They call the Varakei monsters. Wasteland-born. Vhaelor-blooded. Warlords forged by snow and blood beneath the poisoned skies of the Sundered Steppes. And Kharn Azrak Varosk is the most feared among them. When the sacred winter tribute of Aurelith is discovered poisoned and ruined, the mountain city offers up its own people for execution beneath the ancient accords. Juno - a bright-tongued storekeeper's daughter caught in the center of the betrayal - is meant to die alongside the others. Instead, the Kharn claims her. Because the moment Azrak scents her upon the winter wind, the Bloodfire awakens. Anorath. Fated soul. A bond older than kingdoms. More dangerous than war. Azrak should kill her. She is human. Weak. Soft. Everything the Varakei despise. Yet every savage instinct inside him demands something far more terrifying: protect her, keep her, worship her. Dragged across the deadly steppes within the heart of the Vhorde, Juno finds herself trapped among creatures she was raised to fear - brutal nomads who survive a world too cruel for ordinary men. And worst of all is Azrak himself: cold-eyed, merciless, and fighting the bond between them with increasing violence. Because among the Varakei, fated bonds do not create gentle love. They create obsession. And the more Azrak resists her, the more dangerous he becomes.
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