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

Kael's gaze burned into me, his jaw tense as he stood mere feet away. Every muscle in my body screamed to run, but I held my ground, caught in his stormy stare.


God, why did he have to look at me like that? Like I was a puzzle he couldn't solve. Like I was prey he couldn't wait to devour.


Lykos remained pressed against my side, his massive body radiating heat in the cool night air. His presence was the only thing keeping me upright.


"We should go," Jax finally said, breaking the thick tension. "Let them rest."


Just that. One clipped word, yet it contained volumes of unspoken threats and promises.


I took a cautious step backward toward Sera's camper. Then another. Kael tracked my every movement, his posture rigid.


"Turn around before you trip and fall," he ordered when I nearly stumbled over a root.


Chapter 51 - An Uninvited Guest and an Unwanted Question