Lieutenant Nick Leandros is a battle-hardened soldier who thinks he's seen everything. But nothing prepares him for the horror he encounters in a dark, war-torn forest. The carnage fractures him–body and soul. Split into three separate men with three savage wills, he struggles to tame the cunning creatures and hold them inside. His only hope of salvation is Dessa, a beautiful dryad who is bound to Nick by mystic forces. She alone understands what he has become, and Nick is the only man who can give her the child she needs. But the cruelest, most lustful part of him demands her submission as the price for his help. With her powers waning every day, time is running out for Dessa to save the last forests of her country. . . and to heal the man she's come to love.