I'm so frustrated because I didn't like this book as much as the first.
Naya escaped at the end of book 1 and used magic to transport herself back to her father's castle, destroying part of Akoro's capital city in the process.
So the beginning 1/3 of book 2, the main characters are separated. Akoro is still planning his invasion, while also dealing with the destruction in his capital.
Naya first has to save herself from the magic she used to make the portal. She learns from an Omega elder that she can send it over a long distance back to the Wasteland. She also has to use healing magic to stop her face from bleeding. So she's learning she is more powerful than she thought.
She has a very weird, and very long, discussion with her mother. Her mother says maybe she should get back together with Akoro, because when he tortured her, he didn't know they were mates. (Except that's not true, because he knew they were mates when he cut up her face.) Naya is like, "WTF, Mom?" Mom reveals that her mate, Naya's father, had abused her, but they got back together and now they're happy. And abuse is just something that Alphas sometimes do to omegas, but abusers can change. (Naya's parents have their own story in the book "Crave to Conquer.") Naya says no, she's really intent on just killing Akoro and not giving him a second chance.
So the Lox plan to defend against the upcoming invasion, and wait for Akoro and his army to show up.
When he finally shows up, when he tries to reach for Naya, she puts magic around his arm and threatens to shatter his arm, showing her power.
Naya then tries to broker a peace deal. She offers to restrain their "bad magic," then they won't need to take over the Nox kingdom. Akoro isn't willing because he's hell-bent on revenge. This confirms to Naya that he's a bad person, because any ruler in their right mind would try to avoid war, but Akoro just wants war and revenge at any cost. He doesn't care about his people's wellbeing.
He agrees to let her come back to his kingdom for 2 weeks, and if she finds a way to control the magic, THEN he will actually negotiate. But during the 2 weeks, she goes back to the same conditions (as his sex slave). She's like, "If you're trying to scare me off, it won't work. Princesses whore themselves out for their kingdoms all the time."
I'm wondering why she doesn't just shatter his head like she was going to do with his arm, and be done with him. And when I think "Why doesn't she just kill him," it's time for me to DNF.
Maybe the problem is me. I just don't think I can read an entire long trilogy just to see if this asshole has even one redeeming quality. I wish the author would give me SOMETHING, but Akoro is an emotional wasteland. Why does he even give a shit if he has a mate, if it doesn't make him FEEL something??