Max Appleton and his mother Celia are on the run, hiding from an abusive father and husband who's also a notoriously bad pack leader. When Max hit puberty and it became obvious he'd never make an alpha wolf, his father turned the brunt of his anger toward his inferior son and his beta wolf wife for producing him. Max and Celia find sanctuary in a garden cottage at Holly Court, the sprawling estate where Celia's oldest friend lives with her pack alpha...