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

When Kael questioned the bruise on my wrist, the truth slipped out before I could stop it.


"It was Selena," I admitted quietly. "Julian's mate."


His eyes flashed, dark veins appearing beneath his skin. "Why?"


I swallowed hard. "She caught me trying to escape. She said I needed to be taught a lesson."


Kael's jaw clenched so tight I could hear his teeth grinding. The black veins spread further, snaking up his neck like living tattoos.


It wasn't a question, but I nodded anyway. "She stepped on it. Said humans were too fragile."


Something wild and dangerous flared in his eyes. "And your other injuries? The bruises on your back I saw when my healer examined you?"


I looked away, shame burning through me. "Those were... from before."


"From the pack?" His voice had dropped to a growl.


"Some of them." I didn't want to say more. Didn't want to relive the humiliation of those final weeks with the pack.


Chapter 23 - The King's Prisoner