"Fated love means nothing when we can avoid extinction. One tiny sacrifice will appease the shadows. It's a shame, really. You've always been my pretty little monster." Those were the last words I heard from my Alpha, my fated mate, before his Beta tossed me off the cliff into a land of no return: Demon Valley, the place where no human or wolf shifter survives. Legends claim there's an escape from the shadowy, demon-infested haven, but no one has ever returned to confirm the truth. Except me.

One heroic act damned me for eternity. With a name like Tor, I should have been a hero, just like my father and twin. Turns out I’m not. Not even close. Instead I’m the very thing we hunted. A depraved monster. I thought there was no escaping the curse. No hope for a future. And then I met my mate in the unlikeliest of places: Blackwood Asylum. A place for criminals. Power-hungry madmen. Supernatural outcasts. And her, the curvaceous writer who sees ghosts.

As a wolf shifter growing up in a strong pack, I should be living my best life. But after my father tried to kill our leader, I’m labelled an outcast, traitor, less than dirt. When I can't take pack life any longer, I run, but apparently they don't like losing their punching bag. Torin, the leader’s son, drags me back before my first shift...a shift that will reveal my true mate. I never could have predicted who mine would be, but the moment my wolf looks upon him, I’m filled with hope for a brighter future.

I rejected my fated mate, and didn’t regret it for a second. Until now. Shipped off to Ravenscroft University, a graduate school for the supernatural elite, I have a lot to live up to. As heir to America’s most powerful pack, I was locked away. Not to be protected, but because I was born broken. A disappointment. A wolf who couldn’t shift. This is supposed to be my fresh start, but my past won’t leave me alone. Not when he’s here.

They rule my new town, my school, and with more money than God, there’s very little out of their reach. Four gorgeous, perfect, scary boys. There used to be five, but one of them died, leaving a fifth position that I now fill. I didn't ask for this. I didn't want to be part of this billionaire-boys-club. But no one cares about what I want. Sebastian Beckett is the worst of them. Their leader. He draws me in, and strips me of every defense I have. He calls me Butterfly, but it's not a pet name, it's a threat.

After my plane was sabotaged and crashed into the jungle, I rescued five male survivors from the wreckage. I could have let them die, but no, I decided to pull their stupid carcasses from the wreckage. I’m immortal, not a monster. Yes, they’re hot; now is not the time to do something about that. The five sexy jaguar-shifters are on a mission to locate someone, a rare phoenix-shifter. Phoenix, the legendary creature, reborn every time it dies. Wait…could they be looking for me? It doesn’t matter since they walked away and left me to die in the Amazon rainforest.

I walk into the bar with my pack, and I scent her straight away. She’s lying behind the counter with blood trailing from an injury to her head. My desire to protect her stuns me almost as much as her beauty. But it’s the smell of her blood that stuns me the most—it’s something not quite human. When she wakes up, her fear tells me all I need to know. She definitely thinks she’s mortal. I choose to disagree.

After the death of my mother and her Bonded, I was relieved to find my own Bonds. I was sure everything would be okay if I had them. It wasn’t. The fate of our people is in my hands, and I know we’re better off if I’m alone. After five years on the run, I’m caught and dragged back to face the men I ran away from. I thought I was doing the right thing. Now, I’m not so sure.

A reject—that’s the best way to describe how I’m treated. All because I’m a hybrid. The monarchs of hell revere pure bloodlines and perfection above all else, and in their eyes, I’m a mutt. Good thing dear old Dad, the Grim Reaper, has never once looked at me as anything other than his favorite child. Well, I’m his only child, but semantics. Suddenly, he has tasked me with the job of going to the council summit in his place. An event that happens once every century to determine which royal house will be voted into the supreme position. A position people would kill for.

Twelve years ago, I was hobbled by my alpha, cast out of my pack, and forced into an unfriendly world without any protection. Despite being unable to shift, I have talents the others don't have. I can see the spirits of dead people, for one. And I have a knack for fighting rogue supernaturals. My ex-alpha will never let me back in, but there's another alpha in the city. Something has been killing his wolves, and he wants me to destroy it before it takes another one. He'll triple my going rate—but that's not the thing that makes me agree to help him. He says he can free my wolf.