Contract Over: I Rejected My Alpha Husband First
When her father fled with his mistress, leaving crushing debts behind, Freya Gilbert had nowhere to turn. Crashing Alpha Jonas's welcome ceremony in desperation, she never expected to find her fated mate there. But it wasn't gentle Jonas who made her wolf howl "mate." It was the dangerous, devastatingly powerful Niklaus Lockwood.
One scorching night of passion sealed her fate.
Niklaus already had his perfect chosen mate, the elegant Rebekah. Unwilling to abandon his plans, he offered Freya a cold business deal: be his contract Luna for three years, play the perfect wife in public, and he'd clear her debts. When their arrangement expired, she'd accept his rejection and disappear quietly.
Freya thought she could survive a loveless marriage. She was wrong.
Three years later, she's fallen hopelessly for the Alpha who sees her as nothing more than a gold-digging Omega. On their anniversary night, the very day their contract expires, Niklaus chooses Rebekah.
The message couldn't be clearer.
But when Freya files for divorce and moves out first, Niklaus's carefully controlled world shatters. The mate bond he's suppressed for years, and he never expected his obedient, compliant wife to actually leave him.
"I, Freya Gilbert, reject you, Niklaus Lockwood."
The words that should have set them both free only ignite a fire that threatens to consume them both.
Can a love born from a business contract survive the flames of pride and betrayal? Or will the most powerful Alpha in the territory lose his true mate because he was too blind to see what was right in front of him?
When the contract ends, the real battle for love begins.
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Chapter 5
Three years later, at the Whitecrown pack house.
The beef smelled rich as Freya stirred the stew; she added a final pinch of salt to the pot. She had spent hours preparing this anniversary dinner. She made the roast exactly how Niklaus liked it, selected a bottle of wine from his collection, and had the chocolate soufflé batter ready for the oven.
"Why are you doing this yourself, Freya?" Margaret asked as she walked into the kitchen. "We have plenty of staff to handle the cooking."
"It's our three-year anniversary," Freya replied, her heart raced with anticipation. "I wanted to prepare everything myself tonight."
"That's so romantic, dear," Margaret said with a warm smile. "In that case, I will stay out of your way and give you two some privacy tonight."
Freya smiled as her mother-in-law left the room, her mind drifted back to last night.
Niklaus had come home after midnight, his tie was loose and he looked wiped out. She had been waiting for him, as always.
"You should be sleeping," he said, his voice rough from fatigue.
Instead of going to bed, he pulled her against his chest and breathed in her scent. Soon they were in bed together, his body moving against hers.
Freya's face heated up at the memory, their chemistry hadn't faded one bit over the last three years. Before he fell asleep, he had promised her that he would definitely be home early today.
Three years ago, Niklaus brought her to the Whitecrown Pack with nothing but a contract. No wedding, no party. Their deal was strictly business. She would play the role of his Luna for three years, and in return, he would clear her father's massive debts.
The first year was hell. Pack members whispered about the "disgraced Omega" who didn't belong in their pack. They ignored her orders and looked right through her, but Freya didn't break.
Margaret, Niklaus's mother, became her only ally. The older she-wolf looked at Freya and said, "This one has backbone." With Margaret behind her, Freya gradually earned the pack's respect.
Niklaus was ice-cold at first. He barely touched her until the mate bond became impossible to ignore, but over time, something changed. He knew exactly how she liked her coffee. He texted her if he was running late to tell her not to wait up. He even brought her flowers occasionally. These small things gave her hope.
Like last night. The way he looked at her, touched her, and whispered her name. Surely that meant something?
Today completed exactly three years since they signed the deal. Their contract would expire at midnight, and Freya had no idea what Niklaus was thinking. Part of her hoped he would ask her to stay. She hoped he had developed feelings for her, just as she had for him.
The dining room table was set with their finest china and crystal glasses. She'd placed a small gift box beside his plate. It contained a small canvas she had painted in secret. She knew from Beta Dale that Niklaus had recently become obsessed with the work of a mysterious artist named 'F'.
Freya looked at everything with satisfaction, waiting for Niklaus to come home.
"What if he rejects us today?" Vicki asked, voicing the fear that had kept Freya awake for weeks.
"Then I'll hold my head high and walk away," she answered, though her voice trembled.
Suddenly, Freya received a mind-link from Niklaus.
"Are you almost home? "she asked hopefully.
"I'm not coming home, Freya, " Niklaus said coldly through the mind-link.
Freya felt her stomach plummet. "Why? Is everything okay?"
"Rebekah is back," his tone indifferent. "I'm at the airport picking her up right now."
The silence in the kitchen became suffocating.
Freya stared at the candles she had just lit, overwhelmed with humiliation.
"Oh, "she whispered. "And you're telling me this because you'll be late?"
"No. I want you to meet us for dinner," he ordered." I've already made a reservation at Le Ciel for eight o'clock. Grab a cab and meet us there. I think it's time you two met properly."
"You want me to meet you there? At a restaurant?"
"Yes. Rebekah was an important part of the pack before she left. As my Luna, I think you should be there."
"Of course, "she replied. "I'll be there at eight."
Before he could say anything else, she ended the mind-link.
Freya stood motionless in the kitchen. The stew on the stove bubbled over, but she barely noticed.
Rebekah was back on their anniversary.
She thought of the beautifully set table, the hours she'd spent cooking, the gift she had prepared for so long. All for nothing.
Niklaus had forgotten their anniversary completely. Worse, he wanted her to have dinner with the woman he truly loved.
He's going to reject us, Vicki whimpered. He's bringing her back to replace us.
"It's fine," Freya whispered, though her heart was fracturing. "This was always the plan. Three years, then we go our separate ways."
She moved mechanically to turn off the stove, her mind racing.
The timing couldn't be more obvious. Their contract ended today, and suddenly Rebekah was back in town? Niklaus must have planned this, planning the perfect transition from fake mate to real one.
The dinner at Le Ciel was clearly his way of letting her down easily in public where she couldn't cause a scene. She could already picture it, his apologetic face as he explained their arrangement was over, Rebekah's smug smile across the table.
No. She wouldn't be humiliated in public again.
Freya went upstairs to their bedroom and pulled out her suitcases. If she was leaving, she would do it on her own terms.
As she packed her clothes, a plan formed. She needed somewhere to stay while she figured out what to do next. Somewhere comfortable where she could think clearly.
Once her suitcases were full, she looked around the room that had been hers for three years. Her eyes stopped on the bed where she and Niklaus had spent so many nights, where she'd stupidly started to hope their fake marriage might become real.
"Goodbye," she whispered, blinking back tears.
Downstairs, she grabbed the black credit card Niklaus had given her from her purse. She rarely used it, preferring to live off her modest salary as his assistant, but today was different.
Grabbing her painting, she walked out of the home she'd shared for three years and slid into the black Aston Martin-the most expensive car in Niklaus's garage". The engine roared to life as she drove toward the city.
Twenty minutes later, she walked into the lobby of the Royal Crescent Hotel, the city's most exclusive hotel.
"I'd like the Presidential Suite," she told the receptionist, placing the black card on the counter. "For three months."
"The Presidential Suite is one hundred and fifty thousand for three months, ma'am. There's a 30% penalty if you check out early."
Freya nodded. "Just run the card."
By tomorrow, she expected she wouldn't be able to spend a penny of Niklaus's money. Her lawyer's divorce agreement proposed splitting their assets equally, but Niklaus's legal team would fight to ensure she got nothing.
Which was exactly why she decided to spend big while she still could. Any money she didn't use would probably end up with Rebekah anyway.
After the transaction went through, the receptionist handed over her key card with new respect. "Please enjoy your stay, Mrs. Lockwood. Our concierge service is available 24/7."
In the elevator, Freya caught her reflection in the mirrors. She looked different. Her chin was higher, her eyes sharper. No longer the desperate girl who married for survival.
But as the elevator doors opened to her luxury suite, Freya couldn't ignore the pain in her chest. She loved Niklaus. And that hurt the most.
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8.6
Seven nights with the devil to pay a debt. One truth that will burn the world down.
Sienna Blackwood was never part of the deal until her step-brother gambled with her life to save his own.
Now, she is collateral in a brutal game of revenge. The collector is Dante Moretti, a billionaire with a fifteen-year grudge and a thirst for Blackwood blood.
He doesn't want her money; he demands seven nights of her total surrender.
But in the shadows of a Manhattan penthouse, hatred turns into a lethal obsession. When a syndicate ambush forces them to flee, the contract becomes a race for survival across the Atlantic.
Hunted for the three-year-old secret heir in their arms, Sienna and Dante must navigate a world of blood oaths and forced alliances.
In a game where every kiss is a tactical error, Sienna must decide: is her step-brother's rival the monster who shattered her life, or the only man who can save it?
7.6
When Christine Woods collapses into a hospital bed from unbearable pain, her husband's response is colder than the IV dripping into her veins: "Stop pretending to be sick."
That same night, a single social media post shatters her marriage--Neil Caffery, intimate with the first love he once claimed was dead.
Three years of marriage. Three years of neglect, indifference, and quiet self-deception.
In that moment, Christine finally understands the truth: she was never a wife--only a substitute.
Not wanting to live as a substitute any longer, she divorced her husband.
After divorce, Christine started her new life, achieving success both in career and love.
Seeing her so radiant and successful, her scumbag husband beg her to come back.
"Hazel, I know I was wrong. Please come back."
However, before Christine could respond, the country's richest man kicked him and held Christine's waist, "Who are you? Stop pestering my wife!"
His voice was cold, his presence imposing.
Christine looked at him and snorted, "When did I agree to marry you?"
"Baby, are you still angry about last night? I promise, I will be gentle next time." The man said, looking at her playfully.
Christine hit his chest playfully, her face turning red.
9.1
Leo Vance builds things that last. Bridges. Buildings. A quiet, unspoken life with the woman he loves. What he has never been able to build is the courage to name what they are.
On the morning of his wedding to botanical illustrator Elara Ashford, Leo stands in a chapel in a suit he cannot bring himself to fully button, and realizes something that stops him cold - he has already been married to her. Not in any courtroom or ceremony, but in every moment that actually counted. The night she held his hand at his mother's funeral and said nothing, because nothing was the right thing to say. The years they ate ramen so he could chase a dream she believed in before he did. The night she stood in the doorway during their worst fight and looked him in the eye and refused to let him run.
He has said I do a thousand times in a thousand unspoken ways.
So why does saying it out loud feel like the beginning of the end?
What Leo doesn't know is that Elara has been sitting with her own impossible question for three weeks - ever since she found a note in his jacket pocket that made her wonder whether the man she is about to marry proposed because he chose her, or because someone told him he was about to lose her.
What neither of them knows is that the woman he was secretly engaged to four years ago just walked into the venue. His best man is in love with his bride. His estranged father is standing outside in a rented suit, unable to go in. And the wedding videographer has been filming everything - with two cameras.
By the time the officiant asks who gives this woman, nothing about this wedding will have gone according to the blueprint.
But then again, the most important things Leo has ever built never did.
Every Vow But One is a lux serialized romance about the terrifying distance between loving someone completely and choosing them on purpose and what it can cost when you finally close the gap.
8.4
Everly spent four years playing the perfect, accommodating wife to Carson Moss, swallowing every grievance just to secure medical treatments for their sick daughter.
But at a high-society banquet she exhausted herself organizing, Carson's pregnant mistress crashed the party.
The woman shoved an ultrasound of Carson's "real heir" directly into Everly's frail grandfather's face.
The shock triggered a massive heart attack.
Carson refused to use his private helicopter to save the dying old man, choosing to protect his mistress and his company's IPO instead. Her grandfather died on the hospital table.
Instead of remorse, her mother-in-law demanded Everly publicly cover up the murder.
"You will do exactly as I say, or I will freeze every single cent of the medical trust fund paying for your crippled daughter's treatments."
When a battered Everly returned to the estate, she discovered her three-year-old daughter covered in dark bruises and pinch marks. Her in-laws were deliberately torturing her disabled child.
Everly couldn't comprehend how a family could be so utterly heartless. Her only family was murdered, her child was abused, and her husband threw a five-million-dollar check at her face as hush money.
They thought she would just break and quietly disappear.
But when a terrifyingly powerful billionaire unexpectedly blocked Carson's security team from locking her up, Everly finally saw her window.
She grabbed her sleeping daughter and ran out into the freezing storm, making a blood-bound vow to make the entire Moss family bleed.
8.5
Kaelyn spent three years believing Andrew loved her completely, until one overheard conversation shattered everything.
He had never returned for her. He had come back to save another woman, even if it meant taking Kaelyn's heart.
Humiliated and done with loving alone, she agreed to marry Theodore, the blind yet powerful heir chosen by his grandfather.
After the wedding, no matter how many times she tried, she just couldn't get past his walls.
Then at a banquet, her desperate ex came begging. Before Kaelyn could react, Theodore drew her into his arms and murmured, "Giving up already? Try again. I'm ready to surrender."
8.8
She married the devil. Then she divorced him. Now she carries his child.
All Isabella Lorenzo wanted was to protect her family, and she thought marrying the ruthless and feared Luca Moretti... heir to the Moretti crime empire would be enough, but she was wrong. Instead of protection, her father was brutally executed and her heart left shattered in a million pieces.
Two years later, she has managed to move on from the past and rebuild her life in the shadows. Every feeling of emotion was buried in her past, but they soon reignite after a reckless night with a masked stranger... a stranger that happens to be Luca Moretti.
Now she's pregnant, and Luca will do anything to get her back.
But forgiveness is not something that exists in her heart anymore... will she be able to fully heal, or will her urge for revenge burn everything down?