Philip's life is in limbo. He can't leave the house where he was taken when he was rescued from Oscar, the man who raped him until he got pregnant with a boy. He isn't sure he wants to anyway. He and Myron are safe there, and for the first time in his life, he has friends, people who care for him. He even has a crush on Abel, one of the council members, but he knows nothing can come of it. Abel has his life in hand. He has an important job and no reason to be interested in Philip, not with the kind of baggage Philip comes with. Abel has had a crush on Philip since the first time he saw him. He hasn't told him anything, because he knows it's not the right moment. Philip's son is only a few months old, and neither of them can leave the Bishop house. Abel can't help but hover close, though, helping with Myron when Philip needs him to—and falling deeper in love with him as the days pass. The council is still torn in half, even now that Oscar is dead. The man who is going to choose his replacement, Alpha Grimes, is the same man who handed Philip off to Oscar, and that means nothing good can come out of his decision. But when Alpha Grimes dies, everything becomes possible again.