A man like Travis Sinclair wants nothing more than a woman who matches his sexual prowess and is used to getting everything he wants. A cold-hearted billionaire ,he lives by one rule - no love, no commitment. Ayanna Davies isn't looking for a relationship. She's focused on her work and the financial security it brings. As a high end escort, her client is full of filthy rich men who are willing to pay handsomely for her services. But when Travis Sinclair becomes one of her clients, she begins twice about mixing work with pleasure. Not knowing that he is an old acquaintance whom she despises.
Melanie married Ashton out of gratitude, but she quickly found herself entangled in a web of relentless challenges. Despite these struggles, she stayed true to her commitment to the marriage. In the hospital room, Ashton indifferently attempted to draw her blood, disregarding her discomfort. This callous act was a harsh revelation for Melanie, awakening her to the grim reality of their relationship. Resolved to prioritize her own welfare, she decided to sever ties. With newfound resolve, Melanie filed for divorce. In the process, she unveiled her concealed identities, leaving everyone in shock. Throughout these turbulent times, Melanie realized that Derek, Ashton’s uncle, had been discreetly protecting her all along.