Eli has never known safety. A hard life on Earth left him bruised, wary, and unseen - until the day he was taken. Now a possession on an unfamiliar planet, marked as property by a cold collar around his throat, he's thrust into a world of alien customs and blurred lines between ownership and companionship. Caerun, a powerful and reserved alien male, is no stranger to the practice of claiming human pets. But Eli isn't what he expected. Haunted, sharp-edged, and far too fragile, the boy tests every rule Caerun was taught about what ownership means - and what it might mean to truly care. In a society where some bonds turn cruel and others dangerously intimate, Eli and Caerun must navigate language, trust, and the ghosts of old pain. Slowly, what began as a forced bond begins to unravel into something neither of them was prepared for. A tender, uneasy, and heart-wrenching story about survival, belonging, and the strange kind of love found in the darkest places. A story for anyone who's ever felt trapped, and anyone brave enough to reach back when a hand is offered.

Micah Jordan is the pretty boy nobody really sees. Behind soft eyes and a quiet smile, he's battling anxiety, an eating disorder, and the fear of never being enough. When Aiden Cross, the quiet boy with a guitar and his own scars, starts to notice him, Micah isn't sure he deserves it.