Beneath the Pines, We Burn

Maya Owens's life was never hers to begin with. Born Marcus, raised as her father's "little soldier," she grew up under the weight of a name and body that didn't belong to her. Her father's fists and fury, her mother's prayers and silence-home was a battlefield long before she ever stepped outside.

When a move to a quiet New Jersey town brings Maya two unlikely best friends, for the first time, she tastes freedom. Nat and Van see her-really see her-and for once, the world feels less cruel. With the Yellowjackets at her side, she almost believes she belongs.

But then the plane goes down.
One team. One crash. One endless wilderness.

Now, stripped of safety, family, and every illusion of control, Maya must fight for more than just survival. She must fight for herself-the self her father tried to bury, the self the forest threatens to devour.

Because in the wild, it isn't the strongest who endure.
It's the ones who finally become who they were always meant to be.