Series: The Highland Wolf Pack Series – Book 3
Genre: Romance M/M • ABO • Shifter
Available now
He survived everything they did.
But he won’t bind anyone to what they left of him.
A battle-scarred gladiator barely escaped the Arena where he was held as a slave and treated as nothing more than a fighting dog. Now he must return—for the mate he never wanted. But some people are worth risking everything for.
A trauma-healing, fated-but-chosen love story for readers who love:
Tropes – discover more
- Fated-but-chosen Mates
- Protective Alpha
- Trauma Healing
- Found Family
- Hurt/Comfort
- Slow Burn
- Undercover Mission
- Fight Together
- HEA
- Featuring PTSD representation and a non-toxic, consent-driven relationship.
What you’ll find in this story
- A standalone romance about two fated mates who meet in the last place either of them wants to be
- An intense slow burn, blending external danger with deepening emotional connection
- A relationship built on respect, loyalty, and consent
- An alpha marked by his past—protective and fiercely devoted
- A courageous omega who refuses to be broken and learns to trust again
- A delicate balance between vulnerability and strength, where each protects the other
- The courage to face a violent world and build a different future
- A growing found family that becomes a true refuge
- A solid, comforting happy ending where safety and love finally go hand in hand
Sensitive themes
This story centers on healing, safety, trust, and a relationship that grows slowly through respect and consent. However:
Show content notes
The story also addresses certain sensitive themes related in part to the characters’ past, including:
- Physical violence and combat
- Trauma, post-traumatic stress, and panic responses
- Exploitation and dehumanization of fighters
- Threats, intimidation, and harassment
- Attempted sexual assault
- Poisoning and severe injuries
- Extreme danger and life-threatening situations
- Lasting psychological effects of trauma
The Alpha Who Protected Me
He survived everything they did.
But he won’t bind anyone to what they left of him.
Former arena slave Keith is a survivor of a world where violence was the only law. He’s managed to rebuild his life, surrounded by his pack. He loves his chosen family. He would die for them.
Fiercely loyal. Protective to a fault.
But a fated bond? A partner?
That’s a line he won’t cross.
He’s too broken to be loved by an Omega.
Bound by debts that aren’t even his own, Omega Dalyell works in the shadows of the Edinburgh Arena, where brutal fights draw the crowds. But something far worse lies beneath it. He knows exactly what that place does to people.
And he won’t drag anyone else into it.
Their meeting was never meant to last.
One night. Nothing more.
When the bond awakens—unrelenting, persistent, impossible to ignore—they both choose to ignore it. And walk away.
Keith refuses to bind an Omega to the hell he lives with.
And Dalyell refuses to let his mate step into a world that could destroy him.
But when the violence of the Arena threatens the people he loves, Keith is ready to step back into the darkness he swore to leave behind. Not for fate. Not for revenge.
For Dalyell.
As danger closes in, walking away is no longer an option.
Not from the Arena.
Not from each other.
And not from the bond they both tried to ignore.
Because sometimes, hiding isn’t enough.
Sometimes, love means stepping into the arena.