To shield her sixteen-year-old sister from a doomed ritual, eighteen-year-old Lyra takes her place as the sacrificial bride sent to the dragon of the valley, only to find the beast is Samuel, a dragon king in human form. Bound to him by a forced blood contract, she endures his possessive claim, court intrigue, and deadly plots, yet glimpses the loneliness beneath his cruelty. As assassinations, betrayal, and an ancient curse close in, Lyra uncovers a thousand-year-old truth hidden in the dragon lineage, forcing both to choose between duty, blood, and a love neither expected.