After a falling out, Veronica finds herself thrown back into the arms of the Breed that broke her heart. Taber Williams is a dangerous Breed. His life has been wrought with pain and suffering, torture under the guise of “training,” and watching those he loved die around him. Luckily for Taber and many of his fellow Breeds, they were able to finally escape the laboratories of the men that created them. Most of Taber's kind bore very little resemblance to the animal DNA that had been mixed into their genetics from conception, but all of them were predators.
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Taber is no exception to the rule. A Bengal Breed created using DNA from the Bengal tiger, he is a ruthless and vicious as any of them when threatened, but what the public doesn't see is the softer side of those they've labeled monsters. After integrating themselves into the world a decade before, Taber, his pack leader Callen, and many others came forward and gave testimony to their respective governments on their creation, their treatment, and the horrors they were forced to both commit and endure. But during that decade when they blended in to society they were safe, as human as anyone around them. It was during that time that Taber met Veronica.
Veronica had been forced to see the violent side of life for most of hers. Growing up with an abusive criminal father that was MIA more often than not had left Roni to fend for herself. It was only when she was 11 years old that she met Taber. Eight years older than her he found Roni hiding as she usually did from those who were hunting her father, Reginald. From that day on Taber became Roni's protector. He bailed her out of jail, saved her when she needed a place to go, and made sure that Reginald never sold her out to pay off his own debts. What neither Taber nor Roni understood was that they were a destined couple, and the protectiveness he felt for Roni would soon increase ten-fold when she became a woman.
After Roni became of age Taber let down his guard and both he and Roni had a quick seductive scene in his pickup truck after he bails her out of jail. Before going further than heavy petting, Taber warns Roni that being with him would be for life and he wanted her to take time to think. Both in agreement they go their separate ways to meet back up that evening. Instead Roni waits for hours for Taber to arrive only to be greeted by his brother and given a handwritten note from Taber claiming he changed his mind and they were to cut ties.
Heartbroken Roni stays away from Taber for another year and a half. Not long after, the Breeds and their unusual mating are portrayed by the first known mated pair of a Breed and human, Callen and his wife Merinus who are pregnant with their first child. The newscast focuses on the unusual mark/wound on Merinus' neck that Callen gave her, and Roni recognizes its similarities to the mark she carriers herself from her encounter with Taber.
Reginald watches the newscast as well and realizes what Roni's mark means. In effort to make money he offers to turn her in to the Council, the organization that created, studied, and tortured the Breeds, for money. He calls the news and Roni is bombarded the next day when leaving the store, getting attacked and her clothing ripped by reporters trying to see the mark on her shoulder/neck. She is saved by the shop owner who drives her to his cabin in the mountains and radios Taber to come get her.
When Taber sees the newscast he is already on his way when the shop owner calls him with their location. After Callen and Merinus, Taber knows that Roni is his mate and that the hormone he secrets from his tongue when he is around her will drive her system wild so she cannot deny him. It's around this time we also learn that Taber is under the impression that Roni left him, not the other way around, but not the how or why to his conclusion.
After arriving to rescue Roni, Taber immediately kisses her to get the hormone into her system. She still tries to resist him but ever since their encounter a year before her body has been on fire for him, and the hormone increases is ten-fold. By the time they are back at the compound, Taber and Roni pretty quickly slake their lusts. Over time Roni learns that she is in heat until Taber impregnates her, and she is unable to stand being touched by anyone else as a physiological reaction.
Roni fights Taber every step of the way while he tries to win her over, but due to their insane need to procreate they still manage to find plenty of time to have steamy bedroom sessions. Eventually Reginald tracks Roni down and shows up at the compound. At this point Roni has begun to make friends with the Breeds that live there, especially Merinus who is the only other female they know of to go through the mating cycle with a Breed. Reginald is not met with happy faces at the door and is allowed to stay, but at a separate bunk with the workers away from the main house.
During this time the compound is attacked and both Merinus and Roni are injured. They blame Reginald but can't prove anything so they go about life as usual while attempting to figure out what he's up to. After another attack at night where mercenaries try to kidnap both Merinus and Roni, the Breeds are on high alert and slay the men who broke in. As they go about and try to fortify their defenses, Roni realizes she is pregnant as the intense lust that once overwhelmed her to the point of pain has abated. Taber and the rest of the Breeds realize this as well and become even more protective of Roni and Merinus.
Once left alone as Taber works on the defenses, Reginald corners Roni and attempts to kidnap her. He reveals he is not her real father and refuses to tell Roni who her father is. After he wounds her, Taber and the rest of the Breeds arrive. When Reginald tries to shoot Taber, he is taken down by the rest of the Breeds in the room in a hail of bullets. Afterward, they realize the truth of his confession on Roni's parentage, and change gears to focus on making sure their home and unborn children are safe. Roni and Taber finally figure out that their year and a half away from each other was at the hands of another Breed they once considered a brother, but who attacked Roni after he delivered the forged note from Taber and had also delivered a similar note to Taber from Roni. After the Breed had tried to kill Merinus and others later, he was killed by Callen and many more of his crimes came to light.
After clearing up the confusion of their separation, Taber and Roni live as happily as they can while their child grows inside her. At the same time she is being interviewed with her new husband, Roni's broadcast is being watched by a man named Aaron Lawrence and his son Seth. Aaron recognizes Roni as his daughter and begs Seth to work with him to meet her. It is revealed that Aaron is dying, and has been funding the anti-Breed movements since their arrival in the public eye. He vows to stop his “evil” ways to his son Seth if only his son will keep the truth of Aaron's past to himself. Seth agrees as the book comes to an end.
Best part of story, including ending:
I like this story because it shows a softer side to the alpha male without making him out to be an overly sensitive soul that cries at the drop of a hat.
Best scene in story:
My favorite scene is when Veronica (Roni) and Taber reunite for the first time after he gets off the helicopter. He marches right up to her, backing her into a large tree, and kisses her until you feel like your own senses are lost.
Opinion about the main character:
I dislike Roni's absolute mistrust of everyone. I can understand it given her past, but it tends to cause a lot more problems than it solves once she is with Taber.
