
Introduction
Alina knows his type, and she wants nothing to do with him. But fate has other plans. One heated encounter changes everything when Dax’s wolf recognizes her as his mate. The bond is primal, undeniable, and dangerously forbidden. As Dax fights pack traditions and his own reputation to claim her, Alina is thrust into a storm of scandal, rivalry, and secrets that could destroy them both.
With jealous enemies circling and the weight of the pack’s expectations crushing them, will Alina and Dax risk it all for love—or will the forces against them tear them apart?
Chapter 1
I didn’t plan on returning to Silvermoon Ridge, but heartbreak has a way of rewriting your story without your consent. The air here is thicker, charged with the faint hum of pack energy, like a heartbeat thrumming beneath the surface. I didn’t need this reminder of what I was—a lone wolf among my kind, not by choice but by circumstance.
“Alina, sweetheart, you look so thin!” My mother’s voice was a mix of concern and relief as she pulled me into her arms. The scent of her lavender shampoo filled my nose, grounding me for a moment in something familiar.
“I’m fine, Mom. Just tired.” The lie slipped out easily. How could I explain the gnawing ache in my chest that had nothing to do with physical exhaustion? My ex had gutted me, and I’d been running on fumes ever since.
“Come in. Your stepfather will be thrilled to see you,” she said, ushering me inside.
I stepped into the house I once called home, a sprawling cabin nestled at the edge of the woods. It smelled of cedarwood and roasted chicken, and for a fleeting moment, I felt safe.
Until I smelled him.
The unmistakable scent hit me first—dark and woodsy with a hint of musk. My pulse quickened as my wolf stirred, restless and alert. I turned toward the staircase, and there he was, leaning casually against the banister like he owned the place.
Dax Carter.
The infamous playboy of Silvermoon Ridge. The alpha-in-waiting. And my stepbrother.
“Well, well, if it isn’t the prodigal sister,” he drawled, a slow smirk curling his lips. His amber eyes sparkled with mischief, and his golden hair was artfully tousled, as if he’d just rolled out of someone else’s bed.
“Dax.” My voice was flat, but inside, my wolf was pacing, agitated by his presence.
“Didn’t think you’d ever come back.” His gaze raked over me, lingering a fraction too long. “Though I can’t say I’m complaining.”
I ignored the heat crawling up my neck and forced myself to meet his gaze. “Don’t flatter yourself. I’m here for Mom.”
His smirk widened. “Keep telling yourself that.”
I hated him. I hated his arrogance, his effortless charm, and the way my body betrayed me whenever he was near. He was everything I despised—reckless, selfish, and completely out of my league. But there was something dangerous about the way he looked at me, as if he could see straight through my defenses.
“Dinner’s ready!” Mom called from the kitchen, breaking the tension.
I moved past Dax, determined to put as much distance between us as possible. But as I brushed by him, our arms touched, and the spark was instantaneous—a jolt of electricity that made my wolf howl in recognition.
I froze.
No. No, no, no.
This couldn’t be happening. The mate bond was rare, sacred, and binding. And it was unmistakable. My wolf didn’t care about Dax’s reputation or the complications of our family dynamic. She only knew one thing: he was hers.
“What the hell was that?” I whispered, more to myself than to him.
But Dax heard me. Of course, he did. His smirk vanished, replaced by something darker, more primal. He stepped closer, his voice low and rough. “You felt it, didn’t you?”
I backed away, shaking my head. “No. This isn’t… This can’t be…”
“Alina.” My name on his lips was a growl, raw and possessive. His eyes glowed faintly, his wolf surfacing. “You’re my mate.”
The words hung in the air, heavy and irreversible. My heart pounded, and my wolf clawed at me, desperate to get closer to him. But my mind screamed at me to run.
“I can’t do this,” I said, my voice shaking. “Not with you.”
His jaw tightened. “It’s not like either of us chose this.”
“I won’t let this ruin me,” I snapped, my voice rising. “You’ve ruined enough lives already.”
His eyes flashed, and for a moment, I saw a flicker of something—hurt, anger, regret. But it was gone as quickly as it appeared, replaced by the infuriating arrogance I’d come to expect from him.
“You think I’m happy about this?” he said, his tone sharp. “You think I want to be tied to someone who hates me?”
“Good,” I shot back. “Then we’re on the same page.”
I turned on my heel and stormed out of the house, needing space, air, anything to escape the suffocating intensity of the moment. But no matter how far I ran, I couldn’t outrun the truth.
Dax Carter was my mate. And there was no escaping him.
I spent the next few days avoiding him like the plague, throwing myself into unpacking and helping my mom around the house. But no amount of busywork could silence the pull of the bond or the way my wolf whimpered whenever Dax was near.
He didn’t make it easy, either. He was everywhere—leaning against doorframes, lounging on the couch, watching me with that infuriating smirk. It was as if he enjoyed watching me squirm, knowing I couldn’t resist him forever.
“Alina, can we talk?” His voice startled me one evening as I stood on the porch, staring out at the forest.
I didn’t turn around. “What’s there to talk about?”
“Everything,” he said, stepping closer. His presence was magnetic, and despite my best efforts, I found myself turning to face him.
He looked different tonight—less cocky, more serious. Vulnerable, even. But I didn’t trust it. Dax Carter doesn’t do vulnerable.
“This bond,” he began, his voice rough, “It’s not going away. We both know that.”
I folded my arms, trying to ignore the way my heart raced at his nearness. “So what? You expect me to just fall into your arms and forget everything I know about you? Not to mention you are my stepbrother, or did you conveniently forget that?”
“No,” he said quietly. “But I do expect you to stop pretending you don’t feel it too.”
His words hit me like a punch to the gut. Of course, I felt it. Every cell in my body screamed for him, and it was maddening. But giving in meant surrendering to him, to the bond, to a life I wasn’t sure I wanted.
“I can’t do this, Dax,” I said, my voice breaking. “I won’t.”
“You don’t really have a choice, Alina.” His tone was firm, but there was an edge of desperation in his eyes. “The bond doesn’t care about your pride or your fears. It’s there, and it’s real. You can fight it all you want, but it’ll destroy you.”
I swallowed hard, tears stinging my eyes. “You don’t know that.”
He stepped closer, his hand brushing against mine. The touch was gentle, but it sent a wave of heat through me that left me breathless.
“Yes, I do,” he said, his voice softer now. “Because it’s destroying me too.”
The vulnerability in his words shattered something inside me. For the first time, I saw beyond the mask he wore—the playboy, the alpha, the man who seemed untouchable. Beneath it all, he was just as lost as I was.
But that didn’t change the fact that he was Dax Carter, and I was Alina Stone. And some lines weren’t meant to be crossed.
“I need time to think about this,” I whispered, pulling away from him. “Please.”
He nodded, his jaw tight. “Take all the time you need. But don’t forget—you’re mine, Alina. Whether you like it or not. And I will have you.”
As he walked away, I felt the weight of his words settle over me like a storm cloud. I hated him for what he was, for what he represented, for the way he made me feel. But more than anything, I hated the part of me that wanted to run after him and never look back.
Last Chapters
#54 Chapter 54: Judgment
Last Updated: 1/20/2026#53 Chapter 53: The Spaces Between
Last Updated: 1/20/2026#52 Chapter 52: The Morning After
Last Updated: 1/19/2026#51 Chapter 51: Bound by Blood
Last Updated: 1/17/2026#50 Chapter 50: The Weight of the Crown
Last Updated: 1/17/2026#49 Chapter 49: The Price of Power
Last Updated: 1/17/2026#48 Chapter 48: The Ties That Bind
Last Updated: 1/17/2026#47 Chapter 47: The Weight of Leadership
Last Updated: 1/17/2026#46 Chapter 46: A Line in the Sand
Last Updated: 1/17/2026#45 Chapter 45: The Storm’s Wake
Last Updated: 1/17/2026
You Might Like 😍
Diaries Of A Hybrid And Her Mate
Beautiful Aubrianne Ivanov, raised by her single mom, had a tough childhood. With low self-esteem, she became an outcast and was alone one too many times for her liking. Time spent at her part time job, she eventually grew into a brave, confident, and determined young woman who walked right into an opportunity that would change her life forever.
Will Aubrianne truly feel whole? Will she find what has been missing in her life? Will she allow herself happiness and joy? Will she find love, and most importantly, will she survive what's to come?
Join Aubrianne on her journey as she discovers who/what she is and navigates all the heartbreak, betrayal, drama, and exciting and thrilling events that come her way...
Excerpt:
She lay before him in all her magnificent beauty draped across his king-size bed in the most compelling and provocative way known to man or beast. And for Alpha Zayne, it was the most captivating view he had ever had the pleasure of seeing with his own eyes.
She stared at his every movement, lips slightly parted, her stunning brown eyes scanning every inch of his gorgeously toned and glorious body while heat radiated off of hers. He was HERS.
Her body trembled in delight and anticipation; she was ready and wanted to be with him in every way.
As innocent as she was, she wanted him to...no need him to take her in the worse ways, bringing her to heights of pleasures she had never experienced before.
Fuck she is beautiful, one fine specimen, and she is all MINE, MY MATE. A wave of pure unbridled possessiveness vibrated through Alpha Zayne. He thanked the Divine Moon Goddess, for she has truly blessed him.
He drank her in, eyes trailing up her toned sexy legs spread wide for him, and she gave him that come-and-get-it look.
Bella and Her Beast
.
Locked in her frozen tower, Bella dreamed of warmth, of touch, of freedom and of love. Cursed with the power of ice and snow, she’s spent her life alone. A secret they tried to protect the world from. Her only escape comes in the form of the books she reads. Stories of heat, desire, and the kind of love that could melt even her frostbitten heart.
Damien is the Beast. A dragon King with a temper forged in flame and a soul hollowed by duty. The world fears him. The people call him a monster. But beneath the scales and the rage lies a man who has never been touched by love.
When frost meets fire, the world shatters. She was never meant to leave her tower. He was never meant to find her. But destiny doesn’t bow to kings or care for cages and now the question burns through them both: Can Bella have her Beast? Or will the girl of snow melt in the heat of his desire?
.
"I’m keeping her."
"What?"
Before I can react, he scoops her up. Her small body fits easily in the cradle of his talons. For a split second, she looks startled, but not afraid. Her hand rests against one scaled finger, and she stares up at him with that same curious wonder, as though she’s already forgotten she was ever meant to fear me.
"Put her down," I try to command, panic threading through my thoughts. "You’ll hurt her."
"She’s ours," the beast insists, possessive and fierce. "Our snowflake."
Tango with the Alpha's Heart
“He met her at the Alpha training camp,” he said. “She is a perfect suitor for him. It snowed last night, indicating that his wolf is happy with his choice.”
My heart sank, and tears made their way down my cheeks.
Alexander took my innocence last night, and now he is taking that thing in his office as his Luna.
Emily became the laughingstock of the pack on her 18th birthday and never expected the Alpha's son to be her mate.
After a night of passionate love, Emily finds out that her mate has taken a chosen mate. Heartbroken and humiliated, she disappears from the pack.
Now, five years later, Emily is a respected high-ranking warrior in King Alpha’s army.
When her best friend invites her to a night of music and laughter, she never expects to run into her mate.
Will her mate figure out it is her?
Will he chase after her, and most of all, will Emily be able to keep her secrets safe?
Taste of Fate: The Vampire King's Human Mate
He reached for the back of my head and pulled me up just enough to reach my neck. When his fangs slid into me, the pain was instant, electric. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t think. My hands found his shoulders, clawing for something to hold. My legs kicked. Tears streamed down my cheeks.
He moaned against my throat as he drank, and the sound was devastating.
Cursed Fates
Mated to Her Alpha Instructor
Weeks later, our new Alpha combat instructor walks in. Regis. The guy from the woods. His eyes lock on mine, and I know he recognizes me. Then the secret I've been hiding hits me like a punch: I'm pregnant.
He has an offer that binds us tighter than ever. Protection… or a cage? Whispers turn ugly, darkness closes in. Why am I the one without a wolf? Is he my salvation… or will he drag me to ruin?
Human Capture (Up North #2)
Raised in a starving settlement choked by a vast, unforgiving forest, Lara learned early that survival has a price. To keep her family alive, she became a master hunter—agile, silent, and deadly with an array of mismatched blades. But the forest has eyes, and one evening, the shadows dragged her away.
Nine months later, Lara breaks free from a concrete dungeon, only to find herself stranded in the lawless, rogue-infested wilds of Avers Land alongside four captured werewolf girls. Seeking refuge in the neighboring territory of Illyen, she expects to find a way back to her human life. Instead, she is brought face-to-face with Alpha Rowan, the terrifying, ruthless ruler of the frozen North.
One look into Lara’s eyes, and the Alpha’s world shatters. His eyes turn an absolute shade of black. The bond is undeniable. She is his fated mate.
But a human cannot survive the brutal political landscape of the North, and Rowan openly rejects the bond, dragging her onto a warship bound for a kingdom that views her as a fragile liability. Trapped between a mate who refuses to love her and a court of monsters waiting for her to break, Lara must use every hunter's instinct she possesses. Because in the realm of wolves, a human must either grow claws of her own—or perish in the snow.
The Pack: Rule Number 1 - No Mates
"Let me go," I whimper, my body trembling with need. "I don't want you touching me."
I fall forward onto the bed then turn around to stare at him. The dark tattoos of Domonic's chiseled shoulders, quiver and and expand with the heave of his chest. His deep dimpled smile is full of arrogance as he reaches behind himself to lock the door.
Biting his lip, he stalks toward me, his hand going to the seam of his pants and the thickening bulge there.
"Are you sure you don't want me to touch you?" He whispers, untying the knot and slipping a hand inside. "Because I swear to God, that is all I have been wanting to do. Every single day from the moment you stepped in our bar and I smelled your perfect flavor from across the room."
New to the world of shifters, Draven is human on the run. A beautiful girl who no one could protect. Domonic is the cold Alpha of the Red Wolf Pack. A brotherhood of twelve wolves that live by twelve rules. Rules which they vowed could NEVER be broken.
Especially - Rule Number One - No Mates
When Draven meets Domonic, he knows that she is his mate, but Draven has no idea what a mate is, only that she has fallen in love with a shifter. An Alpha that will break her heart to make her leave. Promising herself, she will never forgive him, she disappears.
But she doesn’t know about the child she’s carrying or that the moment she left, Domonic decided rules were made to be broken - and now will he ever find her again? Will she forgive him?
The Alpha King's Human Mate
“I have waited nine years for you. That’s nearly a decade since I’ve felt this emptiness inside me. Part of me began to wonder if you didn’t exist or you’d already died. And then I found you, right inside my own home.”
He used one of his hands to stroke my cheek and tingles erupted everywhere.
“I’ve spent enough time without you and I will not let anything else keep us apart. Not other wolves, not my drunken father who’s barely holding himself together the past twenty years, not your family – and not even you.”
Clark Bellevue has spent her entire life as the only human in the wolf pack - literally. Eighteen years ago, Clark was the accidental result of a brief affair between one of the most powerful Alphas in the world and a human woman. Despite living with her father and her werewolf half-siblings, Clark has never felt like she really belonged in the werewolf world. But right as Clark plans to leave the werewolf world behind for good, her life gets flipped upside down by her mate: the next Alpha King, Griffin Bardot. Griffin has been waiting years for the chance to meet his mate, and he's not about to let her go anytime soon. It doesn't matter how far Clark tries to run from her destiny or her mate - Griffin intends to keep her, no matter what he has to do or who stands in his way.
Twin Prince Alphas Student Mate
As her 18th birthday approaches, her brothers warn her about the powerful pull she might feel toward dominant wolves. But it's not just any wolves they need to worry about—it's her teachers. Cameron and Samuel are more than just older, wiser, and off-limits; they might just be her fated mates.
While navigating complex relationships, academic pressures, and the normal trials of young adult life, an unexpected threat jeopardizes the academy. Explosions rock their world, forcing Lyla and her love interests into a chaotic swirl of heroism, heartbreak, and hard choices.
Will Lyla follow her heart and let destiny lead the way, or will the very rules that bind their world tear them apart? Amidst turmoil and taboo, Lyla must make choices that could forever change the course of her life and the lives of those she holds dear.
Discover a story where love isn't just complicated—it's forbidden, ageless, and defies all rules. In a world of supernatural beings and extraordinary stakes, will Lyla's love life be another casualty, or her saving grace?
Goddess Of The Underworld
When the veil between the Divine, the Living, and the Dead begins to crack, Envy is thrust beneath with a job she can’t drop: keep the worlds from bleeding together, shepherd the lost, and make ordinary into armour, breakfasts, bedtime, battle plans. Peace lasts exactly one lullaby. This is the story of an orphan pup who became a goddess by choosing her family; of four imperfect alphas learning how to be better. Steamy, fierce, and full of heart, Goddess of the Underworld is a reverse harem, found-family paranormal romance where love writes the rules and keeps three realms from falling apart.
The Ice Between Us.
Then comes Jax Miller.
Jax is a hotheaded rookie with a lightning-fast puck and a reputation for burning bridges. He doesn't follow playbooks, he doesn't respect authority, and he’s determined to melt Julian’s icy composure. When a viral video of their on-ice collision threatens to bankrupt the program, Coach Clain delivers an ultimatum that feels like a death sentence: they must live together in a cramped, two-bed dorm for the duration of the season.
Forced to navigate the high-stakes world of sports fame, "forbidden" locker-room tension, and the mysterious blackmailer who caught their first mistake on camera, Julian and Jax must decide what’s more dangerous: losing their careers, or losing themselves to the person they were supposed to hate.












