On an alternate earth, a cataclysm has altered a subset of the population. Talents are persecuted for their psychic and physical mutations, giving rise to two conflicting societies based upon maintaining genetic purity. And the Source, a shadowy corporate entity dependent upon the exploitation of captive Talents, is hunting them... Self-exiled to the Outside, Flynn Scot is oath-bound to a life of strict penance. Cursed with a vicious temper and haunted by the blood-stained debauchery of his past, Flynn's sworn off women, whiskey, and violence, and doesn't give a damn about whispers of the coming war. He sure as hell isn't in the mood to make good on a debt when it's called in, especially when playing white knight outs him as a Talent, and the damsel in distress as his soulmate. On the run from her future as a broodmare for the Source, escaped Talent Kara Jester is no distressed damsel. And the last thing she wants is to be trapped in a blizzard with a surly-and frustratingly captivating-thug. Without the suppression meds holding her libido in check, her biology's primed to procreate, and Flynn's growled assurances that he won't touch her doesn't match the hunger in his eyes. It doesn't align with what fate has in store for them, either. With elite troops hot on their heels and the border set to close, it's a race to the North, away from Kara's horrific future and towards the dark past Flynn wants to keep buried. Clinging to the shreds of his oath, he's forced to choose between protecting the woman he's afraid to love and letting out the animal he swore he'd never be again. Either may destroy him, if Kara's secrets don't get them killed first.