Author Description

Roane, an outcast girl from the jungle-clad borderlands, has spent her life in the shadows, training in secret with a feral white tiger named Kieran. Unlike the nobles who inherit their tiger companions through bloodlines, Roane's bond with Kieran is unnatural, whispered about in fearful superstition. No commoner has ever entered the Trials-until now. When the emperor dies without an heir, the Trials are declared, summoning the fiercest warriors and their tigers from across the land. Roane's unexpected entry sparks outrage, especially from Prince Daelan, the competition's favorite. With his obsidian-furred tiger, Ashkar, Daelan is ruthless, precise, and dangerously close to unraveling-his bond with Ashkar is fraying, an omen of weakness that could cost him his claim to the throne. Among their fiercest rivals are Lady Sylah of the Ember Claw, a cunning noblewoman with a flame-colored tiger and a penchant for deception, General Varek, a former war hero whose tiger, scarred and battle-worn, mirrors his own ruthless tactics. As the Trials unfold, the competitors face brutal challenges-battles against enchanted beasts, labyrinthine illusions that test their minds, and duels where only the strongest bonds survive. Roane and Daelan's rivalry ignites, their clashes pushing them to the brink of destruction... and something deeper. But in a competition where betrayal is currency and love is a weakness, Roane must decide: claim victory and rewrite the empire's fate, or risk everything for a love as wild and untamed as the tigers they fight beside.