Nestled within the folds of a war-torn and ruined world, there lies a village. It has no name; it is full of secrets.
Its women survive because they seem to have found a remedy for war; its men survive because the women let them. They all survive because Fate allows it.
Kate never thought much about Fate until she decided not to believe in it anymore. Destined to become a breeder, she wakes up on her sixteenth birthday determined to defy this duty at all cost. It is a heavy price. For her open rebellion, Mona, the Village counsel leader, drags her to the Pit and forces her to confront her mate for the first time.
He is not what Kate expected.
Despite Mona's fierce punishments for Kate's disobedience, the tug of her heart grows stronger; it beckons her away from this life and lures her toward the truth about herself, about her village, and about the boy assigned to be her mate.