"You can't be weak, wife. You now have three husbands to please. Tonight's the night we claim you. You can't let a simple wedding tire you, for our nuptial night holds trials far more demanding." Ezra whispered huskily, tucking my hair behind my ear. -- "Oh god!" I cried. "Not god, baby. We are your demons," Ezra growled, pounding faster. -- "Call my name, Xanthea," Asher groaned and a tight flutter erupted in my belly. -- "I can't... I can't take this... anymore..." And then he hit a spot, and he kept hitting it again and again with every thrust. Sparks charged throughout my body like the lightning cracking in the stormy sky again and again until it was too much to hold back, too hard to... resist. *** Xanthea Plath, an illegitimate child of the Alpha of Virgo pack, was an omega and omegas weren't allowed to dream, yet she never stopped dreaming. She wanted to be a doctor just like her mother but the luna of the pack, her stepmother would break her physically and mentally and stop at nothing to crush all her dreams. Xanthea had still found a way though all the abuse her steps put her through. But one day her world came crashing down right before her entrance in a medical college when she found out that she was being offered as a bride to the ruthless triplet alphas also known as the demon lords of the Infernal pack of the underworld. Xanthea had heard the horrifying stories of several suitors who had come before her, all of whom had met a gruesome end. *** Dark reverse harem romance with 18+ explicit content. Readers discretion advised.
"I have spread my dreams under your feet; Tread softly because you tread on my dreams." - W. B. Yeats
~~~
[Xanthea Plath]
I limped into the graveyard, clutching my broken arm with the other hand. Blood mixed in the rain trailed down from my shoulder to my elbow, down my wrists, making its way to my fingers that clutched the small bouquet of forget-me-not flowers.
Every flower of the bouquet was crushed and marred with blood-stains. The blue ribbon that once tied the flowers together was long lost.
The white gown, soaked by the downpour, hugged my body as if it sought to suffocate me. Inked scarlet, its hem absorbed the black tint of the ground as it glissaded over the sharp blades of overgrown grass.
Today was my mother's twenty-third death anniversary and my twenty-third birthday.
I forced another step on the muddy grounds of the graveyard with my sprained leg. A thick curtain of rain obscured my already blurry vision. Streaks of rain trailed down my cracked glasses that hung loosely on my nose.
Panting and stifling my moans, I dragged myself closer and closer to my mother's grave.
Perhaps it was the tears in my eyes, or perhaps it was the rainwater tracing its way down my face. The only sensation that wasn't a struggle was feeling the coldness of the rain being absorbed against my feverish skin.
My ribs hurt with every breath.
'No matter how much of a struggle it is to breathe, you never stop breathing. Because you know the struggles are only temporary. What's permanent is life that death has not yet kissed.'
My mother's words echoed in my head. I gritted my teeth, taking a deep breath even when it hurt.
Tears stung into my eyes as I gulped down the trembling lump clogging my throat.
I found my mother's gravestone.
Freya Plath
And below her name carved on the white marble gravestone was the epitaph - "Forget me not."
I didn't need much effort as I sank to my bruised knees and offered the blood-stained flowers to my mother's memory.
I bowed until my nose touched the ground and finally broke into tears. The flood of emotions that had sustained me through the harrowing journey finally snapped.
I had never met my mother when she was alive, but now she lived through me.
And through her diaries, she had come alive to me. My heart filled with an unfathomable warmth and the utmost respect when I thought of her. I knew her closer than any daughter would have ever known their mother.
I knew her like a friend, like a secret keeper, like an equal. Through her words, I knew her heart and now it feels as though my heart had been replaced by hers, filled with her smiles and laughter that I never got to see or hear. Yet I felt them all so closely, it hurt.
I fell in love with everything this woman was and everything she could have become only if the alpha's eyes didn't fall on her.
My mother was an omega, just like me. It was a world of cruel hierarchy, where the alpha commands over all the dreams of everyone in the pack. Under his command, an omega wasn't allowed to dream of anything greater than their rank granted. We dwelled at the bottom of the food chain. Our value was confined and limited to serving the ones who held the higher ranks.
But my mother dared to dream. She dared to have wings to fly high and higher were her ambitions. So high it seemed impossible for an omega to achieve in this world of power, ranks, and politics.
Her wings that I broke by coming to life. Because after that, my mother's eyes were too lifeless to dream anymore. So I replaced my eyes with hers, transplanted her dreams into the sole reason for my existence.
And now, if I am not her dreams, her words, her ideals, I don't know who I am.
They say you can't miss a person you've never met, but I miss every second of my life as I imagine how my life would have been if she were still alive.
Maybe my bones would have broken less, perhaps I would have lesser scars. Perhaps then I wouldn't be so lonely. Perhaps I'd know what love felt like.
But my mother died during the delivery and so the illegitimate daughter of Alpha Valdimir Virgo was born of an extra-marital affair.
Obviously, everyone in the palace hated me. Maybe things would have been different if I inherited my father's alpha genes. But I was grateful that I didn't.
I'd rather have a strong mind and a warm heart than brute strength and a cold ego.
More than anyone else, I was an eyesore for Luna Meesa Virgo. She couldn't tolerate the mere sight of me. She wanted to throw me out of the palace the moment I was born, but Alpha kept me in the palace until I turned eighteen and then he asked me to leave.
I shifted into a small house that my mother owned, which itself was an exceptional feat for an omega, since most couldn't afford it. They lived in either the servant quarters or in the shabby slums.
I didn't even know how badly those eighteen years of my life had broken me. But after beginning an independent life in my mother's home, I started healing.
My mother worked as a florist in the royal palace. She loved her job of cultivating flowers and medicinal plants. Her knowledge in herbology surpassed every book I've read so far. She wasn't just cultivating, but creating new varieties, new species.
She mentioned it all in her journals, diaries and books, the legacy she left behind for me.
Alpha now had an heir to the throne, twenty-two-year-old Nikolai Virgo, the crown prince. And a legitimate daughter, nineteen years old Nathalia Virgo.
Both of them were born with true alpha genes.
I received monthly maintenance money from him, but I never used that money.
Ever since I left the palace, I have worked to support myself and my studies.
I didn't want anything to do with the royal family or its people. I had been preparing for the International Medical Entrance Exams for years. After qualifying for that exam, I was planning to leave the pack for good.
Or that's what I thought. The entrance exams were tomorrow.
"They knew, mom. Luna knew how important this exam was for me. That is why they did this to me..." I broke down into sobs. "How do I write the exams with a broken hand?"
Elicia, once an ideal luna, mysteriously falls ill with an illness with no cure right after her pregnancy. That's when her husband and her mate, Damian, married and brought Nia the palace. He assured Elicia that Nia was only there to fulfil the luna duties which Elicia failed to perform because of her illness. He told her to concentrate on her health and their child. Losing almost her everything to Nia in a year, Elicia had just one hope to live, her child. But right after his birth, Damian took her son away from her, rejecting her the moment she gave birth. The illness and rejection took a severe toll on her body leading to her death. But she found a miracle in the darkness of the dungeon she was thrown in right before her death and the next thing she knew was... she had returned to time when Nia had come into her life as her personal doctor. With complete knowledge of the future she is determined to no longer be the Weak Luna she once was. But little does she know that she has become the obsession of the darkness who wants her all for himself.
Alan Rush is a sloppy potato as he claims himself to be, but one must never judge a book by its cover. Charlie Swift, the typical bad boy of his college has somewhat entangled fate with this potato. A contractual marriage brings the two close but it brought alongwith itself eyes of a psychopath killer on Alan. Just when things between Alan and Charlie started getting better, a psycho not only brought Alan's past in front of Charlie but also conspires to separate the two and keep Alan locked with himself. Will Charlie love Alan and will be able to save him from the Psychopath?
She was a world-renowned divine doctor, the CEO of a publicly traded company, the most formidable female mercenary, and a top-tier tech genius. Marissa, a titan with a plethora of secret identities, had hidden her true stature to marry a seemingly impoverished young man. However, on the eve of their wedding, her fiance, who was actually the lost heir to a wealthy dynasty, called off the engagement and subjected her to degradation and mockery. Upon the revelation of her concealed identities, her ex-fiance was left stunned and desperately pleaded for her forgiveness. Standing protectively before Marissa, an incredibly influential and fearsome magnate declared, "This is my wife. Who would dare try to claim her?"
"Never let anyone treat you like shit!" I learned that the hard way. For three years, I lived with my in-laws. They didn't treat me as their son-in-law but as a slave. I put up with everything because of my wife, Yolanda Lambert. She was the light of my life. Unfortunately, my whole world came crashing down the day I caught my wife cheating on me. I have never been so heartbroken. To have my revenge, I revealed my true identity. I was none other than Liam Hoffman—the heir of a family with trillions of dollars in assets! The Lamberts were utterly shocked after the big reveal. They realized what fools they had been for treating me like trash. My wife even knelt down and begged for my forgiveness. What do you think I did? Did I take her back or made her suffer? Find out!
"Don't you feel a bit of regret, or even sadness? You should know you've spewed coffee at Mia, because if one day I exchange places with her and she's still mad at it, she would definitely get back to you and she might even get frantic. Do you understand how terrible a frantic woman can get? Are you not afraid?" Charles raised his eyebrow, "She won't have that opportunity." ********************* Maria replaced her sister to marry Charles. She originally thought it would be a widow-like marriage, but Charles who had disappeared for two years suddenly came back. All she wanted was her father's well-being, but is tangled with Charles and her sister's life. What will she do when it's time for her to leave but she was already in love with Charles, who she believed loved her sister, the real Mia? What happened when she found out about her real identity?
Joelle thought she could change Adrian's heart after three years of marriage, but she realized too late that it already belonged to another woman. "Give me a baby, and I'll set you free." The day Joelle went into labor, Adrian was traveling with his mistress on his private jet. "I don't care whom you love. My debt is paid. From now on, we have nothing to do with each other." Not long after Joelle left, Adrian found himself begging on his knees. "Please come back to me."
"Sign the divorce papers and get out!" Leanna got married to pay a debt, but she was betrayed by her husband and shunned by her in-laws. Seeing that her efforts were in vain, she agreed to divorce and claimed her half of the properties. With her purse plump from the settlement, Leanna enjoyed her newfound freedom. The constant harassment from her ex's mistress never fazed her. She took back her identities as top hacker, champion racer, medical professor, and renowned jewelry designer. Then someone discovered her secret. Matthew smiled. "Will you have me as your next husband?"
It took only a second for a person's world to come crashing down. This was what happened in Hannah's case. For four years, she gave her husband her all, but one day, he said emotionlessly, "Let's get divorced." Hannah's heart broke into a million pieces as she signed the divorce papers, marking the end of her role as a devoted wife. Within Hannah, a strong woman awakened, vowing never to be beholden to any man again. Embracing her new life, she embarked on a journey to find herself and command her own destiny. By the time she returned, she had experienced so much growth and was now completely different from the docile wife everyone once knew. "Is this your latest trick to get my attention?" Hannah's ever-so-arrogant husband asked. Before she could retort, a handsome and domineering CEO pulled her into his embrace. He smiled down at her and said boldly to her ex, "Just a little heads-up, mister. This is my beloved wife. Keep off!"