Sky Clans Novels & Stories

Richard Franklin has left his Midwestern roots behind to live on the coast of Maine with his family. But in the autumn of the year 2000, he must return to his Illinois birthplace on a sorrowful journey. His wife Michelle has been killed in New England by a hit-and-run driver who is never found, so back home he comes with her cremated remains, to fulfill a final wish and on her birthday scatter her ashes in the park along the river in Blackwater Valley—simply Blackwater Val to locals—the small town where they both grew up and fell in love. With him he brings his six-year-old daughter Katie who still grieves for her lost mother: Katie, who can sometimes guess who’s going to be on the phone before it rings. Who can stop all the clocks in the house, and break up clouds in the sky with her mind, and heal sicknesses, and who sometimes sees things that aren’t there...people who are no longer alive. All gifts she inherited from her mother. Only something isn’t quite right in the Val. Sinkholes are opening up, revealing the plague pits the sleepy hamlet was built over in the 1830s, when malaria and cholera outbreaks ran riot. Mysterious bird and fish die-offs begin to occur, and Katie can see ghosts of the dead gathering all around. But what she can’t see is the charred, centuries-old malevolence which has been waiting for her, and wants her for its very own. Or the pale Sallow Man who haunts the town’s nighttime streets...or the river witch—another Blackwater Val, of sorts—each of whom will be drawn one by one into the nightmarish bloodletting about to take place. ©️ Crystal Lake Publishing

Mom cleared her throat and said, “I have an idea.” I frowned. “What are you talking about, Mom?” “I’m talking about I have an idea.” She stood up and leaned on her desk, saying, “We will hold the Queen’s Guard Tournament.” “I still don’t understand, mom.” “I propose a tournament with several tests, games, balls, bullfights, interviews, dates and parades. I suggest we go wild with different activities that guarantee the election of the new alpha kings.” “Okay… I’ll take the bait. Who will participate?” “Anyone who is an alpha or some equivalent to that. We put their names inside the sky crate so that destiny can choose the 20 lucky ones who will compete for the love of the future sovereign. The three winners will be crowned the alpha kings of the south, east and west. Obviously, the north is occupied by Alonso.” “And what will happen to Sokaris? He’s mine too, mom!” “I wouldn’t worry about him, Maddie. In my dreams, I saw him putting on a great show.” “What will happen if my other fated mates show up?” “Destiny will take care of it, Maddie. Your mates will be selected. But to win, we must give our enemies a mirage of hope that makes them believe they can govern.” “And in the end, they will be exposed to everyone, without us having to intervene,” Mom nodded, with a triumphant smile. I sighed. “If this is our best option, then let’s use the ball that is already being planned as the tournament’s opening event.” Mom nodded. Dad slapped his hands together and said, “Well… we have a tournament to plan and a lot of announcements to make. Let’s get started!” ________________ Reverse harem / 4 fated mates / Magic / Royal Lycan Family / Vampires

On my eighteenth birthday, the High King summoned the heirs of the four great clans—the Vampires, the Werewolves, the High Serpent Clan, and the Merfolk. He laid their portraits before me and said, "Choose one to be your bondmate." I did not hesitate. I pointed to Damon—the werewolf with no noble bloodline, born in a forgotten corner of the realm. The entire court erupted in disbelief. Everyone knew who I used to love. Alpha Iris—the heir of the most powerful Lycan bloodline. For seven years, I chased him with blind devotion. No matter how harshly he treated me, I never gave up. I confessed to him over and over, sometimes right in the royal court. I even performed a blood-binding ritual—slitting my wrist—to earn the right to marry him. In my previous life, I got what I wanted—I married him and we performed the mate bonding ceremony. With that union, he inherited the High King's resources and rose to become the ruler of all four clans. However, what I did not expect was that after our wedding, he turned around and marked my adoptive sister. My parents were furious and sent her away. From that day on, Iris hated me with a vengeance. He surrounded himself with women who all looked eerily like her. One by one, they came—each more vicious than the last. With his silent approval, they tore me down, piece by piece, until I was nothing more than a joke—no longer the queen I once was. The suffering pushed me into severe depression. Only suppressants keep my wolf form from spiraling out of control. Until one day, my medication was replaced with a slow-acting poison. He was the one who did it. I died alone, locked away in the cold palace, a child still growing inside me. However, fate gave me another chance. In this life, I would not make the same mistake. When the High King once again asked me to choose a partner for the marriage alliance, I chose Damon—the one no one ever noticed—without even blinking. I thought I was finally free of the past. However, the moment the engagement was announced… Alpha Iris lost his mind.

Elena dreams of becoming a world-class chef. On the day she sets out to pursue her passion, her father, Jon Nolan, sells her in marriage to Brad, who paid off Jon's debts just to have Elena - and win a bet. For two years, she plans her escape from the hellish marriage. Suddenly faced with an external danger that threatened her life and that of her unborn child, she flees prematurely into Boston, carrying a secret that could bring down the most ruthless crime family in Massachusetts and her husband. Now, these men searched the city for her. Elena finds shelter in the Banks’ Family Center, where she hides until her child, Sky is born. Ary Banks, a reclusive billionaire with zero interest in love, walks into Elena's life. The first woman he ever finds intriguing! Ary soon learns that beyond her enchanting laughter is a world of storm, too enormous for her to survive. That same storm now poses a threat to his empire and everyone he cares about. To save his empire, he must protect Elena and Sky. But this means he must be willing to battle not only the external enemies but his estranged mother who has ruthless ambitions and also welcome disruption in his controlled world. Obsessed with controlling his life, Ary's mother will stop at nothing to tear away those closest to him - especially the woman he’s beginning to love - until she is the only anchor he has left, until she could rule his empire and life. Thrusted on each other by fate, Elena and Ary realize their growing connection and dare to trust again. As old wounds resurface, new enemies arise. They must decide if their fragile love is worth the fight - or if it’ll be destroyed before it could ever bloom.

"Call me sir." He demanded."What?" I heard it correct yet asked again to make sure did I hear correct? "Don't your thick head get things at once?" He asked furrowing his eyebrows without moving his gaze from mine. No way I am going to call him sir. Thick head! It's the second time he told that. What does he think of himself?I cleared my throat and spoke. "Firstly, I'm not going to call you sir. I'm not your slave to do so. And secondly, I don't have a thick head." I protested. "Slave? Seeing a word by its abbreviation." He quirked a brow. "Your thick head has a little knowledge in it." This time he inched more close while the corner of his perfect shifted to a smirk. Move back, Mister!"Yes, I do see a word by its meaning," I said, trying not to fall in his gaze. (S.I.R = Slave - I - Remain) He got closer and closer and stooped near my ear while keeping his hands on the table, either side of me. I could feel his brushing against my earlobe when he spoke in a low deep voice. "If you don't, I'll cancel this deal." 'No! I can't let this happen.'~~~~~~~~~~~~~~I am either drown into the deep green sea or flew up into the bright blue sky, for sure I was lost in his blue-green eyes. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Time marched by days into months and months into a year. Everything in my life has changed but one thing remains the same. Years ago I would've never pictured my life the way it is now.

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

I ran away with my new husband, Keith, chasing something—adventure, maybe, or just a way out of my dead-end town. He promised Vegas, bright lights, and fortune. Said he’d win big at the Moon Crescent Casino. I went along for the ride, naively thinking this was the start of something new. Instead, Keith lost everything. And I mean everything. And his genius solution? He sold me. To pay off his gambling debt, he handed me over like property—to a pack. Not just one man, but three. Wolves, apparently. Dangerous, intense... and off-the-charts gorgeous. Husk is tall, dark, and terrifyingly silent. When he does smile, it looks like it hurts him—and frankly, it gives me nightmares. Winter, with his pale hair and soft eyes, is gentle… on the surface. But there’s something immense in him, some power pulsing under his skin, like he could take control of my very soul. Then there’s Sky—moody, brooding, unreadable. He shifts between warm and cold so fast I get whiplash. They tell me I have to stay with them at the casino for thirty days. Just thirty days, and the debt is paid. Sounds simple, right? Except nothing about this is simple. And I know there’s a catch. So, I run. Only to find out—they need me. Not for money. Not just for fun. For something deeper. Something... ancient. Suddenly, I’m not the girl people overlook. I’m not the small-town girl with a too-big heart and nowhere to put it. I’m the key to something much bigger, something magical. And maybe, just maybe, these wolves aren’t my captors… they’re my future. I left to escape. But it turns out, what I needed most was exactly what I tried to leave behind.

"Sign the contract. Produce an heir. And never question what happens in the dark." Cora Belmont was not supposed to be here. Her sister was the one meant to marry Roman Falcone — East Coast crime boss, untouchable, allegedly monstrous. Her family didn't give Cora a choice. They gave her a sedative. She woke up in silk sheets, with a contract on the pillow and a pen placed precisely against her lips. Sign it, or your family loses more than you. So Cora signs. She signs away her body, her autonomy, and any illusion she had about what marriage means in a world of men who treat women like ledger entries. What she doesn't sign away is her mind. And her mind begins keeping records. Because her husband is impossible. Some nights he is Roman Falcone — cold, brutal, exacting, who takes what he wants and leaves without a word. Other nights, someone comes to her bedroom who touches her like she is the only precious thing in a world of violence. Who whispers her name like a prayer. Who smells of sandalwood instead of gunsmoke. Cora tells herself she's losing her mind. She sets a camera. She watches the footage. And then a thunderstorm lights up the sky outside her window — and she sees both of them. Roman in the doorway, gun in hand, reeking of fresh blood. And Rocco Falcone — The Shadow, the ghost who was never supposed to exist — still in her bed. They are twins. They are equally dangerous. They are both completely obsessed with her. And when Cora tries to run, she discovers that one Falcone is impossible to escape. Two Falcones simply don't accept the concept of escape at all. The wrong vow was just the beginning.

I've booked a hot air balloon trip for my in-laws in commemoration of their wedding anniversary. Little do I know that as soon as the hot air balloon lifts off the ground, 1,000 drones appear out of nowhere and form a sentence in the sky. "Natalie, my ethereal beloved, you're the only one I ever want in this world." I feel as though my blood has turned into ice. It turns out that my husband, Theodore Shaw, is in the middle of launching a grand confession to his first love, Natalie Quinn. As soon as the line goes through, I exclaim in a quivering tone, "Theodore, hurry up and command the drones to avoid the hot air balloon's route! Mom and Dad are—" Before I can finish speaking, Theodore cuts me off with a sneer. "Back then, you exaggerated Natalie's parents' crimes at the court. When they died from despair in jail, you were busy celebrating your win streak as an ace lawyer. "Now, I want you to have a taste of what it feels like to lose your own parents too!" Then, Theodore commands his subordinates loudly, "Lock on the target! I want you to use the drones to crash the hot air balloon out of the way! I want to hear how loudly it'll explode when it plummets!" Natalie keeps egging him on at the side in a sickly sweet voice. "Precisely! I want it to explode as beautifully as the fireworks!" The hot air balloon keeps getting attacked by the drones that keep flying in their direction at high speed. I can hear my in-laws' cries of despair, sending shivers down my spine. That's when I roar at my phone hysterically. "Theodore Shaw, you absolute bastard! Open your damn eyes and look at the sky! Your own parents are the one riding the hot air balloon, dammit!"

"How can I marry a man I do not know?" "Your father is the one who decides what can happen." "Why do I have to marry him?" "Your father wants to do business with him, and it is so much that it would take us from top twenty to top ten." Nirelle’s fate is sealed. After a life of endless scrubbing, suffering, and silence, her father decides her worth lies in securing a business deal. A deal so massive, it promises to thrust their family into elite status—at the cost of her freedom. Married off to a man cloaked in more secrets than the night sky, Nirelle wants to run. But there's nowhere to go. With every ounce of strength she has left, she chooses to shift prisons—from her father’s oppressive home to her new husband’s mansion. Lucien Vexley is nothing like she expected. The name alone strikes fear on the streets, the rumours painting him as a shadowy, ruthless enigma. Yet the man sitting across from her at the dining table, caring for her in ways she’s never known, is nothing like the beast they described. Lucien is a mystery she can’t seem to solve, and worse, he is her father's enemy. "You are handsome?" "It seems you were expecting me to be a beast?" "Well, according to the rumours," "Am I not here as a scapegoat for something?" Nirelle doesn’t understand the warmth beginning to stir in her chest, the way her stomach flutters when he's near. But something is changing. Something deep. Something dangerous. And she can't help it when she wants to join hands with him to take her father down. Sold to My Father's Enemy is a revenge tale that would keep you at the edge of your seats.