ASHES OF THE WINTER PACK

He signed the order that exiled her. He never knew it saved two lives.

Five years ago, the Alpha of the Winter Pack cast Marit Rask out with nothing but a duffel bag and a bond he couldn't cut. She let the whole valley believe he threw her away. She never told him about the daughter she carried over the mountains in the dark.

Now their little girl is dying.

Born of a bond that was never sealed, four-year-old Ilse is burning alive from the inside, shifting years too early with no anchor to hold her. There is exactly one cure, and it lives in the one place Marit swore she would die before returning: the pack that voted to open her throat, ruled by the mate her blood chose and her heart can't forgive.

Aurek Rime has spent five years holding four hundred lives together while his ancient anchor-tree rots from a poison no one can trace. The morning Marit walks back through his gate, everything he buried comes roaring back at once: the fated bond that never went quiet, the enemy patiently murdering his ground, and a secret with gray-green eyes that changes the shape of the whole war.

They have until the thaw. To find the hand behind the poison. To clear a dead man's name. To save a child who is running out of days. And to decide whether a love that survived exile can survive the truth.

If you crave paranormal romance that actually earns its ending, this one delivers:

• A reunited-mates, second-chance love story with a slow-burn payoff worth every page

• An exiled hero groveling for the family he never knew he had

• A fierce, capable heroine who saves herself before anyone else gets the chance

• Forced proximity, simmering tension, and two open-door scenes with real emotional weight

• Pack politics, a patient villain, and a mystery that keeps the pages turning

• A complete standalone with zero cheating, zero cliffhanger, and a hard-won happily ever after