Plagued by headaches and memory loss, Rhiannon has spent years being unknowingly prepared to become the wife of an earl. When the man displays a mysterious painting, she is inexplicably drawn to its depiction of a mythical race. Believing she may be related to them, she and her lady’s maid flee to Florence in the hopes of finding the artist. While visiting the Piazza della Signoria two months later, she is unaware that the very man she needs to find has been watching her.

Artist Dante is an Abcynian Elder, capable of changing into a lion. The moment he recognizes Rhiannon’s panthera leo heritage he rushes to claim her. He discovers her illness and takes her home. As she heals, they fall in love and Dante helps her reclaim her memory. But their future happiness will be threatened by her fears of the past and a vicious man’s plans for Rhiannon.