Caleb and his friends have been in Gillham for months, but the memories of what happened to him in the lab still torture him. He developed the habit of sleeping in the forest in his chinchilla form to avoid waking his friends with his nightmares. One night, he finds a man under his tree, and that man is his mate.

Freddy knows most of the pack doesn’t like him. He used to be a drug dealer, and while his reason was to keep his brother out of that life, he knows it’s not a good enough excuse. He’s not angry at the way the pack treats him, and when he meets his mate, he expects Caleb to behave the same way.

Caleb doesn’t. Caleb’s friends aren’t enthusiastic about Freddy being his mate, though, and when one of them makes it clear that he expects Freddy to do whatever it takes to keep Caleb safe from his father—even if that means his own death—Freddy decides he’s right and chooses to confront his dad.