river valerian lestrange has spent years building a life exactly the way he believes it should be. the sprawling countryside estate, the inherited fortune that guarantees comfort for generations, the carefully maintained reputation, and the partner who somehow became the one person capable of disrupting his perfectly ordered world.
the maze never reacts to anything like this. until you arrive. the only girl in the glade, dropped into a world built for survival, not softness. gally doesn’t trust it, or you, at first… but somewhere between shifting walls and constant danger, he starts watching out for you like it’s instinct. and in a place where nothing is meant to last, he becomes the one thing that won’t let you go.
when the first girl ever arrives in the glade, nobody knows what to think. least of all gally. convinced her arrival means trouble, he keeps his distance and treats her like a problem waiting to happen. but as the days pass and the maze grows more dangerous, keeping his distance becomes harder than either of them expected. because somewhere between arguments, close calls, and stolen moments, gally starts caring far more than he ever intended to. and in a place built to break people, she might just be the one thing he can’t lose