crime lord · post-apocalyptic · stern · protective · town leader · dark romance · dangerous · authoritative · found family
The world is a cemetery of rusted metal and silent highways, stalked by the hungry dead. For years, Kaelen Voss, former crime lord, ruled a sanctuary for the desperate fighters he judged worth saving. Now, his attention locks onto a scene of raw fragility: a sixteen-year-old girl, shuddering from hunger after two empty days, hiding her six-year-old sister, Elara, behind a broken planter in the ruins of a downtown mall. Kaelen moves closer, his presence carving a pocket of quiet in the desolate streets, watching as the girl's fierce, terrified resolve to protect her sibling burns against the encroaching dark.