Cold Ashes And Quiet Orchids

This is not a love story.
It's a confession.
An autopsy of what happens when two broken creatures-built to chase, lie, and survive-look at each other too long and forget who the enemy is.
In the dying heat of a neon-soaked city, a polar bear assassin named Frosty lives behind layers of charm, precision, and silence. He blends in. He disappears. He eliminates. That's the job. That's all it's ever been.
Until her.
Kitty Blackthorne-snow leopard, investigator, and ghost-hunter in her own right-was never supposed to matter. Just another threat to outwit. Another file to keep a step ahead of.
But she didn't chase him like a cop.
She saw him like no one ever had.
And that... was the first mistake.
What follows isn't a cat-and-mouse game.
It's a slow-burn war between instinct and vulnerability.
Between loyalty and betrayal.
Between who they were trained to be... and who they might become, if they dared.
If you're looking for clean heroes, you won't find them here.
Only scars.
Only cold ashes and quiet orchids