She waited fifteen years. He didn't even know her name.

Mara of Solaris Pride has carried a secret for fifteen years. Her lion scented her fated mate the moment she stepped onto Wintermoon Academy grounds. A warlock who never even learned her name.
 
Aaron Blackwood is one of the most powerful warlocks on Wintermoon. A professor at the academy, respected, controlled, and completely unaware that the lioness who just enrolled is the woman his magic was always meant to claim.
 
Mara returns to the academy, she tells herself it isn't for him. But her lion knows better. The pull is immediate, devastating, and impossible to hide, especially from a man whose dark eyes see everything except who she really is to him.
 
The rejection that shattered Mara left no mark on Aaron at all. He has no memory of her name, no understanding of why his magic hums different when she's near. Only a raw, unexplainable instinct screaming at him to protect a woman he just met.
 
But the fated bond doesn't care about what Aaron knows. It only cares about what he chooses.
 
Mara already chose him once. Her lion claimed him and he shattered her for it. Now she's choosing him again. This time, Aaron has to prove he's worth it — to her lion, to her pride, and to the woman who almost didn't survive loving him the first time.
 
A NOTE FOR READERS:
 
This is a slow-burn, rejected-mates romance. Mara and Aaron's road back to each other is long, messy, and earned — the emotional and physical payoff comes at the very end. If you love watching two people fight their way to forever, this one rewards your patience.
 
Choosing Aaron takes place within the same timeline as Freeing Nala. For the best reading experience, it's recommended you read Freeing Nala first — events and characters overlap, and some moments hit harder with that context.
 
This is Book One of a two-book duology. Choosing Aaron is Mara and Aaron's love story. Book Two, Crowning Aaron, follows Aaron's journey to become King of the Witching Glen.