by Oso1029
After an uncontested divorce leaves him questioning everything he thought he understood about love and family, former Army soldier and New Mexico deputy sheriff Wayne Garrett leaves his old life behind for the unforgiving wilderness of Alaska. Older, lonelier, and not nearly as prepared for starting over as he'd like to admit, Wayne eventually finds purpose again as an Alaska Wildlife Trooper. When a series of illegally killed bears begins showing a disturbing pattern, Wayne suspects the crimes are more than isolated acts of poaching. The investigation becomes personal when he discovers the slaughtered remains of a polar bear he once helped save. Determined to find those responsible, Wayne follows the trail deeper into the Alaskan wilderness—and directly into the path of a ruthless poaching organization. The pursuit nearly costs him his life. Missing for days and presumed dead, Wayne awakens inside a forgotten government facility hidden beneath the Arctic landscape. There, an aging scientist reveals that Wayne survived only because of Project Whiteout, a long-abandoned military experiment designed to give human beings the extraordinary survival adaptations of Arctic predators. But Wayne didn't simply survive. He's changing. Stronger. Faster. Harder to kill. And increasingly aware that whatever saved his life has made him something no human being was ever intended to become. As Wayne struggles to understand his new abilities and finish the investigation that nearly killed him, he must also confront the life he left behind—including Ximena, the woman he still loves, and a promise he made on the day their marriage ended: If she ever truly needed him, no matter where he was or how much time had passed, he would come. In the frozen wilderness of Alaska, an aging lawman searching for a second chance is about to become something else entirely. The Polar Guardian.
