Ranger Lieutenant Kelib Statton is a Spirit Shifter. By channeling the essence of his guardian spirit, the Shadow Dragon, he can alter his physiology granting him enhanced senses, increased strength and stamina, more highly developed reflexes, and the instincts of an alpha predator. However, such power comes at a price. To use his skills, Statton must allow the dragon access to both his mind and body. The more he uses his abilities, the stronger the dragon's influence becomes. If his concentration wavers the sheer power and predatory nature of the dragon can easily overwhelm him, stripping away his control and unleashing a creature ruled by the instincts of a predator, fueled by the power of an ancient spirit and guided by the reasoning ability of its human host. To use his skills to the fullest Kelib needs a companion, a sensi, to help him control the spirit's wild nature, someone to help keep his human side in control. Fortunately, nature has provided such a helper. Sensi, like Spirit Shifters, bond with a spirit guide. Instead of receiving physical augmentations from the joining, sensi are gifted with enhancements of the mind and soul. All sensi have at least one psychic talent. Most have more than one, ranging the gambit from telepathy and telekinesis to the rare empathic healer but the one ability all sensi share is empathy. Their empathic gift allows a sensi to forge an unbreakable emotional link with their chosen shifter. Through the bond they can monitor their shifter's well-being and emotional state and, when needed, curb the more violent of the shifter's instincts, bringing the man back into control. Anchored by a sensi, a shifter can push his body and senses to the fullest without losing himself to the animal within. And the sensi gains a defender to protect him from those who would seek to control him for his power. Strength calls to strength, and there is only one match between sensi and shifter. Statton is the first Shadow Dragon shifter to be born in over a century, and there is only one sensi able to match him in power, the Phoenix. Kelib has spent his entire adult life looking for the only Phoenix sensi in existence, with no success. When his ranger unit is dispatched to retrieve a downed medi-probe from a dangerous jungle planet, he feels the power binding the dragon fraying. Either the magick used to restrict his powers when he was a child is fading, or his sensi is near. Now if only he can stay alive long enough to find him. For Jangal is a world of deadly predators and it will take all of his skills as a warrior and shifter to keep his team alive long enough to complete their mission and track down his elusive bondmate.