About This Book
She scrubs floors in the palace where she once dined as nobility. He's the King who doesn't know she's his destined mate. And someone wants her dead before he figures it out.Rowena Ashford has survived five years of hell since her father's execution destroyed her family. Stripped of her title and forced into servitude, she endures daily cruelty in the kitchens of Greystone Palace. But her suffering runs deeper than anyone knows-silver veins creep up her arms, marking a death curse designed to kill her in thirty days.When the new Alpha King returns from war, everything changes. Magnus Silvercrest is powerful, commanding, and tormented by an inexplicable pull toward a servant girl with storm-grey eyes. He doesn't understand why he can't stop thinking about her. She knows exactly why-the mate bond burns between them, demanding completion. But she's convinced a disgraced servant could never be Queen.As Magnus is pressured into a political marriage with the ruthless Lady Isolde Ravencroft, Rowena makes a desperate choice: hide the bond and let him go. Better to die quietly than destroy the kingdom's chance at peace.But palace conspiracies run deeper than either of them realize. Someone framed her father. Someone cursed her bloodline. And someone is orchestrating events to ensure the Alpha King never discovers his true mate.When her long-lost brother returns with explosive evidence of corruption, Rowena is thrust into a deadly game of court politics, dark magic, and forbidden love. She must prove her father's innocence, break the curse slowly killing her, and navigate a court that wants her erased from existence.Magnus will stop at nothing to protect the mate he's finally found. But with enemies in his own Council, an army of rogues at the borders, and a wedding ceremony approaching like an executioner's blade, time is running out.In a kingdom where love is weakness and servants know their place, can a broken girl and a duty-bound King rewrite the rules? Or will the forces determined to keep them apart succeed in destroying them both?A heart-wrenching tale of forbidden love, second chances, and the courage to claim your destiny-perfect for fans of passionate shifter romance with Cinderella retellings, political intrigue, and characters who fight for love against impossible odds.
