Long ago, the title of pack alpha was won by tooth and claw, a contest of strength and violence. But Haley Fern is a modern werewolf, and she was voted alpha in a fair election after her mother retired from the position. Her small, rural Montana pack trusts her to keep them safe--from the wilds every full moon, from territory disputes with their vampire neighbors, and from outsides who might discover that the town's werewolf folktales have their basis in reality--and she takes her job seriously. So it's a bad day when a well-meaning outsider takes the job as her town's law enforcement liaison, and a worse one when he shows up to introduce himself with a wounded teenager in tow. Deputy Leland Sommers doesn't know the bite wounds are turning the boy into a werewolf, but Haley does, and that means she has lawbreakers on her land. And when a dead body turns up on the pack's nature preserve shortly thereafter, Deputy Sommers gets involved. Working together to find the criminals would be a lot easier if Leland knew the truth, but if Haley tells him without the approval of the higher-ups, it puts not only her job but also her pack and Leland's life at risk. She can't let the interlopers' crimes go unanswered, but can she protect a brand-new werewolf, keep the pack's secrets, and mete out justice by herself? Is it an alpha's burden to rule alone?