Before she was a soldier of the Pattern, she was something far more dangerous. Born a Wise One—ancient, immortal, and forged in war—Aimee is bound to the stars and meant to protect her people. Instead, she burned her world to ash. Broken by loss, hunted by her past, and consumed by a hunger she doesn’t understand, Aimee chooses exile over oblivion. But rebirth brings no peace. Humanity cannot contain the ruin she carries, nor the power she refuses to wield. Across lifetimes, across galaxies, she claws her way back from the edge of madness—until one act of unexpected kindness sets her on the path to redemption. Before love. Before duty. Before any choice… There was only hunger.