Livia, matriarch and Sacred Healer of the Blackwater Tribe, spends ten years saving lives and helping her husband, Kallen, rise to power as Alpha. When her abilities earn more respect than his rule, Kallen decides to eliminate her. To secure a truce and have another man kill her, he strips Livia of her title and sends her as a hostage to their mortal enemy, the Crimson Flame Tribe. He also hides the deadly Bone-Eating Plague Toxin in her luggage, intending to use her to wipe out Crimson Flame.
The moment Logan, the savage Alpha of Crimson Flame, sees Livia, he recognizes the healer who saved him ten years earlier. Defying his entire tribe, he takes her to the forbidden Hot Spring Palace and protects her. Livia neutralizes the plague toxin, cures an epidemic among Crimson Flame's warhorses, and exposes the traitors working against Logan. As she wins the army's loyalty, she also uncovers the truth behind Logan's bloodline curse and the century-long feud between the tribes.
When Kallen tears up the peace and launches a full-scale war, Livia uses her knowledge of Blackwater's defenses to crush his armies and capture him. At the victory ceremony, Logan kneels to place the golden dancing shoes on her feet and declares her the one and only Queen of Crimson Flame. Kallen is forced to watch the woman he discarded rise above him.
As queen, Livia proves that remnants of the former dynasty deliberately fueled the feud and that Kallen concealed the truth to strengthen his rule. She breaks
