Bound to the Dragon Rider

She was sentenced for her blood. He was ordered to make sure she never survived the fire. Seren Ashvale was born in the Ash-Sinks, where laborers keep their heads down and pray the nobles never look too closely. But Seren's amber eyes reveal a forbidden bloodline the Protectorate thought it had erased. Marked for execution, she invokes the ancient Trial by Flame, a brutal dragon rider gauntlet where the weak die, the worthy are claimed, and the truth is buried beneath ash. Commander Caelan Dravenor is the weapon sent to ensure she fails. Bound by duty, blood, and the magical Oath-Mark that controls every rider of the Obsidian Eyrie, Caelan has spent his life serving the order that raised him. Seren is supposed to be another condemned candidate. Another threat to crush. Another body for the mountain to swallow. But Seren does not break. She survives the rigged trials. She hears the voice beneath the volcanic stone. And deep in the dark heart of the Eyrie, an ancient gold dragon begins to wake for the first time in centuries. As sabotage turns deadly and forbidden magic burns through Seren's veins, Caelan is forced to question everything he was trained to protect. The dragons are not sacred weapons. The riders are not free. And Seren may be the one thing the Protectorate fears most. A bond the Order cannot control. Now candidate and commander must choose between obedience and rebellion, between the lies that built the Eyrie and the fire that could destroy it. Because the dragons are chained. The riders are enslaved. And Seren Ashvale's forbidden blood may be the spark that burns the whole kingdom down. Bound to the Dragon Rider is a dark dragon rider fantasy romance featuring deadly trials, enemies to lovers tension, forced proximity, forbidden magic, hidden power, and a commander who must choose between the order that made him and the woman he was ordered to destroy.