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 gripped the steering wheel so hard it creaked under my fingers. The sharp pain in my chest had been constant for days, a physical manifestation of the distance between me and my mate. My head throbbed. Every nerve ending seemed to be on fire.


"Take the next right," Silas directed from the back seat, his voice strained.


I swerved the SUV sharply, ignoring Jax's grunt of protest beside me. My Beta shot me a sidelong glance but wisely kept his mouth shut.


"Are we getting closer?" I demanded, not bothering to mask the growl in my voice.


The warlock sighed. "As I've said the last seven times you asked, yes. We're closing in."


"Then why can't I feel her?" The words came out more desperate than I intended.


"Because tracking magic doesn't work that way," Silas replied, exhaustion evident in his tone. "I can sense her essence, but your mating bond is still too new to bypass whatever is interfering with it."


Chapter 46 - A King on the Edge