"Women don't ask questions. Let alone clever ones."
Robyn lives in a world where proper girls are raised by men. She, who grew up with only her grandmother, has to go out of her way to meet the requirements of being a fertile wife. It's the greatest honor Robyn could have dreamed of that Hunter Wolfmounter, the handsome and brave Captain of their village's guardsmen, wants her of all women to become his wife.
One day, Robyn is bitten by a white wolf deep down in the dark woods. The encounter with that alleged beast changes her way of looking at the world she lives in and her part in it. As Robyn starts to doubt the courage of her betrothed, Hunter fears for his reputation among the guardsmen of his Red Riders and sends her fleeing into the woods.
There she meets the mysterious Gwen, who shows her that a woman is not dependent on the goodwill of a man. Robyn starts to change—into one of the independent beasts she has always been warned about. Chased by the Red Riders and her betrothed, Robyn tries to free herself from the last chains of her oppression.