On the night her secret mate becomes Alpha, Thalia Rivers expects him to finally claim her before their pack. Instead, Lucan takes her twin sister’s hand and announces that Celine is carrying his heir. Humiliated and betrayed, Thalia barely has time to confront him before Celine is poisoned—and every piece of evidence points to her. Her parents demand punishment, her pack calls her a jealous monster, and the mate who promised to protect her condemns her to death. Thalia rejects their bond and escapes, only to be captured by illegal labor hunters and sold under a false name to the fortress of Alpha King Rhydian Veyr. Rhydian is the most feared ruler in the wolf kingdoms. Whenever the Bloodwake seizes him, his wolf becomes a savage beast that cannot distinguish enemy from ally. No healer, command, or silver restraint has ever controlled him. Until Thalia touches him. His beast does not attack her. It kneels. Convinced that the supposedly wolfless servant is hiding forbidden magic, Rhydian keeps Thalia close. She wants her freedom, while he wants the truth behind the strange power she holds over him. But suspicion slowly becomes desire, and the king who terrifies everyone begins destroying anyone who threatens her. Inside Rhydian’s palace, Thalia discovers women imprisoned beneath fraudulent contracts, enemies operating under the royal seal, and a magical scar suppressing the wolf she was told she never possessed. The prophecy that condemned her may also have been twisted to protect the sister who stole everything from her. Lucan called her a curse. Rhydian intends to crown her his Luna. But as Thalia’s buried wolf begins to awaken and Rhydian’s Beta reacts to her changing scent, she realizes that her rejected bond, the king’s madness, and the prophecy surrounding her birth may all be connected.