A few years ago, there was an invasion.

Hordes of tall, grey aliens with tusks arrived in spaceships the size of cities. Before the news channels went dark, humans named the creatures orcs.

The human armies fought and failed. War crimes were committed on both sides. Eventually, when food supplies failed, society collapsed and the government was overthrown. Humans turned on each other. Nowhere was safe. The orcs rounded up the survivors and locked them away in refugee camps. In the fullness of time, some women had little grey babies.

In a field that had been repurposed as a prison, Kari watched a screaming, cursing woman give birth to Max. Afterwards, the woman shakily got to her feet and left him there to die - alone and unwanted. Even if he was only half human, and Kari was living as a conquered species in one of the many refugee camps on Earth, none of that was his fault. He was just a baby. She couldn’t bring herself to leave him there. So she adopted him.

Max wasn’t the only grey child in the place. Kari and the others raising grey children had formed their own family group, which was eventually noticed. Suddenly, they were assigned orc fathers and taken from the camp where they had been living. This asshole may be the official father, but, as far as Kari is concerned, if he thinks that means he's part of their family, he is mistaken. One way or another, Kari has to figure out how to make this work. Her son needs her to keep him safe.

When part of her extended family is brought to her new home, she has a couple of allies. Kari slowly starts to understand that maybe the orcs aren’t as monstrous as they seem. She will have to face her past and come to terms with her new reality before she can face her future.