Paranoid Garden

Welcome back to Clifton Heights. Sheriff Chris Baker and Father Ward meet for a Saturday morning breakfast at The Skylark Diner to once again commiserate over the weird and terrifying secrets surrounding their town. Sheriff Baker shares with Father Ward the story of a journal discovered in the ruins of what was once an elaborate koi pond and flower garden, which regales a tale of regret, buried pain, and unfulfilled debt: “Sophan” – Jake Burns has always been a bit...off. Rude, awkward, sometimes brutish, he's tolerated by Nate Slocum and his friends because he hits a mean line drive, and because they all know but don't discuss the abuse he faces at the hands of his troubled father, a Vietnam veteran consumed by his demons. But Jake is suffering something far worse than domestic abuse, and when Nate discovers what, he faces an impossible choice: help Jake and put himself in the path of evil, or abandon him, only to damn himself in the process. ©️ Crystal Lake Publishing

Clair is an omega maid in the Vulcan pack. She never aimed for anything except doing her job diligently as the maid she is. Things, however, took a different turn when she met this handsome man in the garden admiring flowers. Her wolf never called out to him as her mate, but there's something strange which keeps drawing her to him whenever they meet. Unfortunately, he's the Alpha of the Nightingale pack, a pack known for its immense wealth and powers, and he is in an arranged marriage with Roxanne, the Alpha's daughter and the lady she serves. Knowing this, Clair decides to get rid of whatever feelings she has for him since he's far above her level, but hell breaks loose when she is to go to the Nightingale pack as Roxanne's personal maid. To worsen it, Clair is further placed in a dire situation where she is subjected to having a one-night stand with this Alpha. What will happen after this one-night stand with the man she's always been in love with? Will things turn out for good?

"You should be running away from me," he whispered against my neck, his deep voice wrapping around me like a black velvet. He was right. I should run— far, fast, and without looking back. But I couldn't. Or maybe didn't want to. Fisting his shirt tightly, I rasped out, "I hate you." A shiver ran down my spine as his lips curled into a devilish smirk, "No, you don't." He leaned in, our mouths a breath apart. "You just hate how badly you want me, Little Muse," he drawled, voice like a tempting sin. ----------- Everyone thought she was paranoid but Iliana Carlos knew the eyes following her everywhere were real. Draped in black, masked and silent, her stalker has trapped her in a deadly game of obsession. But for her, he is nothing more than the gruesome darkness but the deeper she's pulled into his shadows, the more she craved them. Maddox Velric Thorne spent fifteen years focused on one mission: find the daughter of his father’s murderer, kill her, and claim his rightful place as Alpha. But those hazel eyes and auburn hair has suddenly become his biggest distraction. What started as a casual infatuation has now turned into his darkest obsession. What will happen when fate will bind them in a twisted dance of fear and desire? How far would Maddox chase Iliana and for how long is she willing to run away?

King Lincoln was just a young man of 28, but he had the strength of a thousand men. His name had been written in the book of records as the youngest ruler of the Most Powerful Kingdom. His Kingdom was the envy of all the 11 Kingdoms. But One day, one of Lincoln's numerous enemies almost won over him. His attack had almost worked as he was able to hit Lincoln with an extremely poisoned arrow during a war. Lincoln didn't die at the battlefield, no. But when he was taken back to the palace, they got to see how badly injured he was. The arrow was poisoned with a rare substance and it's effect was draining the life out of Lincoln - bit by bit. Physicians tried all they could, but couldn't find a cure. His sister was worried, his three brides were paranoid as well. Everyone wanted a solution for their King because the fall of Lincoln would be the fall of the Kingdom. Finally, his sister found a solution. There was a healer - a young lady with special healing abilities who was likely to heal the King. But she was someone that was locked up and restricted from associating with outsiders by her father. Roseline was never permitted to go out for reasons best known to her father and she wondered why. Lincoln's sister was overly worried about her brother's life and figured she had to get the healer by all means to heal her brother. But would that be possible since Roseline's father particularly hated the King? And even if it was possible, there was going to be a little consequence if Roseline succeeded in healing the King. He'd become a sex addict; addicted to her alone.

Once upon a time, the world was balanced and peaceful, thanks to its protectors of nature, the Amazons, a unique breed of werewolves that existed solely to protect and maintain the balance of the natural world. But they fell victim to the seduction of greed and power, ultimately leading to the Tribe’s downfall, shattering the balance and laws of nature with it. This gave rise to the Council and its insatiable greed, depravity, and power-hungry behaviors, creating a further imbalance in the world, with she-wolves, once revered and respected, slowly dying out due to their enslaved existence. Still, some refuse to go down without a fight, clinging to the hope and rumor that a powerful she-wolf, their Savior, will rise and save them. Corinna Woods is the naive and kind-hearted Luna of the Dark Shadow pack and chosen mate of Xander Woods, but after years of horror, she runs. Years later, she’s changed into a broken, paranoid, reckless single mother unable to escape her pain. When she discovers her mate, she is petrified and refuses to accept, having vowed never to allow a man that kind of power over her again. Wyatt Campbell is a powerful Alpha who believes in the old ways of fated mate bonds and thinks the council's laws are ridiculous and degrading, refusing to follow them within his pack. When he finds his mate, he is shocked not only to find her after years of searching, but also when she rejects him. Can he prove to his mate that he is not like the others? Can their fated mate bond, along with the support of their allies, change the ways and restore the much-needed balance to the werewolf world before they become extinct?

John Handful’s first client is a member of the local Polish community wanted by the police for the disappearance of his pregnant wife. A new miracle cancer drug is stolen from a pharmaceutical complex located on a shingle spit, just off the Suffolk coast. A wealthy local financier is blackmailed, and a ripple of malice spreads across the village of Oxmarket. Each household of a cul-de-sac have a secret that could point to them being the murderer of a man found shot dead in his bedroom.A perplexing case unfolds with the revelation of secret lovers, flowers from the garden and a death that is not as it appears.John Handful finds himself enmeshed in a violent, multi-layered plot at a luxury hotel on a remote island. A man kills himself despite receiving the good news that his lover’s husband has agreed to a divorce.A woman is witnessed shooting herself by her husband even though she had already been dead several hours.A man has been found shot through the head in a locked room with suicide well and truly ruled out. How did he die?Severed limbs in a concrete block, leads, John Handful to believe that a cold calculated killer with a thirst for revenge is on the loose. Ten cases, one connection. What is it?

When the news of my death on the battlefield, pinned to the pack's watchtower by silver arrows, reached my pack, my Alpha mate, Killian, simply laughed. He thought I was just jealous he was going to claim the Rogue, that I was faking my own death just to get his attention. "I was just trying to bring Valerie into the pack, and this is how she threatens me? With her own death?" "I left her with my most elite warriors. How could she possibly be dead!" "Tell her to get back here. I will claim Valerie, but after that, the title of Luna is still hers." Seven days later, he appeared before my family's home, carrying the ceremonial Luna circlet. He saw me in my white ceremonial dress, resting quietly beneath the white birch tree in the garden, and he breathed a sigh of relief. "I knew it. You were just giving me the silent treatment again." But in the next second, a pack elder's voice thundered: "Prepare the funeral pyre. Let us pay our final respects to our fallen warrior, Sloane!"

“I, Emily Blakesley, reject you, Calix Ledger as my mate and Alpha.” Emily Blakesely has suffered bouts of nightmares since she was a child, the reason her parents have kept her locked behind the walls of the castle. They believe they’re protecting her from whatsoever that was causing the nightmares. What happens when on her eighteenth birthday ball, Emily meets a stranger from her nightmare, in an encounter in the garden which leaves Emily unable to shift at the chime of midnight? And now everybody believes the princess has gone mad. Broken, rejected, and wolfless, can Emily find her redemption? * * * * * Calix Ledger was on his way to exerting revenge on the Alpha who took everything from him when he caught sight of a beautiful girl on the bridge of Cathena. One moment of distraction and he misses his only chance at revenge, and now he learns the girl he just saved is the enemy's daughter. What happens when the moon goddess plays games and matches Calix with no other but the mentally deranged daughter of his enemy? And she just had the effrontery of rejecting him. Would Calix find himself protecting the same girl he vowed to destroy?

"Flower, you are mine. Mine to hold. Mine to pluck. Mine to scatter. Mine to decorate. You will bloom in my garden and die there as well, if need arises." 'The Vampire's Flower - The Tragically Imperfect yet Perfectly Sweet Love Story Of A Human Assassin and A Vampire King' As a child, Eleanor was always against killing. But, something changed her narrative completely one day. The Murder Of Her Mother. The wrong done that night to her made an unfathomable killer come to birth. The killer who turned the Vampire Kingdom Of Eleneas upside down. Knife. Her way of murdering people shook others to their core as the people as well as the nobles grew terrified of this person. And, their fear led them to the gates of their Tryant Ruler. Daniel. Seeing the reaction of his subjects piqued his curiosity. As he went to search for this killer. Deep in the woods. There she was running after children with an innocent laugh on her lip. Her blonde hair like sunlight fluttering in the air with a smile burning brighter than the sun.  And, in that moment, he knew he found his queen. But, she loathed him. For every wrong and right reason. So when she was forced to marry him. Instead of wearing a white gown like an angel. She walked down the aisle covered in RED!

Gabriella Montez is an ordinary omega blessed with the gift of healing through the knowledge of herbs and her culinary skills. After being wrongfully accused of theft, she escapes her pack and finds refuge in White Pack, applying for a position in the mansion of Alpha Waylen, who has been desperately seeking someone to replicate his mother’s cherished mushroom broth soup. Once she secures the job, Gabriella heads out to a club to celebrate with her friend, where a night of unexpected passion with a mysterious stranger leads to a steamy one-night stand. The morning after reveals a shocking twist: the seductive stranger is none other than Alpha Waylen himself. As Gabriella whips up hearty meals in his kitchen, and heals his soul in ways he didn’t know could be mended, she gradually melts her way into his heart. Yet, their blossoming romance is met with challenges, as different forces threaten to tear them apart, and Alpha Waylen harbors secrets that could jeopardize everything they’ve built together. Can the forbidden love between an Alpha and an omega endure the trials ahead? Will it flourish against all odds, or will it wither away like a neglected plant in a once-thriving garden?