
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.
No streak history
One state-enhanced oracle order, filtered by each list. Observed Royal Road ranks remain separate ground truth.
Rank updated 6 Oct 2026, 01:38 UTC
Entry forecast updated 6 Oct 2026, 01:38 UTC
Ranking model: rs-public-oracle-state-v1
Forecast model: rs-model-entry-v1
Chart history contains only this ranking model's runs; legacy points are not spliced in.
Not enough recent follower history to estimate a shadow rank yet.
beats 83% of similar stories
not enough data yet
beats 83% of similar stories
Firing on all cylinders
Traffic and conversion are both strong for a story this size. Readers are finding it and sticking — if Rising Stars is the goal, this is the moment to push.
Benchmarks: 8,060 active Royal Road stories, percentiles within the 10–19 chapters band, cohort of 2026-07-02. Conversion is measured as followers gained per 1,000 views over the recent window.