Crushed Crystal Mirror

On the night of the Benedetto family's Harvest Festival, my Mafia husband, Salvatore, told me to bring our son, Giuseppe, to the family gathering. He said his madre had finally accepted us into the Benedetto bloodline. I was trembling with excitement in our little cottage as I dressed Giuseppe in his finest little suit. He had carved a single wooden rose by hand, a project he'd saved for over five years. He said he would present it to his grandmother at the celebration, a plea for her to accept our place in the family. But the moment we stepped into the stone manor, I saw Carmela. Salvatore had her pinned against an oak barrel in a deep, searing kiss. In the moonlight, her hand was undoing his tie. In front of everyone, Salvatore smiled and gently pushed her away. He walked toward the family members gathered in a semicircle and raised a crystal glass. "Tonight, in addition to celebrating the harvest, I have an important announcement." "I would like to introduce you all to the woman I have married in the eyes of God and the Church." "Miss Carmela Torrino." Before I could even process his words, Giuseppe tore his hand from mine and rushed forward. "Papa, what are you saying?" "Isn't my mother your wife?"

**Dez** Dezmond woke in a cold sweat. The ache in his heart was worse than ever before. It had been growing more intense over the past few weeks. He got out of bed and went to the bathroom to wash his face. He didn't bother looking in the mirror, he knew what he would see. His face would be white and his eyes haunted with the need to find answers. Dezmond needed to know why he was being tormented in his dreams. He was never supposed to dream again. "I can't take this anymore." said Dezmond gloomily. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ **Ruby** Ruby couldn't focus in class, another night of tossing and turning. Seeing the flames consume her house. Hearing the screams as her family slowly died, knowing there was nothing she could do. It had been almost three years since the incident. The day she lost her family in the fire. She was the only one who wasn't in the house. And she relived that horror every night in her dreams. Though recently her nightmares felt different. More like a warning rather than a memory. "Rough night?" whispered Haven. Haven had been friends with Ruby since they were little kids. "Yeah, they started happening again." Ruby whispered back. They never really stopped. "Have you talked to anyone about it? Ruby, you can't keep it a secret forever." This is the same discussion they had just after the incident.

Vivienne Crane was a billionaire and vampire queen looking for a way to make synthetic blood for vampires in the Imperial Colony which had been once an old city where vampires fed on humans for blood. She reversed the state so the city became naturally kind for the humans to live. Love was never in her mind as she was so sure that being a vampire queen meant legal for her to be alone forever, until she met Dr. Lazlo Howard who would help her formulate the synthetic blood for the vampires. A constant temptation was all about him. There was something ancient about the scientist that Vivienne's crystal ball couldn't see what behind his genius brain and drop-dead gorgeous feature was. Curiosity could kill you. But it wouldn't matter if you were the vampire queen. Especially when you found out he was also an incubus, the perfect lover for a vampire queen. Will Vivienne be able to resist falling for her handsome colleague? Or she'll be wondering forever after their one night stand?

Crystal is a dragon queen and the Guardian of the portals to other realms. She has been forced by her duties to protect this world to leave her mate behind. Finding him in prison, she had no choice to complete the mate bond and then she was forced to leave him. She had kept his existence a secret to protect him. Now duty is calling and it is putting her straight in the arms of her mate. Can she finally be the mate he needs or will her duties and the secret she carries destroy them both. Alpha Rook of the Moonfall Mountains pack discovered his mate in the war. Having successfully completed the mating bond he is forced to let her go. He is patient only for her. His family and pack don’t believe he has found his mate as none of them have ever seen her. As he battles the women they are forcing onto him, he is loosing control and wonders if he will ever have his mate by his side again. When her duties bring her back into his arms. He will do everything in his power to keep her by his side forever. But can his family and pack accept that a dragon is his true mate and their Luna or will their differences and the secret she is hiding destroy them as they battle evil that wants to destroy the whole world.

In my last life, I made the dumbest mistake—picked up a Moonlight Ring from the grass. That cursed thing locked me into a mate bond with Silvermoon Pack's Alpha. Too bad his heart already belonged to my sister, Irene. She lived to a hundred, had five pups with her real mate in Ravenshade Pack while I rotted. Every time she got cozy with her mate, Leon tossed me in the basement. "You picked up that ring! I had to watch my true love build a family with someone else!" For eighty years, she lived happily. I barely lived at all. Leon flayed me open, let my skin grow back, then crushed my bones just to watch them heal. Every day felt like dying on repeat. Only when Irene finally kicked the bucket did he let me go. Then boom—I woke up, right back on the day I picked up that damn ring. I wasn't gonna screw it up again. But Irene—always the clean freak—snatched it off the ground before I could stop her.

"I can't do this anymore!" Easton cried, trying to break free from the man who had him pinned to the bed by his throat. ''It's been six years, Ilya! Six fucking years of abuse. When am I going to be free from you?" "Does it look like you have any choice?" Ilya smirked coldly. He produced his knife, wanting to carve his name into Easton's heart, so that every time Easton looked in the mirror, he'd know who he belonged to. "You either obey my every command, or watch as I ruin every last bit of the reputation you've toiled tirelessly to build. Don't push me too hard, East, or I'll unleash a storm that will render you breathless and begging for mercy and it won't be cute." As a pop star, Easton Reese had everything he had always hoped for: money, luxurious lifestyle, fame, and fans all across the globe who worshipped him like the idol that he was. But despite all this, Easton felt empty inside. Behind the happy smile he always wore on his face during the day, there was an excess of pain that he had to endure every night, in secret, where no one must know. Being punished for the crime his father had committed wasn't exactly what hurt him most; it was the fact that he was being punished by his childhood sweetheart, the same man he had once loved with all his heart.

My brother was a twisted, paranoid psychopath. When I was ten, my parents were murdered. Both my legs broke off while I tried to save my brother. I became his only family and also Achilles’ heel. Those who mocked me as a crippled would have their bones broken, and anyone who tried to hurt me would be smashed into a pulp. As he reclaimed our family’s fortune, he became “the Devil” in Amberwater, a man no one dared to offend. Yet, he alone spoiled me like I was a little princess. Everyone knew that Lucas’s sister was untouchable. He had sent me abroad to receive the best treatment. The day that I could finally stand up again, I received an invitation to my brother’s engagement banquet. “Veronica, we’re going to have a new family member soon.” I heard that his fiancee was the daughter of a wealthy family. She was gentle and virtuous. I dressed beautifully to meet her and planned to give her the jade bracelet that my mother had left behind. However, she had me kidnapped and taken to an abandoned construction building. “You lowly little witch. I’ll rip that face of yours since you’re such a seductress. I’ll see how you’ll steal my man now!” She crushed my mother’s heirloom, broke all my limbs, and ripped my face off. Then, she ordered a dozen men to torment me to death. In the end, she stuffed me into a gift box and sent it to my brother. “Dearest, this is your wedding gift. Do you like it?”

“Madeline, can we sit and talk in a civil manner?” He asked me in a distant tone. Those green eyes which used to harbour warmth for me, now seemed empty. I felt like I was talking to a complete stranger. “I have seen and heard enough, Logan. You asked me to keep our marriage a secret because you wanted us to focus on our studies and career. Do you have any idea how hard it was for me to wait for you in a hope that one day, my sacrifice will be rewarded and you’ll come back to me? And you paid me like this?” I accused him while tears flew uncontrollably from my eyes. “What nonsense! My husband would never marry someone like you.” Kate taunted me. “Madeline, we were never married officially. I had to agree to my grandfather’s last wish because I couldn’t refuse him. I always loved you as my best friend but there were never romantic feelings attached. I thought you were smart enough to understand when I broke all contacts with you. Kate is my wife. The sooner you accept, the lesser you’ll feel bad.” He said without any remorse. He crushed my heart under the brutal ridicule of his heartlessness.

The mystery of love is greater than the mystery of death.~Oscar Wilde~Adoration is not profound enough a word to express the depth of my love for her. From the moment she walked into my life and set my heart and soul on fire, not a day's gone by that she hasn't plagued my every thought.We were each other's completion. She was everything I wasn't--the sigh to my roar, the virtue to my sin, the cure to my wounds.We Were One.Until the unthinkable happened.That I've survived such a tragedy without having completely lost it, is a mystery in itself. But as my mind starts to blur the lines between reality and my delusional heart, I begin to question everything, including my sanity.And then the real mystery begins . . .Author's note: We Were One is an alternate POV to Girl In The Mirror but both books can be read as stand alones without the need to read the other to follow along!We Were One is created by Elizabeth Reyes, an eGlobal Creative Publishing signed author.

After her mother's death, Maya Cruz is sent to live with her aunt at the Crystal Palace pack. Without questioning her father's decision, she accepts and her new life begins roughly when she enrolls at Crystal High School where she suffers bullying and oppression at the hands of Micah Alphus, the Alpha's spoiled son, Juliet Stone, his girlfriend, and their friends. Micah turns out to be her mate, first mate but he rejects her without a second thought and discards her like a used towel, and still, Maya finds herself falling hopelessly for him. Micah suddenly begins to draw closer to her after making a bet with his friends and Maya who is ignorant of this fact accepts him. While her new life is starting to look up, her childhood best friend and first love, Daniel Fisher shows up and it's clear he doesn't approve of their relationship. He's determined to win her back and would do anything after finding out she’s his mate When Daniel stumbles on evidence that proves Micah's deceit, he is quick to hand it over to her. However, despite being reunited with her first love – and second mate -, Maya still finds herself yearning for Micah, the one who hurt her the most. How will Maya navigate this love triangle she has found herself in? And what secrets is she hiding? Who will end up with her at last? And will Juliet let this Omega take her man without a fight?