Burning Bright

Ah… Nothing like getting cheated on at a birthday party they personally invited and drove me to, only to get hooked up with my best friend and fight every day to stay alive. Oh, and the icing on the bright blue birthday cake?... my ex-boyfriend was sucking face with the girl he cheated on me with… patient zero… go figure. Now there are zombies everywhere. Buckle up this is going to be a bloody ride.

My boyfriend is trapped in the mountains, and I head there alone to search for him. However, I don't find him despite a night of searching. Instead, I end up falling off a cliff and passing out due to severe blood loss. When I open my eyes again, I hear laughter coming from outside my hospital ward. "Sonya's such a fool! She fell for it again!" "This is our 99th time tricking her, right?" "When you pretended to fall into the water, she jumped into an icy lake to save you in the middle of winter. When you pretended to be poisoned, she went to dig up the herbs that you'd need for the antidote… "This time, you pretended to be trapped in the mountains, and she ran there without a care for her life! She's truly head over heels for you!" I struggle to sit up. That's when I see my boyfriend, Austin Miller, standing at the ward's door. He stands out among the crowd and has a bright smile on his face. He doesn't look like he's lost his way at all. His friends continue talking. "It's her fault for abandoning Austin when he was down on his luck!" "She deserves to get played like this! When this is all over, we can throw the invitation to Austin and Dion's engagement party in her face!" It turns out Austin is already engaged. Yet, to this day, he has no idea why I broke up with him in the first place.

"I,Raymond Phillips, Alpha of Black Shadow Pack reject Arianna Lenoir as my mate." His words echoed in the air. Sharp pain was felt in my chest. I screamed in pain. That burning pain inside me, I could feel my wolf in agony

In the third year of our marriage, Adrian Jones made me play a game of truth or dare—and when I lost, he told me to take the place of a nightclub hostess and perform a striptease. "Macie's too timid," he said. "You dance for her." Laughter erupted around us. "Adrian's a real sport—letting us watch his wife put on a show!" "Liliana's got a body to die for. I'm burning up just looking at her." Drenched in humiliation, surrounded by crude stares and filth, I finally cracked. My voice shook. "Adrian… I want a divorce." Before I could say more, a glass of red wine hit me square in the face. Adrian scoffed, "The Shaw family's already bankrupt. Where exactly do you think you'll go without me?" However, this time, I meant it. I was done.

My mother-in-law, Teresa Hawke, said she was trapped inside her burning villa. I called my husband, Asher Jensen, begging him to save her. But he was too busy at some bar, flirting with his childhood sweetheart, Melanie Lanner. It wasn't until I begged him, over and over, that he finally went to save Teresa. But Melanie was snatched from that same bar, tortured, killed, and dumped. He acted like none of it mattered until I got pregnant. Then out of nowhere, he threw it all back on me, saying it was my fault. Asher pulled every string he could to bankrupt my family, driving Mom and Dad to leap to their deaths. Then he rounded up a gang of violent psychopaths and threw me in with them. I begged again and again, but he just watched me with that dead stare. "You'll suffer like Mel did before she died! She left this world in agony. Why should you get to live? That's not fair." 99 stab wounds—that was how many it took before I finally bled out and died. And then, I woke up, right back on the day Teresa screamed for help from inside that burning villa.

It's Thanksgiving, and I'm waiting for Zeke Jones to come home after cooking up an extravagant meal. When Zeke returns, he doesn't even glance at the meal I've prepared for him. Instead, he proceeds to pack a bag. "I can't celebrate Thanksgiving with you this year," he says. I take another bite of my turkey and say nothing. At the stroke of midnight, Zeke's first love posts a new photo on her social media page. In the photo, she's lying on Zeke's back with a bright smile on her face. The moon outside the window is bright. "Happy to spend Thanksgiving with good company," her caption reads. Instead of hysterically questioning Zeke about the post, I just tap on the "like" button without reacting in any way. Zeke calls me. His voice sounds panicked as he tries to explain himself. "Please don't misinterpret the post. I will definitely spend Thanksgiving with you next year…" I freeze for a few moments, letting out a small laugh. I don't offer him a reply. Next time, he says? Oh, Zeke, I'm afraid there won't be a next time.

Have you ever woken one morning with a burning, insatiable desire to go out and kill someone? Sarah Killian, a notoriously foul-mouthed and mean-spirited serial killer for hire, along with her cohort assassin Mary Sue Keller, are back on assignment for the Trusted Hierarchy of Everyday Murderers (T.H.E.M.). After receiving an ominous warning from a mark-gone-wrong, it becomes clear that Nick Jin—Sarah’s former nemesis—is still at large and singling her out. Sarah and Mary Sue are dispatched to Tennessee to discreetly kill off an accused family of KKK organizers, but their true mission is to lure Nick Jin into a trap. But will Nick—always several steps ahead of T.H.E.M.—see their bait for what it is? One thing is guaranteed: blood will be shed. ©️ Crystal Lake Publishing

Serenity Knight is a human working in the royal infirmary. After getting abused by her Uncle for years, Serenity had been waiting for a knight in shining armor to come and rescue her. What happens when the knight in shining armor is none other than the Alpha King Theodore Black, the one who rules the entire world? What happens when he gets mated to a human girl, the species he hates? Serenity Knight never expected to get mated to the King of the all the Alphas of her country. And on top of that, Serenity never expected Theodore to reject her after mating with her. But what happens when Serenity gets pregnant with the Alpha King's child? What happens when Serenity is the only cure for the curse with no cure? _________ “Whatever……whatever happened last night, human, it wasn't done by me. I was not in my control. It was my wolf. My wolf got distracted by you last night but it doesn't mean you will become my Queen. I won't disgrace myself by letting a human sit beside me on the throne." His words were piercing my heart, breaking me into pieces. “You and I mated……” “It was a mistake! You were a mistake! And I don't repeat my mistakes, human. Get dressed and leave.” He ordered lowly, and tears filled my eyes as I stared at him in disbelief. “Theo, what……” “Your Highness. I am your King. You will refer me with my title if you don't wish to face the death penalty." Alpha King said, his eyes burning with rage. “We are mates, Alpha……” “And I reject you." He said, his eyes holding no emotions. “Wha….what?” “I, Alpha King, Theodore Black, reject you, Serenity Knight. You are no longer my mate.”

"You foolish bitch, do you really think you can marry Henry?". Her mouth curved into a wicked smile as she lowered her head to look at Ashley. "I am the real daughter of the head of the Browns. You will never become the bright and shinning flower of the Brown family" she let out a low snort "It would have been better if you end up like your stupid mother" she said with an evil grin on her face Ashley tighten her grip on her cloth as she heard Lucia's statement "You will never know what the drug you took was and what I have in stock for you. But one thing I'm sure of is that you enjoy your wedding night in advance" She then took out her phone, and dialed a number. "Are the two street ruffians I have arranged especially for my sister ready? Tell them to come here now." Ashley opened her eyes wide in shock upon hearing what Lucia had said. She knew that Lucia had never liked her. But she didn't expect that her to be this vicious. It seemed that Lucia wanted to drug her and found someone to rape her. Such a wicked woman!

A tale as old as time… *** He ran a finger along her burning cheek, his eyes on her lips as he watched them part. "If you're found like this with me, there'll be no discussion about it. You'll definitely be stuck with me then. Are you really, really sure, princess?" *** Two brothers, vying for the attention of the same woman… *** "I do see you Zoey, whether you're at an art class or just wandering around taking in the sights. I see everything you do. That's the problem." He rounded the corner and bent down on one knee, pulling the robe over her shoulders. "Lately, all I see is you." *** Can one heart truly belong to two men? *** She's engaged. So is he. And according to the headlines, so are the mouths of their betrotheds. How far will James Beaumont go for revenge? Lady Zoey is the daughter of Duke Arden, only she's never met the man. So what right does he have to marry her off to some pompous, playboy prince? Prince Aaron Condor is in love with Lady Emily Maine. But when King Henry and Duke Arden decide to mend fences, Aaron ends up engaged to newcomer Zoey. Duke James Beaumont returns to Caines to propose to his childhood sweetheart, Emily Maine. 3 months later, Aaron and Emily are caught in a compromising liplock. Zoey wants to be told to give her fiance a second chance. When the jilted lovers meet on the streets of Caines and he proposes to Zoey. Reluctantly, she meets with James again and ends up married to him. It was all a drunken mistake, but that doesn't make The King's Guard hunting them any less real.