Elara Vancroft’s life falls apart in public, right in front of everyone who matters. She’s a high-ranking Omega, but she can’t shift—and that’s enough for Damon, her cold-hearted Alpha, to toss her aside. Humiliated and desperate, Elara chooses survival over pride. She bolts, running straight into the chaos of the neutral territories, where rules don’t matter and danger is everywhere.That’s where she crashes into Alpha Kael. He’s the lone wolf at the top of the Storm Pack—tough, scarred by loss, and not exactly eager to play hero. But fate doesn’t care. The moment their scents collide, it’s obvious: they’re fated mates. No denying it. No escaping it. Not even Kael’s stubbornness can change that.Damon isn’t done with Elara, though. The Archon’s ritual is draining her blocked Omega power through a half-formed bond, and if Kael wants to keep her alive, he has to act fast. He claims her—not as a real lover, but as a political partner. It’s all strategy, at least on paper.Now Elara is stuck in Kael’s fortress, surrounded by tech and secrets, trying to play the perfect mate while fighting a bond that threatens to unravel them both. She wants revenge on Damon. Kael wants control over his own heart. Neither can have what they want without risking everything.Outside, the Alpha Council and the Archon close in. Inside, betrayal simmers under Kael’s command. Their fake mating can’t stay fake. Either they give in to the bond and become true mates, or they both go down—taking the future of the Storm Pack with them.