I was a Lycan prince. A brother. A son. What I wasn't anymore was a warrior. But there was a time when I was fierce and unrelenting, a wolf shifter who was primal and respected because of my strength. I felt unstoppable. But all of that changed in an instant when a near-fatal injury during a brutal fight silenced my inner wolf. Now, I was lost, shattered, since my beast had gone dormant, the power it took from me making me feel wholly... human. I felt like a broken male, my mind a dark, twisted place where anger and despair were the only things that kept me company. No one could ever understand. No one could help me. Without my wolf, I was just a shell. A beast without a purpose. A predator without prey. And as the days passed and I healed physically, mentally I found myself becoming destructive. The rage simmered in my blood, and I knew eventually I wouldn't be able to control it. But the hardest realization was that since my wolf was gone, I'd never find my mate. I knew she was out there somewhere. But because my wolf was silent, I'd never recognize her as mine. That was until something shifted in me. I felt... something I hadn't felt in forever. Curiosity. Interest. Desire. And it was all because of a quiet, beautiful woman who worked for the royal family. I didn't want to be gruff with her, didn't want her to see how dark I'd become. But I snapped, growled at the female, and hated myself for it. And she stood up to me when no one