The Cynic and the Dreamer - can they make their Valentine's Day dreams come true?

Taye Walker feels like an outsider. Ever since he was identified as a Handler and whisked away from the home and the family he loved to the reclusive, exclusive world of the Guardsmen, he's known that he doesn't belong. He stopped trying to belong a long time ago and he doesn't even plan on bonding with a Protector, knowing it's all just romantic claptrap. ...isn't it?

Brandon McCleod is an all-star Protector at the Guardsmen Institute of the Americas. He's popular, smart, athletic, and beloved by everyone. He's where he belongs, and all he ever wanted to be was a great Protector, to live in service to others, and to find the perfect Handler to be his true bond-mate. He's dreamed of that day for years, and as Valentine's Day looms, he knows in his heart that this year it's going to happen. He's going to find his ideal match, they will fall in love, and spend the rest of their lives in perfect harmony. ...won't they?

It's a rocky holiday romance for these Guardsmen as their instinct to bond wrestles with their mismatched personalities!

Welcome to the world of Guardsmen, bonded pairs of weredogs and their partners who live on the edges of society. Worshipped and feared in turn, sheltered as much as they are shunned, Guardsmen mates live, love, and die together.