Every Alpha learns early on that love is a battleground and loyalty, a burden that may shatter even the strongest heart. Tonight, when I confronted the test that would decide if I was really deserving to be Aria's mate, I discovered that truth inscribed in scars and tears on my own flesh. Though nothing had prepared me for this test—a trial set by forces as ancient as our Crescent Bloodline, where the price of love and devotion would be measured in blood and sacrifice—I had survived many physical and mental fights.