Living on the outskirts of society taught Thorn three vital lessons. Money and beauty bought everything, people were obsessed with treasure, and no one returned from the beast's territory. No one, but Thorn. When she's commissioned to retrieve a special flower from deep within the mountains, she knows it's a bad idea to tempt fate again, but is left with little choice when she's blackmailed into accepting the job. It was supposed to be a simple extraction. Ambushed and captured by the cursed dragon she hoped to avoid, the cloaked shifter gives her two choices. Play his wicked game or pay for her transgressions in blood. Despite the way his deep voice sends shivers down her spine, or the way he seems to soften toward her, she knows there's only one way their games will end.