Festival Tanabata

Sekar Kirana, seorang guru tari Sunda berusia 24 tahun, hidup untuk menari Jaipong dan mengabdi pada budaya di Bandung. Namun, hidupnya jungkir balik saat ia tak sengaja menikah dengan Ethan Wiratama Van der Meer, pengusaha properti blasteran Indonesia-Belanda berusia 33 tahun yang kaku dan penuh pesona. Gara-gara kesalahan dokumen di festival budaya, mereka terjebak dalam akta nikah sah! Demi menyelamatkan reputasi sanggar tari Sekar dan wibawa Ethan, mereka berpura-pura jadi suami istri selama enam bulan. Sekar, dengan semangat bebas dan jiwa volunteer, menyeret Ethan ke dunianya yang tak terduga. Ethan, dengan mata hijau dan logika dingin, tak kuasa menolak pesona Sekar yang perlahan mencairkan hatinya. Tapi, ketika rahasia di balik pernikahan mereka terungkap, akankah mereka tetap berpura-pura… atau jatuh cinta sungguhan?

Veronica is an eighteen-year-old omega who falls into an emotional breakdown when her Mate, who was soon to be the Alpha of the Sun crest pack, turns against her, hurls hurtful words at her, and rejects her on the night of the full moon festival because he and everyone in the pack, including her, thinks she is an omega. As if the pain of rejection, helplessness, and worthlessness wasn't enough, she lost her best and only friend to the cold hands of death when rogue wolves attacked their pack. Right in the presence of her mate, she was tagged as someone who always attracted problems and calamities anywhere she went and he turned a blind eye and watched as she was banished from the pack. With hatred for her life, she runs deep into the woods that were off-limits and jumps off to end her life, but in a turn of events, something else happens. What would her mate do when he finds out that Veronica is not who he thinks she is? Will she be able to forgive him? What fate lies ahead for them?

At the pack's festival, a witch hands me a crystal orb that reveals the truth. When I ask "why," she says she was entrusted to deliver it and reminds me only to use it when I am alone. As the image in the orb grows clearer, and my mate appears, I forget how to breathe. "Jared Hamilton, do you love me?" a woman asks in her sweetest voice, curling her arms around his neck. "I do. Of course, I do. You're the only one I'll love for the rest of my life, Luciana." My hand slips. Even after the crystal orb hits the floor, I can still hear them talking. "I swear before the sacred Moon Goddess that I'll be with you, Luciana Rose, until my very last breath. If I ever break this oath, may I never know joy again." I feel suffocated. All I can do is stare in disbelief. The woman he vows to love for life is none other than my very best friend.

Barry Ocason, extreme sportsman and outdoor travel writer, receives a magazine in his mailbox and opens to an ad for an adventure in the Bavarian Alps. Initially dismissing the invitation, which seems to have been meant specifically for him, he soon finds himself involved in a larger plot and seeking answers to why an individual known only as the elephant man is terrorizing his family. Barry and his daughter Kristen, who survived a twin sister taken from the family at a young age, travel from Juneau, Alaska to the sinister Spider Festival in Rio Tago, Brazil, before he ultimately answers the call to Bavaria, where the puzzle begins to come together. Amid tribulation, death, madness, and institutionalization, a document emerges describing a scientist’s bloody bid to breed a theoretical “third twin,” which is believed to have the potential, through its connection with its siblings, to bridge the gulf between life and afterlife. The godlike creature that soon emerges turns out to be Barry’s own offspring, and she has dark plans for the world of her conception that neither her father nor any other mortal can stop. ©️ Crystal Lake Publishing

She was never meant to matter. Until she became the spark that could shatter an entire world. Rory has always lived at the bottom of the pack—an orphaned omega, overlooked, unloved, and invisible. She expected the Moon Festival to be just another night spent watching from the shadows. Instead, it became the moment everything changed. When a rogue wolf attacks, Rory doesn’t run. She leaps into the fray to save a child—and in that instant, her first shift explodes from within her. But this is no ordinary transformation. She doesn’t just shift. She awakens. Before a stunned crowd, Rory kills a rogue mid-air with the fury and grace of an Alpha... and draws the attention of the last wolves anyone would expect: the Alpha’s triplet sons. Kael — the heir with haunted eyes. Thorne — the untamed warrior with a heart of fire. Riven — the ruthless tactician who trusts no one. One mate would’ve been impossible. But all three? It’s not fate. It’s a prophecy. And a curse. “Three sons. One moon. One mate. Choose wrong, and the pack will fall.”

My fiance is the best Neuro Healer among the werewolves. His first love is his little stepsister, who once took a fatal silver arrow for him. Now, her old condition has flared up, and she has a fatal silver venom disease. She only has 21 days left to live. In order to stay with her in her final days, he pours his newly developed "Memory Lock Potion" into me to eliminate all my memories of him by force. He says, "It's just 21 days. Once she's gone, I'll feed you the antidote myself, and you'll remember me again." In those 21 days, he holds a grand bonding ceremony for his stepsister, dances with her during the Moon Goddess Festival, and makes an oath swearing that they will become mates again in their next life. Finally, he sends her off. After 21 days, the potion wears off, and he kneels in the rain with tears and blood all over his face. He asks hoarsely in an accusing tone, "The potion only lasts for 21 days… why have you forgotten me completely?" I just look up impassively at him. "Sorry, but who are you?"

Alpha Fabian's first reaction to learning I was his fated mate? Rejection. But drunk at the bonfire festival, he couldn't fight the pull of fate. He marked me. Marking a rejected mate came with a price. His power weakened. Forced into a bond with me, he despised me. For two years, I bled for him. I did 100 impossible things, just hoping for a single glance. I snuck into forbidden lands for rare herbs. I negotiated with enemy packs. I fought on the front lines for him in pack wars, always coming back covered in scars. But the one he truly loved was my adopted sister, Gloria. Even my own parents, the pack's Beta, hated me. I was their lost daughter, raised by rogues for fifteen years. But they only had eyes for their perfect, obedient adopted girl. Then, on my 100th task, I nearly died in the Valley of Shadows. When I woke up, I had amnesia. I was done chasing a cold mate and a family's love I'd never have. And when I finally walked away, Fabian discovered the truth. It was never me who couldn't live without him. It was always him.

At the sacred Moonfire Festival, Sera Vane suffers a betrayal that shatters her life and drives her from her pack in shame. In a moment of heartbreak and desperation, she disguises herself and takes part in a secret ritual meant for the Alpha and it changes her fate forever. No one speaks of what happens during the Moonfire Ritual. But five years later, the consequences have returned with sera as she returns to Crimson Hollow with a young son James whose striking resemblance to Alpha Aldric Thorne sparks whispers throughout the pack. Her unexpected reappearance threatens to disrupt the carefully guarded hierarchy, especially for those who once cast her out, and for the Alpha himself, who remains unaware of the truth behind that fateful night. Bound by duty Aldric agrees to Sera’s bold demand: a union that secures her son’s place… but keeps their hearts locked away. As political tensions rise and enemies close in, Sera must navigate a dangerous game of power, betrayal, and buried emotions. In a world where bloodlines determine destiny and love is both a weapon and a weakness, Sera must rise from the ashes of her past to protect her child, uncover the truth, and claim the strength she never knew she had.

My Alpha husband, Ryder, has always hated the sound of a crying pup. But recently, he started caring for my adopted sister's newborn pup, staying by its side in the nursery every night until dawn. Every time Ryder left our bedroom for the nursery, an inexplicable stabbing pain would pierce through my chest. This agony would last all night until dawn when he returned. I had finally reached my breaking point. At the Full Moon Festival, I announced in front of the entire pack that I was rejecting our mate bond. The pack's mind-link erupted with whispers that the battle had damaged my mind. A golden light ignited in Ryder's eyes as he stared at me in disbelief. "Because I was too busy to check on you when you were injured, you're rejecting our bond over a six month old pup?" I didn't meet his eyes. Instead, my gaze lingered on the faint lipstick mark smudged inside his collar. My voice trembled, yet it did not waver. "Since you love her pup so much, once our bond is severed, you can openly be the father."

Even Gail Romero, the drummer of the band, Sublime Outlander met Prime Valencia at a very unexpected moment. She met her when she was tossing down yellow tulips on the cliff where Giyo Velasco's car, her boyfriend who passed away years ago, fell and crashed. She wasn't aware that on that same day, Prime will be applying as the new frontman of the band. When the latter got accepted, that's when she knew she'll be dealing with the guy who humiliated her for the next years of her life. Prime admired Gail since high school and was smitten even more when he knew of how thin Gail's thread of temper is. He finds it adorable, most especially when she rolls her eyes. He confessed his feelings to her during the Rakrakan Festival, an annual event for bands, in front of the crowd. He started courting Gail then and fortunately, they found comfort in each other's arms. They've got the best of their relationship not until lots of secrets were revealed. Everything seemed to be in chaos; her grades, the band, the friendship, their relationship, and the family Gail has were ruined. Gail thought that everyone was lying to her and think she should've faced her problems alone. She has lost trust in everyone. How will she be able to fix everything alone?