Vanilla Soda Sky

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.

O terceiro filho da chave dos dois mundos, irá nascer para desbloquear um dos pilares do universo e fazer a substituição do representante, será o guerreiro mais perfeito do universo, será a criatura mais perfeitamente feita para o seu destino. A sua metade será a mistura perfeita de uma fada e um bruxo e juntos iram trilhar o destino deles. o terceiro filho da chave dos dois mundos só conseguirá cumprir o seu destino assim que encontrar a sua companheira. Klaus Vodmont, terceiro filho de Sky e Kayvrel Vodmont. Ele irá mostrar que até à perfeição é imperfeita. Quem é Klaus Vodmont? Tenha a certeza que essa pergunta é feita por diversos seres de todo o universo. Ele é considerado o Vodmont mais complexo. Ele é tão diferente e ao mesmo tempo igual aos outros. Ele é perfeito e imperfeito ao mesmo tempo. Ele é uma confusão de bom e mau. Ele é pode ser um Anjo como pode ser um Demónio. Ele pode ser o seu sorriso, como pode ser suas lágrimas. Ele pode te abraçar e no segundo seguinte te enforcar. Ele é inconstante... Ninguém sabe o que esperar dele, ninguém sabe porra nenhuma sobre ele. Ele é um completo mistério... Ele é incompreensível... A pergunta é Você está disposto a desvenda-lo? Você está disposto a comprender Klaus Vodmont? Klaus não é para qualquer um... Só os fortes vão aguentar...

~You were there when my heart fell for you, but you were never there when my heart yearned for you, still, you never got out of my heart~ I thought it was good to leave because it seemed like they were on their date. I turned around suddenly Newt called. 'Prisha, is that you? Wow! what a pleasant surprise..." I slowly turned towards him, forcing a smile, and replied, "Hey! Newt, nice to see you..." "What are you doing here? Where is your friend Kriste? It is a little awkward to see you without her. I have noticed you two going everywhere together be it washroom as well," he mocked chuckling. Even though I didn't found it even a little funny, I forced a smile and replied, "I am just wandering around the town alone. As I was bored staying home. And about Kristen, she might be busy somewhere." "Oh! anyway come and join us. I want to introduce you to my..." "Girlfriend," before his words were completed my mind had already said it loud. so, I hastily interrupted him, "I am so sorry. I need to rush back home. My mom called me twice. Bye..." Before he could react, I was already out of the restaurant at great speed. The sky was covered with heavy black clouds and soon one after another drops of rain drip down along with my tears. I walked few steps but was not able to go any further. I fell on my knees getting weak to stand and slowly eyes got blur. Soon, I collapsed on the ground and before my eyes were forced to shut, I saw someone walking towards me.

My eyes linger on her mouth, and the desperate urge to kiss away the pain she is going through begins to twist deep inside me. "Dane… " I watch her enticing lips whisper my name quietly, like a plea for me to fucking say or do something. Not able to deny the urge any longer, I lean down, pressing my mouth to hers in a passionate kiss that instantly erupts pleasurable sparks inside me. Goddess…. the taste and softness of her lips against mine is fucking more than exquisite. Always more than exquisite. The instant she fully parts her lips and begins to kiss me back, I lose all control. This is everything I have ever wanted, but everything I know I should not fucking want. ☆☆☆☆☆ Tempting fate can be a cruel game, and Dane knows better than to fall for Cara, his bestfriend's little sister who is likely going to be mated to another. What they currently share is an addictive, 'no strings attached relationship', but Dane is beginning to lose control, and he knows the only way out is to break things off between them. So, under the moonlight night sky, he ends his 'no strings attached' relationship with Cara, ignoring her true love confession to him. Haunted with shame, fear, guilt and brokenheartedness, he flees his pack, leaving behind a broken soul to pick up the pieces he painfully shattered. However, no one can run away from fate forever. When duty calls, Dane is plunged back to his pack, crossing paths again with the one girl who still owns every bit of his heart. With the shadows of an evil omen hovering over their pack, Dane and Cara must set their conflicts aside to protect the people they love, or they risk losing everything they hold dear.

"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.

"You can't be weak, wife. You now have three husbands to please. Tonight's the night we claim you. You can't let a simple wedding tire you, for our nuptial night holds trials far more demanding." Ezra whispered huskily, tucking my hair behind my ear. -- "Oh god!” I cried. "Not god, baby. We are your demons," Ezra growled, pounding faster. -- "Call my name, Xanthea,” Asher groaned and a tight flutter erupted in my belly. -- "I can't… I can't take this… anymore…" And then he hit a spot, and he kept hitting it again and again with every thrust. Sparks charged throughout my body like the lightning cracking in the stormy sky again and again until it was too much to hold back, too hard to… resist. *** Xanthea Plath, an illegitimate child of the Alpha of Virgo pack, was an omega and omegas weren't allowed to dream, yet she never stopped dreaming. She wanted to be a doctor just like her mother but the luna of the pack, her stepmother would break her physically and mentally and stop at nothing to crush all her dreams. Xanthea had still found a way though all the abuse her steps put her through. But one day her world came crashing down right before her entrance in a medical college when she found out that she was being offered as a bride to the ruthless triplet alphas also known as the demon lords of the Infernal pack of the underworld. Xanthea had heard the horrifying stories of several suitors who had come before her, all of whom had met a gruesome end. *** Dark reverse harem romance with 18+ explicit content. Readers discretion advised.

“You loved me at my worst so you deserve me at my best.” Unrequited love hurts but what hurts even more is when the person you love with all your being is in love with your best friend. And what hurts even worse is when your Best friend slaps the truth right in your face that your man has been in love with her all along and you are nothing but just a second choice. As important as a rock on the street. No one should ever go through this. But Serena wasn't that lucky. To get revenge on Shanice Cooper- the queen bee of High Central- Asher Carter begins dating Serena Adams- Shanice's best friend. Serena, who is deeply in love with Asher, fails to notice his ulterior motive and keeps falling for him even more. It takes her 7 long years to know she was just a pawn in his game. But 7 years is long enough to change the game. It was all supposed to be just a game, but Asher couldn’t help himself falling for this innocent girl. He didn't realise when she became the center of his world. When did she become so important? So much that he bent the sky and moved the world only to see her smile. He became the richest man on earth only so that his woman lived like a Queen. He thought he was in love, but what he felt for Serena Adams was far more intense than he had felt for anyone ever. It was straight madness. But what happens when his first choice returns? The question is would Asher go back to her or would he, this time, protect his marriage? And what will happen when Serena finds out the truth- will she stay or leave him?

“My warriors will slaughter you all. They will—” “Shhhh.” Alpha George placed his finger on my lips, “You know your people have lost, Kyra. Your army is nowhere close to mine; neither are your weapons. The best you can do from here is pray.” I lifted my chin, showing no fear. With the chains tugging my skin, I spat, eyes burning with flames, “If you're not scared, release me, let me fight with my people if I would not chop your head off.” “No, Kyra. You're my…” He paused, looking all soft and calm, until he replied, “Prisoner.” – Kyra Dew, Gamma of the Red Sky Pack, had gone to battles and come back victorious until she went to battle against their rivals, the Moonshine Pack. Captured, chained, and tortured for the truth, Kyra only promised to speak up when she saw the Alpha. Alpha George, strong and fearless, came into the dungeon to receive the shock of his life. His mate was the one whom he had ordered his guards to torture until she spat the truth. Angered and regretful, he made a mistake, a mistake that led to her escape, leading to the death of many. Kyra escaped back to her pack, happy to go back to her lover and soon-to-be Alpha, only to receive the shock of her life. What happens when Kyra finds out that her boyfriend isn't really her mate but has been deceived? What would Alpha George do when he finally finds the girl who caused him so much loss? “You don't know me,” Kyra said. Her chin was held in Alpha George’s grip. “I know enough to kill you.” Alpha George replied. Yet, his burning eyes were fixed on her lips. “Kill me?” Kyra tilted her head, “Or kiss me?” She whispered.

When I opened my eyes, I found myself supposedly transmigrated to some ancient era. Every morning, before light touched the sky, someone would yank me out of bed to haul trash, chop wood, and do whatever filthiest job needed doing. Somehow, I'd become the lowest-ranked servant in the entire estate. The estate lord's son would climb onto my back and ride me around the courtyard like some pet he was proud to show off. Anyone in the household could hit me, kick me, or shove me aside, and not a single soul would speak up. Five years passed like that, so awful that I almost lost my mind, as if I were living in hell. Then one day, a group of servants cornered me. They didn't bother hiding their intention. The moment I saw their faces, I knew I was in trouble. Fists flew, boots landed, and everything blurred. Just before I passed out, I heard them whispering, "We're going to kill him if we keep this up." "Come on. This place only looks like some old noble estate. It's not an actual one. If he dies here, we're the ones who'll get dragged to court!" "Relax. Ms. Shaw will handle it. The idiot pissed off her childhood sweetheart. Getting tricked into this place is exactly what he deserves." Fear swallowed everything, and the world went dark. When I woke again, the lady of the house had conveniently "returned from visiting her family." The lord threw a grand celebration with tables full of food, wine flowing, and musicians playing like nothing had happened. I carried dishes into the banquet hall and lifted my head. Her face was the same as my wife's, Melissa Shaw. I set the final dish down, stepped closer, and in a voice only she could hear, asked, "Ma'am… are you enjoying your little game?"