Clara Costa is afraid of trees. At least, that's what her cruel foster mother told her as a child in New York City's tenements. As a young woman who has defied convention to become a teacher in the year of 1851, however, Clara doesn't have time for fear. She's desperate for employment. That's why she's confident she can overcome her dread to tutor the young daughter of the famous and powerful Van Der Vurst family at their isolated Catskill Mountain estate, Wolf Manor. But to Clara's disappointment, the manor's magnificence is long past, and the house abuts a vast forest where hungry wolves roam and the trees seem to taunt her. What's more, the family believes in an ancient curse that forces them to protect the woods, hide secrets, and risk their little girl's life. Clara seeks the help of the handsome village doctor, but her heart is drawn to Gerrit Van Der Vurst-a dark, private man, who rules the family with an iron fist. Gerrit seems to understand the call of the wolves and, to Clara's surprise, her fear of trees. Yet, when the unthinkable threatens the child one moonlit night, Clara hazards everything to overcome her anxiety and discovers the darkest Van Der Vurst secret of all. Will she run away from the horror, or accept the truth and forge a new future with a man with something to hide?