Evander Kane has a serious problem. Like a fool, he agreed—as a favor for his friend, Dell Blackbird—to enter the battle for control of the Colorado shifter lands. As a lone Alpha, he was a prime candidate to claim the territory. He'd battled, he'd won, and, out of gratitude and friendship, he'd done Dell Blackbird a second favor.
Several women are missing on the southern border of Dell's territory—the northern edge of Evander's newly claimed state. Taking his pack to join in the search, Evander's elation at locating the women is thrust aside when he realizes that one of the rescued women is not only a shifter, but his mate.
As the newly assigned Alpha to a vast territory, Evander has searched for his mate before, to the detriment of his pack. After failing to locate his One, he returned, promising to focus solely on them and his role as their leader. Now, he must not only convince a terribly wounded Bethany that he really is her true mate, but his pack that he will not abandon them now that he has found her.
***
Out for a run, Bethany was attacked, drugged and thrown into a mountainside bunker with six other women, all humans. As the only shifter among the group, she takes it upon herself to protect the women, drawing off the monsters when they would attack the others, leaving only Bethany to suffer their sadistic brutality.
Waking after the first assault, she's surrounded by her terrified companions as they attempt to clean and wrap the numerous bite wounds that cover her body. Bastards had been drinking from her! Vampires? She wasn't sure, and she didn't plan on sticking around to find out, but before Bethany can attempt to free the women and escape, their captors assault her again. And again.
Brutally broken and drained to the point of death, Bethany has nearly given up when she wakes, weak and dying, only to recognize the scent of fellow shifters. She's safe! Isn't she?
The pack who rescued her seems good-natured, but the controlling Alpha, Evander Kane, forbids her to leave. Evander is certain Bethany is his true mate. And, as her wounds fail to heal, her traumatized wolf attaches itself to the Alpha in a misbegotten search for protection. Bethany can't allow her distressed wolf to lock them into a mating with an Alpha that isn't truly theirs, no matter how badly Bethany the woman wants him as well.
Her plan to heal and return to her own pack is thwarted when her terrible wounds refuse to close, and Evander continues to assert that her wolf's neediness is actually its recognition of the mating bond. And this strong, demanding Alpha has no intention of allowing the one person who is the perfect mate for him to leave.
If she thought fighting to overcome her attraction to an Alpha that isn't truly hers was difficult, then dealing with the changes affecting her body and mind are virtually impossible. Something's wrong with her and she needs advice, she needs help, she needs...her true mate!
