Lenaleia

For six years, I was Hazel, girlfriend to the future Alpha, Julian. I thought we had forever, a cherished place in our werewolf pack, even as a human. Then Mate Hunt night ripped it all away. I woke up lost in the forest, only to find Julian with her – his true fated mate. His words hit harder than the forest floor: I was just a 'placeholder.' Six years together, and he tossed me aside, his fingers bruising my throat as he growled that I meant nothing. My world, my heart – shattered.

Left for dead, freezing and injured, a different kind of predator found me. A colossal black wolf, eyes glowing gold, big enough to swallow me whole. But instead of tearing me apart, he curled around me, a warm, terrifying shield against the biting cold. For a moment, I felt safe.

That safety vanished when my pack, my family, found us. The Alpha who raised me, Maxen, didn't see a survivor. He saw a disappointment. Turns out, he’d only taken me in hoping I’d magically become a werewolf like my mother – the fated mate who’d rejected him. When I couldn't shift, he cast me out, branding me an omega, the pack’s punching bag.

Now, I'm less than nothing, surviving on scraps and enduring their cruelty. What they don't know, what I don't know, is that my monstrous protector is no ordinary rogue. He's Lykos, the wolf of Kael, the Lycan King. And Lykos has decided I am his fated mate – a human. Kael is furious, but his wolf has a will of its own, dragging the King himself towards my abusive pack.

My old life is over. My only ally is a creature of legend. And the most feared Lycan in existence is on his way. Is he coming to save me, or is the King's arrival just another nightmare waiting to begin?

A King’s Curse, A Wolf’s Claim

I paced the length of my bedroom, eyeing the food spread I'd ordered. Fruits, meats, cheeses—enough to feed an entire wolf pack. Ridiculous. All for one small, infuriating human.


"You're an idiot," Lykos, my wolf, snarled in my mind.


I ignored him, straightening a plate of grapes for the third time.


"She's terrified of you," he continued. "And you think food will fix that?"


Lykos snorted. "After you slaughtered her Alpha in front of her? After you dragged her here against her will? Food isn't what she needs."


I clenched my fists. My wolf and I rarely agreed these days, especially regarding the human girl. Hazel Croft. Even her name made my skin prickle with unwanted awareness.


"The Alpha broke Lycan law," I said. "Harboring a human without permission."


"And that required ripping his throat out in front of her?" Lykos challenged.


Chapter 21 - A Predator's Tenderness