From Bait to Queen: The Rejected Mate's Destiny

To the Dark Moon Pack, I wasn't just invisible; I was a stain. Dean Lee, the Alpha designed for my soul, treated me like a shameful secret while he paraded his mistress, Karina, in red silk. The night of the Charity Auction, Dean bought my late mother's moonstone pendant—the only thing I had left of her—for a hundred thousand dollars. I begged him for it. Instead, he clasped it around Karina's ankle. With a cruel laugh, Karina stomped her stiletto heel, crushing the moonstone into dust. Dean just watched, his eyes cold and unfeeling. "It was just a cheap rock," he said. "I'll buy you diamonds." But the cruelty didn't stop at emotional torture. When rogues attacked, Dean used me as live bait to distract them from Karina. He threw me into the Blood Pit, a gladiator arena, to fight a massive Feral wolf while he sat in the VIP box with Karina on his lap. "She won't last three minutes," I heard him say through our dying bond. He watched with bored detachment as I was ripped apart, refusing to save me even as I screamed his name. He saved the mistress and drowned the mate. I died on that arena floor. Or so he thought. Years later, the mysterious and world-renowned artist "H.Y." returned to New York for a gallery opening. When Dean saw me on stage, he rushed forward, tears streaming down his face, trying to claim the wife he had mourned. "Hayley," he choked out, reaching for me. "You're alive. You're mine." I didn't cry. I didn't run. I unleashed a shockwave of ancient White Wolf energy that blasted him across the room, shattering the glass displays. "I don't take orders from dogs anymore," I said, looking down at him. "I, Hayley York, hereby reject you."

Chapters

Chapter 3

Hayley POV:

The auction house was a sea of black ties. I stood behind Dean and Karina, my high-collared dress hiding the bandages, the fabric rubbing against raw skin.

"Lot 45. A rare, antique Moonstone pendant."

My head snapped up. My mother's necklace. Dean had donated it for a tax write-off.

"Opening bid at five thousand."

Dean, I reached out through the mind-link. Please. That's Mom's. You promised.

Dean stiffened but didn't turn. He swirled his champagne.

I'll do anything. I'll sleep in the kennel. Just please.

"Twenty thousand," Dean said smoothly.

Hope bloomed in my chest.

"Thirty thousand!" Karina chirped, raising her paddle. She looked back at me, a wicked glint in her eyes.

"One hundred thousand," Dean finished it.

"Sold! To Alpha Dean Lee!"

Dean collected the velvet box. I took a small step forward, hand trembling. "Thank you, Dean."

He opened the box. The moonstone glowed.

"Beautiful," Dean said. "Here, darling. For you."

He bypassed me and fastened the necklace around Karina's ankle.

"An anklet?" Karina laughed. "You spoil me."

She stood up, took a step, and brought her stiletto heel down hard.

Crunch.

"Oh no!" Karina gasped, looking at the shattered dust. "I'm so clumsy! Dean, look, I broke your gift."

"It's fine," Dean said, his eyes glassy. "It was just a cheap rock. I'll buy you diamonds."

I stared at the white powder. That was my mother. That was my sanity.

I woke up on the cold tiles of the servant's quarters.

"Here," Karina's voice came from the doorway. She held a bowl. "Dean said you need to eat."

She placed the bowl on the floor like I was a dog.

"Where is Patches?" I asked, my voice trembling. The stray cat I'd been hiding was my only friend.

Karina smiled, leaning against the doorframe. "That shedding beast? I had the groundskeeper take care of it. Put it in a sack and tossed it in the river. Or maybe the incinerator? I forget."

I froze.

"Dean gave permission," she continued. "He said, 'Get rid of the pest.' So we did."

My stomach convulsed. They had taken my mother's memory. They had taken my dignity. Now, they had killed the only living thing that loved me.

I closed my eyes. I didn't pray for Dean to love me anymore. I prayed for him to suffer.

Continue to next part

I worked three double shifts at the garage just to buy a velvet-boxed cake for my wealthy girlfriend, Arleen. But when I pushed open the VIP room door, I saw her lover kissing her bare leg. She didn't push him away. Instead, she laughed and swirled her martini. "I only forgot Finn because I knew he would stay. He is a poor boy from Queens who follows me around like a loyal dog." Later that night, her lover intentionally crashed a Porsche to scare me, sending a piece of jagged metal into my skull. Lying in a growing pool of my own blood, I watched Arleen crawl out of the wreckage. She didn't even look at me. She threw herself at her uninjured lover, screaming for a medic. "He just got scraped by a piece of plastic. He is faking it. Deal with Jaquez first!" When I woke up, I wasn't free. Arleen had locked me in a private hospital wing with 24-hour security, planning to isolate me and keep me as her broken, captive toy forever. My blind, pathetic devotion finally froze into absolute disgust. I looked at the heart monitor next to my bed and grabbed an IV needle. I severed the sensor wire to trigger a flatline, slipped out the fire stairs while the nurses panicked, and burned my identity to ashes. This time, I was going to disappear to London, build my own empire, and watch hers burn.

Action Modern Romance

7.4

Bought By My Obsessive Billionaire Ex

7.4

Four years ago, to protect the man I loved from losing his billionaire empire, I drugged his drink, told him I only used him for his money, and vanished. Now, at a high-society gala, Callum Wyatt is back. He isn't just a CEO anymore; he's a ruthless predator, and the second his eyes lock onto me, I know I am his prey. When my wealthy half-sister publicly humiliated me, calling me the cheap bastard child of a homewrecker, Callum stepped out of the shadows. He nearly snapped her wrist in half and declared to New York's elite that anyone who touched me would be dismantled. In the back of his Maybach, he pinned my arms above my head, his eyes burning with psychotic obsession. "If you run again, Aubrey, I will burn your entire world to the ground just to keep you." My heart bled. I had spent four grueling years tearing myself apart to keep him out of my messy, blood-soaked revenge against the family that watched my mother die. But his terrifying protection only made my biological father's family target me harder, using their massive capital to buy out my movie set and crush my acting career. They thought I would cower. But as I walked onto the soundstage, facing the heiress trying to steal my role, I took off my sunglasses. I wasn't running anymore; it was time to make them pay.

Action Billionaire Modern

8.2

My Alpha Chose His Beta Over Me

8.2

For years, I believed my Alpha and I shared an unbreakable bond, but everything shattered when he chose his Beta's loyalty over our fated connection. Cast aside and betrayed by the man meant to protect me, I am forced to navigate a world where pack politics and hidden agendas reign. As tensions rise and old secrets surface, I must find the strength to forge my own path, proving that a rejected mate is far from powerless in this dangerous game.

Action Fantasy Werewolf

9.1

My Ex-Husband's Fatal Ignorance

9.1

Five years ago, I was a world-renowned concert pianist. Now, I'm an auto mechanic with a mangled right hand, hiding from a past my ex-husband, Carter, dismisses as a "tantrum." He drags me to a charity gala where his mistress, Alexandrea, puts me on the spot, demanding I play for the city's elite-a cruel, public humiliation she knows I can't perform. When I refuse, Carter shoves me to the ground in a rage. He still thinks our daughter, Lily, is alive, and he uses her as a weapon. "Behave," he hisses, "and maybe we can bring Lily back home." Bring her home? The sheer ignorance is staggering. He has no idea our daughter froze to death in the same car crash that destroyed my hand. But just before the gala, my best friend uncovered the final, devastating truth. It wasn't an accident. They sabotaged my car and left us for dead. Tonight, I'm not just attending a party. I'm orchestrating a funeral. Theirs.

Action Modern Romance

7.8

Pasión Turca

7.8

Elena’s life takes a dangerous turn when her path crosses with a mysterious man from Turkey. What begins as an unexpected encounter quickly spirals into a high-stakes journey filled with intense passion and hidden threats. As they navigate a world where love and peril are intertwined, Elena must decide how much she is willing to risk for a stranger. This gripping tale follows their volatile connection across borders, testing the limits of loyalty and desire.

Action Modern Romance

8.0

The Mafia King's Bride; He's Danger. She's Revenge

8.0

He was never meant to fall for her. She was never meant to betray him. Isabella De Luca enters the world of the Romano mafia empire with one mission: destroy it from the inside. Armed with secrets and trained for deception, she becomes the perfect candidate for the mafia king's bride - beautiful, bold, and completely fake. But Matteo Romano is not just a cold-blooded heir. He's cunning, ruthless, and dangerously magnetic. The deeper Isabella sinks into his world, the harder it becomes to tell where the mission ends and where desire begins. When betrayal collides with bloodlines and a buried truth resurfaces, everything unravels. A deadly empire. A forbidden pregnancy. A woman torn between revenge and love. And a king who must choose between power... and the one person who was never supposed to matter. In this world, loyalty is currency. And trust? The deadliest weapon of all.

Action Mafia Romance

From Bait to Queen: The Rejected Mate's Destiny

Chapter 3

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