Layala trained in hiding her entire life to kill the elf king, Tenebris, and his son, Prince Thane, for executing her parents and the raids in search of her, the last mage. Thane, her magic-bound mate from the time they were children, waited for the day to reunite with Layala but he couldn’t do that until his evil father was gone. After Thane thought he killed King Tenebris, he went after Layala in her hometown of Briar Hollow where she lived among the humans. The time limit on their mate spell waned and he had to bring her to his home so she could take her place as Queen of Palenor beside him.
She had other plans, and after trying to take his life, they reached an agreement: if she could break their mate bond spell, they could part. She had eight weeks.
During those weeks she learned the enemy wanted to use her to raise the Black Mage, the creator of the pale ones. The twisted, cursed elves were drawn to her magic and sought to take her captive.
She also found that Thane wasn’t the wicked king she believed him to be and with time and much back and forth they began to fall in love.
In the end she found a way to break the bond between them and chose not to.
Instead, she chose Thane.
They planned to marry and finish the mate spell before they would be cursed to turn into pale ones, but Thane’s father returned from the “dead” and his lackey, the dragon shifter Varlett, broke the mate bond and abandoned Thane to die in the cursed forest.
After, Layala was taken captive and with a broken heart, left wondering: was Thane alive and if so, could he save her?
