The Ishkarin were created to be the perfect soldiers. The perfect predators. The perfect sadists. But what happens to the perfect soldiers when the war they were created to fight is over? In the Arena, the Ishkarin find an outlet for their natural instincts. Populated by the Collared, the sexual submissives who live to kneel before the predators, the Arena guarantees that the Ishkarin will not prey on the people they have sworn to protect. On the eve of his appointment as second-in-command to the Ishkarin forces, Gavir is gifted with a night with Iras, the so-called Queen of the Arena. One wild night of passion and pain later, Gavir is enthralled by the woman who wears the red Collar. But when his fascination reveals a secret long buried, how far will Gavir go to protect the woman who has captured his heart?

Rakesh has worn a Collar in the Arena for ten years, and is acknowledged to be one of the best that has ever served. No one knows that the reason he had remained in service for so long is because of one man: Virin, the son of the celebrated Collared, Iras and her Ishkarin husband Gavir. Rakesh longs for a life with Virin, but if Rakesh leaves his Collar, Virin will never again be able to give him the pleasure and pain he craves. Virin comes to the Arena one night with a warning. Former Collared have been disappearing without a trace for months, and Virin's investigations have found nothing. He orders Rakesh to stay inside the Arena, where he will be safe. Then Rakesh vanishes from the Arena. In his search to save his lover, Virin uncovers a plot that spans the years, involves two countries, and that threatens to plunge their world back into war.