resentful ceremony

I once believed alpha Fernando was the true mate the Moon Goddess had chosen for me. He held me tightly during the Blood Moon riots. He stoked the fire as I brewed purification potions. He even declared before the entire Blackthorn Pack, “Thalia is my light.” Until the night before our engagement banquet, when the soulstone in my palm leapt from the gilded invitation— He was bonding with his cousin Bianca. That Beta girl who always sneered at me, saying, “A Gamma, touching an Alpha? Laughable.” Her spirit mark was etched into the corner of the card. Like a silver blade carved into my heart. Then alpha Fernando’s voice bled through the soulstone, laced with frost I’d never heard before: “She? Just a warm body in my bed.” “She really thought I sent her to the Highland Summit because I valued her? I just needed space for Bianca.” His laughter, mingled with clinking wineglasses in the background, pierced me like a dagger dipped in silver poison. “Once the bond’s sealed, I’ll toss her aside with any excuse— She loves me so much, she’d drink silver and call it moonlight.” my wolf Leona whispered in my mind, “The girl who dares tear down the illusion… is the one who will hold true moonlight in her hands.” I unbound the sealed Guardian sigil on my wrist and tuned the soulstone to the Silverclaw Pack’s private frequency. “Alpha Ross,” I said, licking away the tears from the corner of my eye, my voice colder than moonlight, “I’m ready now— To be your Luna.”

I'm Evan Rivers, a werewolf planning my binding ceremony with Isla Dewitt, my childhood love, in a world of sacred bonds. But when I uncover her betrayal with Nathaniel Wade, my heart shatters. Determined to make her face the truth, I orchestrate a shocking twist, replacing myself with Nathaniel at the ceremony. As Isla scrambles with guilt, desperately searching for me, I start anew with Aurora in Favalon. Though I move on, Isla, haunted by her mistakes, rebuilds her empire while watching me from afar, forever marked by our broken bond.

I had an agreement with Caspian Shawn, the Alpha of the Shawn Pack. He promised he would attend the 99th bonding ceremony I’d prepared. But he didn't come. That day, he appeared at the Full Moon Gala with his lover, Seraphine Dubois. An image of them kissing under the moonlight spread like wildfire across the pack networks. Meanwhile, I became a lonely spectacle at the Altar of the Moon Goddess. Speculation about the ceremony ran rampant. Every wolf wanted to know when I would hold the 100th ceremony. Out of guilt, Caspian assured me he would be there next time. But when he finally made his way to the Altar of the Moon Goddess, all he received was a cold message through our mind-link. "There won't be a 100th time. We're over."

My husband, Julian Thorne, is the head of the Chicago Outfit. After our secret marriage, he promised a grand ceremony to officially name me his Donna. He only ever made that promise when he needed to appease his mistress, Cassandra Vance. Over three years, he canceled this crucial ceremony three times, using excuses that always seemed to circle back to Cassandra. He left me to face the whispers and scorn of his inner circle alone. Whenever my heart broke and I protested, Julian would wave away my concerns. He’d claim Cassandra was just a “tool” and that I was the one he truly loved, telling me not to get hung up on titles. After the third public humiliation, I finally went numb. I decided to end it. I slid a power of attorney for all his assets—disguised as a design contract for a new casino—in front of him. "Sign this," I told him, "and we can start over."

My bonding ceremony with Rhys Valerius was supposed to be the event of the season, with all eyes on us. But when the great ceremonial doors swung open, Rhys didn't walk toward me. Instead, he turned to his childhood friend, Cassia Thorne—the witness for our bonding—and pulled her into his arms. Then, in front of the entire pack, he gave her a deep, passionate kiss that lasted for a full, agonizing minute. His Beta and Gammas howled and cheered, as if this were a common sight. After the kiss finally ended, Rhys offered a dismissive explanation, calling it a reward to "thank her for her years of loyalty." His childhood friend, Cassia, even had the audacity to smirk at me. "A future Luna shouldn't be so petty," she purred. I smiled, lifting the laurel wreath from my hair and placing it on her head. "Of course not," I replied, my own smile razor-sharp. "May your bond be unbreakable."

My fated mate Kaelan wanted to please his mistress Briar, so he planned to let her act as Luna for a while. He pretended our bond was broken, refusing to even acknowledge me as his Luna. As I passed the gym, I heard Briar’s syrupy voice. "Darling, if I get to be Luna, will you mark me every night? But… won’t Selene be suspicious? You’ve been mates for seven years, after all." "What can she do?" Kaelan sneered. "She can’t leave the pack, and she certainly can’t leave me." "Selene? That poor thing. I told her our bond broke naturally, and she actually believed it." "Even if she finds out the truth, she’ll just suffer in silence. The only Luna in my heart is you, baby." I didn’t confront him right then and there. The lie of our weakening bond sent a sharp, agonizing pain through me. I turned and walked away. Let them think their plan is flawless. They would soon find out what a nasty surprise this "poor thing" had in store for them.

A month before my bonding ceremony with Alpha Jedediah Thorne, he exiled my father, Forrest Caldwell, to the Barrens. The reason? A single accusation from his childhood friend, Gina. She claimed our pack's most sacred manuscript, the Moon Ritual, had been leaked, and a copy was conveniently discovered on my father's tablet. Jedediah offered me no real explanation. "Gina told me someone leaked the manuscript. We found a copy on your father's tablet, Raina. Who else could it have been?" My father had traveled here for my bonding ceremony, but one word from Gina Valerius was all it took for Jedediah to cast him out. "Unless you give me a 'reasonable explanation,' he'll be torn apart by the rogues out there," he warned. "I'm not going to abandon you over what your father did. Our bonding ceremony is still on for next month." The thought of my father suffering in the Barrens while the man who was supposed to be my fated mate acted so cold-heartedly—it was enough to rip my own heart in two. If this was how he was going to treat my family—how he was going to treat me—then I'd sever the mate bond myself.

Seven years after we were mated, my fated mate, Alaric Ashford, the Alpha of the Ashford pack, cheated on me with an Omega named Briar Thorne. For her, he abandoned our pack for an entire month. On my son Jasper's third birthday, he was struck by the moon-scourge sickness—an illness only the soothing presence of his Alpha father could quell. I carried a feverish Jasper to the cabin in the woods where Alaric and Briar were hiding away, begging him to come home. He ignored my pleas, consumed by their tryst. That night, amidst the ecstatic howls echoing from their cabin, my three-year-old son, Jasper, took his last breath in my arms. At the funeral, Alaric wept in my arms, swearing he’d come back to us, that he’d love only me. For the sake of Jasper's dying wish, I agreed. Four years later, in the memory crystal from the pack's annual festival, I saw Alaric with a radiant Briar Thorne and a three-year-old boy named Simon. In the memory crystal, the boy named Simon held up an eagle feather—a symbol of courage—and shouted to Alaric and Briar, "Mom, Dad, we're going to be the strongest family in the whole pack!"

Xie Heng traveled through parallel worlds, entered the show business circle and quickly became popular, becoming a top actor. When the fresh meat Xiaohua and the big stars who are keen to pack gorgeous characters are all committed to drawing a clear line from the Common people, Xie Heng, who is mixed in the circle, seems out of place because he is too real. Even attending a party can get a lot of hot searches because of it. #Grand Award Certificate, Xie Heng put melon seeds in his suit pocket, spent the whole night! #拍拍Xie Heng pouted backstage and smoked, because he was afraid that the rented suit was too expensive, and if a hole was burned, it would be a Xiali? #On the stage to accept the award, and the audience to feel the pulse of the actress? ... A set of operations made the audience laugh like crazy. 【He even gave Zhiling a handful of melon seeds, I cried to death! 】 [The main feature is a truth! As expected of an actor, he lived so transparently! 】 [Haha... who remembers hahaha... Brother Heng's scarf is named 'Northeast Native Specialty Purchasing Agent'! 】 [This brother is somewhat impatient about being a celebrity! 】

To be resurrected, Lin Zhi binds herself to a system and transmigrates into different book worlds, becoming cannon fodder destined for tragic endings. But Lin Zhi refuses to follow the script. In every world, she fights to rewrite her fate. (1) The Scheming Gold-Digging Stand-In Used by the male lead as a tool to win over the female lead, Lin Zhi refuses to be discarded. Since he wants to use her? Then she’ll make a countermove—get pregnant first, flip the board, and end up with the real overbearing CEO. (2) The First Wife Fated to Die Early in a “Cousin” Story The reborn female lead knows her older male cousin will hold immense power in the future—and that he has always loved her. This time, she vows not to let him go. Only… “Sister-in-law, why aren’t you dead yet?” Lin Zhi smiles. “Still alive. What, are you mad?” (3) The Cannon Fodder Fiancée in a Teacher-Student Romance The aloof Master falls for his young disciple, while Lin Zhi—the fiancée—becomes the villain in their love story. Lin Zhi: “Respect. Blessings. Please stay locked together forever.” Then she decisively breaks off the engagement and devotes herself to cultivation… alongside her adorable little nephew. Who needs romance when ascending is better? (4) The Substitute Bride in a Period Drama In her previous life, she stole the marriage meant for her sister out of gratitude for a life-saving favor, marrying the factory director’s son. Who would have thought he had a “white moonlight” in his heart, leading to her tragic death? Meanwhile, the “mud-legged” man she rejected rose in status, and her sister became an official’s wife. After rebirth, her sister eagerly snatches back the original marriage arrangement, convinced Lin Zhi is doomed. She waits to watch Lin Zhi suffer. Instead— Lin Zhi’s life only gets better and better.