The world of the Zarain shapeshifters is dangerous and unpredictable, with oppressors and wild beasts never more than a short distance away. So when Zaden spots his mate just as she is disappearing through the travel gate to another planet, he becomes determined to find her again before something else does. Tara and her companions are searching for a safe place to colonize when a band of brutes descends upon them. Having never seen shifters before, Tara's first instinct is to flee them. But their alpha male seems determined not to let that happen. And despite her anger and lingering fear, Tara doesn't completely mind being Zaden's captive.