The Wolf and His King by Finn Longman

A beast hides beneath Bisclavret’s skin—one that strikes without warning, stealing his body, blurring his mind, and leaving him terrified of what he might do if he lets anyone get too close. Since boyhood, he’s kept to his isolated holdings, denying himself everything he wants: the brotherhood of court, the knighthood he’s earned, even the chance to reclaim what his father lost. Solitude is safer. Solitude is control.

Then a new king ascends, and safety becomes impossible. Bisclavret must travel to court to offer his kiss of fealty—or be branded disloyal. He arrives rough-edged and guarded, a nobleman who looks like he’s been carved out of storm weather. And the young king—lonely in a room full of courtiers, half an exile in his own palace—can’t look away.

To the king, Bisclavret is everything a knight should be: bold, strong, merciful. But he’s also a mystery, and the king’s interest isn’t limited to counsel. Fascination turns to longing. Longing turns to something sharper, more dangerous—because the closer they grow, the more Bisclavret’s secrets tighten like a snare. There’s an impossible gulf between them: duty and reputation, power and vulnerability, the human and the monstrous.

And then Bisclavret vanishes.

Left with grief, unanswered questions, and a kingdom under threat, the king is forced to stand alone—held upright only by duty to his people… and the strange, steadfast loyalty of a wolf that seems to understand him better than anyone ever has.

Lush, darkly romantic, and threaded with relentless destiny, this queer retelling of the 12th-century tale of Bisclavret blends myth, court intrigue, and aching tenderness into a story about what we hide, what we become, and what it costs to be seen.

Deluxe limited edition: stenciled edges, foil-stamped hardcover, and full-color illustrated endpapers (only while supplies last).