Ashes of Yulefire

She was promised to another.
He’s the cursed alpha the fire refuses to forget.
One ritual and the sacred flame chooses a forbidden mate.

Maela Sørensen has spent her life perfecting ritual law. As a half-witch, half-omega scholar, she believes every prophecy has an order, every ceremony a purpose. Yulefire is supposed to be simple: kneel, bond with the Pack-approved alpha, secure political peace, and bury the strange pull she’s felt since childhood.

But on the longest night of the year, with bonfires roaring and the valley chanting its ancient rites, the flames shift. Snarl. Choose.

And the exiled fire-wielder she’s been taught to fear storms out of the snow.

Rune Thorsen was once the Yulefire Guardian—until the sacred flame died under his watch, branding him cursed, dangerous, unmarriable. Now scarred, half-feral, and shackled to a fire-magic tied to his rut, he’s spent years in self-imposed exile. But when the Winter Mother’s flame summons him back, he cannot resist.

Not when the magic drags him straight to Maela.

Not when the fire parts around her like a bowing god.

Saving her means invoking the oldest, most dangerous law: if the sacred flame names a mate, the bond is unbreakable.
Claiming her without her willing choice could burn them both alive.
But letting her go may end the valley’s last hope for warmth.

When Maela is swept into Rune’s ruined mountain keep, ritual order falls apart. Her witchlight reacts to his curse. Her body responds to a heat she cannot control. And every time she resists him, the Yulefire itself erupts—demanding she face a truth she never prepared for:

The fire doesn’t just want a guardian.
It wants an omega who will choose him.

As blizzards trap them in close quarters, desire ignites into ritual heat, forbidden seduction, and a bond the pack will do anything to break. To survive the curse, Maela and Rune must stand together in the heart of the sacred flame… and decide whether love can burn hotter than fate.

Perfect for readers who crave:

• Enemies-to-lovers with ritual heat and forced proximity
• Cursed alphas with feral devotion and dangerous power
• Half-witch, half-omega heroines who refuse to bend
• Norse-Celtic winter mythology, sacred rites, and pack politics
• Claiming bites, anchor-magic bonds, and firelit seduction
• Dark holiday romance with ancient gods and scorching stakes

Standalone in the Cursed Yule Series.