Inspirational Short Stories

Alara's life shattered the day she was sold by the man she believed was her father, thrust into the powerful grasp of Ezra—the feared Alpha King with eyes of amber and a commanding presence that claimed her very soul. Haunted by betrayal and the mysteries surrounding her true lineage, Alara must navigate the treacherous waters of a bond she never asked for, yet cannot deny. Ezra, burdened by the loss of his first mate and years of bitter solitude, sees in Alara not just a mate but his destined redemption. Determined to protect his kingdom from the rising dark threats, he must confront his own heart as it dangerously entwines with the fierce and defiant woman brought into his life by fate. Together, they face intrigue, ancient prophecies, and hidden enemies who would see their burgeoning love destroyed before it can bloom. As the line between captor and lover blurs, Ezra and Alara must decide whether trust forged in the fires of adversity can heal their wounded hearts or if the shadows of the past will tear them apart forever. In a world where passion, power, and destiny collide, can love truly conquer all—even when it's sold to the Alpha King?

On the day of my daughter Eleanor Baldwin's second birthday party, my entire family stood nervously by the banquet hall entrance. They were not there to greet guests, but rather to keep me from showing up and causing a scene. Mom's face was written all over with anxiety. "Lucas wouldn't actually crash the party, would he?" Dad's brow stayed tightly furrowed. "Who knows? That disgrace of a son is capable of anything." My younger brother, Cody Baldwin, had his arm wrapped gently around my wife, Kendra Clarkson, trying to reassure her. "Don't worry. If Lucas dares to show up, I'll keep you and Ellie safe." Kendra nodded slowly. "If it really comes to that... maybe we should just let Ellie be his goddaughter. At least then, we're still family..." However, the party came and went, and I never appeared. I had already made up my mind to join a classified national defense research program. Only this time, it was for good.

My husband is poor. We've already been married for three years, but I've covered all our expenses during that time. Even when I'm interested in a cheap bag when we go shopping, he says it's too expensive. He tells me not to buy it. Later, I discover that he gives his first love a four-million-dollar diamond necklace for her birthday. It turns out he's not broke and heavily in debt—he's the heir to an affluent family with a net worth of billions of dollars.

Derrick Caldwell once promised me that on the night of our pack's founding feast, he would announce that we'd been married for eight years. However, on the big day, his childhood friend, Lilith Sterling, takes my place. She sits beside him—the spot reserved for his Luna. The warriors say, "We heard you have a mate with whom you've been married for eight years, Alpha. Is this her?" Derrick smiles without denying it. He silently allows their assumption to stand. I want him to explain this to me, but he merely says, "You may have helped me become the Alpha, but your lowly birth is nothing compared to Lilith's noble status. As my mate, you need to be more tolerant." I don't argue with him. Instead, I turn and leave the pack he and I built together. Later, I start my own pack and turn it into the largest one in the federation. Derrick stands among the crowd during a ceremony where the Alpha King confers a medal of honor to me. He proudly tells anyone who will listen that I'm his wife. I act like I don't see him, and his eyes turn red with desperation.

I was reborn. The universe spat me back to the year of my SATs, eighteen again, right when Noah Ritchie confessed his love for me. Turned out, it was the last year he'd ever love me. That was the year he met her… the one who'd actually own his heart. For Carla Davidson, he didn't hesitate to confess his love to me, not out of sincerity, but to distract me from my studies. Because of him, I missed my shot at a top university and barely got into a second-tier one. He even staged a car accident to keep me from attending an academic competition, just so Carla could win first place. When Carla suffered from severe blood loss in an accident, he convinced me to donate so much blood that it permanently damaged my health and left me unable to bear children. Later, Noah was forced to marry me, but he spent every day brooding over a photo of Carla. And when he learned she was getting married, he abandoned me without a second thought, choosing to die for love. But in this lifetime, I'm wide awake. I won't love him again. I'll be selfish. I'll live for myself and no one else. So when Noah looked at me with his usual arrogance and asked, "Tiffany, will you be my girlfriend?" I met his gaze calmly and shook my head. "No."

When a child mysteriously disappears from a small town and even his mother seems indifferent, it’s time for the new sheriff to step in. Meet Chris Baker, the new sheriff of the quiet Adirondack town of Clifton Heights. As one inexplicable case after another forces him to confront the townsfolk in The Skylark Diner, it’s the furtive Gavin Patchett that hands Chris a collection of not-so-fictional short stories that tumbles him into a world of monsters, ageless demons, and vengeful citizens. As Chris reads through the stories the veil starts to lift, and he soon questions what is real and what’s not, and whether he really wants to know. Nothing will ever be the same again. ©️ Crystal Lake Publishing

**Title: RATED 18 COMPILATION *** Rated 18 Compilation is a sizzling collection of erotic short stories that ignite the senses and unravel hidden desires. Each tale plunges into the heat of forbidden encounters: a chance meeting in a rain-soaked alley sparks untamed passion, a mysterious stranger at a masquerade ball unveils secret longings, and a quiet bookstore becomes the stage for a slow, teasing seduction. With vivid, sensual prose, these stories explore the raw intensity of lust, the thrill of surrender, and the electric pull of connection in unexpected places. Perfect for those who crave steamy, uninhibited narratives that linger long after the page is turned. Warning: Explicit sexual content, mature themes, and graphic depictions of intimacy. For readers 18+ only.

Forbidden Affairs is a sizzling collection of short, high-heat romance stories where boundaries blur and temptation wins. From off-limits stepbrothers to secret workplace flings, best friends’ wives to untouchable Alphas, each story plunges deep into the kind of passion that’s wrong but feels too right to resist. Betrayal. Obsession. Heartache. Lust. Every affair has its price. Are you ready to pay it?

All because of Leo Cullen’s words, I gave up a place at a top-tier university in Ceres and stayed behind to retake the entrance exams with him—three times. By the fourth year, a girl arrived at our cram school, and Leo forgot the promise we made. He started skipping class, picking fights, smoking—doing everything but studying. One day, I stood at the school gate, blocking his path with a textbook in hand as he tried to ditch class. He smirked, unimpressed, and blew a bubble with his gum, letting it stick to the ends of my hair. “Naomi…,” he began, “who still cares about studying these days?” So I stopped caring and avoided him entirely. When he fooled around in the classroom, I went to the library. When he played basketball, I sat in a quiet corner with my books. Even when I craved noodles from my favorite shop, I’d scan the room first to make sure he wasn’t there. “Are you avoiding me, Naomi?” he asked later, his face in a frown. I shook my head. “Why would you think that?”

-Kehlani,  an avid writer who spends most of her time publishing bestselling romance novels wants to write a new whole genre for a change and to this effect she decides to embark on writing a fantasy based fictional romance which she had never done before, mostly to honour her late grandmother who was a fan of such a genre. Kehlani embarks on a journey to her grandmother’s hometown for various reason: firstly as a form of reflection due to her grandmother’s one year anniversary and secondly because she needed a sabbatical in a quiet place which was in tune with nature to enable her work on this said Manuscript and possibly gather inspirations. - Kehlani arrives at Woodbine only to discover that this town is cut away from, the world in every sense of it. It seemed like their town was stuck in time as even the little stories her grandmother had told her and it's landmark still remained. Kehlani takes advantage of this and decides to take an interest in the townspeople who only farmed and jollied  as she felt that it might form an inspirational framework for her new Fantasy Manuscript.