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 plate in front of me was heaped with enough food to feed three people. Pancakes, eggs, bacon, fruit, pastries—all arranged with a precision that seemed bizarre coming from the Lycan King.


Kael loomed over me, his massive frame blocking the light. His stormy gray eyes tracked every movement I made.


I swallowed hard, staring at the mountain of food. "I'm not hungry."


His jaw tightened. "You didn't eat enough last night."


"I ate plenty," I argued, though I knew it was a lie. I'd barely touched my dinner, too overwhelmed by everything that had happened.


Kael didn't bother responding. Instead, he grabbed the fork, stabbed a piece of pancake, and held it in front of my mouth.


"Feeding you," he said simply. "Since you won't do it yourself."


"Then do it." His voice was calm, but the challenge in his eyes was unmistakable.


Chapter 22 - The King's Unsettling Care