The Bonded

Every hundred years, ten people are born with extraordinary abilities.

They are known as the Chosen.

Taken from their families at eighteen, they are sent to the Academy, where they are trained, tested, and ranked in physical, mental, and emotional strength. Only one will earn the title of Protector the world's greatest defense against the immortal beings known as the Outcasts.

At least... that's what everyone believes.

Shahnta has spent her entire life in hiding. Raised on stories of betrayal, bloodshed, and the monsters who forced her family to disappear, she knows one rule above all else:

Never let an Outcast find you.

But on her first day at the Academy, the most dangerous Outcast in existence finds her.

Zane.

The son of the Outcast leader.

A man with black eyes, living tattoos, flames born from nothing, and the ability to disappear into shadows. He was raised to destroy the Chosen. She was raised to hate everything he represents.

The moment they meet, they try to kill each other.

And they don't stop.

Every encounter ends in blood.

Every battle leaves them stronger.

Every second they spend together awakens something neither of them can explain.

What begins as hatred becomes obsession.

He starts watching her.

Protecting her.

Testing her.

She can't stand the sight of him...

yet she can't stop searching for him.

As ancient secrets begin to surface, Shahnta and Zane uncover a truth buried for centuries-a truth powerful enough to rewrite history and destroy everything they thought they knew about the Chosen, the Outcasts, and themselves.

Now they're faced with an impossible choice:

Break the bond that ties them together and risk the fate of the world...

Or embrace it, becoming the very thing both sides fear most.

Some destinies are chosen.

Theirs was written long before they were born.