On the night of her twentieth birthday, Aria Ashford expects pain. The mark on her wrist has been burning for weeks—an ancient curse that means only one thing: The Alpha King is coming. Kael Draven is a legend wrapped in blood and smoke. He destroyed his own father for the throne, razed three packs in one winter, and swore never to take a mate. Mates are weakness, and the world has already taken too much from him. So when fate ties him to a quiet girl from a forgotten pack, his decision is simple: Reject her. Break the bond. Kill the curse. But the moment his eyes lock on Aria, something goes wrong. The bond doesn’t snap. The curse doesn’t break. And the girl with shaking hands and haunted eyes does the one thing no one has ever done to the Alpha King— She tells him no. Dragged to a palace of enemies and bound by a mark neither of them wanted, Aria must survive a king who doesn’t know whether to protect her or destroy her… and a prophecy that whispers she might burn the world beside him. He was supposed to kill her. He marked her instead.