My life had been a series of unfortunate events, each of them a test to see if I could survive the cruelty of men. All my life, I’d learned that men were nothing but tyrants, their wickedness etched into every demand they gave to those weaker than themselves, every lie they told us, and every betrayal. I never believed in fated mates—not until I was snatched from the shadows and taken by a winged creature with dark, fierce eyes, fangs, and claws… and a promise of both danger and salvation. He said I was his. That he wouldn’t let me go. End of story. Now, I was bound to a monster whose unyielding grasp refused to even loosen. His presence was a storm—violent, irresistible, but strangely, achingly intimate. And the longer I stayed with him, the further I weakened under the weight of our undeniable connection. I was caught between forbidden desires and the irrefutable realization that he’d ensure I couldn’t leave… because he was determined to get me pregnant.