Quiet Down

Kael was raised on one unshakable belief: fated mates were a weakness. Stories of alphas losing their minds, their control, and eventually their lives over mates had been passed down like cautionary tales. His great-grandfather had been one of them, brought to ruin by the unbearable loss of his mate. Kael’s grandfather had made sure that never happened again, enforcing strict laws which prioritized strength over sentiment. The pack thrived under that discipline. No one bonded. No one lost themselves. Kael believed in those laws. He wanted to believe. But wanting and doing weren’t exactly the same thing. Now, standing face to face with his fated mate, he was at a crossroads. Accepting them could fracture everything he was taught to protect. Rejecting them might break something in him that he would never be able to fix. Either way, the consequences were inevitable and permanent. Max never asked for much out of life. Just to finish her endless list of chores quickly so she could go to school, where the world felt wide and full of things to learn. Existing quietly had always been her way, keeping her head down, staying out of trouble, and doing her best to be invisible. But nothing about her life was simple.The most popular boy in school suddenly seemed interested in her for reasons she couldn’t understand. He was good looking, admired by all and magnetic, while she was awkward, quiet and unimportant. Soon, Max would find out that she wasn’t so small after all, and her life, every strange, shadowed part of it, was just one piece in a much bigger puzzle. And Kael? He wasn’t just the school’s golden boy. He was the beginning of everything.

Bella Knight is 18 year old girl. Her parents died when she was young and was brought up in an orphanage till she turned 18. she had worked hard saved up money to buy a house of her own house. she is very shy, sweet, caring and kind soul. she works at café down the street. Xavier Romano is 24 years old. He is the Alpha of the silver moon pack. it is the most strongest, largest and wittiest pack around the world. he is a ruthless man. he shows little to no mercy. He do have a beautiful family. He has a mother and father who were the previous Alpha and Luna. He has been searching for his mate for 6 years now and has failed. ­­_____________________________________________________________ I saw his eyes changing from blue to pitch black. The sobs that left me became quiet fearing of him. More tears started to leave my eyes. In a matter of seconds he was standing in front of me. He nuzzled his head where my shoulder and neck meets. He starts sniffing me. The tears have yet to stop. "I have just found you and I am never letting you go. Not now. Not ever." he stated as he growled at the last. I started to cry more. Soon darkness engulfed me.

“Take it off, dusha moya.” His voice was a low, feral growl against my ear. His kisses trailed down my neck—slow, claiming, deliberate. His gaze burned where it landed… on my ring. The ring my husband gave me. The husband who wasn’t him. “Why?” I whispered, breathless. Cassian’s lips brushed my chest, hot and possessive. “I don’t want any trace of him on you while I fuck you.” The ring slid off my finger. The jewel hit the floor. And my world shattered all over again. — Elara Mei was the perfect daughter—obedient, quiet, raised to follow orders without question. Even when it meant breaking her own heart by leaving Cassian Ivanov. Years later, her father signs a contract with the powerful Ivanov family. The price? Her marriage to their second son. She accepts. Like she always does. Until she discovers the truth— Her new husband’s brother is the man she once loved. The man she never stopped loving. The man who will burn the world to claim her back. Caught between loyalty and desire, duty and obsession, Elara must make an impossible choice: The man she’s bound to by contract… or the man who owns her heart, her body, and her ruin?

Camilla Everhart never imagined that her quiet life as a maid would catapult her into a whirlwind of secrets, betrayal, and forbidden passion. When a single night with her powerful boss, Dante Draven—America’s mafia—changes everything, Camilla must grapple with her dangerous past, hidden pregnancy and hidden lineage. She learns she’s the lost daughter of a powerful tycoon and the target of a deadly inheritance battle. Forced into an arranged marriage to protect her son, she finds herself fighting for freedom which leads to her death by her husband’s hands. But fate grants Camilla a second chance, returning her seven years into the past. Determined to rewrite her story, she allies with Dante in a contract marriage, reigniting a forbidden love that becomes her strongest weapon. As Camilla gains allies, she prepares to dismantle those who wronged her, wielding her insider knowledge to bring down enemies on all fronts. Yet, with her own life and Dante’s empire under constant threat, will her thirst for vengeance risk the future she’s sacrificed so much to protect? An intoxicating blend of romance, suspense, and power plays, *SAVING MY MAFIA BOSS* is a story of love that defies fate and a woman who refuses to be broken.

The things we want are so very rarely the things we need. Clifton Heights, a modest Adirondack town, offers many unique attractions. Arcane Delights sells both paperbacks and hard-to-find limited editions. The Skylark Diner serves the best home-cooked meals around, with friendly service and a smile. Every August, Mr. Jingo’s County Fair visits, to the delight of children and adults. In essence, Clifton Heights is the quintessential small American town. Everyone knows everyone else, and everyone is treated like family. It is quiet, simple, and peaceful. But shadows linger here. Flitting in dark corners, from the corner of the eye. If you walk down Main Street after dark, the slight scrape of shoes on asphalt whispers you're not alone, but when you look over your shoulder, no one is there. The moon shines high and bright in the night sky, but instead of throwing light, it only seems to make the shadows lengthen. Children disappear. Teens run away. Hunters get lost in the woods with frightening regularity. Husbands go mad, and wives vanish in the dead of night. And still, when the sun rises in the morning, you are greeted by townspeople with warm waves and friendly smiles, and the shivers pass as everything seems fresh and new... Until night falls once more. Handy's Pawn and Thrift sits several blocks down from Arcane Delights. Like any thrift store, its wares range from the mundane to the bizarre. By daylight, it seems just another slice of small town Americana. But in its window hangs a sign which reads: We Have Things You Need. And when a lonely traveling salesman comes looking for something he desperately wants, after normal visiting hours, after night has fallen, he will face a harsh truth among the shelves of Handy’s Pawn and Thrift: the things we want are rarely the things we need. ©️ Crystal Lake Publishing

Sera Quinn had one job. Marry a dying man, keep her head down, and wait. Nobody told her that Damien Voss did not die on anyone's schedule but his own. She was twenty two years old when her stepfather sat her down at the kitchen table and explained her options. Her mother was sick. The bills were swallowing everything. And the most powerful billionaire in the country was lying unconscious in a private hospital ward with his family desperate enough to pay a small fortune to any woman willing to stand beside him at the altar. All Sera had to do was say yes. She said yes. She had no other word left. She moved into his mansion and tried to be invisible. She talked to him in the dark of his room every night because there was nobody else and because she was sure he could not hear her. She told him things she had never told anyone. She told him she was scared. She told him she was pregnant. Then she overheard four words that changed everything and she ran before the sun came up. Four years later she had rebuilt herself from nothing. A career. A spine. Twin children with their father's eyes. A case file she had been building alone, one quiet hour at a time, that connected a road barrier report to a name that would put people in prison. She had one rule. Stay away from Damien Voss. Then her four year old daughter hacked into his private server and left him a message. Damien was already in his car before Sera found out what her daughter had done. He was not coming to talk. And Sera Quinn was finally done running.

Aria was born under the moon’s blessing gentle, intuitive, carrying a power she never asked for. Clara was forged in lightning fierce, rebellious, and determined to tear down every wall fate built around her. Two girls from opposite worlds. Two powers that should never coexist. Two destinies written by a goddess who broke herself long before they were born. But when an ancient prophecy stirs and the sea begins whispering the goddess’s name, Aria’s quiet strength and Clara’s storming rage collide in ways no one predicted. Their bond becomes something deeper, older something the world isn’t prepared to face. And standing between them is Ares, Alpha of the Lunar Pack, bound by duty, torn by fate, and caught in a connection that defies every rule of the wolf world. He was never meant to choose between them… yet destiny demands a choice no heart should have to make. As the goddess rises to reclaim the pieces of herself she once shattered, Aria and Clara must uncover the truth behind their origins, their bond, and the power that ties them together. Will they rewrite a fate written long before their births or become the final sacrifice in a prophecy designed to consume them?

Maya Lin has a lot of secrets. To the world, she is a struggling single mom trying to finish college. But online, she is "Velvet Rose," a famous erotica author whose stories pay the bills for her and her four-year-old son. Her most famous book? A retelling of the single most reckless night of her life: her eighteenth birthday at Secret Pleasures, a masked club where she gave her virginity to a stranger. What Maya doesn’t know is that this stranger never forgot her. Professor Adrian Black is cold, cruel, and broken. Since the death of his wife, he has shut down his heart. His only escape is reading the novels of a mysterious online author—the only woman who seems to capture the memory of the one night he felt alive again. When Adrian catches Maya writing a steamy scene in his class, she thinks her life is over. But Adrian doesn't report her. He blackmails her. “Be my assistant, Ms. Lin. Or say goodbye to your scholarship.” Adrian thinks he’s punishing a bratty student. He has no idea that the quiet girl in his office is the author he’s obsessed with.

I was born to shine. But the fate had others plans for me. The moment my feet left the edge, the world fell silent. There was only wind. And peace. For one fragile heartbeat, I was free. Like a bird. Then something slammed into me from behind. Arms. Hard. Unforgiving. The impact hurled me sideways instead of down. Wood splintered. Something inside me cracked. Darkness rushed in and I welcomed it. … “Open. Your. Eyes.” The voice was quiet, slow, deliberate. It forced its way through bone and blood. An Alpha command. Pain detonated through me as air tore back into my lungs. My body convulsed against my will. I tried to sink back into the quiet—to finish what I had started. “You were NEVER given permission to die.” Power wrapped around the words like chains. My eyes snapped open. We were beyond the pack’s borders. The air felt colder. Wilder. Untouched by law or duty. For one second, I had belonged to nothing. And he had dragged me back. He loomed above me, fury carved into every sharp angle of his face. His breathing was controlled, his posture dominant - absolute. If anyone were watching from the cliffs, they would see an Alpha asserting ownership. His jaw tightened, irritated at being forced to deal with something that should have already been resolved. I had complicated his plans. “Drink.” His wrist pressed my mouth. The metallic scent hit first. I tried to clamp my lips shut. But Alpha commands do not ask. They take. My mouth opened against my will and his blood burned down my throat, spreading heat through my chest. A cruel gift. He would not even grant me the mercy of dying on my own terms. And I understood - even my death did not belong to me.

Everyone in town knows Jeffrey Williams—the hometown star who went from small productions to Broadway and television fame. But after years in the spotlight, Jeff has returned home, craving the quiet of familiar streets and the comfort of community theater. Daniel Lewis, the assistant stage manager, never expected his latest show to come with a front-row seat to his longtime crush. Shy, meticulous, and still nursing the wounds of a past relationship, Daniel wants nothing more than to keep his head down and do his job. But when Jeff’s piercing blue eyes land on him, the stage lights aren’t the only thing leaving him breathless. As rehearsals stretch into late nights and the line between performance and reality begins to blur, Jeff and Daniel find themselves drawn into a connection neither of them anticipated. But with gossip swirling backstage, old insecurities rising, and Jeff facing new offers that could pull him away again, both men must decide— is this just a fleeting spotlight romance, or the start of something real when the curtain falls? A heartfelt, slow-burn M/M romance filled with stage banter, stolen glances, and the magic of love found in unexpected places.