The Center Of Earth

Ava Kane is seventeen, unshifted, and unwanted. In a pack, failing to shift at seventeen brands you as weak—a disgrace. To her guardian pack, Ava is a stain, disposable and easily forgotten. Terrified of being cast out, she accepts a reckless dare from one of the pack’s strongest among her peers, desperate to prove she isn’t worthless. The dare changes everything, putting her on the path to an encounter that will change the entire trajectory of her life. Nathan Cross is the Alpha of Crescent Ridge—powerful, feared, and under relentless pressure to claim a Luna. One night of escape from his responsibilities as Alpha leads him straight into the path of a trembling girl with no wolf... and a scent that shakes his instincts to the core. She has no wolf within her, which should make her either too young or defective. Yet his wolf has decided on her. As Ava’s 18th birthday draws near and long-buried secrets about her past come to light, she begins to realize she may be more than anyone ever believed—including herself. When the balance between the packs begin to fall apart with her right in the center, being chosen by an Alpha wolf may not be enough to keep her safe.

He watched her in the distance, his mind clouded over in confusion. How could he, one of the coldest Alphas in the country, have a mate?The thought of having to take care of someone for the rest of his life haunted him. He always thought he was meant to run the most powerful pack that had no weaknesses; once his wolf becomes attached to hers, nothing can tear them apart. It is known to be the cause of the deaths of many great Alphas, and yet here he stood, unable to tear his eyes away from her.Her soft, shimmering lips stood out to him from across the clearing, occasionally being grazed by her soft, silky golden hair. Her delicate fingers brushed a strand from over her crystal blue eyes as they continued to gaze over the leather-covered book resting in the center of her lap.A soft breeze flowed over her bare shoulders, sending her scent right in his direction. A shiver traveled up his spine as his eyes rolled back into his head. A low growl erupted from his chest, wondering why she was all alone in an empty clearing. She seemed like a prize he had yet to win. (Complete

Eidolon Avenue: Where the secretly guilty go to die. One building. Five floors. Five doors per floor. Twenty-five nightmares feeding the hunger lurking between the bricks and waiting beneath the boards. The sequel to Eidolon Avenue: The First Feast (“a great read...powerful and jarring” - Cemetery Dance) returns to the voracious Eidolon as it savors The Second Feast. A narcoleptic man in apartment 2A battles a vengeful past determined to rob him of everything as he runs from the barbaric disaster of a delusional love. A woman in 2B, reinventing herself to please a callous boyfriend, discovers the horrors that wait in the shadows of her self-renovation. The man in 2C, a teacher at the nearby Catholic girl’s school, collapses beneath the brutal consequences of his lecherous desires. An older woman in 2D, after decades dedicated to the church, is cornered at last by the grisly carnage beating at the hollow center of her faith. And a college student in 2E, hungry to escape an ignored life of invisible anonymity, finds herself captured between the pages of a ravenous book. All thrown into their own private hell as every cruel choice, every drop of spilled blood, every silent, complicit moment of cowardice is remembered, resurrected and relived to feed the ancient evil that lives on Eidolon Avenue. ©️ Crystal Lake Publishing

"We all consume each other in our way. I merely take a more literal route. You... Alpha." His lip curled. "You would swallow me whole as a part of your pack, and take me as your slave. It is an act of violence, of control. But I..." He stepped closer, and the Alpha tensed, skittering back. "To consume something, to take it into yourself, is an act of love." • ───────────────── • He is a lycanthrope of the first kin. Blood of the fallen gods flows in his veins. Darkness is his refuge, carnage is his mark. And his appetite is that of wolves. In a world where power is wealth, Alphas and Kings war against each other to claim him as their own: to wield his violent nature and bind him to their thrones as a beast of massacre until his last breath. Orphaned by a war in the past, Avian grew as a street urchin first, then apprentice to a high priest within the kingdom walls. With a mind forged from years of survival and an uncanny, rare ability, her small world had managed to remain in one piece through the years. But that is disrupted when a rogue kingdom begins to encroach with the sole desire of conquering all kingdoms beneath the Vellene empire. And at the center of that kingdom lies a Lycanthrope feared by all.

I didn’t just lose my mate on the night of our Ascendance Ball. I lost my dignity. Standing in the center of the gilded ballroom, in a dress that cost more than my life, I watched Drail choose her. My best friend. He didn't just reject our fated bond; he laughed while doing it, his hand resting on her pregnant stomach. Cast out. Humiliated. Rogue. I ran into the storm and straight into the chest of a monster. Derek Montenegro. The Ruthless. The exiled Prince of the European packs. A man with tattoos crawling up his neck and a reputation for breaking bones as easily as he breaks hearts. He’s cold, commanding, and dangerously beautiful. He offers me a deal. A contract. "Marry me, Raya. Wear my mark. Become the Queen of the underworld, and I will give you the power to crush the people who broke you." I thought I was signing a deal with the devil to get revenge. I didn't know the devil had a twin. And I certainly didn't know that the rejection wasn't an accident—it was the first move in a war between brothers, and I am the weapon they both intend to wield.

From the time I was ten until I turned eighteen, my parents made me write 299 IOUs. Every time I needed money, I had to borrow it and pay it back as an adult. Then I got into a car accident. I needed money for surgery but was still short by 3,000. With no other options, I went to my parents for help. But they just gave me cold smiles. “Clara, you’re eighteen now. We have no obligation to give you money anymore. If you need it, write another IOU.” While holding back tears, I wrote my 300th IOU. After my surgery, I saw my adopted sister’s social media post. In the pictures, she was celebrating her 18th birthday on a cruise. She was the center of attention, like a princess. My parents had given her a luxury apartment in the city and a Maserati as birthday gifts. Even my childhood friend was looking at her with love in his eyes. She said they were the ones she loved and thanked them for giving her the best of everything. I looked down at the crumpled IOU in my hand and suddenly laughed. Once I paid off my debt, I would no longer need such a family.

"What do you want from me? I have asked you hundreds of times but you only give me a cold glare." A cold smirk broke on his face, sending chills down her spine. "You truly do not remember," he muttered staring into her confused eyes. "Remember what?" She asked, but got no answer in return. "It's because of you, Astrid. I am committed to your sin." ~~~~~~~~ After three years of marriage to her childhood crush, Astrid is forced to sign the divorce papers once her husband's childhood sweetheart returns to his life with a son. Blinded by love, he chooses his childhood sweetheart over his lovely wife. She leaves her marriage knowing her worth and ventures into the world of power. Unknown to her husband, she is the mysterious business Guru ruling the business world. When her husband starts to see things clearly, he realizes how much he misses his wife. Now he regrets his actions and yearns for his wife back! But will he be able to win her back when she is the center of many hearts? Will he be able to mend the broken heart he had destroyed?

The night before my mating ceremony with Alpha Garrett Northwood of the Silverpine Pack, he held a grand Luna ceremony for my silver-poisoned stepsister behind my back. He held Serena close under the starlit sky, his smile tender in a way I'd never seen: "You're the only one I truly love, Serena." "Even though Maya and I are already registered as mates with the Alpha Council, she'll never have my heart. You're the only one I recognize as my Luna." The pack members cheered and blessed them as they completed the ceremony with joy. I watched it all without crying or screaming. Instead, I quietly scheduled an abortion appointment. I've loved Garrett Northwood for twelve years, ever since I first shifted as an adult. But his heart still only had room for my stepsister Serena. If that's how it was, I'd let go. Later, I joined the secluded Herbal Research Center of the Alpha Council. I left Garrett nothing but a mate bond dissolution agreement. But for some reason, Garrett—who had always treated me with disdain—suddenly went crazy begging me not to leave.

Solenne's life is completely shattered when her charming, fun-loving boyfriend, Vincent, is killed, prompting his cousin Caelum to swear he’ll protect her. Caelum, a ruthless man suddenly thrust into leadership of the families after losing both his cousin and uncle, has no interest in playing bodyguard to the ungrateful girl his cousin foolishly fell for. +++++++++ The room was dark with red hues and a large bed in the center draped in black silk sheets. Caelum's body was over six feet tall and completely bare as he rammed himself violently into a woman he had bent over the edge of the bed. His hand was wrapped in her hair forcing her face into the mattress as she screamed in pleasure. Then he roughly pulled her head back making her screams louder. Caelum's eyes met mine and he began f**king her faster, grunting out his release as I stood there and just watched him dominate every part of her body. I was right, he was a f**king beast and I swear I was not finding it f**king hot. What is wrong with me? I quickly ran from that room and headed straight to mine. That did not just happen.

Revenge. Sweeter than a kiss laced with honey. Hotter than the deepest depths of hell. And, it hits harder than a f*cking train… I want all of it. I need it more than the air filtering through my lungs. And the constant, unsteady but racy beat of my heart when I’m around them. Darius. Jace. Hunter. It took them five minutes to destroy my life. Faster than it took the eighteen years of my existence for my father–the alpha of the Black Syndicate–to ruin me. I was neglected. Abandoned. Rejected. Pushed around and outcasted by my pack. Now I have to prove myself so my father’s gang won’t kill me. All because of them and by the hands of my father. Want to know the worst part? They are working together. What they don’t know is, once I get released from the juvenile detention center for werewolves I was sent to because of them–I will tear them to shreds. One by one. I, Elise Cartwright, will get my revenge. NOTE: This is an enemies to lovers dark/mafia/werewolf romance where the girl will end up with multiple love interests. (Reverse Harem)