The Weight of Wild Things

Nivea never planned on coming back.

The farmhouse her father left behind-weathered by time, surrounded by wild woods, and drowning in memories-was the last place she wanted to be. She hardly knew the man who raised her from a distance and left her nothing but a crumbling home and acres of land whispering with secrets. But something called her back. Something she couldn't ignore.

Armed with a shotgun and the grit of a woman who knows how to stand on her own, Nivea thought she'd be rebuilding her father's house-and maybe her life. But the woods have eyes. And the land holds more than broken fences and faded memories.

When a violent storm rolls in, so does he.

Ares. Long hair, sun-tanned skin, with a smile as easy as a southern breeze-but eyes that flash with something wild. Something not quite human. A stranger who shouldn't be on her land, yet claims he has nowhere else to run. Other men are coming for him-dangerous men. And there's something about her land keeping them out.

But Nivea knows better than to trust a pretty face. She's a hunter by blood-whether she likes it or not. And no matter how close Ares stands, no matter how easy it becomes to let him stay, she can't ignore the question gnawing at her soul:

Is she protecting him from the world outside?
Or protecting the world from what he's running from?