Beth Bear Novels & Stories

Third in series. Jake is Midnight Forest Pack's Beta, incredibly popular and handsome, always surrounded by friends, and is successful in business and as his role in pack as Beta. Yet part of his life feels incomplete. Seeing all of his friends settled down with their mates and now having children, Jake can't help but wonder where he went wrong or think if he will forever be alone. Avoidance seems to be the best tactic, and Jake pushes himself harder into work, where an unexpected encounter at a business meeting gets his heart racing and turns his life upside down. Rose, this seemingly perfect, beautiful fated mate of his, has somewhat of an unusual reaction to meeting her mate. Are you meant to be doing your best to avoid your new mate? Or be keeping secrets from him? Not to mention Rose comes from the other side of the world and plans to head home as soon as she can, with promises of keeping in touch, and working things out with time and space. Jake is just happy to finally have his mate, and willing to do all he can to have her by his side. Would Jake be willing to leave all he knows for fate? Or could it be the moon goddess made a mistake, and Jake is better off alone? Or is there a better match out there for him?

Alpha Mason is determined to continue on with life as an Alpha alone after the betrayal of his fated mate. Focused upon his pack he allows himself to become isolated; which only becomes worse as his friends begin to settle down. The young Alpha’s friend, Kai is set to be married, and Mason reluctantly agrees to go out celebrating with his friends. They venture out into the human world, enjoying a few too many drinks, only to find themselves in a bar, and Mason is unable to take his eyes from one of their dancers, Gi-Gi. Mason finds an excuse to talk to the beauty as she dances, and she more than captures his attention as the night wears on. The presence of the beautiful Gianna lingers within Mason's mind, bringing the Alpha back to the bar on more than one occasion with nothing but her in mind. Could it be possible for a friendship to form between a strong and powerful Alpha and a dancer? But, is there more than meets the eye to this dancing beauty? And will the Alpha find himself hurt once again? Or could they be the key to helping one another?

When Iris was sent off at the age of sixteen to train with one of the most skilled Alpha's around, she believed surviving the training was going to be the most gruelling part, but it is when she returned home, the real trouble began. Soon to be Alpha Alban, was Iris's brother's best friend and someone Iris thought she could trust, until one day for seemingly no reason, he changed. He became sick and twisted towards her, beating anyone that came too close to Iris, hounding her with the most vicious insults which left her to sit alone wondering what could have happened. So, when the training had concluded and Iris was sent home, she was prepared to face off with the now Alpha, with the specialist training under her belt she was ready to take him on and show everyone she wasn't the same girl she was when she left. But that was all until she realised, this cruel Alpha was actually her mate. Hurt, angry and confused, she fights against Alban, who was more than surprised with Iris's change but possessively determined to keep her around. With past friends causing the deepest of jealousy, deadly secrets being revealed and a vigilante started by none other than the Alpha's brother, can Iris survive life with her new mate, or sink like a stone. Read on to find out.

Madeline Sanders had always been aware that her marriage to Trevon Gibson was merely a contract. When his first love breezed back into town, Trevon wasted no time in asking for a divorce. Clutching the results of her pregnancy test, Madeline was at a loss for words. She was stripped of everything and left to fend for herself. She decided to start anew as an artist and a single mom. However, Trevon couldn't shake the feeling that something was off. He inexplicably suffered pregnancy symptoms. Madeline's morning sickness became his, her cravings for pickles turned into his own, and her labor pains echoed through his body. Afterward, Madeline declared, "The baby will carry the name Sanders!" There stood Trevon, juggling a bottle and a diaper, "Sanders it is! Darling, when do you say I join the Sanders crew?"

During the eight years I spent by Alpha David’s side, I also raised the pup he had with my late sister. At his birthday banquet, I accidentally wore one of her old dresses. Eight-year-old Dorian grabbed a pot of freshly brewed coffee and poured it over me— right in front of the maids. The scalding liquid burned my skin, and when I looked up, I saw the same cold disgust in his eyes that I’d seen so many times in his father’s. “How dare you wear my mother’s dress?” he sneered. “You’ll never replace her. You killed her with that wicked heart of yours!” The coffee seared more than my flesh. It burned straight through my heart. I looked at the child I’d raised for eight long years. I didn’t feel angry. I didn’t even feel sad. Only a quiet kind of exhaustion. “Don’t worry,” I whispered. “I’ll leave tomorrow.”

My husband's childhood sweetheart is gravely ill. She says her only wish is to die in his arms. So, she boldly moves into our marital home. I demand an explanation for this, but my husband only snaps at me. "Why are you holding this against her when she already has one foot in the grave? Can't you be more magnanimous?" I sneer at that. Half a month later, the paparazzi catch me coming and going from Novak Group's heir's villa. My husband demands an explanation with bloodshot eyes. I imitate his previous response. "Why are you holding this against him? Can't you be more magnanimous?"

Five years ago, my Alpha parents rescued me from an orphanage and brought me home to the Blue Moon Pack. I thought my life was finally taking a turn for the better. I thought I was safe. But I was wrong. Yolanda McKinney—the fake heiress—conspired with rogue wolves to destroy me. They kidnapped me, ran over my legs with a car, breaking them, and left me battered and bleeding. When my parents and my childhood sweetheart, Joseph Delgado, found me lying in a pool of my own blood, their panic was unmistakable. They rushed me to the pack hospital, but the diagnosis was devastating: I might never walk again. Joseph proposed to me on the spot, vowing to stand by me through everything. My parents, furious at Yolanda's betrayal, promised swift justice. They assured me they had cut all ties with her, that she'd fled in guilt and drowned in a tragic accident. I believed them. I had to. For five years, I focused on recovery, trying to rebuild my shattered life. My marriage to Joseph was my anchor, the one thing I thought I could trust. Until the day I saw Yolanda McKinney alive. "You and Mom and Dad saved my life," she said smugly, her voice dripping with venom. "Without you, that pathetic cripple would’ve been the end of me." My blood ran cold as she continued. "But she never suspected, not even for a second, that you and I have a pup. Mom and Dad? They erased every trace, switched her meds for useless pills—hell, they even buried the evidence." Joseph's response shattered what little remained of my heart. "Don't make it sound so harsh," he murmured. "Marrying her was the only way I could keep sending those forgiveness letters. It was the only way to keep you and our son safe." Every word stabbed me like a blade. My marriage? A lie. My parents? Traitors who discarded me like trash. The justice they’d promised me? A farce. Fine. If I meant nothing to them, then they would mean nothing to me.

In the fifth year of my mating to Alpha Tom, his childhood sweetheart, Becky Bell, was splashed across every tabloid in the territory. Pregnant. Unmated. And accused of shattering another couple’s bond. The rumors hit like a rogue’s ambush. But it was his reaction that truly gutted me. “Becky’s father once saved me, she has no pack, no family left. Everything she’s accomplished… she clawed her way to it. Alone.” My fingers clenched tighter around the pregnancy test tucked away in my purse. “And the only way to protect her now,” he continued, not even looking me in the eye, “is for me to marry her. To claim the pup as mine.” “And what about me?” I asked, barely more than a whisper. My voice cracked. The Sunfire Pack and the Golden Fang Pack—my pack—had been allies for over a century. “How do I explain this sudScott rejection to my parents? To my pack? To the elders? They know we're mate bond.” Alpha Tom inhaled sharply. “Just tell them it was always a business arrangement. That there was no real love between us.” My wolf bared her teeth at that. He had the audacity to look away. “Once the media frenzy dies down, I’ll come for you. I’ll bring you back to Sunfire Pack and give you the grand wedding you deserve.” I stared at him. This Alpha—was seriously telling me he was going to marry another she-wolf, claim her pup, let me get torn apart by pack gossip and speculation, and then what? he's offering me his marriage like it’s some kind of charity? My fingers twitched, aching to throw the pregnancy test at him. But I didn’t. I laughed. For three years, I had been the one he discarded—over and over. And now, even my marriage was to be sacrificed for her sake. It hit me then, sharp and cold: It's time for me to leave him

“Wendy, are you absolutely sure you want to sign this document?” The Elder’s voice rang in my ears—cold, distant. “Once your bond with Alpha John is dissolved, you’ll lose everything tied to the Blackthorn Pack.” I gripped the pen so hard my knuckles turned white. “Yes. I’m sure.” But just as the tip touched the paper— BANG! The door was kicked open with a violent crash. Alpha John stormed in, eyes bloodshot, and wrapped his hand around my throat. “You dare?!” Blood slipped from the corner of my lips… but I laughed. Because I knew—he would never discover the truth. That his dear uncle, Alpha Vincent, was hiding in my closet at this very moment. And the fresh bite mark on my lower belly… still burned from last night. As if fate was mocking me, my sweet little sister Penny sent a message right then: “Sis, wanna know a secret? That miscarriage you had? John planned it. He made it happen.” Then the TV flickered to life with a breaking live broadcast— There she was, Penny, gently stroking her swollen belly as she smiled into the camera. “John and I are expecting our baby next month,” she announced proudly to the entire Pack. And Alpha John—my “husband”—stood beside her, lovingly kissing her forehead. Like I never existed. Like I wasn’t the Luna written in law. “Miranda,” my wolf snarled in my head, “Rip those traitors apart—now!” But I didn’t. I wiped the blood from my mouth, and dialed the number I hadn’t called in five long years. “Vincent,” I said calmly, “Come get me.”

I was once the shadow at Nathan’s side, summoned at his will. Pregnant with his child, only to be fed contraception pills by him. On the day of my miscarriage, he was celebrating Liora’s birthday. She took away my parents' love, stole my identity, and destroyed my token, while he stood by and criticized me for being dramatic. They teamed up to lock me in cold storage, tricked me with an AI-generated apology, and even accused me of faking illness when I bled heavily. The day they tossed me out like garbage, I saw the true face of this deceitful pair—the man who abandoned me for vanity, and the woman who exploited a fake pregnancy and staged car accidents to drain him of his last worth. But I didn’t die. Danny found me, half alive, and showed me what it feels like to be cherished. Now, standing on their ruins, those who hurt me have become the badges of my rebirth.