Torak crouched on a beach of black sand, his clothes in tatters, his face wild and hopeless as he lashed out with a flaming brand—lashed out at Wolf.

For two moons Torak has hidden a terrible secret—and now it is revealed. He bears the mark of the Soul-Eater and must pay the price. Cast out from the clans, he is alone and on the run: cut off from his best friend, Renn, and his beloved pack-brother, Wolf

In the haunted reed-beds of Lake Axehead he is hunted by the Otter Clan and taunted by the Hidden People and, as soul-sickness claims him, falls prey to an even greater menace. Tormented by secrets and broken trust, he uncovers a deception that will turn his world upside down.

Outcast is a thrilling story of friendship, survival, and the need to belong. Like all the books in the Chronicles of Ancient Darkness, Outcast explores the complexities of an ancient world filled with good and evil.

Michelle Paver was born in central Africa but went to England as a child. After earning a degree in biochemistry from Oxford University, she became a partner in a London law firm but eventually gave that up to write full-time.

The Chronicles of Ancient Darkness series came from Michelle's lifelong passions for animals, anthropology, and the distant past—as well as an encounter with a large bear in a remote valley in Southern California. To research the books, Michelle has traveled to Finland, Greenland, Sweden, Norway, Arctic Canada, and the Carpathian Mountains. She has slept on reindeer skins, swum with wild killer whales, and gotten nose to nose with polar bears—and, of course, wolves.