Shadows of the Moon Bond: Sold to the Alpha Don's Fated Rejection
Elena Voss was sold like a debt receipt.
Her greedy aunt and uncle handed her over to Damien Blackthorn-New York's untouchable billionaire tech mogul by day, ruthless Mafia Don and Alpha of the Blackthorn Pack by night-to settle a family debt they never asked her to pay.
The moment their eyes met in that rain-soaked alley, the fated mate bond ignited like wildfire. For one reckless night, he claimed her body and soul, whispering "mine" against her skin while the Moon Goddess sealed their destiny.
Then came the betrayal.
On their first anniversary, he paraded his pureblood fiancée through their penthouse, let her kneel for him in the study while Elena watched from the shadows, and divorced her in front of the entire pack.
"Wolfless trash," he snarled. "You were never more than payment."
Heart in pieces and two tiny heartbeats growing inside her, Elena fled. She vanished into Seattle's gray drizzle, changed her name, cut her hair, and built a quiet life as a single mother. She swore the Blackthorn name would never touch her twins-Leo and Luna, the secret heirs he didn't even know existed.
Five years later, the children's first uncontrolled shifts rip through their small apartment like lightning. The only place that can teach them control and keep them hidden from rival packs is back in New York-back under Damien's shadow.
The Alpha Don who once threw her away is now obsessed.
The fated bond never died; it only waited. He feels her every laugh, every tear, every protective growl she gives their children. He'll burn his empire, his alliances, and his pride to drag her back.
But Elena isn't the broken girl he discarded anymore.
She's a mother with claws.
A luna who learned to bite.
And this time, if he wants her forgiveness, he'll have to beg on his knees.
Pregnancy. Divorce. Secret babies. Billionaire alpha. Mafia power plays. Revenge that burns slow and sweet.
Some bonds can't be broken.
Some rejections come with claws.
And some second chances are paid for in blood.
Chapters
Share
Chapter 3
Chapter 3: The Tower and the Ghosts It Keeps
The black Escalade pulled up outside the motel at exactly 11:45 a.m. Tinted windows, no plates visible from the front-classic Blackthorn move. The driver didn't get out. Just popped the back door remotely and waited.
I'd dressed the twins in matching navy sweaters and jeans, the nicest things they owned that weren't stained with spaghetti sauce. Luna had insisted on her sparkly purple sneakers. Leo clutched his truck like a talisman. I wore black leggings, boots, and the oversized gray coat I'd bought secondhand last winter. Nothing flashy. Nothing that screamed "I'm back, bitches."
The ride was silent except for the low hum of the engine and Luna whispering questions she already knew I wouldn't answer.
"Is the big building scary?"
"Only if you let it be."
Leo stared out the window, eyes wide at the skyline creeping closer. Manhattan rose like jagged teeth against the pale March sky.
Blackthorn Tower looked exactly the same. Fifty-two stories of smoked glass and arrogance. The private elevator still required a retinal scan-Damien's eye this time, not mine. He met us in the lobby of the penthouse level, alone. No enforcers. No Lila. Just him in a charcoal sweater and dark jeans, sleeves pushed to his elbows, looking almost... human.
Almost.
He crouched immediately when the doors opened. Eye level with the twins.
"Hey," he said softly. No alpha command. No growl. Just a man trying not to scare two four-year-olds who already sensed the predator in him.
Leo stepped half behind my leg. Luna peeked out, curious.
"I'm Damien," he continued. "Your dad."
Luna tilted her head. "Mama said you're complicated."
Damien's mouth twitched-almost a smile, almost pain. "She's right."
I cleared my throat. "Healer first. Questions later."
He nodded, stood, and led us down the hall. The penthouse hadn't changed much-same marble, same view, same fireplace big enough to burn regrets in. But the air felt heavier now. Like the walls remembered every scream I'd swallowed here.
The healer's name was Mara. Mid-fifties, silver-streaked black hair in a tight bun, eyes the color of aged whiskey. She smelled like sage and old books. Pack healer for three generations of Blackthorns. She'd stitched me up once after a "training accident" when Damien was teaching me basic self-defense. Back when he still pretended to care.
She took one look at the twins and her expression softened.
"Moon-blessed," she murmured. "Strong lineage. Come here, little ones."
She guided them to a low couch near the windows. No sterile exam table-smart. Kids hate those. She let them touch her pendant first, a crescent moon carved from moonstone. Luna traced it with one finger. Leo sniffed it like a puppy.
While she worked-gentle hands checking pulses, listening to hearts that beat too fast for human children-I stood by the floor-to-ceiling glass, arms crossed, watching Damien watch them.
He hadn't taken his eyes off them since we arrived.
"They shift at night?" Mara asked me.
"Sometimes. Claws first. Then eyes. Leo growled at a neighbor's dog last month. Full teeth."
Mara nodded. "Early manifestation. Rare, but not unheard of with fated blood. The bond between you two is unusually strong-even severed on paper, it never truly broke. They're feeling the echo."
Damien's jaw ticked. "Can you stabilize them?"
"I can teach control. Herbs. Meditation. Moon-phase rituals. But they need pack grounding. A lone wolf-especially pups this young-can tear themselves apart trying to force the change." She looked at me pointedly. "They need the alpha. Both of them."
Meaning Damien. Meaning the pack.
I felt the bond pulse again-hot, insistent, like fingers trailing down my spine. I ignored it.
"How long?" I asked.
"Daily sessions for the first month. Then weekly. They'll need to stay close to the alpha den." Another pointed look. "Here."
Damien exhaled through his nose. "They stay as long as it takes."
"I'm not moving back in," I said flatly.
His eyes cut to me. Gold flickering at the edges. "You already are. The motel is compromised. I had eyes on it the second you checked in."
My stomach twisted. "You were watching me?"
"Protecting you." His voice dropped. "There are factions who know about the twins now. Word travels fast when an alpha sires heirs with a fated mate he rejected."
"Whose fault is that?"
He didn't flinch this time. Just held my gaze. "Mine."
Mara cleared her throat. "I'll start with a grounding circle tonight. Full moon in three days-we'll use that. Until then, no more triggers. No anger, no fear spikes. Keep them calm."
She handed me a small velvet pouch-dried lavender, wolfsbane in minute doses, moonstone chips. "Tea at bedtime. Rub the stone on their foreheads when they wake crying."
I took it. Our fingers brushed. She squeezed once. "You're stronger than you think, Elena. The Goddess doesn't choose lightly."
When she left, the room felt too quiet.
Damien turned to the twins. "You guys hungry?"
Luna nodded shyly. Leo just stared.
"I make a mean grilled cheese," he offered.
I almost laughed. The billionaire mafia alpha offering to make grilled cheese. But the twins perked up at "cheese," so I let it slide.
The kitchen was ridiculous-double islands, professional range, fridge big enough to hide bodies. Damien moved like he'd done this a thousand times. Bread. Butter. Cheddar. He even cut the crusts off Luna's without being asked.
Leo watched every move, suspicious.
Damien slid the plates over. "Dig in."
They ate like starving wolves. I stood against the counter, arms still crossed, refusing to sit.
Damien leaned on the opposite island, watching me more than them.
"You're angry," he said quietly.
"Observant."
"I deserve it."
"You think?"
He rubbed a hand over his jaw. "I thought if I pushed you away hard enough, the bond would fade. That I could protect the pack without dragging you into the blood. Lila's father controlled the ports we needed for weapons shipments. Marrying her was supposed to lock that down."
"And instead you locked me out."
"I thought you'd be safer gone."
I barked a laugh. "Safer? I was alone. Pregnant. Terrified. You let me think I was nothing."
"You were everything." His voice cracked on the last word. "Still are."
The bond flared so hard I gasped. Heat rushed through me-need, fury, longing all at once. My nipples tightened under my sweater. I hated it. Hated him for still having that power.
"Don't," I whispered.
He stepped closer. Slow. Careful.
"I'm not asking forgiveness today," he said. "I'm asking for time. To prove I'm not the same bastard who let you walk out that door."
Luna finished her sandwich, wiped her mouth on her sleeve. "Can we see the big windows again?"
Damien smiled-small, real. "Yeah, sweetheart. Come on."
He scooped her up without thinking. She stiffened for half a second, then relaxed against his shoulder. Leo slid off his stool and followed, truck still in hand.
I trailed behind, heart hammering.
At the windows, Damien pointed out landmarks. Empire State. One World Trade. The river glittering like shattered glass.
Leo pressed his nose to the glass. "High."
"Very," Damien agreed.
Luna touched his cheek suddenly. "Your eyes are like ours."
Damien swallowed hard. "Yeah. They are."
For one heartbeat, the room felt almost peaceful.
Then the elevator dinged.
Footsteps-heels. Sharp. Confident.
Lila Voss stepped into the penthouse like she owned it.
Blonde hair swept into a perfect chignon. Red lipstick. Black sheath dress that probably cost more than my car. Her eyes-ice blue-locked on me first.
Then on Damien holding Luna.
Her smile was a blade. "Well. The prodigal mate returns. And with puppies."
Damien set Luna down gently. Stepped in front of us-subtle, but there.
"Lila. You weren't invited."
"Pack business waits for no invitation, darling." She tilted her head toward me. "Especially when old debts resurface."
I felt the shift in the air. Her wolf rising. Not full aggression-yet. But close.
Leo growled low in his throat.
Lila's gaze snapped to him. Then to Luna. Calculation flickered behind the ice.
"Powerful little things," she purred. "No wonder you're suddenly so domestic."
Damien's voice went lethal. "Leave."
She laughed-light, musical, cruel. "Oh, I will. For now. But the elders are calling a council meeting tomorrow night. They want to see the rejected luna. And the heirs." Her eyes slid to me. "They also want to know why the alpha is still unmated after five years. Why the bond still hums so loudly they can feel it across the city."
She turned on her heel. Paused at the elevator.
"Congratulations on your reunion, Elena. Try not to get thrown away again."
The doors closed.
Silence crashed in.
Damien exhaled slowly. Turned to me.
"I'll handle her."
"You'll handle a lot of things," I said. "Starting with telling me the truth. All of it."
He nodded once.
"Tonight. After they're asleep. Everything."
I looked at the twins-already distracted by the view again, oblivious to the storm brewing.
The bond thrummed between us. Louder now. Hotter.
I hated how much I still wanted to believe him.
But more than that-I hated how much I wanted to stay.
You may also like
7.3
I found out my husband of three years had cheated on me and his mistress is the one who told me-because he didn't have the balls to do it himself.
I move out and get a new apartment, a job as a bartender, and try to move on with a broken heart. I wonder where it all went wrong, if I hadn't been enough for him, if I'd been stupid for marrying him in the first place.
I'm at work one night when he walks inside-the most beautiful man I've ever seen. He sits at the bar and a forest fire burns between us. I was depressed the moment before he entered, but the second I look at his blue eyes, I forget the dumpster fire that my life has become. I invite him back to my place and it's the most passionate night of my life. I expect to never see him again.
I just want him as an anti-depressant-but he wants me all to himself. I just got my heart ripped out of my chest so I want something easy and no-strings-attached, but he wants all the strings because he's hooked.
I don't get much of a say in the matter, and that's not surprising when I learn why-because he's the Butcher. The crime lord of all crime lords, the boss that overshadows all of Paris, that makes everyone abide by his rules-or pay.
And now I'm his.
8.6
"What do you think people would say if they found out you don't have a dick?" Christian asked, his voice low and dripping with seduction. His hand pressed firmly against my crotch, fingers exploring the flat, unfamiliar emptiness there. A devilish smirk curved his lips. "Or if they discovered these voluptuous breasts you've been hiding so well?"
A strangled moan slipped from my throat as his hand slid under my shirt, his fingers brushing over my hardened nipples, teasing them with slow, deliberate strokes.
"Which do you think they'd call you?" he murmured, eyes gleaming. "A boy with tits... or a dickless little fraud?"
I stared into his hungry blue eyes, words failing me.
"The term you're looking for is 'girl,'" came Xavier's smooth voice from the bathroom doorway. He stepped inside, closing the door behind him with a soft click, his gaze raking over me with open interest. "So tell me, little girl... what the hell is someone like you doing in an all-boys dorm?"
Christian's smirk widened. "She wants to be devoured by boys like us." His fingers gave my nipple one last firm pinch before he leaned in closer, breath hot against my ear. "And I'll be more than happy to give her a taste."
7.8
Helen was finally brought back to the luxurious Gallagher estate as their long-lost blood relative.
But her new family didn't welcome her; they looked at her with undisguised disgust.
The matriarch mocked her stench of poverty, while her step-sister Candice treated her like a feral animal. The patriarch, Fredy—who had built his empire by betraying Helen's mother—tried to break her spirit. He blackmailed Helen into attending a high-society gala by threatening to cut off her grandmother's medical funds.
At the gala, Candice squeezed into a diamond-encrusted gown, desperate to seduce the guest of honor, Damian Montgomery. Damian was the most powerful man in New York, and he was currently tearing the city apart looking for a mysterious woman named Jane.
Overhearing this, a sick, greedy smile spread across Candice's face. She planned to impersonate Jane to claim Damian's wealth and completely crush Helen under her heel.
"Hide in the corner tonight. Don't you dare try to speak to anyone important!"
They all thought Helen was just a helpless, uncultured country girl they could easily manipulate and step on to secure their stolen legacy.
What they didn't know was that Helen was the real Jane. She was the lethal shadow who had saved Damian in the woods, shattered his grip, and robbed his highly guarded vault just the night before.
Helen calmly adjusted her simple black dress and stepped into the ballroom, ready to tear their stolen world apart.
9.4
Michael Carter is an undercover FBI agent on a mission to take down ruthless mafia king Fernando Ramírez-the man he believes killed his sister. But getting close to Fernando means playing a dangerous game, one where seduction and power blur the lines between enemy and lover.
When Michael uncovers a shocking truth, his thirst for revenge turns into a fight for something far more dangerous-his own heart. Now, torn between duty and desire, he must decide: destroy the man he swore to take down or surrender to the one thing he never saw coming.
Love has never been more lethal.
7.5
He wasn't supposed to notice her.
She wasn't supposed to want him.
And her daughter definitely wasn't supposed to fall in love with him first.
"He's not just dangerous," she whispers to herself . "He's the kind of man who ruins your life slowly... and makes you thank him for it."
He rides loud.
He loves hard.
And once he wants something, he doesn't let go.
"You don't get to look at me like that," she tells him.
His smile is slow. Predatory. Certain.
"I already did," he says. "And now you're mine."
She's a single mother barely holding it together.
He's a biker king with blood on his hands and loyalty carved into his bones.
Their worlds should never touch.
But they collide anyway.
"You think I don't know what you're doing to me?" he growls.
Her back hits the wall. His body cages her in.
"You think I'd touch you if I didn't plan to keep you?"
This isn't a sweet romance.
It's raw. Possessive. Unforgiving.
The kind of love that marks you.
"Mummy," her daughter says softly, holding his hand.
"Can he stay forever?"
He shouldn't want them.
But the idea of leaving them hurts worse than any knife.
"I don't share," he tells her in the dark.
"Not my bike. Not my club. And definitely not my woman."
One kiss turns into hunger.
One night turns into obsession.
And one choice could burn everything down.
"If you climb on my bike," he warns, voice low and lethal,
"you don't get off unchanged."
8.0
"Don't you dare touch me. You bloody monster," Eric whispered glaring at me, which only turned me on the more.
A beautiful smile crossed my lips; luckily for us, his fake mother was so focused on Katherine, she did not know I was fucking her son before her eyes.
"So I am now a monster, huh? That was not what you said yesterday. Or have you forgotten about our hot night?" I asked as I traced my way to his lap again, approaching his groin area.
He swallowed hard, his eyes roaming around. "Damien. I am Katherine's fiancé. your niece" He reminded me as my hands reached his groan, caressing it through the layers of his trousers.
"Yesterday you were Mike's boyfriend, and what did I tell you? I don't give a fuck!," I whispered back. "Now be quiet and try to control yourself" .
Eric's life is thrown upside down when his brother is killed on his coronation day, and he now has to become the king. and he can't because he is gay and he has a boyfriend who he loves dearly, or so he thought until he met Damien Monetro, his fiancée's uncle and his former one-night stand