Sherra has spent years in mental and physical agony after the loss of her mate and unborn child, but Kane Tyler, long thought dead to her, is still alive and her only hope to fill the desolate hole that he left. The world has been an interesting place since the genetically altered Breeds stepped forward with their existence, and Kane Tyler's life has become even more adventurous since his sister Merinus mated the Lion Breed Callen. Kane is one of 7 siblings, Merinus being the only girl, and all of the Tyler men have ambitious, powerful positions in the world. Kane is no exception having spent a good chunk of his adult life in combat and then the CIA. What Kane wasn't expecting was the mission that sent him to infiltrate the Breed labs, and that's where is met Sherra. A Feline Breed as well, Sherra was a captive at the labs Kane was ordered to spy on. Neither of them expected the raw heat that bloomed, or the sexual encounters that would result in Sherra conceiving a child. Ultimately the intel Kane gathered led to a rescue attempt that resulted in several explosions, many deaths and Kane almost losing his own life in the process.
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Sherra spent the years after her escape from the labs in anger and pain. Not only does she believe her mate Kane to be dead after the lab rescue, but the child she carried was murdered as well. Wanting to die, Sherra tricked the Breed doctor into sterilizing her when she was in surgery so at least she would not have to deal with the arousal that would plague her. Or so she thought. Sherra learned quickly after she healed from losing her child that the mating heat she was experiencing without her mate would never abate, it would intensify and lessen in cycles, but it would always be there. At some point Sherra learns that Kane is alive, but thinks he has betrayed her and does not seek him out. When Merinus began investigating their leader Callen and she ended up staying with them, Sherra was sent to deliver a message to Merinus' brother who turns out to be Kane. When Sherra steps from the shadows at his command, Kane is shocked to see her alive.
Kane has been just as devastated as Sherra believing her dead after the escape from the Council labs, and is heartbroken and angry to discover she is alive and had stayed away from him. After their initial meeting, Kane and Sherra reunite once Merinus and Callen become mated. The Breeds go public with their story and end up with a large estate that once belonged to the Council as their new home. Since Kane's family is adamant about helping the Breeds and ensuring Merinus's protection, as well as her unborn child's, Kane is around the compound a lot and constantly snipes or trades barbs with Sherra and the other Breeds. Eventually Sherra is tired of the verbal sparring and calls Kane out on his behavior which leads him to reveal that he knows what Sherra went through, that she lost their child and had herself sterilized. He claims he is tired of her attitude and punishing him for something he was unaware of or would have fought tooth and nail to stop, especially when he thought she was dead. He lets her know that he intends to claim her and won't let her run away from him anymore.
Sherra immediately fights Kane's claim of their relationship, of course, and fights him off verbally several times over the next days that he tries to make her his mate. In between confrontations their compound is attacked and the half wolf, half coyote hybrid child Cassie runs out into the hail of bullets and jumps into the limo that shows up with unknown occupants inside. Luckily Cassie is unharmed and the occupants turn out to be one of the other Breed male's mate's long-lost brother and father, Seth and Aaron Lawrence. Taber does not tell his mate, Roni, right away that Seth and Aaron are there until he can confirm they are who they say they are and do not pose a threat to Roni. In the meantime, Kane and Sherra go back to their sexually charged sparring; eventually coming together a couple of times as the arousal got the better of them. Sherra is determined to maintain distance and do her job though, and joins Jonas Wyatt and his team out in the mountain tunnels that surround their compound. As they are seeking out explosives and traps set by the enemy, Kane confronts Sherra about disobeying his orders to go into the tunnels until they have been cleared, and they end up having sex against the wall. The noise, however, sets off a sound-sensitive bomb and they get out just in time to avoid serious injury before the device goes off. Kane finally accepts defeat where Sherra is concerned after she continually rejects him emotionally and barely accepts him physically, and lets her know that he will be in his room sleeping unless she needs him to take care of her.
Sherra is concerned by this new attitude of Kane's and discusses it with Merinus. Merinus gets upset that Sherra doesn't see she is hurting Kane with her rejection and refusal to accept his help or love, causing Sherra to rethink the situation. They don't get long to figure it out though as the chauffeur that came in with the Lawrence men attempts to kidnap Roni. Cassie comes into Sherra's room crying that her guard was not there when Cassie awoke. When Sherra attempts to communicate with someone/anyone via comm link, she gets no response. She hides Cassie in the room and goes down the hall to Roni's room where she knows the assailant is hiding, and when Roni drops to the floor, Sherra shoots him in the head.
The sound of the gun brings all the Breeds rushing in and they reveal that Sherra did not kill the man, but grazed him. Everyone is safe and the Breeds get Aaron, Roni's long-lost father, to admit he had originally hired the man to kidnap Roni from the Breeds thinking to save her. The chauffeur then admits that he was coerced from merely kidnapping Roni to killing her by a Breed-hating society known as Purists. Fed up after so many attacks on themselves and now on their women and children, the Breeds and Tyler men vow revenge on the Council and Purists, stating they will be enacting Breed law where these people will be executed quickly and quietly from now on instead of calling the authorities.
After the chaos and hardships Sherra finally opens up to Kane and they share the loss of their child together, who was killed by one of their Breed brothers Dayan via poison. The couple reconnects and become a strong mated pair, submitting to all of the tests that are now conducted on Breed mates to help future Breeds understand and control the mating heat. After her last visit to the Breed doctor, Sherra finds out that somehow the hormones that they create during their heat have healed her fallopian tubes and she has become pregnant. Overjoyed she shares with Kane who is heartbreakingly thankful and happy to have his mate and now a child on the way.
Throughout the book it is made clear that Seth Lawrence and another Cougar Breed, Dawn, may be mates, and at the end it is made clear that Seth wants her, even though she is terrified of most males. He promises her fellow Breed Tanner that he will not leave her, no matter the horrors he has to help her through until she can accept him, but Tanner warns him that it may be more than Seth is expecting.
Best part of story, including ending:
I love this story because it took a horrible experience, like Sherra losing her mate Kane, her unborn baby, and then sterilizing herself so it could never happen again, and it turned it into something beautiful. Kane comes back into her life, shares the pain with her, and ultimately they become able to conceive again.
Best scene in story:
My favorite scene has to be when Kane is interacting with little Cassie after her near-death incident. Kane had been terrified and punished her afterward, but felt bad and went to make up with her. They both are adorable interacting together and their haggling over cookies and chocolate is fun to read.
Opinion about the main character:
I actually really like Kane's character. He is upstanding, aggressive, and wants to help those he loves. He wants to help Sherra deal with their past and her pain, and he wants to love her.
