Scale Button Crossword Clue Novels & Stories

After her divorce and a series of toxic relationships, Margot Simmins ... not her real name ... was done. Free-spirited, and a hippie at heart, she never wanted to be attached to anyone or anything anymore, not even for a job. She works as a freelancer, and resorted to one-night-stands for a free, no strings attached, good lay, for one night only. No drama and life were good. And then she met Richard, who seemed reluctant to join in her fun, not having a clue that he was actually a very well-known reclusive billionaire that will change her life forever.

Seven years married to Adrian Locke. For me, he tore the unbreakable scale from his own body and left the deep sea for dry land. For him, I left everything and moved to the beastkin world. To everyone else we were the most loving couple. Even I believed it. Then he started coming home carrying a fox scent that wouldn't wash off, and every illusion I had about him shattered. The late nights came more often. The nights he didn't come home at all came more often. I knew it was time for us to end. And then that woman sent me the results of her pregnancy test. I filed to dissolve our marriage with the Beastkin Authority and bought a one-way ticket back to the human world. Adrian, if you can't promise me your love is mine alone, then I won't take any of it. From now on, we never see each other again.

After a wild, drunken class reunion, I woke up next to a male model. I had no clue what I was doing since it was my first time in this kind of situation. I called my best friend for help on what to do, and while the male model was still out cold, I left my wallet and bolted. When I got home, my best friend dragged me over to show me a picture of her new boyfriend. My jaw dropped. The guy in the photo was the spitting image of the man I had just left.

I was born broken. My Alpha mother was the one who branded me. She said emotion was a sin. A weakness. Especially for a werewolf. Especially for an Alpha’s heir. The day we were born, she clamped emotion-suppressing collars around our necks. Mine and my twin sister's. The slightest flicker of emotion, and the collar flashed red. My mother would then push the button, injecting me with a diluted "silver solution" to suppress my feelings. But my sister Cassia's collar? Always a calm, steady blue. Even when she shattered Mom's precious moonstone, it just pulsed gently. And me? I’d just whisper, "Mom, the thunder scares me," and my collar would erupt in a violent red. Then came the sting of silver poison burning through my blood.. I used to argue. But Mom always said the same thing. "The data doesn't lie. Pain is a teacher. This is for your own good." After thousands of these injections, I started to believe it, too. That I was born out of control. The night of the alliance's Moon Goddess Festival, Mom was taking my sister to the rooftop party. Something scared me during the day. The collar flashed red, and my mother started the punishment. But this time, the collar malfunctioned. It shot a dose a thousand times stronger into my neck. I collapsed on the carpet, begging, "Mother, the collar... it hurts so much... help me." My collar was flashing a frantic red. My mother just looked down at me, drenched in a cold sweat, and pressed the button for the maximum dose. "You'd lose control like this just for attention? You're a lost cause." She turned, took my sister, and slammed the door. I couldn't help but think, Mom must be right. The collar is red. It doesn't really hurt. I'm just being dramatic, looking for pity again. I'm sorry, Mom. In my next life, I'll be the perfect daughter you always wanted.

Shah Zain was holding her with one hand while opening his shirt button with the other hand. Meanwhile, he didn't let Minal separate from him for a moment. "Shah Zain please, it's not right time, it's too early." She was trying hard to control her unsteady condition, but who was listening to her? "Nothing is early Minal.... and today you can't stop me..... because today you himself come close to me." He picks her up in his arms and lays her on the bed. He bends on Minal while saying that. Feeling his lips on her neck, Minal feels like losing herself. "Shah Zain please....." For the last time, she tried to free herself from his hold. But Shah Zain again stops her from uttering anything. He just wants to feel Minal's closeness with himself. He wants to say how much he loves her.

Layla Foster, a timid werewolf, is married off to Chase Wheeler, the ruthless and greatly feared Alpha of Dark Moon pack, to birth him a son, by her stepfather. Her life as his wife is miserable as she is mistreated by Chase and his pack, when it is revealed that they are mates, Chase brutally rejects her and the bullying from his pack members worsens. Will Layla survive the harsh environment of the Dark Moon pack, filled with people who hate her? Will Chase ever love her for who she is, whether she births him a son or not? And when their love finally starts to bloom, will they be able to scale through the several obstacles, like another powerful and evil Alpha desperate to have everything Chase has, including Layla, villainous and vile family members who would stop at nothing to achieve their aims and Chase's high walls that he has built around his heart?

  It is never too late to begin again... I had the perfect plan in place when I pressed the reset button on my life. Keep a low profile. It was the only way to keep prying eyes off my secret. Getting into a romantic relationship with the town's number one bachelor, Mario Princeton, was not the best way to remain anonymous, but I couldn't take my eyes and hands off Mario. I tried to dismiss our tension as mere infatuation at first, but this was one truth I couldn't deny. I drew attention to myself, and now someone is blackmailing me because they know what I'm hiding. I should be honest with Mario and his family. I'm not sure how much longer I can continue to tell this lie. But, let's face it, I'm terrified of squandering my second chance. Mario is fantastic, but how will he react if he discovers that his fiancé was a prostitute?

The Consigliere—my husband, Sal Barzini—who'd always despised anything soft or weak—suddenly started sleeping with a teddy bear. One button eye missing, filthy as a stray dog, yet he cuddled that beast every night, curled up in silk sheets like a baby returning to the womb. And left me freezing on the edge of the master bedroom. I couldn't stand it anymore. At our son Luca's first-year baptism, I announced I wanted out. Everyone went numb with shock. Sal grabbed a glass of red wine and threw it in my face. "You're jealous of a stuffed animal? Have you lost your fucking mind?" I wiped the wine from my cheek, cold as ice. "You say you want to spend your life with that beast. I'm giving you my blessing."

Today is the sixth time my girlfriend, Shirley Lake, is supposed to meet my parents. My parents and I wait at the restaurant for four whole hours. I call her over and over again, but she never picks up. Just as I'm about to try one last time, I see Shirley's childhood sweetheart, Joshua Solomon, post a picture on his Instagram, with the location tagged at a suburban hotel. The picture shows a woman's pale back, one shoulder bare, with a striking red spider lily tattoo visible on her skin. Underneath the picture was the caption, "We'll make it from 18 to 80." A mutual friend comments, "First-love couples are the sweetest!" I silently hit the like button, then comment, "Make sure to get buried together when you die. And don't come back to haunt anyone else."

Paige was reassigned to a new boss. She had zero clue as to what she was walking into. However right from the start that spark was there and it turned into a flame that could burst into a raging fire at anytime. She had to wonder if they would actually ever get any work done. When the two meet everything goes right for the both of them changing their lives for the better as long as they continue to work together. When huge life decisions loom in front of them it was easier to accept them because the other was there. A Cinderella story with a few twists and turns that shows that love has no time table.