Firebird Rising — Deirdre Riordan Hall

When Aran Fenn goes to summer camp, she doesn't expect days spent training and nights spent fighting, and she certainly doesn't think she'll fall in love with the tough, but irresistible Cal. However, she does all of the above and more. For the last trial, she enters the Cage to clinch her position as a Delta, while he's leveling up to Alpha -- meaning he'll move off the base. She can't imagine enduring camp without him, but her goal of going home also means separation, possibly forever. Aran learns of her link to the legend of the Firebird Born, whom the people hope will unite them and bring change. Seeking answers and desperate to be free, Aran escapes camp. The Regime hunts her in a high stakes game of survival of the fittest. When they capture her, science and story merge: the Regime's leader believes she's the key to developing a serum to bring everlasting life and create an undefeatable army of super soldiers. Now, not only does she have to fight physically, but mentally too. It's in Aran's blood to resist and rise, but her family -- and Cal -- claim her heart, prompting her to choose between what's right: overthrowing the Regime and finding her way home, and what's easy: the tempting offer of a new life on the mainland.