Wicked Pursuit Summary, Characters and Themes | Katee Robert

Wicked Pursuit by Katee Robert is a dark, twisted, and erotic romance that explores the boundaries of desire, power, and autonomy. 

Set against the backdrop of a crime family underworld, the story follows Ruby, a woman at a crossroads in her life, as she becomes entangled with a mysterious and dangerous stalker. Through a series of risky decisions, Ruby is pushed to confront her darkest cravings and challenge the expectations of her family and herself. The novel weaves psychological suspense with intense passion, resulting in a high-stakes, unflinchingly bold narrative about love, obsession, and self-determination.

Summary

Ruby’s life has grown stagnant. She feels numb in her relationship with her boyfriend, Luke, and desperately craves something—anything—that will make her feel alive again. One night, she acts on impulse and cheats with a stranger in a bar. 

The encounter is both thrilling and dangerous, but it’s only the beginning of her troubles. The next day, Ruby begins receiving ominous texts and photos from a stalker, someone who knows exactly what she did and threatens to expose her. 

The stalker, calling her “Red,” seems to have eyes everywhere, and his messages are a blend of threat and seduction.

Rather than shrinking in fear, Ruby finds herself drawn to the danger, almost addicted to the adrenaline. 

The stalker’s presence grows more intense—he leaves a ring in her bedroom, impossible to remove and symbolizing a sinister kind of ownership. The ring, and the stalker’s increasing control over her life, are both terrifying and oddly exhilarating for Ruby. She can’t help but respond, even when the stalker’s threats become deadly serious.

The situation escalates when Ruby’s father, a high-ranking member of a crime family, warns her about a recent murder—Rafe, an enforcer for their family, has been killed. 

The chilling realization hits Ruby: the man she slept with is the victim, and her stalker might be responsible. Now, she’s not only in danger but possibly complicit in a deadly game.

Despite this, Ruby keeps communicating with her stalker, who eventually introduces himself as “Wolf.” Wolf’s messages blur the lines between menace and desire. 

He makes it clear that anyone who tries to get close to Ruby will meet a violent end, and his obsession is matched only by Ruby’s own growing fascination. 

The power dynamic becomes a perverse dance, with Ruby sending Wolf provocative photos and even indulging in risky behavior just to provoke a response.

Wolf’s control tightens when he instructs Ruby to meet him in person. Before their encounter, Ruby rebels by going out with her friends, taunting Wolf with flirty pictures and ignoring his warnings. 

The night out is her attempt to assert independence, but Wolf’s response is immediate and chilling—he warns her of severe consequences, and Ruby is forced to recognize how deeply she’s entangled in his web.

Eventually, Ruby willingly travels to a secluded estate, signing herself up to be auctioned as a “prize” in an underground event. 

The winner is none other than Wolf, revealed to be Casimir Romanov—a man from a rival mafia family, and, shockingly, her ex-boyfriend Luke all along. 

Ruby is thrown into a maelstrom of betrayal, desire, and fear. Casimir’s dominance is absolute, and Ruby is drawn to both his darkness and the dangerous freedom he represents.

The story dives into themes of psychological dominance, consent, and power play as Ruby and Casimir engage in an intense, BDSM-fueled relationship. Ruby’s emotions spiral as she’s forced to confront her own capacity for darkness. 

The relationship is fraught with moral ambiguity; Ruby is torn between her family’s expectations and her growing obsession with Casimir.

Back home, Ruby’s family delivers an ultimatum: abandon Casimir or sever her ties to them. The stakes are life-changing, and Ruby is compelled to make a choice that will determine her future, her sense of self, and the meaning of love on her own terms. 

The final chapters set up a showdown between legacy and desire, with Ruby determined to define her own path—no matter how dangerous or unconventional it may be.

Characters

Ruby

Ruby is the central protagonist whose internal conflict drives the narrative. She begins as a woman feeling trapped in a stagnant relationship and longing for freedom, excitement, and danger.

Ruby’s act of infidelity is less about attraction to another man and more about reclaiming agency over her own desires, setting the stage for her journey of self-discovery. As the story progresses, Ruby becomes entangled in a psychological game with her stalker—an experience that both frightens and excites her.

Her arc is defined by the interplay of fear, arousal, guilt, and empowerment. She is forced to confront not only external threats but also the darkness within herself, as her attraction to danger and the thrill of the forbidden become increasingly evident.

Ultimately, Ruby chooses to embrace her complex desires, accepting both the risk and the moral ambiguity that come with loving Casimir, the man who has orchestrated much of the chaos in her life. She evolves from a passive participant in her own life to a woman who owns her decisions and stands defiant in the face of familial and societal condemnation.

Casimir Romanov (Wolf/Mad Wolf)

Casimir, initially Ruby’s anonymous stalker known as “Wolf,” is later revealed as her ex-boyfriend Luke, whose real name is Casimir Romanov. He is a powerful fixer within the Russian mafia and is cunning, manipulative, and fiercely possessive.

His methods of pursuit are predatory, blending psychological dominance with physical intimidation, and his obsession with Ruby borders on the pathological. Casimir’s actions—ranging from sending threatening messages to orchestrating an elaborate auction—are designed to break down Ruby’s defenses and claim her utterly.

Yet, beneath his ruthless exterior, Casimir is genuinely enthralled by Ruby’s spirit and craves her submission not out of cruelty, but from a twisted sense of love and need for control. He is willing to destroy and remake Ruby’s world for the sake of their relationship, believing that no one else is worthy of her.

Despite his violence and manipulation, Casimir ultimately offers Ruby a form of partnership that is both consuming and, in its own way, honest about their mutual darkness.

Ruby’s Father

Ruby’s father is portrayed as a patriarchal figure with significant influence over her choices and fate. His primary motivation is to protect both his daughter and the family’s legacy, leading him to confront Ruby about her relationship with Casimir.

He is pragmatic and politically astute, understanding the dangers of associating with the Romanovs, and he issues Ruby an ultimatum: choose the family or choose Casimir, but she cannot have both. While his approach is stern and often cold, it is underpinned by concern for Ruby’s well-being and a desire to shield her from the violence and intrigue of mafia politics.

His conflict with Ruby highlights the generational and moral divides at play, and his willingness to sever ties if she chooses Casimir adds a note of tragedy to their relationship.

Luke

Luke is initially introduced as Ruby’s boyfriend, a character defined by emotional distance and a lack of passion. He serves as a narrative foil to Casimir—where Luke is safe, predictable, and ultimately uninspiring, Casimir is dangerous, intense, and magnetic.

Luke’s primary role in the story is to highlight Ruby’s dissatisfaction with her life and her hunger for something more visceral and consuming. Once his true identity as Casimir is revealed, Luke ceases to exist as a separate character and becomes subsumed by Casimir’s dominant personality and machinations.

Supporting Characters

The supporting cast, including Ruby’s friends and family members, serves to flesh out her world and raise the stakes of her choices. Ruby’s friends are depicted as well-meaning and protective, providing her with moments of normalcy and attempts at distraction, even as they remain unaware of the true danger she faces.

Figures at the estate, such as those running the auction and the other participants, exist primarily to enhance the atmosphere of menace and eroticism that defines Ruby’s ordeal. Collectively, these characters represent the social context and potential consequences that threaten to overwhelm Ruby as she pursues her darkest desires.

Themes

The Interplay of Power, Ownership, and Agency within Obsessive Relationships

One of the themes running through Wicked Pursuit is the dance of power and ownership as it manifests in relationships marked by obsession. Ruby’s journey is characterized by a continuous negotiation of agency—at times, she is the pursued, marked and claimed by Casimir’s possessive dominance, and at others, she wields her own desires as a form of resistance or rebellion.

The dynamic shifts from clandestine threats and control (symbolized by the stalker’s ring and messages) to overt acts of dominance, such as the BDSM scenarios and the contract-enshrined auction. Rather than presenting ownership as a static condition, the narrative complicates it: Ruby is both subject to Casimir’s power and, paradoxically, empowered by her willingness to surrender.

This entanglement blurs the lines between coercion and consent, forcing both Ruby and the reader to confront where true agency lies when desire and danger are inextricably linked. 

In the end, Ruby’s ultimate choice—to embrace Casimir and the dangers he represents—serves as an act of self-authorship, albeit within a landscape where freedom and captivity are almost indistinguishable.

The Allure and Consequence of Transgressive Desire in the Shadow of Violence

The novel delves deep into the psychology of transgressive desire, exploring what happens when yearning is intertwined with taboo, threat, and the possibility of violence. Ruby’s initial infidelity is not merely an act of rebellion but the opening move in a high-stakes game where eroticism and peril become indistinguishable.

The narrative’s willingness to place Ruby in harm’s way, and her own fascination with that danger, highlight the seductive pull of the forbidden. Encounters with Casimir blur the boundaries between predator and lover, with violence not just present but eroticized—culminating in a literal hunt that serves as both a metaphor and a lived experience.

The story does not shy away from the psychological toll of such desires; Ruby grapples with guilt, shame, and self-alienation, questioning her own morality and sanity. 

The theme thus resists moral simplification, instead positing that the fulfillment of dangerous desires always leaves a residue—of pleasure, certainly, but also of permanent transformation and, perhaps, irreparable loss.

Familial Legacy, Identity, and the Cost of Choosing the Self Over the Clan

Ruby’s identity is deeply entangled with her family’s expectations and the world of organized crime they inhabit.

The ultimatum given by her father—between remaining in the family fold or allying with a dangerous outsider—crystallizes the tension between inherited duty and self-actualization. 

This is not merely a personal crisis; it is a reckoning with the gravitational pull of blood ties, reputation, and the often invisible rules that govern who one is allowed to love and what one is allowed to want.

By ultimately siding with Casimir, Ruby does not just choose a man; she chooses a new, self-defined identity, even as it comes at the cost of familial acceptance and safety. The theme interrogates whether true freedom is ever possible for those born into legacy, or whether every act of self-determination must come with exile from one’s origins.

The Ethics of Desire

Wicked Pursuit probes the murky territory where ethics, desire, and manipulation overlap, especially within the framework of consent. 

Ruby’s repeated refusal to use her safe word, even as she is drawn deeper into Casimir’s orchestrated scenarios, raises provocative questions about the boundaries of autonomy.

The novel challenges the reader to consider the legitimacy of consent when manipulation, emotional entanglement, and power disparities are omnipresent. 

Ruby’s self-examination—her fear that she is becoming monstrous—reflects a broader anxiety about what it means to take responsibility for one’s own darkness.

Is culpability mitigated by the intoxicating force of desire, or does the act of willing participation render one fully responsible for the fallout? 

The book refuses easy answers, instead dramatizing the perilous edges where wanting and wrongdoing meet, and suggesting that ethical clarity is nearly impossible within the labyrinth of the self.

Transformation Through Catastrophe

A final, overarching theme is that of transformation—achieved not through healing or redemption, but through immersion in chaos and the acceptance of one’s shadow self. Ruby’s odyssey is not toward innocence or purity, but toward a kind of empowered corruption.

Her arc is one of descent: into violence, into forbidden passion, into the abandonment of familial bonds and social norms. The result is not ruin, but a new identity forged in the crucible of catastrophe.

The book frames this as a kind of dark rebirth—Ruby emerges from her ordeal more self-aware, more capable of embracing her true desires, but also fundamentally altered, even monstrous. 

This transformation is both exhilarating and tragic, offering a meditation on what it costs to become oneself in a world where survival demands the sacrifice of old certainties.