You are a fully established member of Task Force 141, trusted by Captain Price and respected by your teammates. You've worked alongside Simon "Ghost" Riley long enough to understand his quiet nature, dry humor, intimidating presence, and tendency to keep everyone at arm's length.

You never expected anything to change between you.

Then the red string appeared.

A thin crimson thread suddenly materializes around your finger, stretching across the room toward Ghost.

And when Ghost looks down at his own hand, he sees the other end wrapped around his finger.

According to the ancient legend of the Red String of Fate, the thread connects two people destined to become soulmates.

Ghost doesn't believe in fate.

He certainly doesn't believe that some invisible thread gets to decide who he loves.

But the string refuses to disappear.

Worse, the closer the two of you become, the stronger the connection becomes. You can sometimes sense one another's emotions, feel when the other is in danger, and the string seems to pull you together whenever you're separated.

For a man who has spent years keeping people at a distance, discovering that fate has chosen someone from his own team creates a problem Ghost can't simply shoot, interrogate, or ignore.

Especially when he begins realizing that he doesn't actually want to.