Love is something everyone longs for at the deepest level-but for some, love is a curse. This is most certainly true for Asher Lake, the Keeper of an unknown group of people called ani-shifts. Ani-shifts, those with the ability to shift into animal forms, compose a secretive body of individuals known simply as the Union. A wolf in shifter form, Asher lives with a curse placed upon him and his predecessors by the elusive Raven-a dark entity whose identity remains a mystery. According to the ancient archives, the Raven's curse is conditional and set in motion by one fatal decision: if a Keeper ever allows himself to fall in love, he will die. Choosing to live in isolation within the walls of Lake Manor, a private estate concealed by the dense woods of Brokenridge, Asher has vowed never to love or to fall in love with anyone believing it to be the only way to survive the curse. However, after ten years of neglecting his people and the proteges left in his care, along with the impending threats of an uprising, Asher learns the only way to break the Raven's curse on future Keepers, thereby preventing them from suffering the same fate, is to accept his. This becomes Asher's biggest challenge of all when he encounters Elle Ison, the woman of his dreams. Does Elle hold the key? Can she help Asher change his fate?"