Lily Yu and Rule Turner... Rule is gone into Leidolf werewolf clan territory - where (because of previous book I did not read) he has the spiritual mantle - the spiritual connection of a clan - along with his own Lu Nuncio mantle (enforcer VP of the Nikolai clan), because Toby, his 9 year old son, lives near there with his grandmother, and they are going to court to transfer custody to him... Rule and Lily are quite excited about having him around full time, and as First Change occurs in pubety, he needs to be with clan...

But, as Rule is running in the woods (wolf form), he comes across 3 bodies that have a scent of death magic. He change and summons Lily... a man killed his wife and 2 children with a bat a few years later, and because of the magic, he calls Lily to investigate...

This story calls in earlier characters & situations... One of the main objections of humans to lupi is their apparent lack of sexual mores - sex a lot, and with multiple partners - as only males are werewolves (females do not change) and the males have a low fertility - so they 'spread their seed around' in an effort to maximize the possibility of pregnacies and more males... The mate bond (which is created by The Lady - the were god) prevents the male from having sex with anyone but their bonded mate (it does not prevent the woman) and it requires them to be within a certain distance to one another... and that distance fluctuates - and he tries to take Toby to the clan, but after a few miles, the bond pulls at them, and he must return.. The Lady requireds that they be near one another... Rule and Lily have come to love one another, beyond just the bond; at one point Rule reflects that subconsciously Lily chose to make the sexually attractive Cullen like a little brother - nonsexual - so as honor her love for Rule and not to be tempted - and he is glad, as though she could by were law have sex with others, he would not like it... and when the bond is temporarily broken, she is upset thinking he will go back to spreading his seed, and she just could not tolerate it... while she's working up to setting down the law, he is trying to tell her he would never want to be with anyone else - a humorous scene... and Rule has more faith that The Lady will restore the bond - he wouldn't have brought them togeher to face these challenges if it wasn't meant to be...

And also of previous story, is this mantle thing... Rule carries a part of his clan's mantle as Lu Nuncio and then has taken on the mantle of his clan's enemy's alpha's mantle ( their enemies the Leidolf clan)... who's clan's alpha is 130, mean spirited, and very ill... Rule received the mantle by accident, and feels honor bound to hold it and act by it for the Leidolfs, until the alpha dies and he can pass on the mantle... however, due to his son's potential health needs (the Liedolf's mantle has a different kind of power that counteracts a common illness that hits newly changed weres) and because of the wraith, Rule takes the mantle as his own, cutting off the alpha & allowing him to die... he anticipates challenge from the Leidolf Lu Nuncio, but is surprised by his submission & statement j- it's about time... there is more to work out in how this dual mantle might work...

Cullen and Cynna - Cullen, a sorcerer, with an affinity for fire, were who had been a lone wolf for awhile... and Cynna, a Finder... she's pregnant, and the scenes between them are full of humor... and Cullen is a flirt, powerful, easily angered, knowledgeable - and he helps them solve the mystery - to define the possessor - a wraith, created by a witch...

And Toby is charming... we learn so much about were culture in general, and Wilks' particular mythology, through Toby... as Toby thinks, and as Rule paints beautiful pictures to explain how wolf and man join... things like territory, smell, instinct, action, promises (don't give out promises lightly, but one must keep ones' word), family, rules, punishment, duty to family vs clan, etc.

And the story they uncover is of a werewolf, age 23, who ready for the coming under the clan mantle - who on the day of the Turning (collision of the real world and the magical world) 9 months earlier, was driving, turned into a wolf and lost control of the car dying... his soul/ghost went to his magical mother, who had been dabbling in the dark arts - and she takes blood from his body, buries it, and performs a ritual to make a wraith so that it could look fo another body... and it has been looking for that body in dogs, and he finally bodies - but he is not wholly himself, and because of the spell, he needs death magic - hence his hosts kill others (one man his family, and later an older man shoots at Rule/Toby's front yard news conference)... but he can feel the warmth of Rule's mantle, and is drawn to it, knowing it would be able to free him, make him whole, help him be warm and to remember...

The wraith occupies Lily's body for a very short time - breaking her mate bond - and Lily learns his name, and is finally on the correct path to figure out what happened...

Personal problems continue when Toby's mostly absentee mother shows up with a brand new husband and wants custody of Toby - with the underlying motivation of using a drug on Toby that would prevent his first change... her fear of a wereson outways all evidence that says that the drug would harm or kill her son... Lily's FBI research friend uncovers their purchase of the drug, and she is stopped - Rule gets full custody--- but his mom & Toby spend some time together, and Toby is kidnapped by the witch, who thinks her son wants his prelupi body... but Lily & her team have figured out who, and where, and get there in time to stop her...

and then Cullen, Rule, and Lily perform a ceremony to call Charlie, to use Lily's body to be whole, to have the mantle ceremony, and to let Charlie's soul release the energy of those he took in death magic & for his soul to move on... leaving the mate bond to reconnect with Rule...