The Silence Review

In Black Salt, love is a sickness you can’t hide—a slow gnawing beneath the skin that leaves you hollowed, grayed, and eventually gone. No one stays long enough to see it through; they leave before the rot finishes its work. It’s what the town teaches you: when it starts, you run. You look away. You survive by pretending not to feel. But Atlas is tired of pretending. The halls of Black Salt High are full of kids pretending they don’t see each other’s bruised hearts, pretending their bones aren’t already whispering warnings. Still, he can’t forget the weight of a father who stayed—not out of love, but because he never felt it deep enough to decay. That truth lingers in Atlas like a second shadow. And then there’s Nova—the outsider with a storm in her bones. And Wren, all sharpness and fight. Milo, who cracks jokes to keep the silence at bay. Luce, who wears her thorns like jewelry. Together, they don’t know how to stop the rot. But they’re learning how to sit with it, how to name it, how to refuse the small, hollow deaths of pretending not to care. In a town where love is a death sentence, staying might be the bravest thing of all.

"I, Raelin, . eject you, Lucan Trent, as my mate and future Alpha King." She thought that would be her freedom. Instead, it was her sentence to death. Aria was born an Omega- but not just any Omega. She's the unwanted daughter of a ruthless Alpha, abused for her silence and punished for her intuition. When she uncovers a dark betrayal that threatens her entire pack, her courage costs her everything: her name, her bloodline, her home. Banished and broken, she's chased through the woods like prey until fate hurls her into the arms of Kael Thorne, the fearsome Alpha of the Nightborne Pack. A warrior king with eyes like ash and a soul forged in fire. He should have torn her apart. Instead... he spares her. "Why didn't you run?" "Because you looked at me like I wasn't disposable." But Kael isn't just a protector. He's a man with secrets of his own, haunted by blood, prophecy, and the scars of his past. And Aria--trembling, defiant, irresistible-is the one thing that unravels his control. In a kingdom where Omegas are pawns, and Alpha bloodlines must remain untainted, their bond is more than forbidden--it's a threat to everything

“You can lie with your lips, little moon,” he said “But your body screams for me.” “You don’t know what you’re talking about,” I lied, although I could feel my wolf howling inside of me, trying to claw her way out to get to him. “Say it,” he murmured. “Say you feel it too. You can’t run from me forever, little moon” I was unraveling. My hands found his shirt and fisted it, gripping it tight like it was the only thing anchoring me. “You’re mine, Ruelle. You always were and you always will be.” Ruelle Silvermane has always been the quiet sister, overlooked in a powerful pack, until fate ties her to Thorne, the fierce Alpha of Ironclaw. But their bond stirs envy, betrayal, and danger. Her own sisters scheme against her, his past lover wants her gone, and rogue wolves circle their lands. Torn between her silence and his fire, Ruelle must decide if she has the strength to fight for the bond she never wanted but cannot deny. Will Thorne truly stand by her side when the cost is everything? Can Ruelle rise from the shadows, or will the world break her before she claims her place as his mate?

In a world where power is currency and women are pawns, Ava Campelli has just been sold to the highest bidder through a wedding veil. Born into a legacy of blood and quiet obedience, Ava knew her fate was sealed long before she could dream of escape. When she’s forced to marry Nico Moretti, the cold, ruthless heir to a criminal empire, her life becomes a performance of silence and survival. From the outside, she’s a vision in white. On the inside, she’s breaking. Nico is everything she feared: calculated, controlling, and obsessed with ownership. What begins with a diamond ring and a kiss in front of hundreds quickly descends into possession, manipulation, and brutal expectations behind closed doors. His touch is demanding, his love conditional, and Ava is expected to be the perfect wife—seen, not heard. But behind the carefully painted smile and submissive posture, something dangerous is beginning to stir in Ava. Each cruel word, every forced touch, is a spark. And one day soon, she may burn the whole kingdom down. A story of power, pain, and the quiet beginnings of rebellion—Bound By Blood and Vows is a haunting tale of a girl who learns that surviving is only the beginning and if she can't win his heart, then she will steal it when she leaves.

“Reject me!” My voice is sharp, clear, and it cuts through the night like a blade. The entire pack freezes. Gasps ripple through the crowd. A stunned silence falls over the gathering, broken only by the crackling of the dying fire from the circus stage. Kane stiffens beside me. I don’t look at him. I can feel his anger, the sudden tension radiating from his body like a storm about to break. But I don’t back down. I lift my chin higher. “Reject me,” I say again, louder this time, making sure every single wolf in the pack hears me. Murmurs rise around us, whispers of disbelief. No one rejects an Alpha... Avery Lane, daughter of an Alpha gets kidnapped by her father's rival Alpha and she is forced to become his maid. A few days into staying there and working as his maiden, Avery turned eighteen and discovered that Her kidnapper, Alpha Kane was her mate and she immediately rejected him, not minding the repercussions. Alpha Kane has been on a search for his mate for so many years and when he finally found her, she rejected him and he vowed to make her regret her decisions.

All her life, Lyla has only known pain. After her mother’s death, she was left alone with a man who never saw her as a daughter — only as a girl to control. Her days were filled with silence, fear, and survival. She never dreamed of love. She never even believed she deserved it. Until one letter changed everything. Now she’s in a new world — one filled with magic, secrets, and danger. But the most confusing part of it all? The four Alphas. Each of them pulls her in a different way. • Dante, the cold protector who pushes her away, yet is always the first to catch her when she falls. • Riven, the bold flirt who swears their souls were once bound together. • Kael, the silent dragon Alpha who sees through her even when she hides. • And Lucien, the vampire prince who almost drank her blood… but chose to fall for her instead. Lyla doesn’t want attention. She just wants peace. But something inside her is waking up — something powerful, something dangerous… something that draws the four Alphas closer. Is she meant to love one of them? Or is she the girl who will ruin them all?

She gave up everything—her inheritance, her influence, her voice—for a man who never loved her. Eliana Moore was the heiress to a billion-dollar empire in Manhattan. Poised, soft-spoken, and hopelessly in love, she walked away from it all to marry Ethan Blake—the man who owned her heart but never returned her love. For years, she lived in silence, enduring a cold marriage while Ethan gave his heart to her best friend, Ivy. Until betrayal turned fatal. When Ivy’s final act of cruelty takes Eliana’s life, she awakens in the past—on the morning of her wedding day—with every painful memory intact. This time, she won’t make the same mistakes. This time, she won’t love blindly. She won’t surrender her life for anyone. From pawn to power player, Eliana embarks on a journey of self-discovery, calculated revenge, and ruthless transformation. The woman who once lived in the shadows is gone. In her place stands a force no one saw coming. But rewriting fate comes at a cost—and as Eliana rises, she must choose between vengeance and the chance to love again… this time, on her own terms. The Rebirth of the forgotten wife is a gripping tale of heartbreak, second chances, and the strength it takes to rise from the ashes.

A one-night stand with a billionaire was never Celina’s dream. It was her only choice. When Naomi, the arrogant daughter of her mother’s wealthy employer, corners her with an impossible ultimatum, Celina is forced into the arms of Bryan, a man she believes to be a stranger, in exchange for her mother’s freedom. Her mother, a maid who has spent years serving Naomi’s powerful family, is falsely accused of theft, and the price for her release is Celina’s innocence. That night should have ended in silence, buried forever. But fate has other plans. Days later, Celina discovers that the mysterious man from that night is not only Naomi’s fiance but also her new boss. The revelation shatters her world, binding her to a man she should hate but whose presence awakens emotions she cannot control. As whispers, betrayal, and a devastating scandal threaten to destroy her reputation, Celina’s heart is torn between protecting her ailing mother and untangling the complicated bond she now shares with Bryan. Caught between sacrifice and desire, loyalty and love, Celina must face a truth that could change everything: sometimes, the cost of saving the one you love is giving your heart to the last man you ever expected.

The seventh time Claire Fisher bailed on our marriage license appointment, I finally cut her out of my life—for good. From then on, if she was at a party, I wasn't. When she was scheduled to perform at our college's anniversary celebration, I made sure to leave early. The moment my company announced a collaboration with hers, I resigned without a second thought. Even on Christmas Eve, when she showed up at my parents' house with gifts, I slipped out with a half-hearted excuse about "visiting a friend." I blocked her number. Deleted her from my contacts. Burned every bridge and salted the earth behind me. No calls. No texts. No social media. I didn't reach out. She couldn't reach me. Simple as that. For the better part of my life, I was hopelessly in love with her—waiting on her, caring for her, putting her first in every way that mattered. I gave her all of me without ever holding back. But after the seventh time she left me sitting alone at the City Hall, something inside me broke. I was done. If that meant spending the rest of my life alone, so be it. Better that than sitting in an empty apartment, listening to the silence, holding on to hope for someone who never planned to show up.

I watch as he gently places the gun on the table. Seconds tick by a heavy silence filling the room. He takes a stand and makes his way to me. He takes a stance behind my chair and places his firm arms on my armchair, caging me. I bask in his scent and warmth. "You choose now Lana, here and now." He whispers into my ear. His traces my knuckles before grabbing my notebook out of my hands, and tossing it on the table. "I wasn't done with that." I say. He laughs, I feel his chest rumble as he laughs. I turn to face him, feeling my breaths shorten with each passing second. "Eyes on the prize, Lana." He turns my head back towards the table. "You choose the notebook you can go back to living your life in fear and delusion, then one day end up dead in a dumpster or," He brushes a strand of hair from my face, " You could pick up the gun and hunt your past which shall it be Lana?" I feel beads of sweat on my back and my anxiety prickling through my skin. I have to choose, here and now. I extend my hand and pick my choice.