Tears of Ruin by Lynn Hagen

Some are haunted by their past. Others carve their destiny from the ashes.
I was never meant to rule. Never meant to lead. I was never meant to survive. But power is a cruel inheritance, carving my name into history. I have spent years running—from my past, from my name, from the blood staining my hands.

But the past is not so easily buried. And now, standing in the wreckage, I find him.
He is a reminder of all I cannot have. Too fierce to break, too fragile to withstand the storm I bring. He should have turned away, should have run. Instead, he looks at me like I’m something worth saving. His touch unearths parts of me forgotten, awakening something I cannot name.