Cedella is a passionate storyteller known for her bold romantic and spicy novels that keep readers hooked from the very first chapter. With a flair for crafting emotionally intense plots and unforgettable characters, she blends love, desire, and drama into every story she writes. Cedella’s storytelling style is immersive and addictive—perfect for fans of heated romances and heart-pounding twists.
Alayah, a sixteen-year-old Lycan, grows up in a household shadowed by grief, emotional detachment, and unanswered questions. Her earliest memories are filled with images of her mother drifting mentally and emotionally far away, as if inhabiting a world beyond reach. Alayah’s grandmother often mentions that when Alayah was a baby, her mother was loving and attentive. Yet the moment Alayah began reacting and showing awareness, her mother began pulling away.
No one provides Alayah with a clear explanation. Instead, she grows up piecing together fragments—her mother’s quiet sorrow, her grandmother’s protective nature, and a household heavy with silence. Dinner times especially feel like walking on glass. Her mother’s presence casts an uneasy shadow on the table, making Alayah and Grandma tread with caution. It becomes painfully clear that Alayah’s mother is physically present but emotionally absent.
Through the years, Alayah learns to stop expecting affection or connection from her mother. She redirects her energy toward responsibilities—her studies, particularly accounting—and toward the Alpha she hopes to eventually serve. The numbers and structure offer her predictability, a contrast to the emotional chaos of her home.
Alayah’s father died long before she ever had the chance to know him—taken from the family in a brutal Rogue attack. He and her mother had marked each other only six months earlier, forming the sacred Mate bond. His death shattered her mother so completely that even the news of pregnancy could not pull her from despair.
Grandma reveals that during the pregnancy, the depression was so severe that she had to watch Alayah’s mother constantly, fearful she might harm herself. After Alayah was born, her mother stayed with the family for a few years before beginning her unpredictable cycle of disappearances. She would vanish for months at a time, reappearing only to sit silently by the flowerbed her Mate—Alayah’s father—had planted for her.
This flowerbed becomes a significant emotional anchor for Alayah. It is the only physical connection she has to her father, and she tends to it with dedication. In a household where love feels distant, that patch of flowers gives her a sense of closeness to the man she never met but instinctively feels tied to.
By the time Alayah is nearing seventeen, her mother’s instability has become the norm. She returns and disappears without warning, leaving behind emotional turbulence. Despite this, a small hopeful part of Alayah yearns for a normal mother-daughter bond.
Days before Alayah’s seventeenth birthday, something unusual happens: her mother returns, looks her directly in the eye, and finally speaks the truth. She apologizes softly and confesses, “You remind me too much of him.”
Those words, brief yet deeply revealing, lift the veil from Alayah’s childhood. She suddenly understands that her mother’s pain has always been connected to her father’s death—and to Alayah herself, who inherited her father’s jet-black hair, emerald eyes, and even his mannerisms. In her mother’s grief-stricken mind, looking at her daughter meant reliving the love she had lost.
For Alayah, this revelation is both heartbreaking and liberating. She finally receives clarity, but at the cost of realizing her mother never truly saw her—only the ghost of the Mate she lost.
As her desire to know her father grows, Alayah turns to her grandmother’s brother, Uncle Rex. In a moment of unfiltered honesty, he reveals something that shocks her: her father was the older brother of the Pack’s Beta. This means Alayah has a whole family she never knew about—a family who never once sought her out.
Questions flood her mind. Why did no one from her father’s side come looking for her or her mother after his death? Why didn’t they check on the baby he left behind? Did they even know she existed?
Determined to uncover the truth, Alayah sets out for the Pack-house the next morning. Anxiety coils in her stomach, but she forces herself forward, Topaz—her loyal wolf companion—by her side.
She sees Pack members on patrol, some on errands, and others hurrying around, living their lives. Alayah feels detached from them, shaped by homeschooling and early college classes, too isolated to form friendships. She holds her head high anyway, ready to confront whatever waits ahead.
Upon entering the Pack-house, Alpha Randell spots her and immediately looks puzzled. Alayah greets him politely, but his confusion grows when she introduces herself simply as “Alayah, from the eastern border.” Standing beside him is a tall, imposing man—her father’s brother, though he remains silent and unreadable.
There is an unspoken tension in the room. Alpha Randell instructs her to have breakfast and meet him in his office afterwards. Alayah senses the moment of truth approaching.
During breakfast, she gathers her resolve. When she later walks toward the Alpha’s office, her uncle follows quietly, though Topaz mischievously makes faces at him. Upon reaching the office, he opens the door and expects her to step inside immediately.
But Alayah refuses. She knows Pack protocol is sacred. Entering an Alpha’s office without invitation is a breach of respect.
“I’ll wait until Alpha Randell invites me,” she says calmly, asserting her strength and dignity.
This moment of defiance stuns both men.
Finally, Alpha Randell grants permission, and she steps inside.
Inside the office, her grandfather—the Alpha’s father—appears and wastes no time asking the life-changing question: “Are you my granddaughter?”
This question strips away all pretense. Alayah responds with honesty and controlled emotion. She explains her father’s death, her mother’s grief, and the fact that she has lived with her grandmother all her life. Most painfully, she reveals that no one from her father’s family ever came for her.
The implication is clear: she grew up believing she had no paternal family because they allowed her to believe it.
She doesn’t wait for their excuses. Her dignity wounded but intact, she leaves the office and the Pack-house. If they want her in their lives, they will have to make the effort—not the other way around.
Later, Alpha Randell and her grandfather visit her home. They explain what really happened years ago. After her father’s death, the family was consumed by mourning. Her mother, already struggling emotionally, never visited the Pack-house and never brought Alayah to meet them. They believed she wanted nothing to do with them.
Alpha Randell admits the family never liked Alayah’s mother, but he cannot fully explain why. Alayah senses there is more to the story, and silently resolves to ask her grandfather later.
This conversation marks the beginning of reconciliation. Slowly, a relationship forms between Alayah and her grandfather, though her paternal uncle remains distant and cold.
Five years pass. Alayah is now a poised young woman of twenty-one, well-educated, disciplined, and more connected to the Pack than she ever expected. She visits the Pack-house regularly and has built a warm bond with her grandfather, who appreciates her intelligence and composure.
On this particular morning, she finishes breakfast in the bustling dining hall and waits for him. When he arrives, he apologizes for being late—buried under work, especially with the pressure coming from Alpha Randell.
Alayah realizes he is stressed because the future Alpha, Marc, is searching for his Mate. This is an important moment for the entire Pack. Tradition, territory, and alliances could all shift depending on who Marc’s Mate is.
Recently, rumors have circulated that Marc’s Mate might be the only remaining Pup from the neighboring Pack. Alayah speculates about a possible merging of the two Packs, a new Pack-house, and a restructuring of roles and responsibilities. The Pack is on the brink of change.
Amid the political speculation and leadership restructuring, Alayah’s heart quietly harbors a personal longing. She hopes to find her own Mate—someone who will love her deeply and unconditionally, someone who will stay with her instead of disappearing the way her mother always did.
She dreams of the warmth of companionship, a bond that strengthens rather than weakens, and a partner who will embrace her entirely—not the ghost of her father, not the shadow of her mother’s pain, but her.
Her life has taught her resilience and independence, but she yearns for emotional connection. She has seen too much heartbreak to settle for anything less than a Mate who cherishes her.
Alayah’s mother is not cruel—she is shattered. Her emotional abandonment stems from profound grief, illustrating how unresolved trauma can ripple through generations.
Growing up unaware of her father’s family leaves Alayah struggling to understand where she fits. Her journey is one of reclaiming identity and demanding recognition.
Alayah’s choice to study accounting and contribute to Pack leadership shows her determination to create her own place in the world.
Despite everything she endured, Alayah continues to hope for love, belonging, and a future Mate who will give her the emotional stability she never had.
Alayah’s journey is one of survival, courage, and patience. She has:
grown up in emotional isolation
faced abandonment from her mother
uncovered the truth about her father’s family
reclaimed her place in the Pack
forged a bond with her grandfather
and embraced her strengths and ambitions
Now, as the Pack prepares for major changes, Alayah stands ready—not as a forgotten child, but as a capable young woman with a sharp mind and a resilient heart.
She looks forward to the future, to her Mate, to a life defined not by the shadows of the past but by the promise of her own strength and destiny.
