*** Trigger Warning: Depicts violent scenes, including abusive descriptions. This is not a light read or fantasy romance. **** ____ "Elise gasped, her instincts screaming to resist, but there was a magnetic pull in the air that froze her in place. He held her firmly, yet there was an unexpected gentleness in his grip, a notable contrast to Brolyn's rough treatment. She felt the bark of the oak press into her back, solid and unyielding, as the man's eyes searched hers...." *** The annual Hunt has arrived, and with it, the opportunity to establish a new adult's place within the pack. But for Elise, it was more than that. It was a chance to be recognized as more than the wolf who could not shift. Will she rise above those who ridicule and mock her? Can she overcome her own biological challenges to become something more? And why does she keep seeing a large black wolf at the edges of her vision?