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

Pip sat on my lap, her tiny body still trembling occasionally as she clutched her stuffed rabbit. The poor thing hadn't stopped shaking since our encounter with the Great One's men. Now, in the relative safety of the cave, she seemed determined to burrow into me as if I could shield her from the horrors of the world.


I stroked her hair, whispering soothing words. She wasn't the only one shaken. All the children moved like ghosts around the cave, their eyes constantly darting toward the entrance.


Leo approached us cautiously, a banana in his outstretched hand. "Here, Pip. You need to eat something."


Pip took one look at the banana and shrieked. A deafening, ear-splitting scream that echoed through the cave. Her little body went rigid in my arms as she dissolved into hysterics.


"No! No banana! No!" She thrashed violently, nearly toppling from my lap.


Leo stumbled backward, his face a mask of confusion and hurt. "I'm sorry! I didn't know—"


Chapter 102 - A New Dawn, A Fallen Tyrant