When Centurion Matthew Heraclius arrives on distant Helivran, the Human colonists there have found they are not alone. The force that terraformed Helivran with life from Earth's inter-glacial period has also brought the genetically-engineered human/wolf chimera known as the Vulps. The colony's leader wants Matt to kill them all to get control of an eons-old alien archaeological site of awesome power.

But Matt is a changeling, a soldier secretly sent by the Human Empress to protect the colony from its true enemies.  After a life-changing encounter with the species the Vulps worship as their god, he leads a coup and takes over to avert a war.  Human and Vulp societies then resort to a time-tested custom to cement the fragile peace, a marriage alliance of their two leaders. But there's a surprise: they're both male.

As he tries to unravel the mystery of Helivran, Matt finds new purpose and a sense of family, and what starts out as a political alliance with his partner becomes a friendship and then a profound love.

And when a mysterious danger arises from the distant machinations of the Human Republic's new Empress, the two men effect a desperate alliance of their tribes to keep the peace of the new world.

COMING IN 2026