Moon bound Hearts: The Wolf and the Crown Prince
In the mystical kingdom of Neverland, where ancient prophecies shape the fate of wolves and humans alike, seventeen-year-old Lyria has spent her life hiding the silver flame burning beneath her skin. Feared by her own kind and hunted by those who seek her power, she wants only one thing-freedom.
But when she crosses paths with Aiden Everhart, the Crown Prince bound to a future he never chose, everything changes. A forbidden prophecy awakens, linking their destinies in ways neither understands. As danger closes in-from corrupted sorcery, twisted creatures, and the ruthless ambitions of Lady Seraphina-Lyria discovers she is more than a girl running from her past.
She is the Silver Wolf.
A guardian.
A force that can save the realm... or destroy it.
With the kingdom turning against them and the prophecy unraveling, Lyria and Aiden must face impossible trials, confront their deepest fears, and choose what kind of future they want to fight for-together. But power always comes with a cost, and the final choice may reshape Neverland forever.
A tale of courage, destiny, and the bond that defies fate-
perfect for fans of magical quests, royal intrigue, and epic fantasy worlds.
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Chapter 9
CHAPTER 9 - BETROTHED TO DARKNESS
Lyria woke to the soft glow of filtered moonlight. The hollow beneath the ancient roots was warm, strangely quiet, its walls woven with moss touched by faint silver luminescence. The air hummed with protective magic-a shield left behind by the crater wolf.
Her head felt light. Her limbs were heavy. But she was alive.
And Aiden was there.
He sat beside her, cloak draped over her shoulders, eyes shadowed with worry. When he noticed her stirring, relief washed over his face.
"You're awake," he breathed.
Lyria pushed herself up slowly, wincing. "How long...?"
"Only a few hours," Aiden said gently. "You passed out after the flameoutburst. Your body isn't used to channeling that much magic."
She nodded weakly. The memory hit her in fragments-green fire, silver light, Seraphina's fury. Soldiers closing in. Aiden is carrying her through the trees.
Her heart tightened. "I could have hurt you."
"You saved me," he said firmly. "Twice now."
He paused-hesitation flickering across his face before he admitted quietly, "I didn't know if you'd wake up."
Lyria lowered her gaze. "I didn't know if you would."
Silence stretched-a fragile, quiet thing. Not romantic, not dangerous... just honest.
Finally, Lyria asked the question that had sat heavily on her chest.
"Aiden... what did Seraphina mean? The prophecy. The 'Silver Wolf.' What does that mean to her? To the king?"
Aiden's expression darkened. He scooted closer, resting his forearms on his knees.
"The Silver Wolf is part of an old Neverland prophecy," he said. "Most people think it's just a legend... but the king believes it."
He swallowed hard.
"He believes the Silver Wolf could either save the kingdom... or destroy it."
Lyria's stomach dropped. "Destroy it... How?"
Aiden shook his head. "The prophecy is unclear. It speaks of silver flames that purify or consume... a creature of two worlds... a bond with the Crowned Heart..." He stopped, jaw tensing. "I didn't understand it until yesterday."
Lyria blinked. "What do you mean?"
Aiden met her eyes. "The moment you healed me... I felt something awaken. A connection I've never felt before. And when Seraphina attacked you... The magic between us reacted. It recognized something."
Lyria's pulse fluttered. "The pull?"
"Yes."
She hugged her knees to her chest. "But what does that have to do with Seraphina?"
Aiden exhaled slowly.
"That's the part you need to hear."
The Enchantress's Claim
"Seraphina is more than a royal sorceress," Aiden began.
Lyria listened, heart pounding.
"She's been promised the throne alongside me since we were children. The king arranged the betrothal years ago-to unite the Everhart line with the coven that controls the central magic wells."
Aiden's hands curled into fists.
"She doesn't love me. She loves the crown. Our marriage is her key to ruling Neverland."
Lyria felt a sharp, painful twist inside. Not jealousy... fear.
"Aiden... if you are bound to her-"
"I'm not," he interrupted quietly. "Not yet."
His voice dropped to a whisper.
"And I don't want to be."
Lyria's breath caught. She looked away quickly. Her pulse raced, confused and loud.
Aiden continued, voice steadying.
"Seraphina spent years studying the legends. She believes if the Silver Wolf forms a bond with the Crowned Heart,"-he tapped his chest- "the prophecy will reshape the kingdom. And she won't allow anyone-or anything to interfere with her claim."
Her wolf stirred uneasily. "So, she'll hunt me."
"She already is," Aiden said. "And my father... he'll follow her counsel. He always has."
Lyria felt the weight of the truth settle heavily.
"I shouldn't have come with you," she whispered.
Aiden shook his head. "Lyria, none of this is your fault. You didn't choose the flame. You didn't choose the prophecy."
"But my presence puts you in danger."
"And leaving you behind puts you in even more."
Their eyes met.
For a moment, neither spoke.
The Heart of the Matter
Aiden lowered his voice, softer now.
"Listen... whatever this bond is, we need to understand it. You said you felt it too. Not just once."
Lyria hesitated, but nodded. "Yes."
"It means something," Aiden said. "Maybe something powerful. Maybe something dangerous. But you're not alone in this."
She swallowed hard. "I don't want you getting hurt because of me."
Aiden offered a small, sincere smile. "Too late. I'm already involved."
A soft sound escaped her-half laugh, half exhale.
The tension eased... but only for a heartbeat.
Because the forest suddenly shifted.
Wind hissed through the roots, whispering in a strangely rhythmic pattern-almost like a warning.
Aiden's hand drifted to the hilt of his sword. "Something's coming."
Lyria's wolf senses flared. She pushed herself to her feet, despite the lingering ache in her limbs.
"What do you feel?" he asked.
Lyria closed her eyes, inhaling deeply.
Not animals.
Not soldiers.
Magic.
Old, whispering, watching magic.
She opened her eyes slowly. "The forest is moving."
Aiden stiffened.
Before he could speak, an eerie melody floated through the roots-soft, high, and haunting. Not quite a voice, not quite wind.
Aiden's eyes widened. "What is that?"
Lyria's breath hitched.
"The Song of the Silver Wolf," she whispered.
Aiden turned to her sharply. "You know it?"
"No," she said, trembling. "But the flame... remembers."
She pressed a hand to her heart.
The silver fire pulsed in answer-bright, insistent.
The melody grew louder. The air shimmered.
A voice-not hostile, not human-whispered through the hollow:
"Silver Flame... Crowned Heart... your path begins now."
Aiden took Lyria's hand.
She squeezed his back.
And together, they stepped out of the hollow-
toward a destiny neither of them was ready for,
But both were bound to face.
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8.0
When gifted cellist Vivienne Aurel inherits her late father's catastrophic $4.2 million debt, she expects to lose everything. She doesn't expect the debt to be bought by Caspian Vane, the most feared private equity magnate in New York. Caspian doesn't want to ruin her; he wants her to work exclusively for him as the artistic director of his new cultural foundation for eighteen months. Forced into his world under a binding agreement, Vivienne prepares to fight against a cold, transactional cage. But as the intense, quiet proximity between them begins to blur the lines of their contract, she discovers a terrifying truth: the man who now owns her future has been watching her from the shadows long before she ever knew his name.
7.7
Not only was I drugged, blinded and assaulted. I was deceived into carrying a baby by a stranger I never knew. Then he appeared and took my child away.
I was sent to a militia by the father of my child. I thought I was rescued but I was recruited to be a weapon for killing. Who was manipulating me, I didn't know. The answers were far from what I knew.
Forced to blend into the world that I could never believe I would be to, a place where brutality reigned, kill or be killed was the only language. I have survived but he has to pay for everything he did to me, because I believed every phase of my life was set by him and him alone. Have I really survived?
Who would have thought, he existed twice in the same world? Do I really know who I should take revenge on? Him or the person I would sacrifice everything for?
Was my mother the one who orchestrated everything? What kind of pawn am I?
7.9
Hannah came home under a false identity, ready to keep her head down and avoid trouble. Then a near-drowning opened her eyes, and the family she had wanted gave her nothing but disappointment.
She severed every tie, shed the disguise, and rose in revenge as a miracle doctor, brilliant hacker, and feared underworld ruler. Shock followed her family at every turn.
Her parents regretted everything. Her eldest brother clung desperately to the bond of their shared blood, while her second brother gave up his entire fortune just to earn her forgiveness. Her third brother offered up his own body for a surgery-all to save her.
But Hannah stayed cold and built her empire alone. Only one deadly rival refused to be ignored.
"I was hired to kill you, mister."
"Then take my heart, too."
7.1
His grin spread and he leaned closer to me, his scent overshadowing my senses. "I own you and this entire place, Scarlett. Whatever I decide to do to them is none of your business, is that clear?"
"I hate you, Asher. I hate you with every cell in my body!" I seethed through my teeth, but his grin only grew wider.
"We both know that you are lying..." His fingers moved to my chest, slowly making their way over my breasts, searching for my nipple. "Your whole body can't survive without me."
***
Scarlett's holy union to Asher, the feared king of the Forgotten Lands, was meant to unite kingdoms but behind closed doors, her marriage becomes a prison. Asher wants an heir, a throne, and revenge against the family that once ruled over him. Scarlett is only the means to an end.
Caught between a husband who breaks her body yet craves her soul, and a trusted friend whose loyalty hides a thirst for power, Scarlett learns that love in the Crystal Peaks is never gentle. It is claimed, twisted, and betrayed.
As war brews, dark magic awakens, and an enemy long thought dead returns, Scarlett must decide who she truly belongs to... and how much of herself she's willing to lose to survive.
Because in a world ruled by monsters, the most dangerous thing a woman can be is loved.
Book 3 of The Lycan King Series.
7.7
I was driving through a rainstorm in upstate New York, pushing my old Volvo to the limit just to pick up a Dior gown for my wife, Catarina. She needed it for a gala tonight, where she planned to spend the evening standing next to the man she actually loved, Atticus Deleon.
The truck hit me head-on, crossing the center line and sending my car rolling down an embankment in a shriek of twisted metal and shattered glass. As the steering column crushed my chest, my brain didn't see a white light; it was pried open by a digital tsunami, flooding my mind with the "Quantum Archive"-billions of data points on surgery, high-frequency trading, and combat.
I woke up in the ICU with three broken ribs and a concussion, but the only thing waiting for me was a screaming voicemail from my wife's assistant.
"Jorden, where the hell are you? Catarina has been waiting for thirty minutes! You are so incompetent it's actually impressive."
There was no "Are you okay?" or "Are you alive?"-only fury over a ruined dress and a missing tie. While I was being resuscitated, my wife was on Instagram, singing "Endless Love" with Atticus and laughing at my "tantrum." She even called the family lawyer to freeze my credit cards, wanting to make sure I couldn't even buy a coffee without her permission.
For three years, I had been the "useful husband," the doormat who apologized whenever she stepped on my toes. But the accident had overwritten my desperation with cold, hard logic, and I realized I had almost died for a woman who viewed me as a liability with a negative return on investment.
When Catarina finally stormed into my hospital room to demand an apology for ruining her night, I didn't look at her with the usual puppy-dog eyes. I looked at her with ice in my veins and handed her a manila envelope I had drafted myself.
"Sign the divorce papers, Ms. Evans. I'm done being your canary."
8.5
Five years ago, Nina Hale lost everything... her family, her reputation, and the man she once loved. Betrayed by her own sister and abandoned by those she trusted most, she disappeared without a trace.
Now she's back.
With a new identity and a burning determination, Nina is ready to reclaim her life and chase the dream she once gave up: becoming a star actress. But her return awakens old enemies, and her scheming sister Lydia is determined to ruin her again.
Just when Nina thinks things can't get worse, she's caught in another trap... and unexpectedly crosses paths with a quiet, lonely little boy.
Ethan Grant hasn't spoken in years.
Feeling responsible for him, Nina agrees to stay and help the child come out of his shell. But she didn't expect Ethan's dangerously charming father, Lucas Grant, to enter the picture.
Cold, powerful, and impossible to read, Lucas slowly finds himself drawn to the woman who brightens his son's world.
What begins as a simple act of kindness soon turns into something far more complicated, because Nina came back for revenge.
She never planned to fall in love.
**********
"I saw you with him," Lucas said quietly, but the tension in his jaw gave him away.
Nina exhaled, crossing her arms. "You don't get to care."
"Don't I?" He stepped in, close enough that she had to tilt her head back to meet his eyes.
"This is just a contract."
"Then why does it bother me?" His hand hovered near her waist, not touching-yet.
"It shouldn't." Her breath faltered.
His gaze darkened, "And yet it does."