The Stepping Stone

An 18-year wait. A forbidden bond. A love he refuses to claim. What if your niece turned out to be your mate? Seventeen-year-old Zara, a rare Dragon-Were-Vamp hybrid, never expected to fall for the one man she shouldn't: her cold, ruthless uncle — Alpha Jax Stone, the most feared Alpha of the Diamond Heart Pack. But fate doesn’t care about bloodlines. For 18 years, Jax has fought the pull of the mate bond, trying to suppress his wolf’s obsession with the girl he swore to protect. In his desperate attempt to deny destiny, he wounds not only his fated mate—but himself. As the bond tightens and the wait comes to an end, bitter pasts resurface. A rising wave of supernatural drug trafficking, kidnappings of teenage dragons, and the dark secrets of Alpha Kai Stone pull them into a deadly mission where love might not survive. Now, Jax and Zara must face the greatest threat of all—not just a powerful enemy lurking in the shadows, but the impossible love they can no longer run from. Uncle by Blood. Mate by Moon. Monster by Choice.

Sign the contract, Maeve,” Carter Langston commanded, flinging the papers across the table with cold eyes and authority. She signed to save her family, not knowing she was stepping into a cage. Maeve married the ruthless billionaire who saw her as nothing but a pawn to secure his empire. Amidst all the humiliation her spirit refused to break. And when Carter’s younger cousin, Cameron—the man with soft eyes and dangerous kindness offered her the love Carter never could, her heart wavered. Torn between duty, betrayal, and forbidden desire, Maeve faced the impossible: which of the two men truly held her future?

“I bled for us. Now it’s your turn to bleed.” From impersonation, she filled the gap of a missing woman. Now she pay the price.................. Emily Vicente never imagined she'd ask herself that question until she saw the news: a $1 million reward for information on Elena Morgan, a missing pregnant woman and the ex-wife of billionaire Kelvin Edwards. The shocking revelation was that Emily looked exactly like Elena. It was almost as if she had lived a second life without knowing it. Her boyfriend, Sammy, desperate to escape poverty, sees a fast ticket out and pushes Emily to step into Elena’s life. Pretend to be a pregnant Elena. Collect the money and disappear. Emily, emotionally blackmailed and cornered by her present situation, gives in. But what she didn’t know was that she wasn’t just stepping into another woman’s life she was stepping into a storm. The lion’s den. Kelvin Edwards isn’t just a cold billionaire, he’s a desperate father trying to save his terminally ill child. And Elena is the key to that salvation. But now, she’s gone… and Emily has taken her place. What began as a lie quickly spirals into a web of secrets, danger, and emotional warfare. And just when Emily begins to lose herself in the act Kelvin finds out the truth. What follows is both heartbreaking and a solution to his problem. ...With the upper hand and nothing to lose, Kelvin gives Emily two choices one that could shatter her completely, and one that would bind her to him forever. What she thought was a way out... might be the beginning of her undoing.

The woman Aelfric was to marry had agreed to undergo this ritual with him. It was the only way for them, as two of the area's few healers, to become strong enough to stop the devastating Swamp Fever from claiming the lives of hundreds of children each year. As healers, they had exceptional training, the problem was power. Aelfric's research had revealed exactly where healing power came from and why, until now, it was so limited. After this ritual, he and his beloved would change the tides of disease and death in these lands, perhaps the entire world forever. Aelfric knew Silver-Dew abhorred the idea of immortality. What they were about to do would rid their bodies of their very souls, freeing the concentrated power of the life-spark to be used for their magic. He'd painstakingly crafted each of them a vessel to safeguard their soul. Sil wore hers around her neck: a beautiful, lovingly crafted pendant with a blood red stone in the center. The stone was rendered from the carefully heated blood of the beast that had captured her, the very beast Aelfric had slain.

A Stone that can change the world. Princess Flossina from the Kingdom Zuff awakens in the arms of a stranger, only to find out her mother has been murdered and she is to blame. Marlon has been waiting for his chance to redeem himself. After realizing he found the missing Princess of Zuff his plan could finally happen.

Ivory Stone has tried and failed to seduce her stoic steward 999 times. She thinks that maybe Wilson Quill doesn't have a heart. Maybe he won't ever fall in love with anyone. But one day, she catches him pleasuring himself with a bracelet belonging to the fake heiress who stole her life.

Once a Luna, now a grieving widow and omega, Luna returns to Stone Prime with a silent vow to protect the Prime Cub and uncover the truth behind her mate’s death. But when Kieran—the guy she once loved and the Alpha falsely banished—returns with a contract marriage and a warning, everything she thought she knew begins to unravel.

Damian is a well-known player until he meets Haley. Haley captures his eye; however, unlike the rest of his conquests, she doesn’t seem to be the least bit interested. It throws him off. However, it also makes it more exciting. Haley becomes his mark. He’s willing to do anything and everything to spend one night with her, even if that means putting aside his playboy ways. After a recent acquisition, Stone Enterprises is set for the expansion of the century. The only thing delaying the expansion is Damian Stone, the younger brother of owner Zane Stone. Zane spends most of his time in Europe to begin work on the new company. The only problem is that Damian’s playboy ways are standing in the way of taking over Zane’s role. Stone Enterprises is a prestigious law firm with a strong reputation. This means that Damian must choose between a quick lay and a first-time relationship to keep its reputation. Will he succeed? Or will the company risk being placed in the hands of its enemies? Damian is hell-bent on keeping up his bachelor lifestyle until Zane presents him with the offer of a lifetime. Zane will gift his younger brother the company if he can succeed in dating one girl. Sounds easy? Perhaps not. Zane knows his brother too well and decides to make a few rules that Damian must agree to in order for him to take ownership. Damian must stay in a relationship with the girl for at least seven months. Damian can not see any other girl. That even includes the “quick lay” that Damian has grown accustomed to. Not only that, but Zane also gets to pick the girl as well. ******************************** The Hunted Series: Book 1- The Mark Book 2- Hunter's Revenge Book 3- The Huntress ********************************

Happiness and contentment are the very things that defined Camilla’s existence on Earth. In search for her parents, she was lost and with it all she had. Disappearing into the unknown and brought to a world she never heard of. Rescued and with no hope of returning, she severed the feelings left of her previous life. She’s able to build a new identity in the peculiar world. Having friends and a purpose, she felt she’s living the one she used to have. But life isn't done with her yet. In hopes of gaining alliance of the strongest empire, King Rupert abducted the odd looking erudite woman to help him or risk going to war and lose everything. Camilla can choose to go back and keep living her happy days, knowing it wouldn’t last. Or go along with the King’s plan which might get her killed but’ll save the country for good if she succeeds. She chose the latter, became princess Thalyn, and was sent to attend the coronation of the Imperial prince. Imperial Prince Fazan found a way to bring his dead mother back to life. With a magical stone, he could accomplish the task. However he only possesses half of the stone and is in pursuit of the other which is buried in the forbidden palace of Myrtha. But only a woman of noble blood could open its gates. The stone chooses its lady and it came to light that the person it wants is princess Thalyn. Camilla has successfully achieved her task, regrettably her secret was uncovered by the prince who used it to his advantage. She once again found herself at somebody’s mercy, only this time she’d no choice but to accede. They began their long quest full of uncertainty, adventure, and perhaps romance.

‘It’s not that there aren’t good people in the world. It’s that the bad ones are so much easier to find.’ A teen mother raises her daughter on a looping road trip, living hand-to-mouth in motel rest stops and backwater towns, stepping occasionally into the heat and chaos of the surrounding cities. A life without permanence, filled with terrors and joys, their stability is dependent on the strangers—and strange men—they meet along the way. But what is the difference between the love of a mother, and the love of a friend? And in a world with such blurred lines, where money is tight and there’s little outside influence, when does the need to survive slide into something more sinister? ©️ Crystal Lake Publishing