In a brutal competition where human women are stolen and forced to compete in a deadly game of capture, the prize is servitude-or an orc mate. Each woman is given a head start before the orcs hunt them, their fate sealed the moment they are caught. Zyrah, a sharp-witted survivor with a deadly hand for knives, refuses to be anyone's prize. She's spent her life fighting for survival, and she won't stop now-not even against the monstrous brutes hunting her. But unknown to her, the orc king himself has entered the trials in disguise, determined to claim her before any other male can. King Dakkar is ruthless, feared by all, and he has no patience for weakness. But when he sees Zyrah-wild, fierce, and untamed-something inside him shifts. He tells himself it's just a hunt. That she is just another conquest. But as she fights him at every turn, defies him even as he catches her, he realizes the truth: he doesn't just want her. He wants her to choose him. But with enemies closing in, betrayal lurking in the shadows, and Zyrah's resistance growing stronger, Dakkar will have to prove he's more than just her captor. He must be her mate.