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?

Pack politics always held a unique stench. It clung to the air like perfume masking rot, sweet on the surface but putrid underneath. The Fiddleback territory reeked of it.


I followed Alpha Adrian through ornate double doors into what was clearly meant to be an intimate meeting space. Instead, a grand banquet hall stretched before me, filled with at least a hundred pack members in formal attire.


"Surprise!" Adrian gestured grandly at the elaborate setup. "We couldn't let the Lycan King visit without proper celebration!"


Crystal chandeliers hung from vaulted ceilings. White roses and lilies adorned every table. Servers in black tie stood at attention, champagne flutes balanced on silver trays.


I stopped dead in my tracks. This was not what I'd agreed to.


"Alpha Adrian," I said, keeping my voice dangerously level. "I believe I was clear about my expectations for this meeting."


Chapter 72 - Chapter 72 - A Necessary Evolution