In the frost-bound kingdom of Skyblood, power is carved into blood—and betrayal runs deeper than steel. After the death of his mate, Queen Aria, Alpha King Kael Bloodborne rules a fractured dominion, with his grief barely contained and his enemies watching. But when a shadow unlike any before breaches his borders, Kael realizes the war he thought he buried with his queen has only just begun. Summoned by fate, Lyra Moonsong, a hidden High Healer with forbidden magic arrives at the palace just as darkness rises again. She saves a dying gamma, but in doing so awakens something far more dangerous: a mark beneath her skin that the Shadow recognizes… and wants. As attacks intensify and whispers of betrayal spread within the palace walls, Kael must face an impossible truth—his kingdom is being undone from within. Bound by a force neither of them understands, Kael and Lyra are drawn together in a connection that could either save Skyblood… or destroy it. Because the Shadow is not just coming for the throne. It is coming for the bloodline. For the healer. And for the truth buried in Queen Aria’s death.