Beneath The Waves

The things we want are so very rarely the things we need. Clifton Heights, a modest Adirondack town, offers many unique attractions. Arcane Delights sells both paperbacks and hard-to-find limited editions. The Skylark Diner serves the best home-cooked meals around, with friendly service and a smile. Every August, Mr. Jingo’s County Fair visits, to the delight of children and adults. In essence, Clifton Heights is the quintessential small American town. Everyone knows everyone else, and everyone is treated like family. It is quiet, simple, and peaceful. But shadows linger here. Flitting in dark corners, from the corner of the eye. If you walk down Main Street after dark, the slight scrape of shoes on asphalt whispers you're not alone, but when you look over your shoulder, no one is there. The moon shines high and bright in the night sky, but instead of throwing light, it only seems to make the shadows lengthen. Children disappear. Teens run away. Hunters get lost in the woods with frightening regularity. Husbands go mad, and wives vanish in the dead of night. And still, when the sun rises in the morning, you are greeted by townspeople with warm waves and friendly smiles, and the shivers pass as everything seems fresh and new... Until night falls once more. Handy's Pawn and Thrift sits several blocks down from Arcane Delights. Like any thrift store, its wares range from the mundane to the bizarre. By daylight, it seems just another slice of small town Americana. But in its window hangs a sign which reads: We Have Things You Need. And when a lonely traveling salesman comes looking for something he desperately wants, after normal visiting hours, after night has fallen, he will face a harsh truth among the shelves of Handy’s Pawn and Thrift: the things we want are rarely the things we need. ©️ Crystal Lake Publishing

In the brutal world of professional hockey, where alphas dominate the ice and omegas are sidelined or hidden, enforcer Jax Harlan has always played as a beta tough, unyielding, invisible to scents. Until one brutal check during a heated rivalry game shatters everything. His body betrays him mid-shift: pheromones flood the rink, heat crashes in waves, and the league's suppressants fail spectacularly. Jax isn't a beta. He's a late-bloomer omega, and the revelation hits like a body slam identity crisis, shame, fear of losing his career in a sport that chews up "weak" secondaries. Enter Ronan Kane, captain of the rival team, the Ice Wolves. Cold, commanding, and haunted by his family's dark legacy his father was banned from the league after a scandal involving pheromone manipulation and fixed games that ruined their pack. Ronan swore off omegas to avoid the same downfall, burying his instincts under layers of control and victory. But Jax's sudden, intoxicating scent during that game? It awakens something primal Ronan can't ignore. Forced into proximity by a league investigation into "tampered suppressants" , the two enemies clash on the ice in brutal checks, off it in locked locker rooms and quarantined hotel suites during Jax's first uncontrollable heat. Jax fights his new biology, refusing to be claimed or pitied. Ronan battles his possessive urges, terrified bonding will expose his family's secrets and destroy them both. As playoffs loom and the truth unravels corrupt pack politics rigging trades, hidden mpreg risks for omegas in pro sports their rivalry ignites into something deeper: slow-burn trust, raw vulnerability, and a knot that could either save or ruin them. In a world that demands alphas conquer and omegas submit, can two broken players rewrite the rules... or will the ice crack under the weight of their claim?.

Kang Jae Woon is the youngest prosecutor in his department. With his handsome appearance, outstanding achievement, and powerful family background, he is being admired and envied at the same time by many people. One day, his best friend, Han Ryan is murdered by a serial killer and Jae Woon felt his world is crumbling down. Due to his excessive sadness, Jae Woon drowns himself in alcohol at his house, alone. He drunk and snacking food until his body suddenly convulsed in an allergic reaction. "Shit! Who the fuck put almonds in my snack?! I clearly remind the salesgirl to not put any almond in my baggage! Damn it! Where is my medicine?!" As he's groping around in agony, searching for his precious medicine, Jae Woon felt his body plopped on the bed as his consciousness faded and darkness is embracing his body. How miserable. To think I would die because of a stupid almond...Ryan will be laughing when he heard this. ------ "Wake up, you pig!" A harsh voice is jolted him away from his sleeping state. At the same time, his body is being drenched by a bucket of smelly water. "Since you're a pig, you didn't mind to bathe in poop, right?" Mocking waves of laughter are resounding in the dark, small room. Three boys and one girl are looking down at him with disgusted expressions plastered on their faces. One of the boys is holding an empty bucket. Jae Woon is dumbfounded. Wha...? Where is he? No, no, no. Actually, who are these pompous brats?! How dare they...Jae Woon suddenly felt that something is wrong with his body. He had difficulty in moving around and felt extremely sluggish. What is this?! Since when his slender and sturdy body changed into a piggy in just one night?!

Jealousy, obsession, and secrets lurk beneath the surface, threatening to tear Lily's world apart, as she navigates the twist and turns of love and friendship, she must decide which boy is truly right for her and face the consequences of her choices. ______________________ Eighteen-year-old Lily Davis, who has never been in an intimate relationship, finds her self-torn between two boys in her senior year. Mark, the arrogant, cocksure and most popular boy in school who commands attention with his entourage wielding his sharp wit to garner both envy and admiration. On the other hand, there's Ethan, the enigmatic newcomer, captivating attention with his mere presence. His tall and attractive physique a magnet that draws admiring glances toward him. Lily was never interested in getting a boyfriend but her bestfriend puts the idea in her head, along as the sudden apperence of Ethan who caught her attention at first glance. She makes an attempt to know Ethan but later finds out Mark is his childhood bestfriend and because of this, she gets close to both of them, drawn to their unique personalities. But soon, Lily realizes that there is more to them than their perfect smile and handsome faces. The secret and unsaid words that hid beneath their Charming personality comes to light as she finds out that the perfect truth can turn out to be the biggest lie. Does she really love them? Or is she caught in a web of manipulation? Can she really trust who they say they are?

"You look like my wife, but something tells me you're not her." Betrayed. Poisoned. Forgotten. Luna Hale thought the worst pain a mate could bring was rejection — until the night her own husband and twin sister ended her life in a hospital room that reeked of betrayal. Her last breath was a promise whispered to the Moon Goddess: “If I ever return, I will never forgive them.” But fate had other plans. Reborn in another body — that of Alara, the missing Luna of a rival pack — she wakes beneath a silver moon with no memory of how or why she’s there. The only thing she knows is survival. Yet the world she’s thrust into is darker than the one she left behind. Shadows whisper her name, and every heartbeat feels like someone else’s. When she’s brought before Alpha Ryder, her new husband, she senses danger beneath his calm gaze. And when her former mate, Alpha Damon, appears at a grand ball, the air itself crackles with an impossible truth — her soul still burns for him. The mate bond hasn’t died. It’s only changed. Now, two Alphas want her. One for love. One for redemption. But the Moon Goddess doesn’t give gifts — she trades souls. And to escape her curse, Luna must face the cruelest fate of all: Loving the man who killed her… or killing the man she still loves.

Kyra should have died the night her world was reduced to ash. Born into a powerful bloodline of fire witches, she watched her family fall—slaughtered by a king terrified of their magic. Scarred by flames and driven by vengeance, she returns to the kingdom years later, disguised beneath another face and hiding in plain sight as a palace servant. Her mission is simple: learn the king’s secrets and, when the time is right, strike. But fate has other plans. Prince Lucian is nothing like his father--- the king. Cursed as a werewolf, he has hidden his dark secret from the royal court for years. The only cure? A witch’s blood—Kyra’s blood. When Lucian meets Kyra, an unexpected bond ignites between them. He should be her greatest enemy, yet fate twists their paths together. For beneath her servant’s disguise, Kyra is no ordinary girl—she is the last of a fire-witch bloodline, bent on avenging her family by killing the king. When Lucian discovers her secret and her deadly mission, he doesn’t condemn her. Instead, he offers to help her, driven by his hatred for his father… and his growing love for her. But as their alliance deepens, a devastating truth emerges: the only way to end Lucian’s curse is through sacrifice—Kyra’s life or his own. Now, Kyra must face an impossible choice: save herself… or the man she loves.

Since a little boy, William always wanted to be a knight to help the Kingdom's people fend off their enemies and provide safety to his family. So, he found himself a mentor has dedicated from a nobody to a fledgling squire. But fate shall test William's resolve as every step to reach knighthood; new enemies arise to challenge him. Join William as a powerful shadow organization threatens the Kingdom and his loved ones. Would he rise to the occasion and be a knight that the Kingdom needs? Or will he crumble beneath it all?

Twenty-five years ago, a part of her died... Her father, Grendel Wythorn, is the second-in-command to the twenty-two fanged kingdoms–an indomitable clan of vampires. Grendel Wythorn thirsts for power, and to quench his raging desire—he engaged his daughter to the newly sworn in Shadow emperor—Mark Valtimore. She thought all would be well. At first, it was, until the past loomed in, taking the form of a werewolf alpha. And now, she must fight the face beneath the mask. She is... Erin Grendel, the heiress to the Nebramos kingdom and protector of her family's Faberge!

It was my birthday. I thought he would take me to see the fireworks by the sea, but he showed up with another woman and her child. “Vera has a kid with her, and it’s inconvenient for them. Be a little understanding. She doesn’t know her way around here, and she has a lot of luggage. I’ll just drop them at the hotel.” He said it so casually, as if he were just explaining some trivial, everyday chore. It was that very gentleness of his that made me feel like I was so unreasonable getting angry over it. He helped them into the car. He leaned down to buckle the seatbelt on the child. Then, he turned to me with a smile. “I’ll be right back. Don’t overthink things.” I stood by the roadside and watched them drive away like a picture-perfect little family. As night fell, the sea breeze turned sharp and biting. Still, I waited until a notification of Vera Cannon’s social feed update lit up my screen. He was holding her daughter in his arms. They were watching the fireworks by the beach. It was a surprise I had planned for my own birthday. The comments poured in. [What a perfect match. What a beautiful little family!] Someone asked him why he was not picking me up. He just smiled and said, “Indy is very patient. She won’t be mad.” At that moment, my birthday cake melted into a puddle of frosting. I finally realized that he had not done that to be cruel to me. He was certain that I would always wait for him. However, even the warmest heart grew cold when neglected too many times. The waves crashed against the shore, over and over. With each crash, another shred of my hope washed away. This time, I was not going to wait for him to come back.

I was trapped in a sea filled with icebergs, clinging to life alongside Elsa —the sweetheart of my mate, Alpha Luke, and her son. After a long hesitation, Luke chose to save me, the one carrying his unborn twins. After he brought me to shore, there wasn’t enough time for him to go back for Elsa. All he could do was watch her drift away, swallowed by the freezing waves, until she disappeared from sight. He never forgave me for it. He said I delayed him—that if not for me, he could have saved her. For five long years, he hated me. He wouldn't even let my twin pups call him “father.” Then came the day the witch brewed a time machine that could turn back time. Luke gave up everything—his title, his pride, even his sons—just for the chance to go back. “Aria,” he said before leaving, “did you really think I saved you because I cared? If I hadn’t saved you first, the whole pack would’ve blamed Elsa. That’s the only reason.” After he was gone, his mother looked at me with eyes full of disdain. “This is all your fault,” she said. “If Luke had saved Elsa first, he might’ve been happy now.” Even my own children resented me. “You're the reason Father hates us,” they said. “You're the one who killed Elsa. Why couldn’t it have been you who died that day?” Despised by everyone, I drank the potion without a second thought. This time, I would go back. This time, I would save myself. And I would owe Luke nothing.