I was a Lycan prince. A brother. A son.

What I wasn’t anymore was a warrior.

But there was a time when I was fierce and unrelenting, a wolf shifter who was primal and respected because of my strength.

I felt unstoppable.

But all of that changed in an instant when a near-fatal injury during a brutal fight silenced my inner wolf.

Now, I was lost, shattered, since my beast had gone dormant, the power it took from me making me feel wholly… human.

I felt like a broken male, my mind a dark, twisted place where anger and despair were the only things that kept me company.

No one could ever understand. No one could help me.

Without my wolf, I was just a shell. A beast without a purpose. A predator without prey. And as the days passed and I healed physically, mentally I found myself becoming destructive. The rage simmered in my blood, and I knew eventually I wouldn’t be able to control it.

But the hardest realization was that since my wolf was gone, I’d never find my mate. I knew she was out there somewhere. But because my wolf was silent, I’d never recognize her as mine.

That was until something shifted in me. I felt… something I hadn’t felt in forever.

Curiosity. Interest. Desire.

And it was all because of a quiet, beautiful woman who worked for the royal family. I didn't want to be gruff with her, didn’t want her to see how dark I’d become. But I snapped, growled at the female, and hated myself for it.

And she stood up to me when no one else would.

She couldn’t be my mate if my wolf stayed silent. But I desired her like I’d never desired another creature before.

Maybe I wasn’t as broken as I thought.