Alsander, eldest of Ireland's ancient Draquonir dragon shifters, has spent three centuries trapped inside a dying forest, feeding his own blood to the curse poisoning the land. Alone. Feared. Slowly losing the battle against the darkness beneath the roots. He has long since accepted there will be no future for him -- no mate, no kingdom, no escape from the monster he is becoming. Then a human woman walks into his forest. . . and witnesses the one thing forbidden to mortal eyes. Hi dragon. Poppy Brightwood came to the haunted wood searching for a mythical flower that might save the dying children in her village. Raised on old herbal lore and her grandmother's whispered stories about magic and secret kingdoms, she expected danger from the forest itself - not from the massive black dragon that crashes from the sky before shifting into a man too beautify, too deadly , and far too tempting to trust with her secrets. The moment Alsander scents her, his dragon recognizes her as his mate. Mine. But claiming her would doom her. Ancient Draquonir law demands the death of any human who learns their existence unless she is claimed. Yet the curse devouring Alsander's soul makes claiming Poppy impossible. If he binds her to him, the darkness inside him could consume her, too. So he does the one thing his dragon cannot forgive: He keeps his distance. Even as every glance burns. Every touch feels dangerous. Every night trapped together inside the cursed forest pushes them closer to surrender. Because something ancient is waking beneath the trees. The curse wants Poppy. His enemies want her dead. And the longer Alsander refuses to claim the woman fate chose for him, the more impossible it becomes to resist the pull between them.
