Book excerpt: For eighteen years, Ren Ashford believed that he was "just" a beta—a run-of-the-mill, ordinary, everyday human guy who had nothing truly remarkable about him. That was, until his fateful encounter with Rhys Holcroft—his long-time alpha crush—just before their high school graduation. In much the same way that their souls had been secretly doing for so long, just under the surface of their consciousness, it was as if their bodies had called to each other. And during this short period of mindless passion, Ren discovered what he truly was... And then his world came crashing down. Left with nothing but pain, he ran away and never looked back, and for a time at least, he thought Rhys had chosen to forget what had happened as well. But... when two people have a fated bond so strong that it could change the very core of who they thought they were, can they really forget just because they wanted to? And what if Destiny has other ideas?