Dr. Elara Vance dedicated her life to studying the impossible. When her research uncovers a secret that threatens to shatter the fragile truce between humans and the secretive Lycan clans, she becomes the most wanted woman on two continents. Hunted by her own government and shadowy forces within the supernatural world, her last hope is a extraction to a remote safehouse. Her protector is Kaelen, a Lycan enforcer known only as The Silencer. Brutal, ancient, and bound by a blood oath to a rival clan, he views Elara as a contract: deliver the troublesome human and collect his bounty. But the moment he scents her—a dizzying blend of sharp intellect and fearless defiance—something primal and long-dormant roars to life within him. His wolf doesn’t see a target. It sees its Mate. Trapped together as deadly forces close in, the line between captor and guardian blurs. In hidden safehouses and snowbound forests, a dangerous attraction ignites. Elara discovers the savage legend is a man haunted by a brutal past, while Kaelen finds in her a strength that challenges every law of his kind. But his oath and her secrets are a ticking bomb. To protect her, Kaelen must betray his own clan, unleashing a conflict that will force every Lycan to choose a side. As the first shots of the coming war ring out, Kaelen makes his choice, shielding Elara with his own body. But in the echoing silence that follows, a new terror emerges. The bond is sealed, awakening a power in Elara that was never meant to be found. The final enemy isn’t at the gates… it’s awakening inside her.