Darkness doesn't only exist in the shadows. Sometimes, it's built into the people meant to protect you. Mara Clifton has spent her entire life as a pawn in her family's ruthless ambitions. Her future was never hers to choose, and neither was the husband they forced upon her. As punishment for a betrayal she never committed, Mara is ordered to marry Alpha King Alkane Viktor, the very man her family once publicly rejected and humiliated before he rose to power. To her father, the marriage is the perfect opportunity to plant a spy inside the king's palace. To Alkane, it's the perfect chance to destroy the family that once called him unworthy. Their marriage begins as a battlefield. He strips her family of everything they hold dear. She is expected to betray the man she now shares a bed with. Every smile hides a scheme. Every touch conceals another act of revenge. But the deeper Mara is pulled into the Alpha King's world, the more dangerous the truth becomes. The monster she was sent to ruin may not be the real enemy, while the family she has always obeyed is willing to sacrifice her without a second thought. Caught between a husband consumed by revenge and a father hungry for power, Mara must decide where her loyalty truly belongs... before revenge destroys them both.

One unforgettable summer. One goodbye that never came. As children, Kayla and Cole found something that felt too big for their age to understand. Then summer ended. Kayla went home, disappeared without a goodbye, and broke the heart of the only boy who believed she'd come back. Years later, after losing her mother, Kayla returns to the city of that unforgettable summer and transfers to an elite private school where old money families rule, hockey is everything, and Cole has become the untouchable team captain everyone admires. He's the boy she never stopped loving. He acts as if she's a complete stranger. But Cole remembers everything. He recognized her the second he saw her. He just can't forgive the girl who walked away without a word. When Cole's stepbrother asks Kayla to be his fake girlfriend for an important family event, just one weekend, no strings attached, she agrees, hoping pretending to move forward will help her finally let go of the past. Cole has no intention of standing by while his stepbrother parades the only girl he's ever loved on his arm. Now Kayla is caught between two brothers, one fake relationship, and feelings that never truly disappeared. She'll have to decide whether first love deserves a second chance, or if some goodbyes can never be undone.