Mackenna Carides is tough, strong, and excellent at her job as second-in-command of Squad Nine. She often works side by side with Hell Squad on some of the toughest missions to fight back against the alien raptors. Now she's helping the survivors of Blue Mountain Base settle into their new home at the Enclave. And that means working with the Enclave's sexy civilian leader, Nikolai Ivanov, an artist who watches her with an intensity that is hard to ignore. A man she's seen in the field and who she knows is hiding a mysterious past.

Niko is dedicated to the people of the Enclave and to his art. Once, his life was all about death and destruction, now it's about life and creation-even in the middle of an alien apocalypse. As he welcomes the Enclave's new members, there is one newcomer he wants to get closer to...but Mackenna is fighting their attraction. As something starts attacking their drones-vital technology for keeping them all safe-Niko realizes that in order to battle this new danger, he'll have to return to the darkness of his past...and risk Mackenna never looking at him the same way again.

On a dangerous mission to save their drones from the aliens, Niko will need all of his lethal skills and will wade into the fight with Mac by his side. They will be tested to the brink, where nothing is black or white, and they will have to expose themselves and trust each other to fight, live, and love.