When eighteen-year-old Maya Carter is forced to leave everything familiar behind and move in with her mother and stepfather, she expects the transition to be difficult.She doesn't expect to discover that her new stepbrother is the one person she has been trying desperately to avoid.Damon Blackwood is practically royalty at school. Handsome, confident, wealthy, and surrounded by admirers, he is the boy every girl seems to know—and the boy Maya wants nothing to do with.There is only one problem.Damon knows a secret Maya doesn't.Their parents' marriage has made them family in the eyes of everyone around them, but the strange connection Damon feels whenever Maya is near cannot be explained by an ordinary family bond.At school, Maya deliberately keeps her distance. She refuses to let anyone discover that the mysterious new girl living in Damon Blackwood's house is actually his stepsister.The last thing she needs is to become the target of the school's most jealous girls.But avoiding Damon becomes increasingly difficult.He notices every time she looks away.He notices every time she tries to leave.And he notices the strange changes happening around her.Then, during a moment when they are finally alone, Damon discovers the truth about the bond between them.One word escapes him:"Mate."Suddenly, Maya's carefully planned new life begins to unravel.Secrets buried for years begin coming to light. Strange instincts awaken. People who should have remained strangers start taking an interest in Maya. And Damon realizes that protecting her may mean revealing a truth that could destroy his family.Meanwhile, Maya must decide whom she can trust.Because the greatest danger may not be the girls at school who hate her.It may be the secret surrounding who Maya really is.And if the truth is revealed, neither Maya nor Damon will ever be able to return to the peaceful life they once knew.