Ashes Artinya

Born under the silver glow of the moon, Liora was marked with a mysterious birthmark and a destiny she could neither understand nor escape. Raised in the Beta household, her life was one of cruelty...scorned by her stepmother Mariseth and tormented by her sister Ravena, whose envy grew sharper with every passing day. Liora’s only solace was Kaelen, the Alpha’s son, her childhood sweetheart and the secret keeper of her fragile hope. But everything shatters on the night of the shifting ceremony. While Ravena blooms into a powerful wolf, Liora collapses under the weight of the Moon’s power, left motionless and declared wolfless. Whispers spread like wildfire, unwanted, useless, broken. Yet, Kaelen’s lingering affection keeps her spirit alive… until the truth claws its way into the light. The Moon Goddess has chosen. Drawn by an irresistible bond, Kaelen and Ravena discover they are mates, bound by fate itself. To Ravena, it is triumph at last, the ultimate way to crush the sister she loathes. To Kaelen, it is torment; his heart burns for Liora, yet the pull of destiny ties him to another. And to Liora, it is the ultimate betrayal: abandoned by the one she loves, broken promises and hunted by the jealousy of her sister. But Liora’s birthmark holds secrets far greater than anyone realizes. A destiny tied not just to a pack, but to the balance of wolves and the Moon itself. As love turns to obsession, and envy turns to violence, the question lingers: Will Liora rise from the ashes of rejection to claim the power meant for her, or will the wolves who betrayed her destroy her first?

Avyanna has spent her life mastering survival. A brilliant scholarship student by day, a strategist and fighter by necessity, she carries the weight of a childhood tragedy that left her orphaned. When she falls for Kairus Chu—the rebellious heir of a powerful conglomerate—she allows herself a fleeting moment of happiness. Their love defies all odds, culminating in a secret marriage despite his mother’s ruthless opposition. But behind the scenes, Avyanna’s trusted mentor, Lord Mendez, pulls unseen strings, shaping her fate for his own ends. Their love is shattered when Zhen, a cunning rival, conspires with Kairus’ mother to frame Avyanna for murder. Betrayed, sentenced to life in prison, and pregnant with Kairus’ child, she refuses to be broken. With her only ally, Huan Yue, she orchestrates a daring escape, vanishing in fire and blood—reborn as Bernadette Lu, a shadow queen of the underworld. Years later, Avyanna returns with a vengeance, dismantling the Chu empire piece by piece. She manipulates Dylan Chu, Kairus’ ambitious younger brother, and unearths the true enemy—Lord Mendez, the man who orchestrated her downfall and her parents’ deaths. As she leaves devastation in her wake, Kairus, now a pawn of his mother’s ambitions, is forced to confront the memories of the love he lost. As Zhen and the Chu matriarch fall, Avyanna stands at the precipice of her ultimate choice: to reclaim the love that once defined her or to walk away forever, knowing that vengeance has carved an unbridgeable distance between who she was and who she has become. When Kairus finally finds her, face-to-face with the daughter he never knew, the question lingers—can love survive the ashes of war?

“I need a bride,” Drayce said, eyes burning into hers. “And the moment I saw you, I knew—I’d burn the world just to make you mine.” Noong mamatay ang mga magulang ni Zseya ay naiwan siya sa pangangalaga ng kaniyang Auntie Isadora. They treated her like a maid, at tinanggap niya ’yon ng walang angal. Ngunit nang dahil sa isang pangyayari ay pinalayas siya ng kaniyang Auntie Isadora, at itinakwil siya ng kaniyang Lolo Delfin sa pamilyang Arguelles. Sa labis na hirap at sakit, mas pinili na lamang niyang umalis — she didn’t expect to meet the man who’s gonna change her life. Drayce Zamora is a multi-billionaire. A man sculpted by power, precision, and pain. Born into wealth but shaped by loss. His father died under scandal. His mother abandoned the limelight. Drayce rebuilt the Zamora legacy from ashes, swearing he would never be weak again. He owns half the city, but no one owns him. Love? That’s a distraction. Until he met her — Zseya Arguelles. Inalok niya si Zseya na tumira sa mansion niya, pag-aaralin, at handa niya itong protektahan mula sa pamilyang umabandona, kapalit ng pagpapakasal nito sa kaniya. Tatanggapin kaya ni Zseya ang alok ng binata o mas pipiliin niyang tumayo sa sarili niyang mga paa kahit alam niyang mahihirapan siya? Eh, paano kung no choice na siya dahil Boss niya rin ito? Naku, mukhang wala na talaga siyang kawala!

Cole Patrick is merely a doorstep spawn who is reluctantly adopted by the Wyatt dynasty. He endures the mistreatment from the family but cannot speak up because the Wyatt's are powerful and influential. Zye Wyatt is an exception. She shows him kindness but is careful not to do it in front of the other members of the family. An innocent touch, a shared laugh, and suddenly, their bond blossoms into a forbidden love, ignited under the stars one lazy evening. However, their ruse comes to an end on prom night when Zane, Zye's brother finds them kissing behind the school library. He reports to their father who ships Zye abroad and kicks Cole out. At 18, homeless and determined to rise above his status, Cole forges a path of his own. Ten years later, Zye, broken and fresh from her divorce, finds herself looking for work in a small town. She is attracted to a bike gang from the town and is interested in joining as a step to her freedom. She realises that the bike gang leader is none other than Cole. Hardened by life but still her first love. However, their reunion does not last longer. A private investigator sent to find Zye's whereabouts reports them to her dad. The fragile peace they've curated shatters as shocking truths emerge: Cole wasn't abandoned; he was stolen from his mother after Mr. Wyatt brutally murdered his father. And his mother? Alive, a prisoner of the Wyatts' dark secrets all these years. Now, Cole stands at a crossroads: choose the woman who once offered him solace, or embrace the roaring vengeance for his shattered past and reclaim his stolen birthright. Can their love, forged in the fires of deception and longing, survive the ashes of Wyatt family lies?

Richard Franklin has left his Midwestern roots behind to live on the coast of Maine with his family. But in the autumn of the year 2000, he must return to his Illinois birthplace on a sorrowful journey. His wife Michelle has been killed in New England by a hit-and-run driver who is never found, so back home he comes with her cremated remains, to fulfill a final wish and on her birthday scatter her ashes in the park along the river in Blackwater Valley—simply Blackwater Val to locals—the small town where they both grew up and fell in love. With him he brings his six-year-old daughter Katie who still grieves for her lost mother: Katie, who can sometimes guess who’s going to be on the phone before it rings. Who can stop all the clocks in the house, and break up clouds in the sky with her mind, and heal sicknesses, and who sometimes sees things that aren’t there...people who are no longer alive. All gifts she inherited from her mother. Only something isn’t quite right in the Val. Sinkholes are opening up, revealing the plague pits the sleepy hamlet was built over in the 1830s, when malaria and cholera outbreaks ran riot. Mysterious bird and fish die-offs begin to occur, and Katie can see ghosts of the dead gathering all around. But what she can’t see is the charred, centuries-old malevolence which has been waiting for her, and wants her for its very own. Or the pale Sallow Man who haunts the town’s nighttime streets...or the river witch—another Blackwater Val, of sorts—each of whom will be drawn one by one into the nightmarish bloodletting about to take place. ©️ Crystal Lake Publishing

My twin sister, wanting to be with her thug boyfriend, secretly planned to apply for a junior college. When I could not talk her out of it, I told our parents and managed to stop her. However, just a month into the new semester, her thug boyfriend cheated on her. She left a suicide note, blaming it all on the long distance between them. She wrote that if she had gone to that junior college, her boyfriend would never have cheated. Grief‑stricken, my parents turned all their rage on me. "You wretched girl, this is all your fault for meddling! What business was it of yours which school your sister went to? Even if she didn't go to college, we could still support her. We didn't need your big mouth!" "If it weren't for your spiteful tongue, your sister wouldn't be dead!" "We were cursed to have a vicious, unfilial daughter like you!" They locked me in her room, ordering me to repent. Then they took her ashes on a trip, saying they wanted her to see the beautiful mountains and rivers she never got to visit in life. A month later, they returned from their travels to find me long dead, starved to a withered husk in front of my sister's photo. Their eyes held no grief, no guilt, only a faint, scornful curl of the lips. In their eyes, my death was nothing more than justice served. My broken soul saw their icy expressions, and despairing tears burned my eyes. Then my sister's familiar voice rang out again: "What business is it of yours which school I go to? You're just jealous that I have a boyfriend, aren't you?"

Six years ago, Elena Romano was the cherished daughter of one of the most powerful business families in New York. She had wealth, status, and the love of Killian Graves, the man who promised to stand by her forever. But everything changed the night her family was framed for embezzlement and murder, their empire burned to the ground. Betrayed, hunted, and left with nothing, Elena disappeared—presumed dead. Now, she’s back. Not as the naive heiress she once was, but as Raven Black, the mysterious self-made billionaire who built an empire from the ashes of her past. Ruthless, untouchable, and dangerous, she has only one goal: revenge. Her first target? Killian Graves—the man she once loved, and the man she believes destroyed her family. But Killian is not the same man she left behind. Cold, powerful, and feared by all, he rules the corporate world with an iron fist. When Elena crosses his path again, he sees right through her disguise. But instead of exposing her, he makes a shocking offer Forced into a high-stakes game of seduction and power, Elena plays along, waiting for the perfect moment to destroy him. But the closer she gets, the more she realizes—everything she believed was a lie. ⚠️ Killian didn’t betray her—someone else did. ⚠️ The real enemy has been hiding in the shadows all along. ⚠️ And the man she swore to ruin… never stopped loving her. As hidden secrets unravel and deadly enemies close in, Elena finds herself caught between vengeance and passion, lies and truth, love and hate. But when the past comes back to finish what it started, she must decide: Will she destroy Killian once and for all? Or will she risk everything… and let him own her completely?

Life can be cruel. One moment you’re on the verge of reaching the peak of your career, your sweetheart of five years finally down on one knee, promising forever. The next, your world burns to ashes—literally. Now, I’m not just a prisoner; I’m the plaything of the most feared man in the country. I told myself I hated him, that I’d never break. But what kind of woman starts to crave the way he owns her body, the way his touch sets her on fire? How do you survive when the man who owns you is as ruthless as he is captivating? How do you escape a man who makes you question everything, even your sanity? ~~ When her father’s PTSD causes a catastrophic accident, Lucia Castellano finds herself at the mercy of Dante Romano, a man whose name strikes fear into the heart of Chicago’s criminal underworld. Taken as a slave to pay for her father’s alleged crime, Lucia is thrown into a world of power, control and dangerous seduction. Dante’s control is absolute, his touch both punishing and addictive. What starts as a fight for survival turns into a dangerous game of submission and trust. But as the lines blur between captor and captive, Lucia begins to unravel a dark truth: Dante is haunted by a past that binds them more deeply than she ever expected. Together, they must uncover a web of lies to uncover the truth behind the fire that changed both their lives forever. Author’s Note: This book contains explicit content, strong language, violence, and other adult themes that may be disturbing to some readers. Reader discretion is advised.

Five years ago, I woke up naked beside my husband’s beta, and in that moment, my entire world burned. My mate, Draven, the Alpha of Midnight MC, looked at me like I was filth. He didn’t let me speak. He didn’t believe me. He stripped me of my title, my name, and everything I was, and he banished me. I rebuilt my life from the ashes as a mechanic. A woman learning to live without the bond that once defined her. Until the day he walked back into my life, not Draven, but his estranged stepbrother, Calix. The same man who used to torment me in college just to get under my skin. Cocky, reckless, and infuriatingly charming, the kind of danger that made my heart forget how to beat. He offered me a deal to pretend to be his girlfriend in a three-month biker tournament and he’d rebuild my shattered shop. I should’ve said no. Because when I walked into that tournament, I saw Draven again, he looked colder than I remembered... and standing beside him, heavily pregnant, was my best friend, Lauren, who betrayed me. Now my past and present are colliding in flames. The mate who abandoned me wants me back. The stepbrother who once bullied me wants me. And the lies that ruined my life are unraveling faster than I can breathe. I’m torn between two brothers, one who broke my soul and one who pieced it back together. And I don’t know which one I’m meant to love... or which one will burn me in the end.

Nyma, the Privileged Luna, never imagined her life would be dictated by an unbreakable mate bond. Raised in a werewolf pack where loyalty to a single mate was sacred, she struggled to accept her fate with Prince Adrain—the future Lycan King. Six months into their marriage, Nyma has balanced the weight of leading her pack and navigating the treacherous politics of the Lycan royal family. She sacrificed her claim to the throne, choosing freedom over power, earning the scorn of her mate’s family—especially Second Prince Lucian, the brother who still dares to claim her as his second mate. On the night of her baby shower, everything shatters. Secrets unravel, betrayals surface, and Nyma walks in on the ultimate heartbreak—her mate entwined with the one woman from his past he swore meant nothing. Now, with her heart in pieces and her child’s future at stake, Nyma must decide: fight for a bond that has only brought her pain or break free from fate and forge her own destiny? Love may be fated—but trust is earned. And Adrain has just lost hers. She survives. And then she takes everything. Left for dead, Nyma rises from the ashes with a single purpose—to reclaim the legacy that was stolen from her and make the ones who wronged her choke on their own betrayal. The young Luna was never meant to be a pawn in Lycan politics, and she sure as hell won’t be a forgotten footnote in Adrian’s story. She builds her own pack, her own empire. And when the so-called King and his family come crawling, desperate for the very heir they discarded? Oops. Her bastard just took their legacy.