For Lila Ellis, this night couldn't get any worse. Here she is, all alone in a remote Alaskan fishing village. Almost all her stuff is gone, thanks to the airline losing her luggage. No cellphone, no credit cards. Just forty dollars that she was slowly drinking at this bar. She had her camera too, but the idea of using it to photograph whales was the furthest thing from her mind. She was on the run and on the brink of making some very bad decisions, threatening to tear down anyone who got close to her.

Henry watched as the new girl ran out of the bar. Something about her caught his eye. Mostly that she was a new girl: they didn't get many of those in Alaska. What brought her here? Why was she in such bad straits? And why did he feel some primal stirring for her? As he ran after her, he had to suppress his Bear Shifter instincts: he wasn't hunting prey. He was hunting for a mate.