Being forced into an arranged mating is the last thing Leo needs, especially when he knows it will end horribly and he’s already falling for another man.

Leo, a cheetah shifter, knows he will be married off to a man of his parents’ choosing. He won’t have any choice in the matter. When his father informs him Antonio will be his mate, he doesn’t exactly like the man, but is determined to make the best of it. Knowing he’ll be cut out of the life he’s known before, he wants to go from Spain to Washington state so he can have a last few days with his best friend Cam. But Cam and his mate are out on vacation and Leo finds Taruk at their house instead.

Taruk doesn’t exactly understand the recent trend in the elk herd he belongs to toward having arranged marriages, but he’s not overly worried about it, since he’s not high on the pecking order. After seeing how happy his best friend Jenner is with his mate, Cam, Taruk wonders if it’s not so bad. When Leo shows up while he’s house sitting, he responds to the fear and sadness emanating from the young cheetah. The two are drawn together only to be torn apart when Leo’s promised mate arrives and takes Leo away.

The two struggle with the feelings their brief encounter has awakened. Then when disaster strikes, only that new love is enough to hold them both together.