Wind-up Bird

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

“Get undressed and wait for me in bed. Keep your legs open until I finish my shower,” he commanded with the power of his Alpha status and as her mate. She wanted to resist. “Do you think I'm the same Luna you forced in the past? I refuse to submit to you. I won't let you touch me.” He growled softly, feeling a hot desire for her. She was no longer the unattractive Luna he remembered. She was gorgeous. He wanted to devour her with his tongue. He pulled her close and pushed her onto the bed, licking the back of her ear, making her moan in pleasure. He whispered, “I won't touch your body. Just your pussy until you beg for more.” He used to be next in line for Alpha and was under the control of his grandfather, the Alpha king. He had to accept mating with the woman he disliked the most - the daughter of one of the most powerful Alphas in the werewolf kingdom. If he didn't, he might lose his chance at being Alpha king after his grandfather's death. He thought he was mateless at the time. He didn't choose to mate with the unattractive woman, so he cheated on her day and night. But, one drunken night, he lost control and slept with her. Later, he forced her to break their mating bond. But, he discovered she was carrying his triplets. He forced her to be his mate again, or she wouldn’t see her children again. Six years later, he was no longer weak. He was the Alpha king of werewolves.

It was in the Era of Harmony, trillions of years ago, when Chaos first arrived. To stop all existence from growing rampantly and exhausting all sustenance, the Creator of the universe took on Chaos as its body, the void as its vigor, and black holes as its jaw—a combination to create a world-ending coffin, devouring the seas and setting lands aflame, reducing all to ashes! Later, millions of years ago, the gods waged wars against each other when the same coffin appeared out of nowhere, massacring their ranks and decimating the divine realm. Since then, it had gone missing, but its name continued to echo throughout the universe, leaving both gods and demons in fear! Millions of years later, a youth was buried alive and fused with the coffin where he was kept, and he became an undertaker whose name was heard throughout all worlds. "I'm really bad at saving lives, but I'm quite good with ending them," he said quietly with a cool visage. "I possess the Coffin of the Gods, and I can send anything and anyone to their deaths: humans, worlds… or even the gods themselves!"

She was meant to inherit an empire. Instead, she became a prisoner in her own home. Grace Wellington, a gifted piano prodigy and heiress to the Wellington fortune, has been missing from the public eye for nearly a decade. People say she’s living abroad in peace. But the truth was that she’s been locked away, hidden by her own stepfamily, slowly fading into silence as the world forgets her face. Her inheritance depends on one rule: marry by 26 and get 50% of her father’s estate. Have a child, and she gets 85%. But as her birthday nears, her stepmother and stepbrother conspire to steal her identity and fortune, using a beautiful stranger to play her role. But Grace isn’t the fragile girl they once controlled, not anymore. Now, she’s ready to reclaim her name, her life, and her voice. But the deeper she digs, the more dangerous everything becomes, especially when the man she loves is being seduced by an impostor.

Melissa Anderson who has had her fair share of heartbreaks decides to break free from the baggage she has been carrying as she joins an online dating community seeking the life of the rich and boujee. With no intent to have any emotional attachment, she stumbles upon Micheal Scott, the Wealthiest bachelor in Vegas who is disguised as a normal guy. Micheal was a force to reckon with, one that made Melissa question her defenses and took her on a journey of self-discovery. Lies were told, and secrets were exposed, would love conquer all?

He locked me in his penthouse, a beautiful bird in a gilded cage. Caius Evans, the billionaire who ruined my father, thought he owned me. He wanted to break me, to possess my art and my silence. But as the days turned to nights, the lines between captor and confidant blurred. He started sharing his secrets, his scars, the ghost of a brother he loved and lost. Now, the man I should hate is the only one who sees the real me. And the key to my cage is also the key to his haunted heart. But is this love real, or just another one of his calculated games?

Androkles: I am Lord Androkles, heir of Ares and son of former Lord Zeus. I've spent a lifetime in the shadow of a prophecy told long ago. All of Olympus believes I am the harbinger of their doom, The Destroyer. Is my fate set in stone? It always felt like it until I met her. Ismene-Eirene: I am Ismene-Eirene, daughter of a prominent horse breeder of House Poseidon. My life has been spent feeling like a bird in a cage. I thought nothing could ever free me from that cage. A night of chaos and bloodshed led me to The Destroyer. Can he destroy this cage?

Humans? A low-level world? No cultivators or gods? Could that world be trampled as easily as ants by the powerful beings from above? This is Long Chen's new journey after being reborn from the flames of the Vermilion Bird, emerging to fight against powerful cultivators who always use low-level worlds as their slaves and playthings. He also discovers the evils of the world and the people who rule over these various worlds. Protecting, destroying, and shaping are Long Chen's new goals. This journey brings Long Chen into contact with various powerful cultivators and even those called gods. Fighting, defeating, protecting—all of these are already in Long Chen's heart. He will also meet his parents, whom he has never seen since the day he was born. Will Long Chen accept them? Or will Long Chen decide to have nothing to do with them anymore? Can Long Chen maintain his purpose, or will he fall once again into the same temptation as the black dragon? "I live for myself, fate? Fate cannot stop me! I will keep standing no matter how many times I fall. As long as I still breathe, there is no such thing as giving up in my life."

Sheyana “Iya” Andrada is an actress who thought that she got the true love that she deserved from her long-time boyfriend and the father of her child. But one day, she finds out that Miko’s going to marry her best friend. Because she can’t digest the sudden breakups, she drowns herself in alcohol while riding the speedboat. That night, Iya tries to save her cat in the middle of the ocean after getting drunk. But an accident happened and ended up losing her memories. Achilles Joa Ramses, a billionaire. He does not plan to let another woman enter his life for love. He is avoiding putting his heart in another complicated situation. He must focus on his big company because he had enough when his ex-girlfriend cheated on him. But the wind blew in a different direction when he found Iya on the beach unconscious and ended up falling in love again. No matter how happy they are in each other’s arms, facing reality is a must. Now that Iya regains her memory and finds out that she had a child, what will happen to their entangled fate? Will they follow their hearts or choose to be apart?

Shinae Valerie Gallea, a humble hotel attendant, never expected her life to be twisted after accidentally encountering a billionaire, Klein Windham. After that night and days of spending with that man, Valerie choose to escape the fate, only to later discover she’s pregnant with his child. Choosing to leave everything behind, she finds comfort and protection in Liam Damian Kingswell, her longtime crush who willingly steps up as a father. But when Klein discovers the truth and returns, determined to claim his child and win Valerie back, she’s forced to confront her past. Now a mother, Valerie must choose between the man tied to her by blood and the one who stood by her through it all.