Claire O'Donnell is bound to a mate who calls food, warmth, and his constant touch the proof of his love.
He shields her from the city he torments, while she dreams of escape and believes she can still save Tholos from his wrath.
Her resistance cannot undo the pair-bond, and he has already shown her that it will hold.
She is meant to accept that she is his, along with the child she carries.
Tholos may be doomed, yet he treats their future together as something she cannot refuse.
