To the people of Oakhaven, shifters are monsters and Valeska Auden has spent her life avoiding them. Until a mysterious mark binds her to Elias Vance, the ruthless Alpha King she was never meant to meet. Now she must become his bride to protect the village she loves. Elias wants a wife he can control. Valeska refuses to be controlled. But when Valeska begins hearing thoughts no human should hear, she discovers that someone inside Elias’s court is hiding a dangerous secret. The closer she gets to the truth, the harder it becomes to tell friend from enemy and the more dangerous her growing attraction to the man she swore to hate becomes. Because the greatest threat to the kingdom may not be outside the pack. It may be bound to her mind.

She married him mostly to ensure her future was secure. He then basically destroyed any love they had to keep his business empire safe. Now, it turns out, she is the one person he truly cannot afford to lose. My stepsister Camille vanished just minutes before she was supposed to marry this billionaire, Nathaniel Whitmore. That left me with an impossible choice. Either I married the ruthless CEO myself, or watched my dream of building an investment empire and gaining financial freedom die under the weight of my family's debts. Our marriage was supposed to be temporary. But sharing the same house and looking beyond Nate's cold orders and untouchable reputation made me discover a man I never expected to find. Beneath his need for control was someone struggling to please his grandfather and keep his family's company running. I saw his softer side in the little things he did, from checking on my business despite his demanding schedule to the tenderness he showed his grandfather. I began to understand the man behind the reputation, and before I knew it, I was falling for him. Just when I started believing somebody actually saw my value, everything shattered. Nate came home furious and threw a file onto the table. Inside were financial records supposedly showing that I had been secretly taking money from the very company I had worked hard to protect. I tried to explain, but he had already made up his mind. He chose his business empire over me. Heartbroken, I left with my pride and a secret that would change both our lives. Three years later, I returned to Chicago as the formidable CEO of Sterling Ridge Capital. No longer the overlooked stepdaughter he had married. I was a serious business rival, an investor he could not outmaneuver, and the woman who now held all the cards.