In the days when Scotland lay under siege, King David sought loyal warriors who would fight with their blood and hearts. Waryk de Graham soon proved the greatest of these fighters, and was knighted Lord Lion. But his honored position as Scottish chieftain came with a price: a Viking bride who had sworn to resist him in body and spirit.

Daughter of a Gaelic noblewoman and a Viking warlord, Mellyora MacAdin had an imagination that blazed with dreams of ancient myths and tales of adventure. After her father's death, she ruled her ancestral lands, like a Valkyrie -- wielding a sword and bowing to no man -- until she found herself an unwilling captive to Lord Lion's compelling power. Now, torn between defiance and devotion to the man who has kept her in his thrall, Mellyora must decide where her devotion truly lies, as she discovers the savagery in her own family's blood...and the secrets of her husband's heart.