If she fails, she fears she will be doomed to the same fate as her mother - a suspicious death at the bottom of the stairs.

She's soaking in the magic and mystery of the Ball when her drunk father breaks into the estate grounds, and tries to drag her home. How he escaped the orc footmen, she has no idea. She fears it doesn't matter, as he's shouting enough profanity to ruin her forever.

Until a massive, feline monster emerges from the darkness to save her.

Marquis Tyclon K'var does not deserve love; especially from a sweet, fragile human like Miss Carmichael. The monstrous plague brought him low, and he swears he'll remain unmarried in order to protect others from his unpredictable and dark moods. No matter how much he wants to ask her to dance. That all changes the moment he sees the young beauty being attacked on the verandah.

His feral nature demands he protect her. And once he's thrown her father out, there's only one thing he can do to protect her honor: marry her. But is she truly safer with him, or without?