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.

Ten years is a long time to prepare yourself to marry someone who cannot stand you. Odette Lunarys is fourteen when her father sends her to the Aerionar court as part of a peace agreement between humans and dragons. She is promised to Prince Draco, a boy her own age, and expected to remain in his kingdom until they are old enough to marry. Her father calls it a royal duty. Odette knows better. He was afraid of what the dragons might do to a human bride, and Amber was the daughter he wanted to keep safe. By twenty-four, Odette has stopped expecting affection from Draco. She has learned how to live with his coldness and tells herself that a distant husband is something she can endure. What she cannot endure is finding him with Amber, the half-sister who has already taken everything else that once belonged to her. The following day, Draco announces in front of both families that he would rather die than marry Odette. His father, King Tristan Aerionar, refuses to let the broken engagement destroy the treaty—or Odette’s future. In front of both courts, he dissolves the betrothal and gives her something neither king has ever offered her: the right to choose her own husband. So she does. She chooses Tristan. The king tells Odette that accepting her decision is the most practical solution. The treaty remains intact, she keeps her place at court, and no one can force her back into Draco’s hands. He is calm, respectful and careful not to promise her anything beyond his protection. He is also looking at her far too closely for a man who insists this is only duty. Draco thought rejecting Odette would set him free. It never occurred to him that she might choose someone else—or that his father might have no intention of giving her back.