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?

I watched Jax's back as he walked away, his shoulders stiff with annoyance. The man was too handsome for his own good, especially when he was sulking. But I couldn't afford distractions right now.


"Take them to the motel," I'd told him minutes earlier, ignoring the flash of hurt in his eyes. "I need space to work."


"I can help," he'd insisted, leaning against my RV door with that infuriating confidence.


Normally, I wouldn't think twice about dismissing someone so bluntly. But something about the wounded look on his face kept replaying in my mind. Since when did I care about a shifter's feelings?


I shook the thought away, fishing for my keys. The children needed rest, and I needed to check on Hazel. That stubborn Lycan King had better have kept his promise to—


The RV door swung open before I touched it.


Chapter 150 - Chapter 150 - The Guardian's Interrogation