The Riders at Dawn
In a dying world strangled by frost, plague, and the whispers of monsters, survival is a currency—and Iris Liren is dangerously close to going broke. She’s spent her life scraping together enough food, coin, and sanity to protect her younger brother Flynn from the rot seeping into their crumbling town of Sundra. Between the ever-creeping infection known as the Rattle and the ravenous vampire lords across the border, death is always one wrong step away.
The Wolves—cold, lethal warriors bonded to the mythical volanema beasts—are the kingdoms’s only real line of defense. Revered, feared, and kept distant from the civilians they serve, the Wolves don’t come when you scream. They come after, when it’s too late. And when Iris sees the wreckage left behind after another attack, she knows the truth: if you want someone saved, you do it yourself.
But the town is bleeding, secrets are festering, and trust is a weapon no one dares to wield. When Flynn vanishes, desperate to join the Wolves and prove he can protect what’s left of their broken world, Iris finds herself pulled into the center of a conflict that’s far bigger—and far older—than she ever imagined. And at its heart is a commander whose eyes see everything and give away nothing. His presence is as commanding as his silence, and though Iris refuses to bow, she can’t help but feel the sharp pull of fate every time he’s near.
Determined to drag her brother back from the jaws of death, Iris pursues him into the treacherous mountains. Instead of finding Flynn, she's forcibly conscripted into the brutal trials herself, thrust into the Culling – a bloody free-for-all where hundreds fight to survive, and only 60% will walk away. Forged in desperation, she forms uneasy alliances.
But the trials aren't her only battle. Watching over the carnage with chilling detachment is Alpha Zion Kage – leader of the feared Kuzgun Pack. Beautiful as wildfire and sharp as a honed blade, Zion radiates lethal power and unsettling secrets. His obsidian eyes see too much, especially Iris's defiance and raw strength. An unwanted, dangerous attraction sparks between them – a hunter drawn to a wounded, furious sparrowhawk. Zion is the embodiment of the system Iris distrusts, the man who might hold the key to Flynn's fate, and the one who forces her to confront the terrifying darkness within herself.
As rebellion brews, loyalties fracture, and something ancient begins to stir beneath the snow-choked earth, Iris must decide how far she’s willing to go to save her brother—and whether the line between monster and man is as clear as everyone wants to believe. Iris must survive a trial designed to shatter the weak. To understand Zion, she might have to forfeit her heart. And to win, she'll be forced to cross a line that stains the soul. The path to the wolves is paved in blood, and love might be the deadliest trap of all.
