Mia has been attacked in the woods while on a vacation with
Jeff, a man she thought she knew and could trust. As Jeff
bites and tries to stab her, she is suddenly rescued by a
group of men. These men turn out to be Werewolves, and the
woods are part of their pack stomping ground. They call
their pack hunter, or 'lunari', in to assess the damage.
Nick Jenner realizes pretty quickly that Mia has been
attacked by someone associated with the 'Shadowkin', a dark
fae group who prey upon wolves who have strayed away from
the pack and are defenseless. He takes Mia to his home to
protect her, and calls his pack alpha Bayne for assistance
in helping hunt down her attacker.
Jeff is a feral wolf who thinks that Mia, with her dark fae
blood, can help open a portal for the Shadowkin to enter the
earth plane and wreak havoc at will. Mia has always known
about werewolves and that she had some magic, but she never
knew she had fae blood. Bayne and Jenner know that Mia is
going to turn werewolf before by next moon, but her attacker
had been an outcast from another pack. They must bring in
the Silverback pack, not only to help with the hunt for
Jeff; but to decide what to do with Mia. Mia must be
initiated into a pack before the next moon, or she will turn
feral. Part of the initiation consists of a sexual
interaction with a member of the chosen pack. Although
Jenner feels a great deal of attraction to her, he is
unwilling to take a mate and bring her into the Black Paw
pack. Kenyon, the beta of the Silverback pack is willing
and eager to take Mia, but his blueblood pack alpha, Tomas;
is appalled at her mixed fae blood. He considers her to be
impure and beneath the notice of his pack. As she stays
under Jenner's protection, the attraction between them
grows. The danger to Mia grows also, as she is being
actively hunted by Jeff and the Shadowkin, who are impatient
to open the portal. Mia realizes that she is going to have
to fully activate her fae powers to defeat Jeff and the
Shadowkin.
It was rather refreshing to read one of these kinds of PNR
stories that didn't have an immediate 'mine' mate bond. The
attraction between Jenner and Mia grew as they came to know
each other better. Add that to the suspenseful subplot of
the Shadowkin and the danger to Mia, and this comes out a
solid and enjoyable read. The storyline is wrapped up in
THE WOLF'S SURRENDER; but there are several intriguing
characters that
could be written about in further books.
As the leader of the Blackpaw werewolf pack, Nick Jenner
had spent years protecting his people from dark outside
forces. When the victim of a feral drifter turns up on
Blackpaw territory, he thinks nothing of bringing her home
while her attacker is hunted down and destroyed. But
Jenner
soon finds that nothing about his alluring new houseguest
is what it seems.
Mia D'Alessandro, a dark beauty with abilities she would
rather forget, was mortified to find herself the victim of
a man she thought she could trust. As the full moon
approaches, his bite will unleash an inner wolf that can
destroy her unless she bonds with a pack. But the darkness
now stalking her threatens to destroy far more, including
her strong, silent guardian.