Gavin has perfected the art of being terrifying. His value to Zander lies in his being the junkyard dog — the one who doesn’t merely kill their enemies, but does so in a spectacular fashion.

Lauren is about to graduate college and head off into the rest of her life. She and her mom are in Alaska, visiting her mom’s friend, when Lauren ventures off to the local university’s campus on her own. Gavin follows, telling himself he’s keeping an important guest of the coterie safe, but then dislikes the two bears the young woman flirts with, and he runs them off.

At first glance, these two souls would seem to be complete opposites, but once they begin talking, it becomes clear how Lauren’s early beginnings in a Chinese orphanage made her ultimately practical, and the two mesh together better than anyone could’ve possibly imagined.

The Wicked Inked duet can be read as a stand-alone.