Fated to My Best Friend's Brother (eBook)
182 Seiten
Publishdrive (Verlag)
978-0-00-112289-5 (ISBN)
He is the Lycan King who rejected her. She is the mate who kept his heir a secret.
Four years ago, Ava Rowen was exiled and shattered when Liam Carter, the Lycan King, coldly dismissed their intense mate bond for the sake of his ancient crown. Ava survived by fleeing, raising their son, Miles, in secret-a beautiful, vulnerable heir the King never knew existed.
But necessity forces Ava back into the heart of Liam's empire as his Executive Assistant. The forbidden proximity is a fuse waiting to blow, unleashing a protective, possessive Lycan wolf in Liam that screams Claim! every time she resists his authority.
The tension becomes fatal when a shadowy human organization, The Purge, targets the Lycans with a devastating biological weapon. Liam's kingdom is under siege, and Ava's deepest fear is realized: The Purge is hunting for the one flaw in the King's pure bloodline-the half-blood Lycan Prince.
Liam must now work side-by-side with the woman who defied him, forced to confront the lie she told to protect their son. Their volatile alliance demands a brutal reckoning: Can a bond forged in betrayal save a kingdom, or will Liam's obsession with control doom the very family he never claimed?
If you love forbidden romance, high-stakes secrets, and a devastatingly dominant Alpha who has to grovel, dive into this intense story of destiny and defiance.
Copyright © 2025 by Michael Clanton
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations used in reviews, critical articles, or scholarly works.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
All rights are reserved by the author. Unauthorized duplication or distribution of this work, in whole or in part, is a violation of applicable copyright laws and may result in legal action.
Prologue: Four Years, Four Heartbeats
Chapter 1: The Corner Office Cage
Chapter 3: Working After Midnight
Chapter 4: The Slip Of Control
Chapter 5: A Night Of Reckoning
Chapter 6: The Scent Of Another
Chapter 7: The Nephew And The Lycan
Chapter 8: The Exile’s Network
Chapter 9: The Pathogen Threat
Chapter 12: The Shattered King
Chapter 13: Reluctant Alliance
Chapter 15: The Lycan Reckoning
Epilogue: The Golden Future, The Shadowed Threat
PROLOGUE: FOUR YEARS, FOUR HEARTBEATS
T
he single word echoed in the empty, hollow chamber of Ava Rowen’s heart, a constant, abrasive rhythm beneath the roar of Aethel City. Four years ago, she had fled the gilded cages of the Lycan world, and every frantic step she took tonight was a testament to the fact that four years wasn’t nearly enough time to erase a history written in blood and destiny.
Rain lashed down the obsidian glass towers of the financial district, turning the streetlights into shivering halos. The air, thick with the smell of wet pavement, ozone, and corporate ambition, was a poor mask for the scents that always found her.
She shifted the weight in her arms. Miles, her four-year-old son, was a solid, warm bundle against her chest, heavy with the deep, trusting sleep of childhood. She tucked his small, dark head beneath the collar of her trench coat, shielding him from the deluge. The coat wasn't meant to protect against the rain; it was meant to hide them, to dull the scent of unnatural blood bond that clung to the boy like a beacon.
Miles was a miracle, a secret, and the Lycan world’s most dangerous paradox. He was the son of the exiled Luna, and the hidden heir of the Lycan King.
Liam Carter.
Even the unspoken name tasted like ash and betrayal on her tongue. It was a brand on her soul, a primal, scorching imprint that time had failed to cool.
“Almost there, little wolf,” she murmured against his soft hair. Her own wolf, a snarling, protective shadow that lived permanently coiled beneath her ribs, stirred at the affectionate lie. She had never let Miles shift, never taught him the truths of their blood. He was Miles Rowen, a normal boy, and that was the only defense she had.
She rounded the corner onto St. Michael’s Square, a stretch of road dominated by the towering, brutalist architecture of the Carter Group Headquarters. Even from here, she felt the oppressive weight of the building, a glass-and-steel mountain that was both the pinnacle of human finance and the hidden epicenter of Lycan power. It was Liam's kingdom, a fortress built on isolation and control.
Ava’s pace quickened. She needed a cab immediately. Harper, Liam’s sister and Ava’s best friend—the only person who knew the whole, terrible truth—was waiting in a secure location miles away.
The square was eerily deserted save for a lone, black sedan, polished to a mirror shine, cruising slowly past the curb.
It was in the polished black reflection of that car’s tinted window that Ava saw him.
A phantom. A nightmare dressed in bespoke midnight wool.
She stopped so abruptly the breath hitched in her throat.
Reflected in the window, momentarily illuminated by the flash of a street lamp, was the unmistakable profile of Liam Carter. He was driving, his dominant hands resting lightly on the wheel, his posture coiled and dangerous even in repose. But it was his eyes—even refracted and distorted by the rain-streaked glass—that stopped her heart.
They were molten gold, a deep, burning, inhuman color she knew intimately. They weren't looking at her. They were scanning the street, surveying his territory, but the sight was enough.
Terror, cold and absolute, gripped her. He wasn’t supposed to be here. He was supposed to be trapped in his ivory tower, manipulating markets, avoiding the world. Had he been searching? Had he smelled her? Her scent was buried under rain and four years of deliberately suppressed pheromones, but she knew his Lycan senses transcended human limitations. He could smell a lie across a crowded room, and the scent of his own son? That scent was the ultimate threat.
Her wolf surged, snapping against the mental chains she’d imposed. Run. Run, little one, he sees us.
He doesn't see us, Ava fiercely countered, pressing her heel into the wet concrete, forcing herself back into motion. He’s a ghost. A memory.
But the fear was real. The sheer proximity to the source of her pain, the man who had looked at her, at their shared, incandescent connection, and dismissed it as a "mismatched destiny," sent a shockwave through her nervous system. She felt the ancient, unbreakable tether of the mate bond, dormant for years, attempt to snap back into place, pulling her toward the dark, dominant energy radiating from the car.
She broke into a desperate jog, Miles jostling slightly but staying asleep, a testament to the unique resilience of his bloodline.
The black sedan slid past her, oblivious, and then the sound hit.
It wasn't a growl or a footstep. It was the harsh, authoritative voice of a news anchor blasting from a weatherproof television screen mounted outside a closed café.
Ava risked a glance. The large digital screen was displaying a high-resolution, intimidating headshot of Liam Carter. He looked every inch the ruthless Lycan King: cold, powerful, and utterly inaccessible.
The anchor's voice, amplified and distorted by the rain, cut through the noise.
"...The fallout from the alleged corporate espionage charges continues to rock global markets. Sources close to the investigation suggest that the Carter Group CEO, Liam Carter, is facing unprecedented scrutiny from a joint task force, signaling a major challenge to the conglomerate’s seemingly impenetrable financial empire. These are the first steps in what analysts are calling a hostile corporate and governmental operation targeting the very foundations of the Carter Group’s power..."
Ava stumbled, skidding on a slick patch of marble. She steadied herself against a planter, the reality of the broadcast hitting her with the force of a physical blow.
Liam wasn’t just dealing with market correction or a rival pack. He was being hunted by a human-led organization with the resources of governments and corporations—exactly the kind of entity that could easily expose the secret world she’d fled.
The familiar, deep-seated resentment she harbored for his past rejection was momentarily overshadowed by a colder, more immediate fear. If Liam's empire was compromised, if his security was failing, then her meticulously constructed shell of a life was failing too.
Her secret—the little boy currently sleeping in her arms—was no longer safe. The Lycan King who had rejected her was now, ironically, the vulnerable target of a larger, terrifying force. And if they could reach him, they could certainly reach the secret son he never knew existed. Miles was not just the Lycan heir; he was the ultimate bargaining chip.
Ava pulled her phone, her fingers fumbling over the rain-wet glass. She typed a single, cryptic message to Harper: The walls are thinner than we thought. Code Red.
A taxi finally splashed its way around the corner, its yellow light a welcome, ordinary sight. She yanked the back door open, tossed the battered diaper bag inside, and carefully strapped Miles into the seatbelt.
As the cab pulled away, speeding toward the anonymous human suburbs, Ava looked back at the vast, glittering, dangerous skyline of Aethel City. The Carter Headquarters rose like a sword tip against the dark, stormy sky.
She was running, but for the first time in four years, she felt the deep, terrible certainty that running was no longer enough. The universe, or perhaps the cursed mate bond, was pulling her back into the very fire she had desperately tried to escape. Soon, she would have to face the cold-eyed man who broke her...
| Erscheint lt. Verlag | 13.12.2025 |
|---|---|
| Sprache | englisch |
| Themenwelt | Kinder- / Jugendbuch |
| ISBN-10 | 0-00-112289-4 / 0001122894 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-0-00-112289-5 / 9780001122895 |
| Informationen gemäß Produktsicherheitsverordnung (GPSR) | |
| Haben Sie eine Frage zum Produkt? |
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