Sergeant Jack Ralls' life as a slave in the Old South had not prepared him for the war on renegade Apaches in Texas and New Mexico Territory as a member of the Ninth Cavalry Buffalo Soldiers, but he was equal to the task. What he was also not prepared for was falling in love with a beautiful and mysterious Mescalero Apache maiden. And what if things aren't as they seem and one of your own is not who you thought they were?