Second Chances: Bound by the Moon
Alpha Ashton's life fall apart when his fake girlfriend Melanie dies from a miscarriage. With no way to prove his innocence, Ashton escapes into the wild and pleads the Moon Goddess for a second chance. He wakes up in the past with no memory of what happened.
But James, a quiet human boy who had a crush on Melanie, remembers everything. Convinced he's been sent back to save her, he's determined to win her heart before Ashton can.
What James doesn't know is Ashton isn't chasing Melanie but he's quietly battling the bond that pulls him toward James, his mate.
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Chapter 5
Ashton walked through the hallway, half-lost in thought, eyes fixed on a single figure at the far end of the hall.
Melanie.
She stood by her locker, as she pulled out a notebook, her ponytail swinging over her shoulder. A few girls clustered nearby, but to Ashton, the rest of the world had dimmed. His chest was tight. With something hard to name. Something heavy and aching.
James.
His face appeared in Ashton's mind. The look on his face when he was staring at Melanie yesterday. The way he had looked down at his hands and whispered to Cole, "I'm going to do it."
Those words had burrowed under Ashton's skin. The thought of James, his mate standing in front of a girl, offering her his heart, made Ashton feel like he was suffocating.
But even as he took step after step down the corridor toward Melanie, something shifted. It was subtle at first. A twinge in his gut. A tremble under his skin. His heartbeat wavered.
Is this right?
He slowed down.
Why did his legs suddenly feel heavy? Why did the air feel thicker? Why did the sight of her standing by the locker make his stomach twist?
This doesn't feel like the path we were meant to take, Lupus murmured.
Ashton didn't respond. He stopped a few feet away, unsure. His fingers clenched and unclenched at his sides.
A strange ache bloomed in his chest, like something buried long ago was trying to claw its way out.
And then-
A flash of movement.
"ASHTON!"
James.
He came barreling down the hallway, eyes wide, panic carved into every line of his face. He didn't stop, didn't even hesitate, just lunged forward and shoved him out of the way.
Startled, Ashton stumbled back a step, blinking in confusion.
What the-?
But James was already in front of Melanie, panting, voice cracking as he said, "I like you!"
Ashton stood frozen, the world suddenly still around him.
He stood there, heart pounding, watching as his James finally took a shaky step back from Melanie, his gaze fixed on her face, his throat tightening with every breath he swallowed.
"What?" Melanie blinked, brows furrowing in confusion.
"I like you. Very much," James blurted, the words tumbling out in a rush. "Go out with me!"
Melanie blinked, clearly caught off guard. She looked at him for a beat, lips parting in silence. Then, with a dry chuckle and a shake of her head, she muttered, "I don't like you."
James's breath hitched.
"Sorry. I don't even know your last name," she added flatly, adjusting her bag on her shoulder like they were talking about the weather. "That's kind of weird, don't you think?"
And just like that, she turned.
No drama. No pause. Just a shrug and silence as she walked away.
A stunned hush swept the hallway followed by a wave of whispers.
Then came the laughter.
It started soft, a few stifled snickers. But it spread quickly. A ripple of amusement passed through the crowd as students nudged each other and exchanged glances.
"Brutal," someone muttered.
"Damn, he really thought-"
"I'd die if that happened to me," a girl whispered behind her hand, giggling.
James stood frozen, staring after Melanie, his expression cracking, hope crumbling.
Ashton couldn't help it.
Relief bubbled up in his chest, sharp and bright. He tried not to smile. Bit the inside of his cheek. Focused on his shoes. But a flicker of satisfaction curled the corner of his lips.
Until-
"Melanie-wait!"
Ashton's head snapped up.
James was chasing after her. Again. Desperation thick in his voice as he reached for her hand, catching it in both of his.
"Please, just hear me out," he begged, breathless. "I've... I've liked you for almost a year. I know I sound crazy, but I've been watching from afar. I just didn't have the courage before. But I swear, I'll treat you right. Not like Ash...I mean...Just..please, give me a chance."
Melanie's expression hardened.
She yanked her hand free like his touch burned her. "Are you serious right now? Didn't I just tell you clearly?!"
James flinched.
"You really think I'd date you?" she scoffed, her eyes narrowing with disdain. "You aren't my type, James. Why should I go out with you?" Her gaze dropped to his worn-out sneaker, the toe fraying at the edge. "Why would I want a guy who can't even take care of himself, let alone someone else?" she paused as if surprised by her own words, then took a sharp breath and looked back at his face. "I'm sorry, James."
Another round of murmurs echoed in the hallway. Someone gasped. A few kids laughed, louder this time, less restrained.
"Holy crap..."
"She went savage on him."
"Did you hear what she said?"
The words hit like a slap.
Ashton felt it too. Felt it like a blow to his own chest as he saw James's face fall, his lips parting, but no words coming out.
He looked so small. So shattered.
Ashton's fists clenched.
That was enough.
As Melanie strode off, heels tapping against the floor, Ashton stepped forward.
But James spun around, eyes blazing.
"Stay away from her!" he growled, voice low and shaking with rage.
Ashton froze. "What...?"
James's eyes were wild, rimmed with unshed tears and something darker.
Ashton opened his mouth, but no words came.
"I swear to god, Ashton," James said, jaw clenched so tight it trembled, "if you ask her out, I'll kill you."
And then he turned and walked away.
Gasps scattered across the hallway. Everyone had gone quiet at first, too stunned to react. But now the tension snapped.
"No way! Did he just threaten Ashton?"
A few students exchanged wide-eyed glances. Someone let out a low whistle. Whispers swirled in every direction.
"That was... intense."
"They're seriously fighting over her?"
"Is James okay?
"But Ashton didn't even say anything..."
The crowd didn't move, didn't leave.
Ashton stood there frozen. He heard nothing except the echo of footsteps ringing in his ears. His heart pounding hard against his chest.
He couldn't move. Couldn't breathe.
The look on James's face-rage twisted with disgust-played over and over in his mind. That wasn't the boy he knew. Not the warm, soft-spoken soul whose smile felt like home.
Why did it feel like something had cracked wide open between them?
His hands trembled at his sides, nails digging into his palms, trying to hold himself together. But the words echoed. I'll kill you.
His mate had looked at him like he was his enemy.
And that hurt more than anything.
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9.2
Her Bestie's Brother
She only came over to spend time with her best friend-
not to run into her infamous senior brother, the campus playboy everyone warned her about.
Every time she saw him, she felt nothing but disgust.
How could someone who had a sister he adored still treat girls like toys?
But when he walked into the house with a group of girls trailing behind him, her frustration finally snapped-
and she cursed him out without caring who heard.
Then came the day they all hung out, played too much, drank too much...
and the night spiraled into something neither of them ever expected.
A reckless moment.
A passionate night.
A mistake-or something else?
Now, she can't stop asking herself:
Will this change the way she sees him?
And more dangerously... will this change him?
7.7
They took everything from her. Her freedom, her pack, and her name.
Sofia Fletcher has survived four years of slavery, a mate who rejected her for her own stepsister, and the kind of cruelty that teaches you never to hope. She has one rule left: trust no one.
Then Draco walks into an auction house and takes her.
He doesn't bid. He doesn't ask. He simply crosses a room full of bowed heads because when the most powerful being alive enters, everyone drops their eyes, and he takes her home.
He is an Alpha King like no other. Werewolf. Vampire. Demon king. Dragon slayer. Immortal. And he has been searching for Sofia for years, because she is the one thing in his long, terrible life he cannot walk away from.
His fated mate.
Sofia wants nothing to do with him. She is an Omega the lowest rank in pack society with a dangerous secret buried in her blood, and a past that left scars no one is allowed to touch. Draco is patient, possessive, and impossible to ignore, and the mate bond humming beneath her skin is beginning to feel less like a curse and more like an answer.
But Sofia's secret is the kind that gets witches killed. And Draco's world is full of enemies including the brother who wants to destroy him, and the father who will use anyone to take back what he lost.
Falling for the Alpha King was never the plan but fate has it's own plan.
8.3
When Eli is forced to enroll at Blackwood Academy, he thinks it is just another remote boarding school. But on his first night, he realizes the terrifying truth.
This school is a prison.
Trapped in endless, deadly time loops, students are forced to complete cruel, supernatural trials. Ghosts, cursed hallways, hidden rules, and unspeakable creatures hunt them after dark. The only way to stay alive is to solve mysteries, earn credits, and obey the academy's twisted commands.
No one remembers how they arrived.
No one has ever graduated.
No one leaves alive.
Eli must team up with other desperate students to uncover the academy's century-old secret. If they fail, they will be trapped in the nightmare forever.
At Blackwood Academy, survival is the only exam.
7.2
Elara Vex had everything-a flawless ice core, the title of prodigy, and a place at the pinnacle of the High Tower. But in one brutal night, it was all ripped away. Her mentor tore the core from her chest. Her fiancé drove a sword through her back. Her own sister smiled as she bled out on the cold marble floor.
When Elara wakes, she's years in the past, mere hours before her core is scheduled to be stolen. This time, she won't be anyone's sacrificial lamb. She shatters her own core with forbidden blood magic and forges something far more terrifying in its place-a bottomless, ravenous Chaos Core that devours magic itself.
Now, branded a worthless cripple and cast into the deadly Abyss, Elara is pulled from the darkness by the outcasts of Elysium Academy-a school for heretics, psychopaths, and everything the Tower despises. Under the tutelage of a reclusive principal who knew her murdered mother, Elara will master her forbidden power and uncover the Tower's darkest secrets.
When the Five Academies Ranking Tournament arrives, Seraphina Vex stands in the arena, draped in white saintess robes, ready to claim ultimate glory. She doesn't know that a ghost from her past has clawed her way back from hell. She doesn't know that Elara is coming-and this time, the prodigal sister isn't asking for mercy. She's bringing chaos.
9.5
I was the heiress to a real estate empire, celebrating my engagement to Douglas at our Manhattan penthouse.
But when I stepped into the master bedroom, I caught him sleeping with my best friend, Krystle.
Before I could even react, Douglas forced me to sign away my family's entire trust fund.
He held up a tablet and forced me to watch a live feed of my parents being burned alive in our Hamptons estate.
"The fire hasn't reached the main house yet, sign it and I'll call them off," he lied.
As soon as the ink dried, he beat me to the ground and locked me in the soundproof study.
He poured twenty-three-year-old whiskey on the carpet and dropped a lit cigar.
"You could have walked away with nothing, but alive," he sneered.
He left me to burn to death while he and Krystle went back to our engagement party to drink champagne.
As the flames melted my skin and my bones shattered against the bulletproof glass, I couldn't understand it.
How could the man who promised me forever brutally exterminate my entire family just for money?
But I didn't die in that fire.
Three years later, with a reconstructed face and a new identity as the mysterious global designer Alice Moreau, I returned to New York.
Watching Douglas and Krystle flaunt the wealth they stole from my family's ashes, I smiled behind my black veil.
It was time to make them pay with everything they had.
7.3
Ciel Miller opened her eyes to the blinding lights of a Manhattan ballroom, realizing she had been reborn on the exact night her life was ruined.
On the stage, the billionaire patriarch of the Chavez family was proudly announcing her engagement to his arrogant grandson, Harry.
In her past life, Ciel had blindly accepted his outstretched hand. That single step plunged her into a suffocating marriage filled with public humiliation and psychological torture, slowly draining her life away until she died. Harry had treated her like a pathetic stray dog, flaunting his absolute ownership while systematically destroying her.
Now, as the polite applause echoed, Harry extended his hand with a sickening smirk, waiting for her to lower her head and submit.
Instead, Ciel stood perfectly rigid and publicly rejected him in front of the entire New York elite.
Harry's face drained of color, while his family quickly mocked her.
"This is a cheap, embarrassing trick to get his attention," his sister sneered.
Harry's arrogant smirk crawled back. He fully believed she was just throwing a childish tantrum to make him jealous, convinced she was absolutely nothing without his wealth and status.
But Ciel looked at the man who had killed her in her past life with freezing disgust.
Then, she turned to the powerful patriarch and dropped a bombshell that left the entire ballroom gasping for air.
"If the family insists on taking care of me, I will marry into the Chavez family."
"But I want to marry the comatose war hero. I want to marry General Deacon Chavez."
She would rather spend the rest of her life with a "vegetable" than wake up next to a monster.