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 woke to the sound of fur being sucked into a vacuum cleaner.


The noise was so unexpected that for a moment I thought I was still dreaming. But when I cracked open one eye, I found a sight so bizarre it could only be real: Sera, wielding a small handheld vacuum, was chasing Lykos around the cramped camper. His massive black form was hunched under the tiny dining table, whimpering pathetically.


"What are you doing?" I croaked, my voice still thick with sleep.


Sera turned to me, vacuum still running. "This beast sheds like it's his job. Look at my floors!"


Sure enough, black fur coated nearly every surface. Lykos gave me a pleading look that seemed to say, "Save me from this crazy woman."


"He's not a house pet," I pointed out, sitting up and running my hands through my tangled hair.


"Then he shouldn't sleep inside like one," Sera countered, lunging toward him with the vacuum again. The wolf scrambled to avoid it, knocking over a chair in the process.


Chapter 52 - A Blueberry Peace Offering