"You never loved me," I whispered. "Elara has always been on your mind." For five years, Calla—the secret Goddess of War—has endured public humiliation, sacrificed her identity, and bankrolled the Alpha of Aura Pack, Gladys, all to honor a promise to her dead parents. Her reward? A public show of infidelity, as Gladys gives a sacred family heirloom to his childhood crush, Elara.
When Gladys chooses a dinner date over retrieving the ashes of her fallen parents, the betrayal is complete. Calla demands the mate bond be severed, only to find herself drawn into the orbit of a new, far more dangerous kind of man: Varen, the Cursed King of the Lycan Empire.
Varen, who bears a curse that lets him see the moment of death in everyone's eyes, finds that when he looks at Calla, he sees nothing. This terrifying anomaly makes the lethal, obsessive king focus solely on her. He sees her raw power when she wins a deadly archery contest and seals his claim with a terrifying vow: "Any man touches you. I’d go berserk."
But Varen's protection is as brutal as his desire. When he casually murders a man for spilling wine on her dress, Calla realizes she has traded one cage for a much deadlier one. Now, with a kiss that sets off glowing, possessive runes on her skin, Calla must sever the final ties to her past and reconcile her warrior spirit with the ruthless King who demands her surrender.
She demanded freedom from one mate, but can she survive the forbidden obsession of a Lycan King whose touch is as destructive as his love?