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

"You should come with me to Yellowstone," Sera said, her eyes glinting with spontaneity as she packed away her hair-dyeing supplies.


The words hung in the air of the small camper, unexpected and thrilling. I touched my newly blonde hair, still damp at the ends, feeling like a stranger in my own skin.


"What?" Liam's voice cut through the moment, sharp with disbelief.


Sera shrugged, rainbow hair cascading over her shoulders as she moved about her tiny home on wheels. "Why not? I'm heading out at dawn. You clearly need a place to lie low. I'm going somewhere beautiful and remote." She glanced at me. "Seems like a perfect solution."


My heart raced at the possibility. Freedom. Real freedom—not just escaping one cage for another.


"That's insane," Liam said, stepping between us. "Hazel can't just—"


"Hannah," I corrected him automatically, embracing my new identity. "And why not?"


Liam's eyes widened. "You can't seriously be considering this. You don't even know her!"


Chapter 35 - An Alliance Fractured