David Hale is a man drowning in exhaustion. After back-to-back double shifts at St. Jude's Hospital, all he wants is to disappear into the quiet safety of Apartment 4B. For years, his wolf-beastfolk roommate, Sera, has been his sanctuary--the one who washes his scrubs until the fabric thins and watches him sleep with a devotion that feels like a warm blanket. But in the world of predators, a 'safe harbor' is often just another word for a trap. As the scent of cedar and musk-fixative becomes a psychological cage, David begins to realize that Sera's domestic care is a calculated campaign to eliminate anyone who threatens her place by his side. From his perceptive sister Lilly to his intuitive friend Clover, the people in David's life are being systematically stripped away. What David mistook for love is actually a 'Denning' protocol he can't escape. When the public image of the 'reformed' beastfolk clashes with the private reality of his stifling obsession, David must decide: will he remain a passive captive in a golden cage, or can he break the Unasked Anchor Protocol before the walls close in for good? A haunting contemporary monster romance that explores the thin line between devotion and possession. Are you ready to meet the beast who sleeps beside you?
The hospital cafeteria smelled chemical lemon of floor wax, a scent that usually served as agrounding wire for David’s frayed nerves. He sat at a laminatetable in the corner, staring at a tray of lukewarm tater tots thatlooked more like packing foam than food. The fluorescentlights overhead hummed with a persistent, low-frequency buzzthat seemed to vibrate inside his very skull, a perfectaccompani ...
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