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

The anxiety knotting my stomach wouldn't let me sleep properly. I tossed and turned, drifting in and out of anxious dreams where I was always running but never fast enough. Each time I woke, I checked the window. Still dark. Still hours until Liam would arrive.


A creak from my door had me bolting upright.


The door eased open, but it wasn't Liam's face that appeared in the gap. My heart plummeted like a stone.


"Hey, Haze," he said, his voice a low purr as he slipped into my room and closed the door behind him.


My entire body went rigid. "What are you doing here?"


He moved toward me with the confidence of someone who still believed he owned the space—and me. "I needed to see you."


"Get out." The words came through clenched teeth.


Julian ignored me, perching on the edge of my bed like he belonged there. His familiar scent—pine and spice—no longer comforted me. It made my skin crawl.


Chapter 32 - An Unwanted Vow Before the Escape