Ranch-hand Hawser has a secret: He's a werewolf. Ellie Peterson knows Hawser's secret, and she's afraid of him. She'd like nothing better than to have Hawser go away, so she won't have to think about him anymore. Ellie wants to give up ranching and move to the big city, but if she did the wild horses would be sold to the butcher's market--and Ellie won't let that happen. She's stuck on the ranch with Hawser--for now. Hawser proposes a plan to save the wild horses from slaughter, to which Ellie agrees. As much as she wishes otherwise, his plan could be the horses' only hope. As Ellie and Hawser work together, Ellie discovers he's not as scary as she imagines. Then Hawser disappears. Ellie suspects Ned Henty, a powerful neighbor who fancies himself a hunter of world renown (and has a showroom of exotic trophies to prove it) could be playing his own version of "the most dangerous game." Surprised by her own despair at the thought of Hawser gone forever, Ellie realizes she is in love with him. It's up to her to rescue Hawser without exposing his secret--before it's too late.