Mated To My Dead Husband's Twin
I thought marrying into the Barrett dynasty would be my fairy tale, but my wedding day felt more like a business merger. My husband, Jarret, didn't even look at me as he checked his watch at the altar, treating our marriage like a political chore.
Two months later, the world shattered when Jarret's diplomatic convoy was bombed. The news reported him dead, with his twin brother Jayden as the sole survivor.
When "Jayden" returned to the estate limping on a cane, the house became a tomb. My mother-in-law and our cousin Cristine immediately moved to freeze my bank accounts and strip me of my rights, calling me a "greedy climber." I was a widow in a house of wolves, but the real nightmare started when I saw "Jayden" drop his cane and passionately kiss Jarret's mistress in the dark.
I crept to the study and heard the bone-chilling truth: Jarret wasn't the one who died. He had murdered his own brother in the blast to steal his identity and become a "surviving hero." Even worse, he was already planning my "accidental" overdose once I signed over the family trust.
My blood ran cold as I realized the gentle, calloused hands that touched me on my wedding night hadn't belonged to my husband at all. I had fallen in love with Jayden, the man Jarret had just vaporized for a promotion.
I tried to escape, but they caught me and forced a sedative into my arm. When I woke up, the family doctor was standing over me with a predatory smile.
"Congratulations, Elise. You're ten weeks pregnant."
Jarret leaned over my bed, his eyes cold and victorious. They aren't going to kill me anymore. They've turned me into an incubator for an heir, trapped in a golden cage with the monster who murdered the father of my child.
Chapters
Share
Chapter 5
The next morning, the summons came.
"Mrs. Barrett wants to see you in the study," the maid said. She wouldn't look Elise in the eye.
Elise walked into the study. The curtains were drawn. The room smelled of old paper and Joyce's slim cigarettes.
Joyce sat behind the massive mahogany desk. Mr. Henderson stood beside her.
Mr. Henderson slid a thick document across the desk.
"Power of Attorney," Elise read the title upside down. "Transferring management of the Garcia-Barrett Trust to... Jayden Barrett."
Elise looked up. "What is this?"
Joyce lit a cigarette. The smoke curled around her fingers. "Jarret is dead. You don't know how to run the portfolio, Elise. It's complex. International assets."
"Jayden is a soldier," Elise said. "Not a businessman. Why would he run it?"
"He is a Barrett," Joyce said. "You are a Garcia."
The insult was plain. Elise wasn't blood. She wasn't capable.
Elise pushed the paper back. "No. The prenup gives me control of my share of the assets in the event of Jarret's death. I know the law."
Joyce's eyes narrowed. Smoke blew from her nostrils. "We can make your life very difficult, Elise. Legal battles take years. You have no access to funds right now."
"My lawyer will be in touch," Elise said. She stood up. Her legs were shaking, but she kept her back straight.
Elise walked out of the study. She needed to get to her room. She needed to breathe.
She walked into the living room.
Cristine was waiting there. She was blocking the path to the stairs.
"You greedy little climber," she hissed.
Elise stopped. "Get out of my way, Cristine."
"Sign the papers," she demanded. She took a step toward Elise. "It belongs to the family. Not to some charity case Jarret married for votes."
"I am the family," Elise said calmly.
Cristine snapped. Her face twisted into an ugly mask of rage.
She lunged.
Her hand connected with Elise's cheek. Crack.
It was a sharp, stinging sound that echoed in the high ceilings.
Elise stumbled back, clutching her face. Her skin burned. She stared at Cristine in shock. Cristine had actually slapped her.
The study door opened behind Elise. Joyce walked out. She saw Elise holding her cheek. She saw Cristine panting, hand raised.
Elise waited for Joyce to yell. To tell Cristine to leave.
Joyce looked at Elise coldly. "You provoked her."
Elise's jaw dropped. "She hit me!"
"Cristine is grieving," Joyce said smoothly. "You are antagonizing us with your greed."
Elise realized then. There was no justice here. They were gaslighting her. They were a pack of wolves.
Elise looked up at the stairs.
The man-Jayden-was standing at the top landing. He was watching.
He saw Elise's red cheek. He saw Cristine's smirk.
He gripped the wooden banister. His knuckles turned white. His body tensed, like he was about to leap over the rail.
"Help me," Elise mouthed.
He looked at her. His eyes were tortured.
Then, he turned away. He walked back into the shadows of the hallway.
Elise's heart hardened into a lump of coal.
No one was coming. The gentle man from the wedding night was dead. This man was a coward.
Elise touched her cheek. It was hot.
This ends now, Elise thought.
You may also like
9.5
Rejected by her mate and tortured to death, Valeria wakes up in a new body, right before her wedding vows. In the body of another woman with the same name as hers.
She never thought of being inside the most powerful Luna. The most scandalous and shrewd woman. The moon Goddess blessed her with the perfect cover.
The big twist? The previous owner of the body had an affair with her ex- fiance. Things take a turn when her new husband, the alpha, knows her little secret.
He can see the souls of people through their eyes. Their unexpected attraction blooms. Until his brother returns from the dead to claim his wife, Luna Valeria.
7.4
I was supposed to hate him.
He destroyed my kingdom. Killed my family. Made me a slave.
But when Prince Daresh looks at me with those burning blue eyes-eyes that can hear my every thought-I feel something I shouldn't.
Desire.
He's the most dangerous demon in the realm. Silver-haired, ruthless, and feared by everyone-even his own brothers. They say he has no heart. No mercy.
So why does he look at me like I'm the only thing that matters?
When I try to escape, he saves me. When I'm broken, he pieces me back together. And when his enemies come for me, he'll burn the entire demon realm to the ground to keep me safe.
But our love is forbidden.
I'm human. He's a demon prince with a secret that could destroy us both.
And the life growing inside me? It might be the most dangerous thing of all.
In a world where fire and water destroy each other, we're about to prove that some bonds are unbreakable.
A dark paranormal romance featuring a possessive demon prince, a defiant human princess, forbidden magic, and a love that will set the realm on fire.
7.3
BLURB
Sophia died hating the man she once loved. Then she woke up ten years younger with a chance to make him pay.
Alexander Sterling destroyed her in ways he'll never remember. Now she'll become the woman he can't forget, and can't have. But he's dreaming of her death. She's planning his downfall. And neither knows they're both pawns in someone else's game.
9.3
One moment I was human, sixteen years old and in love, believing my life would follow a simple, ordinary path. The next, I was taken from everything I knew and thrown into Silverwood Academy, a hidden world where wolf shifters rule, magic breathes, and survival is never guaranteed.
They see me as an anomaly. A girl who should not exist.
My mark is rare, dangerous, and tied to an ancient bloodline that was meant to stay buried. It binds me to a goddess who gives power without mercy and a destiny no one walks away from unchanged.
At Silverwood, strength decides your worth. Alphas test me. Rivals hunt me. Teachers watch, waiting for me to fail. Every full moon pushes me closer to a power I do not fully understand and a future I never asked for.
And then there is love, complicated and cruel in the way only fate can be.
I am torn between the boy I loved as a human, a bond so strong it refuses to break even after death, and a dangerous pull toward a wolf who challenges me, pushes me, and makes me question who I am becoming.
Each choice costs something. Every secret carries blood. The more power I gain, the more I risk losing myself.
They want me to be a weapon. A leader. A legend written in moonlight and war.
But I do not want a throne or a prophecy.
I just want to survive the fate that marked my soul.
Because in this world, destiny is not a gift. It is a debt, and it always demands payment
9.3
When you turn eighteen in Ebonridge, the truth about who you really are is revealed. Most teenagers discover they are ordinary. Amara Vale does not.
The moment she touches the Moon Stone, the ancestral grove awakens - igniting a forbidden werewolf bloodline within her. Suddenly, the hidden creatures of the forest can sense her, and none can ignore what she has become.
As danger stirs and long-buried secrets emerge, Amara must decide who truly controls her destiny: the father she has never met... or the ancient magic flowing through her veins.
Marked by Moonlight is a story of survival, identity, and the cost of uncovering the truth.
7.6
He hated my gut!
I detested his arrogance!
I was supposed to be his ex-stepmother,but I hated pack politics and returned to the human community after Alpha Holt's death.
I was forced back to heal the wounds of the one that hated me the most, my stepson Adrian.
To the world he was the famous NHL golden boy of hockey and to the Frostfang pack, their feared Alpha.
But the moon goddess had another plan.
On the night he was crowned as Alpha, his father's mark faded from my neck and Adrian's mate bond burnt harshly on my skin. But fate wasn't done yet.
We were expected to team up to fight a common foe when we could barely stand each other.
Was our fate strong enough to overcome physical hatred?