Silver Elite by Dani Francis

Here is a summary with spoilers for Silver Elite

Wren grew up on a post-apocalyptic Earth where telepaths are hunted. Years earlier, the ruthless ruler Redden launched a campaign to eliminate them, but some survived by going into hiding. When Wren was five, she was sent to live with her Uncle Jim, who has since traveled the continent with her, hiding and training her. Now twenty, Wren lives on a remote ranch with Jim, pretending to lead a normal life. At night, she often sneaks off to the soldiers' barracks for casual encounters.

One night, as she tries to slip out after a one-night stand, she runs into a rude—but striking—man who eventually lets her go. Just outside the barracks, Wren hears screams a modified wolf has taken a child. She manages to shoot it, saving the child. On her way home, she connects telepathically with someone code-named Wolf her childhood best friend whom she's never met but communicates with weekly.

When Wren tells Uncle Jim what happened, he's furious she drew attention to herself. The next morning, Control shows up at their home. Jim hides Wren before they arrest him and take him to prison. Desperate, Wren runs to her friend Tana, another telepath, and together they contact the underground telepath network. They learn Jim’s execution is scheduled for the next day he’s been exposed as a telepath.

Wren has no plan but attends the execution anyway. She silently chants, “Put the guns down,” and all eight members of the firing squad lower their weapons; her telepathy is stronger than she realized. She pushes further, instructing them to kill themselves instead, but loses the connection on her final command, “shoot.” They fire. Uncle Jim is dead.

Wren is arrested and interrogated. She pretends to know nothing as they reveal Jim was a deserter fifteen years ago and that “Jim” wasn’t his real name. After enduring long hours of questioning, including a mental probe by another telepath, she’s thrown into a cell. Later, the man from the barracks appears, introducing himself as Cross. He tells her she’s being enrolled into the Command program.

At orientation, Wren is shocked to run into an old acquaintance, Matt Hadley, now a high-ranking official who once turned in his own telepath mother. When she reaches out to Tana for help, she learns the telepath network won’t rescue her. She’s on her own.

Though she resents being in the program, Wren makes two friends: Lyddie and Kaine. They reveal that Cross is the son of General Redden, the man behind the telepath genocide. Cross also has a brother in Intelligence and a half-brother named Roe, who is a fellow recruit. Wren intentionally fails all her tests and even tries to escape, but she’s never expelled. Cross sees through her act and insists on disciplining her personally, determined to uncover her true self. Her only real support comes from Wolf.

During one mission, a recruit dies, and another holds him as he passes. That night, Wren comforts her on the rooftop, until Roe arrives and coldly executes the grieving girl—an empath—with no consequences. Disturbed, Wren seeks comfort in Kaine, and they share a kiss.

Wren finally connects with the rebellion. She meets Adrienne, who explains that their last spy—the empath—was killed. They need someone inside the Silver Elite, and Wren agrees to step up. She begins excelling in all her classes, but her test scores are suspiciously low, sabotaged by Cross. She confronts him, and he agrees to stop if she promises to take her written work seriously.

Their training becomes more advanced. Wren is sent on a mission with a false identity and performs exceptionally, even when Cross unexpectedly joins the simulation. During their debrief, they kiss and sleep together. Wren makes it clear it can’t happen again.

Her next course is interrogation training; five days without food, sleep, or comfort, and frequent beatings. She survives and passes. This ends the eight-week course, and she’s selected for the final Silver Squad test. Only twelve recruits remain. Wren and Kaine make the cut; Roe does not, and he’s furious.

The final test is a one-on-one dagger fight. They can tap out, but Wren's opponent, Bryce, refuses. Wren stabs her in the thigh to stop her, but Bryce bleeds out. Devastated, Wren never meant to kill her. Kaine and Cross try to reassure her. In her grief, she retreats to her new quarters, where Cross visits her. They sleep together again, but Wren sets boundaries; it’s physical only.

On her first Silver Elite mission, Wren discovers a hospital ward full of Mods (modified humans) who’ve lost control of their powers. Before she can investigate further, Cross calls for backup, and they happen to be in her hometown. Tana and her father have been captured. Wren extracts information from the father in exchange for their safety. When a guard tries to assault Tana, she kills him. Wren fakes the scene to make it look like she did it, protecting Tana. Despite her efforts, both Tana and her father are sent to labor camps.

Two months pass. Wren lives a double life, feeding information to the rebellion while continuing her nights with Cross. Though she tries not to care, he’s getting under her skin. During a medical checkup, he offers to remove her thigh scars—the ones hiding her bloodmark—but she refuses.

Later, Cross brings her to a hidden underground flower field, but they’re interrupted and summoned to his home. Wren meets his mother, whom Cross claims has schizophrenia. But Wren suspects she’s a Mod driven mad by her powers. In the room, Wren sees a painting depicting a scene described by Wolf, she begins to suspect that Cross and Wolf are the same person. She discreetly confirms it, and they’re finally united, childhood friends meeting at last. Cross asks if she’s with the rebellion, and she admits she is although though she lies about the extent of her powers.

On their next mission, Kaine and two others are killed. Wren is crushed. Cross, in his grief, blames her involvement with the rebels. Wren, desperate to prove herself, visits a rebel-aligned doctor and has her scars removed to reveal her bloodmark. She then confesses everything to Cross: her powers include mind reading, projecting, and a budding ability called incite. He chooses to believe her, and they finally profess their love.

As preparations for the Jubilee begin, Wren overhears Cross’s brother Travis plotting to replace him. The rebellion contacts her for help. During her mission, she’s caught by Jayde, a powerful Mod with precognition. Wren activates her incite ability, forcing Jayde to kill herself. Cross helps her cover it up, instructing her to return to base and pretend nothing happened.

At the Jubilee, Lyddie notices Wren’s healed scars and her bloodmark. Thinking quickly, Wren claims the general and Cross already know and that she’s spying for them. Lyddie agrees to keep the secret.

During the event, General Redden gives a speech but begins speaking nonsense. Wren spots Adrienne, who used her powers to fry the general’s mind. In the chaos, Wren helps Adrienne escape but is captured by Roe. He brings out Lyddie, who betrayed her.

In prison, Cross tells Wren she’s to be executed the next morning. Travis is now in charge, and Cross suspects the rebels may have done something similar to his mother. Travis has ordered all Mods to be executed or sent to labor camps. The rebellion won’t rescue Wren, but if she escapes, they’ll shelter her.

The next morning, Cross breaks her out. He and his friend Xavior get her to the forest’s edge. Cross insists he must return as he can’t leave Travis and Roe in power. Wren and Cross part ways, promising to love each other from afar.

Wren and Xavior travel together, stopping briefly at her childhood home. There, she finds and burns a letter from Uncle Jim. When they reach the rebel rendezvous point, their pilot arrives; it’s Kaine, alive. His real name is Grayson Blake, a renowned rebel pilot who infiltrated Command under a false identity. He takes them to the rebel camp.

On the plane, Wren reflects on the letter from Uncle Jim. In it, she learns her real name: Stella Hess. Her parents, Marina and Jake, were known as the Tin Block Traitors, blamed for a bombing that killed many Mods. To the rebels, her bloodline marks her as a traitor too.