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 couldn't stop crying. Tears streamed down my face as I hunched over in the hospital bathroom, my shoulders shaking with each sob that tore through my body. The weight of guilt crushed my chest like a vice.


Every person who'd died in that massacre—people I'd grown up with, people who'd smiled at me and shared meals with me for years—their blood was on my hands.


The bathroom door creaked open, and Sera appeared with concern etched across her face. "You've been in here for twenty minutes."


I couldn't even look at her. "Go away."


"Not happening." She stepped inside and closed the door behind her. "Here."


A towel landed in my lap. I stared at it, unable to process the simple gesture.


"Your face is a mess," Sera said bluntly. "Clean yourself up."


I gripped the towel, my fingers digging into the scratchy hospital-issued fabric. "How can you act like this is normal? Like I didn't just realize I caused a massacre?"


Chapter 65 - Translating the Wolf Mindset