Every time I saw him, my body betrayed me—heart hammering against my ribs, skin burning like I'd been branded. I told myself a million reasons why it couldn't happen. He was older. Dangerous. The next president of the Devil Souls MC. Men like him devour girls like me. But God, the way he looked at me... The moment I stepped into the clubhouse for my welcome home party, his eyes locked on mine across the room, and everything I'd built to protect myself crumbled. Weeks later, his hands were in my hair, his name on my lips, his mark on my soul. I thought nothing could feel better than escaping that suffocating city. I was wrong. Nothing compares to belonging to him. I've killed men for less than looking at her the way I do. But I stayed away, watching her bloom in LA, knowing she deserved her shot at something beyond our blood-soaked world. I wanted her beneath me, wearing my ring, carrying my name—but I wanted her dreams intact first. I tracked her, followed her and protected her without her even knowing. When she finally came home, crossing that town line, the oxygen rushed back into my lungs after years of drowning. But she didn't come alone. Someone's hunting her. Someone who doesn't understand that I'd rip this world apart, burn down heaven and hell, before letting them touch what's MINE. They won't just die. They'll beg for death long before I grant it.