Amalthea was sent to the Ironwood pack as a peace bride, part of a treaty arranged by her father to end a war she had never wanted. At twenty years old, she was expected to complete the mating bond, secure the alliance, and save her people from further bloodshed. The bond formed the moment she met Alpha Lucian Barlowe. Then, in front of three hundred witnesses, Lucian rejected her because he had already chosen someone else. That same night, Ironwood’s guards took Amalthea to the border and abandoned her there. They gave her no escort home and no explanation for what would happen to the treaty now. Alone in the freezing forest, she had little chance of surviving until morning. But someone found her. Killian Hawthorne, the reclusive Alpha King of Ravenwood, had spent years keeping the rest of the world at a distance. He was twice Amalthea’s age, feared across the mountains, and still marked by the war that had taken his mate. He had already buried the woman he loved. He had no interest in opening his life to another. Killian gives Amalthea shelter, though he makes it clear that she should expect nothing more from him. Then her rejection wound closes the moment she enters Ravenwood territory. They both understand what it means. Neither of them wants to be the first to acknowledge it. Killian has no patience for tenderness or promises, and he refuses to pretend that this new bond is welcome. Yet each time Amalthea prepares to leave, he finds another reason she cannot. Each time he insists she is not his responsibility, his actions tell her something very different. Meanwhile, the peace between the packs is beginning to fracture. Ironwood has not forgotten the bride it cast aside, and secrets left buried after the war are beginning to surface. Amalthea has spent her entire life accepting choices made by other people: her father, her pack, and the Alpha who rejected her. Ravenwood may offer her another life, but choosing it could come at a cost neither she nor Killian is prepared to pay. For once, however, the choice will be hers. A rejected-mate, age-gap romance featuring a reluctant Alpha King and the unexpected bond neither of them knows how to escape.