Life is a series of chances and regrets. The weak falter, leaving the strong to suffer the wicked and depraved. Cole Stockton was a lion among lambs seeking penance for his dark past, and I was only too eager to escape my own. It starts with a flicker in the distance. A slow burn that radiates a tireless beckoning. No matter how hard you fight to resist the allure, you succumb. Drawn in like a moth to a flame, only to watch your precious wings scorch and fade to dust. I had thought there were only two lessons in life needed to survive. One: Love, with everything you are. Two: Live, for everything you dream. But there was a third, and that was perhaps the toughest of all. “Three.” His warm breath fans across my cheek as his fingers dig into my bare hips. “Fight, with everything you have.” The whip sails through the air and cracks across my sensitive flesh. And fight I do, with everything I have.