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 diner smelled like burnt coffee and greasy fries. I stared at the laminated menu, fingers tracing the worn edges while pretending not to notice how the waitress kept glancing my way. My clothes were still clean enough, but days on the road had left my hair limp and my eyes shadowed. I probably looked like a runaway.


"The pancakes here are excellent," Sera announced, sliding into the booth across from me. Her arrival startled me so badly I knocked over my water glass.


"Sorry," I muttered, grabbing napkins to mop up the spill.


"Stop apologizing," Sera said, not for the first time since we'd met. She flagged down the waitress with a casual wave. "Two orders of blueberry pancakes and coffee. Black for me, ridiculous amounts of cream and sugar for her."


"Trust me," Sera interrupted, her mismatched eyes gleaming. "You need the sugar."


Chapter 42 - An Occupational Hazard