1945 Pulitzer Winning

My mate Mason not only inherited the Alpha position of the tribe, but also his stepmother Olivia. Mason always explained to me after being intimate with her: “Evelyn, don’t mind it. I had no choice.” “You’re the only one I truly love. Once Olivia gets pregnant and gives birth, I’ll hold the marking ceremony with you.” He said it was the condition set by the Alpha King for him to inherit the Phantom Pack Alpha title. In one year, Mason spent at least three hundred days with Olivia. When Olivia finally got pregnant, I thought I could finally stand by his side as his mate. That’s when I realized—Mason had given both his love and his body to Olivia. I completely gave up and turned to my seven-year-old daughter: “Baby, do you want to leave with Mommy?” “Yes, I want to stay with Mommy,” she said. Mason didn’t know, what I wanted was never the Luna title. All I wanted was wholehearted love. If you can’t give it to me, then I’ll leave.

I have a deal with Aldric Cromwell, the so-called King of Equinox Street, a billionaire lawyer-turned-CEO. If I confess to him 142 times while wearing a wedding dress, he will cover his limited-edition Koenigsegg in flowers, drive me to the most magical castle, and give me the grandest wedding imaginable on my 143rd try. However, Aldric is nowhere to be seen that day. Instead, he makes headlines by renting out the entire Wondergrove Theme Park just to celebrate his sweet new girlfriend, Bianca Alvarez's birthday. Bathed in the glow of brilliant fireworks, they share a tender kiss, cameras flashing like stars all around them. That moment quickly becomes the top trending story on the internet. Meanwhile, I go viral in my own way for showing up in a wedding dress for the 143rd time outside his company building. Speculations and theories swirl about the mystery man I keep confessing to but never reveal. People also wonder how long it will be before I make the 144th declaration. When Aldric realizes I have faithfully kept our agreement, he promises me, out of pure guilt, that he will finally fulfill the vow he's made to me after the final confession. Dressed to the nines, he arrives at his company, driving that flower-covered, limited edition Koenigsegg, only to receive a final text from me. "There won't be a 144th confession, Aldric. We're over."

I've been in love for six years, but my wedding has been called off 99 times by the man who claims to love me most, the mafia boss, Daniel Reed. The first time is on a private island off the coast of Sorellia. He promises me a secret wedding. But an hour before the ceremony, he gets a call saying that his new assistant, Emily Jennings, has been taken by a rival family. Without a word, he leaves me behind and sails off into the night. The second time, we're standing at the altar, exchanging vows. His underboss then leans in and whispers, "Emily's in trouble." Daniel tears off his boutonniere and walks out without looking back. Emily has been kidnapped again—this time, near the border district. He leads an armed raid that very night while I'm left behind, becoming the laughingstock in the mafia's VIP lounges. No matter when I schedule the wedding, Emily always ends up in danger. And Daniel always runs to her without hesitation. Eventually, I realize I will never win against the reckless Gen Z assistant who constantly drags him into chaos. After the 99th cancellation, I decide to break up with him and disappear from Valemont. I move out overnight, erase every trace of myself, leaving nothing behind. But I never expect him to go completely mad. He shuts down the ports, searches every villa, and unleashes his entire family's intelligence network just to find me. His eyes burn red like a wild animal on the edge of collapse. "Elara," he growls, "just give me one more chance."

A month before Wendy Johnson and I are set to marry, she tells me she wants to have another man's baby. Following my refusal, she keeps bringing it up daily. Half a month till the wedding, I see her pregnancy report. Just like that, I find out she is almost a month pregnant. It turns out she has no intention of seeking my agreement on this matter. At that very moment, my love for her for so many years dissipates for good. I'm calling off the wedding and destroying all our shared memories. On the day we are supposed to get married, I join a sealed-off research lab without a second thought. From now on, Wendy and I no longer have anything to do with each other!

I waited for Alex for over five years. I endured the whispers of the clan, the mocking gazes, the judgment from his family who never thought I was good enough. Still, I waited—because I loved him. I believed in him. I trusted that he would choose me in the end. But the truth shattered me. One evening, I saw his laptop left open. And on the screen—countless photos of Elsa. His childhood sweetheart. His first love. It felt like a knife twisting in my chest. While I was drowning in problems, silently begging for his support, he was smiling by her side. All those years I gave him... all that waiting… I got nothing. So I left. Broken. Exhausted. Done pretending I was okay. I traveled far from our pack, seeking solitude under the excuse of pack relocation. But the truth was, I was trying to stitch myself back together—one breath, one step, one bitter tear at a time.But now… he’s gone mad looking for me. Why, Alex? Why do you search for me now, after crushing me so completely? When I stood by you, you looked past me. Now that I’ve finally let go… Why do you care?

Three years ago, Moon-Lake Pack — once a proud member of Lupus Celestial, the central pack alliance — lost everything in a brutal defeat to the Rogue Packs that had long plagued us. The Lycan King believed my father — the Alpha of Moon-Lake — had conspired with the Rogues, and our pack paid the price. My father and I were enslaved and cast out, becoming the laughingstock of all the packs. Even my mate, Chase, turned his back on me. But three years later, I was sent back to Lupus Celestial by Chase’s order — just as he was preparing to bond with his future Luna. Everyone assumed I had returned to sabotage the ceremony. “Taryn, do you still think you stand a chance of becoming his Luna?” “Chase never liked you. He’s always adored Wynette.” “Why would you show up now — just before he bonds with his mate?” Warnings, veiled threats, and even silent beatings made one thing painfully clear: I was not welcome. And Chase — the one I had once believed was my fated mate, the one I’d felt an unexplainable pull toward — stood by, cold and detached, watching it all in silence. His eyes held nothing but loathing. “You still think you can live freely outside Lupus Celestial after betraying us time and again? What exactly are you plotting at my bonding ceremony?” I let out a bitter laugh and wiped the blood from my lips. He didn’t know my wolf had been gravely wounded by a silver dagger — and I didn’t have much time left. “Don’t worry. If I hadn’t been dragged back, I’d never have returned. And if I truly wanted to cause trouble, I’d have killed myself first.” Chase didn’t respond. He just scoffed. But when I walked away — from his pack, from his world — he was the one who crumbled. He begged me to return, as if losing me shattered something deep inside him.

I was dying of kidney failure. Henry Colombo—the ruthless Mafia heir who once swore he’d burn the world to keep me alive— found me a donor. But the price… was her. Susan Miller, the woman who’d always lingered between us, smiled as she set her terms: “Be mine for one month. Pretend you love me—and I’ll save her life.” He agreed. He said it was just to save me. But every lie, every kiss, every photo she posted online was another nail in my coffin. Each time the surgery drew near, she invented a new delay—a fever, a nightmare, a tender bruise. And Henry believed her. He always believed her. The night my heart flatlined on the operating table, he was across the city, feeding her grapes under candlelight, whispering her name—the name of the woman who had let me die. When he finally learned the truth—that every tear she shed was rehearsed, every promise she made was poison— he destroyed everything. Her lies. Her wealth. Her family name. His own empire. But none of it brought me back.

I'm the Moonlight pack's Luna. Today is my tenth wedding anniversary with my Alpha, Aaron Renfield. To my surprise, I find out he has a pair of twin pups. He says to me matter-of-factly, "Don't overthink this, Ruth. I'm an Alpha, so I need an heir. With this, the elders won't keep complaining about you failing to give birth to an Alpha heir. You'll still be my Luna forever." I can't believe my ears. As the pack's Luna, I've given it my all for the past decade. My uterus was permanently damaged by a knife covered in wolfsbane when trying to save Aaron, and the healer diagnosed that I would never be able to have my own pups. Yet now, the elders are using that to reprimand me. I turn to leave this wolf I've loved for years—I reject our mate bond. But later, Aaron begs me not to go.

Alpha Liam and I were never fated mates. However, to win me over, he did countless reckless things. Because of that, his body now bore sixty-six scars, each from a battle he fought for me. He finally moved my heart on the sixty-seventh time. During our marking ceremony, I swore before the Moon Goddess that I would grant him sixty-six favors, no matter what. Throughout our seven years together, he never misused that privilege. That was until my stepsister, Isabella, returned six months ago. Suddenly, he burned through sixty-four of them. For Isabella, he humiliated me in public and skipped the birthday celebration I spent weeks planning. Now, only two remain. Once Liam used them up, that was when I’d leave him for good.

At the age of twenty, I mated to my father's best friend, Lucian, the Alpha of Silverfang Pack despite our age difference. He was eight years older than me and was known in the pack as the cold-hearted King of Hell. He was ruthless in the pack and never got close to any she-wolves, but he was extremely gentle and sweet towards me. He would buy me the priceless Fangborn necklace the next day just because I casually said, "It looks good." When I curled up in bed in pain during my period, he would put aside Alpha councils and personally make pain suppressant for me, coaxing me to drink spoonful by spoonful. He would hug me tight when we mated, calling me "sweetheart" in a low and hoarse voice. He claimed I was so alluring that my body had him utterly addicted as if every curve were a narcotic he couldn't quit. He even named his most valuable antique Stormwolf Armour "For Elise". For years, I had believed it was to commemorate the melody I had played at the piano on our first encounter—the very tune that had sparked our love story. Until that day, I found an old photo album in his study. The album was full of photos of the same she-wolf. You wouldn’t believe this, but we looked like twin sisters! The she-wolf in one of the photos was playing the piano and smiling brightly. The back of the photo said, "For Elise." ... After discovering the truth, I immediately drafted a severance agreement to sever our mate bond. Since Lucian only cared about Elise, no way in hell I would be your Luna Alice anymore.