Previously published as The Awakening by L.V. Lane They call it awakening. Mine began the day my stepmother sold me to the Empire. She took the money. I took the serum. And when the haze cleared, I emerged as an empath. At first, I thought it was freedom—a chance to leave the house that had become my prison. But it wasn’t the end of my troubles. What happens inside the program is a secret. A mate? My choice, they said. Only they lied. And powerful men who covet an empath don’t play by the rules. He swore to cherish and protect me, but his protection feels a lot like possession. And now I’m trapped in a new kind of cage.