Bee-shifter, bear-shifter, Forest spy and woman-lover; what's second nature to four unlikely friends is a death sentence in the Citadel. The stand-alone climax to an award-winning series.

2021 IPPY Audiobook Award winner.

2020 Royal Dragonfly Award winner.

2020 Kindle Book Award Fantasy Finalist.

Mage Kermon struggles to stay loyal to Mielitta, the Queen of the Warrior Bees, in the ongoing war between the oppressive Citadel and the vibrant Forest. His secret dual role in the Citadel is threatened when his students trespass into the mysterious world beyond the walls and, in the back-stabbing climate of Citadel politics, he’s the sacrifice everyone is prepared to make. Little do those around him know that the future of both Forest and Citadel depends on his survival.

Mielitta has always relied on Kermon in her fight to restore harmony with Nature and now he needs her help. But to save him and the lives of his two young rebels, the bee-shifter must face the evil that lurks in the Citadel walls. Her natural forces tested beyond human endurance, she discovers that evil can wear a friend’s face and that to keep one promise, Kermon must break another.

This gripping conclusion to the acclaimed Natural Forces trilogy takes the reader on a wild flight into the unexpected as Mielitta learns why she was born. Can she fulfil her destiny?

Block Nature out and she’ll force a way in.

"Jean Gill's Natural Forces series offer a rich, strange, and alluring adventure that buzzes with intrigue and nature." (The Booklife Prize)

"Fabulous world-building and spellbinding intrigue." (Karen Inglis)