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?

The acrid smell of blood magic hung in the air, an unmistakable stench that made my stomach turn. The chamber before me held horrors I'd seen many times over my long existence, but familiarity never dulled the impact.


Bodies everywhere. Torn. Mangled. Drained.


"By the gods," Jax whispered beside me. His usual swagger had evaporated, replaced by genuine horror. Even as Beta to the Lycan King, he'd never witnessed carnage like this.


Orion stepped forward, his face betraying nothing. "Systematic. Ritualistic."


I moved deeper into the chamber, careful not to disturb the intricate patterns of blood that decorated the floor. The bodies were arranged with purpose—not randomly strewn victims of violence, but carefully positioned components of a ritual.


"What am I looking at?" Jax asked, his voice tight.


Chapter 96 - Chapter 96 - A Carnage of Sloppy Magic