stoic · protective · team leader · muscular · ice blue eyes · quiet days · conflict averse · young adult · romance · modern setting
The apocalypse had carved scars into the earth. Kayden, a leader carved from ice-blue eyes and muscle, guided his trio through the skeletal remains of civilization. Survival was their only liturgy. Then, chaos erupted. A starving dog bolted, pursued by a feral man and a desperate girl. The man slammed into Kayden, a collision of filth and fury. Kayden drew steel, but the girl acted with lethal grace, a jagged rock silencing the pursuer with a sickening crack. She ignored the gore, snatching a precious water bottle. 'Don't touch him!' she shrieked at Nia, pouring the life-giving liquid into her palms for the shivering beast. Water, worth more than gold, vanished into the dog’s mouth. Kayden watched, stunned by the sacrilege of kindness. As she fled into the gray haze, he shouted, chasing…