Penitent - Chapter 44: Armor

In a world where Lycans and werewolves are sworn enemies, Eve Valmont is a werewolf cursed by a prophecy and framed. Betrayed by her own pack and imprisoned for years, her fate takes a darker twist when she is offered to the Lycan King, Hades Stavros—a ruler feared for his ruthless conquests and deadly prowess. Bound by an ancient prophecy and haunted by the ghosts of her past, Eve is now at the mercy of the one being she should hate and fear the most—The Hand of Death himself.Hades, a king carved from blood and his own soul's decay, determined to avenge his family's slaughter and rid his people of the werewolves. He believes Eve is the key to his victory. To him, she is nothing but weapon foretold by prophecy, a tool he will wield to destroy the opposing forces threatening his pack. Yet, he finds himself craving this powerful yet broken woman. Leaving him questioning if she is truly his weapon or the one destined to unravel his carefully laid plans.***He stalked toward me, a predator closing in on its prey, his eyes dark and unreadable. “So, you laugh?” His voice was low, dangerously soft, making the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.I swallowed hard, suddenly aware of how difficult it had become to breathe. “Hades, I—”“But you only laugh at other men's jokes,” he interrupted, his gaze piercing, devoid of any humor. “Not your husband's.” The accusation in his tone was sharp, slicing through the air between us.A nervous chuckle escaped me. “You can't be serious... He’s your beta, for Goddess’ sake.”In an instant, he closed the distance between us, so fast it left me breathless. His hands gripped my waist, pulling me flush against his body, the heat of him making my skin tingle. I gasped, but before I could say a word, his lips crashed onto mine, claiming my mouth with a force that sent shockwaves through me. The kiss was punishing, hungry—I couldn't breathe, couldn't think.When he finally pulled back, I was trembling, my chest heaving as I struggled to regain my breath. His eyes, dark and stormy, searched mine with a possessive intensity. “You can’t laugh at my jokes...” he whispered, his voice a dangerous rasp as his fingers trailed lower, sending a shiver down my spine, “but you’ll come with my fingers.”I shivered, heat pooling low in my belly at his words, his touch. The world around us blurred, fading into nothing as his hand slipped lower, drawing a ragged gasp from my lips. The look in his eyes told me he knew exactly what he was doing to me, and there was no denying the primal connection between us in that moment.“I don’t need your laughter,” he murmured against my skin, his breath hot on my neck. “I’ll have every other part of you instead.”

I let out a bitter laugh. “It’s ironic, isn’t it? You spent years making my life a living hell, and now you look at me like I’m the very air you breathe.”Lennox’s face fell. “Olivia, it wasn’t supposed to be like this—”I cut him off, my eyes blazing with anger. “Oh, but it was. You wanted me broken. You wanted me to suffer. And I did.” I paused, my voice trembling. “But not anymore.”Louis, who had been silent, spoke softly. “Olivia, we—”I shook my head and took a step back, putting distance between us. “No. Whatever you think you feel, it doesn’t matter. It’s too late. You had a choice. And every single time, you chose her. Over and over again, you chose Anita.”Levi shook his head. “We were wrong.”I met their gazes. “Yes, you were. And now, you’ll have to live with it.”With that, I turned away, refusing to let them see the tears burning in my eyes.••••••••Olivia Parker was once the cherished daughter of a respected Gamma—until betrayal shattered her world. Branded the daughter of a traitor, she was stripped of her title, her dignity, and the life she had known, forced to serve as an Omega among those who once respected her.But fate wasn’t done with her yet.On the night of the mating ceremony, Olivia discovered the cruelest twist of all—she wasn’t fated to just one mate, but three. And not just any three. Alpha Lennox, Alpha Louis, and Alpha Levi—the ruthless triplet Alphas who had spent years tormenting her.Bound to a marriage they never wanted, the triplets made her life a waking nightmare. They paraded their lover, Anita, before her, ensuring she never forgot her place, never forgot that they would never want her.But fate has a way of playing its own game. As secrets unravel and buried truths come to light, the triplets begin to see Olivia for who she truly is—not just a Luna in title, but the woman they never realized they needed.Only now, she’s done waiting.

Xu Youyou, daughter of the Xu family who had been sent to the countryside to nurse her health years ago, had returned to uphold the marriage promise with the Lin family. On the eve of her wedding, the groom escaped abroad in search of his dream girl. The crowd gasped and watched on excitedly.

Xu Youyou’s only comment was, “Okay.” The next instant, her fair hands had seized the collar of a man’s shirt as she asked sweetly, “Mr. Mo, can you marry me?” The business tycoon, Mo Shenbai, was aloof, abstinent, mysterious, and kept a low profile. Having dominated the challenging business industry for ten years, no media was bold enough to post a picture of him, and no woman was able to catch his eye.

Everyone said that Mo Shenbai’s marriage with Xu Youyou was only a contract, and they would surely divorce after a year. Xu Youyou was happily reading these rumors about her, but then she noticed something was off, She didn’t have to pay for her shopping, nor choose her food, and everyone would ardently greet her wherever she went, calling her “Mrs. Xu.” Then, Mo Shenbai’s dream girl came back, and Xu Youyou’s ex-fiance confessed, “Youyou, only my love for you is true.

Come back to me. I won’t dislike you.” Before Xu Youyou could answer him, the domineering man embraced her and said in a low and seductive voice, “Baby, didn’t you tell him that you already have a proof of our love in here?” He placed his warm hand on her flat tummy. Xu Youyou blushed, and the ex-fiance’s eyes turned red…

Choi Hyun-seok, a heavyweight champion of the biggest mixed martial arts league on Earth and the one who was called the strongest had died.Afterwards, he was granted new life as a hero in another world.‘Wealth! Honor! Endless beauties at your fingertips!’With thoughts of such a dazzling future, the first thing that he saw when he came to this new world was a towering ox monster.The monster, who was the commander of the demon army, asked.“Hero? You’re saying you’re the hero?”“Uh…I think…?”And so, that was the start of hell.