Alpha and Omega

If you love Shifters, you need to read this series! Patricia Briggs builds an amazing world as America as paranormal creatures like the Fae and Werewolves are just coming out of the shadows. The way they work with human police to keep the peace is well done and the books are not only action packed, but also touch your heart. Definitely worth reading this summer!

It’s been years since I’ve read any books in the Alpha & Omega series, to the point I’ve forgotten more than I remembered about it. I’ve scored an ARC of the latest book in the A&O series so thought it was time for a refresh. One thing I do remember is loving these books so it’s not a hardship to revisit some old friends. I started with Cry Wolf, and then quickly realized I needed to read Alpha & Omega to get the all-important beginning of Charles and Anna’s story.

Charles Cornick is the son of the Marock, the alpha of all the werewolves in North America. He’s also his father’s executioner. When there is a problem he is sent in to judge guilt or innocence and carry out the sentence. He does not have an easy job nor is it one he likes, but he’s very good at it. At first I wasn’t sure what to think about Charles as he’s very reserved and closed off. His alpha growliness and his complete loss as to how to deal with his very broken mate had him growing on me.

Sent in to figure out what the deal was with Anna’s pack, he never expected to find an abused Omega, and he sure never expected her to be his mate. What was even worse was the extent of the evil that had been allowed to run rampant through the pack. Charles had his work cut out for him to not only figure out who the guilty parties were but to get himself and his mate out alive once the shit hit the fan.

Anna was barely surviving the nightmare she found herself in. Changed against her will, she had no idea that she was actually a rarity for werewolves. As an Omega she should have been treated as a precious gift to her pack, but instead she was subjected to neglect, abuse, and torture. What I loved about Anna was that she learned how to act so the abuse would stop but she never lost her sense of self and never let them beat her completely.

A novella that was originally part of an anthology, Alpha & Omega was short, action packed, and full of information. It also comes to an abrupt end. For me this was more like a part one of a two part book so you are going to want to make sure you have Cry Wolf queued up to start immediately. I liked what I had seen so far with Anna and Charles but I wanted more.

Rating: 4 More More More Stars

Patricia Briggs’ Alpha & Omega series is wonderful & ties into her Mercedes Thompson series with logical sense. These are great characters with wonderful back stories. Set in the Pacific NW area & referencing real places it makes the world more real.

4 stars – It was really good

In this prequel novella, we get the beginning of Anna and Charles’ story. The moment Charles meets Anna his wolf decides that she is his mate. This is extremely unusual for werewolves because usually it takes years before a wolf will accept the humans partner. Charles is an extremely protective alpha male who is used as the pack executioner. He never expects to find a mate, especially one who has been emotionally and physically abused. He has to slowly win Anna over and teach her she can trust him. I really liked Charles and can’t wait to learn more about him in the future.

We see very little of Anna’s wolf in this novella, but we do get a few glimpses of how powerful and strong she will be in the future. As to the romance part of this book, it is very minimal. They do share a few kisses after Charles makes his intentions to woo her clear but that is it. The rest of their relationship will develop over the next few books.

Trigger Warnings: Anna was turned against her will. She was also beaten and raped repeatedly. A suicide attempt is briefly mentioned.

I read this story many (many) years ago in the anthology ‘On the prowl’ and I enjoyed it very much but then for some reason I never read the rest of the series. So now when I was searching through my books to see what I would read next I came across this series ‘Alpha & Omega’ and I got curious about it. So I decided to read it but it was advised to start with the prequel ‘Alpha & Omega’ first so I did a reread of it.

In this novella ‘Alpha & Omega’ we are introduced to a new and paranormal world where werewolves insist. Anna (a human) discovered this fact three years ago, after she was made one against her will. And since then her life has been a nightmare, where she’s abused and treated very badly by ‘her pack’. But then one day she finds the courage to make an important phone call for help. Not for herself but to prevent that other people will get turned to a werewolf against their wishes too. But that one phone call and one meeting with a dangerous and dominant werewolf will change her life forever!

This may be a novella length story but it had all information in it that we needed to understand this ‘new’ world. I liked the pace of the story and how we were introduced to this new, paranormal world. It never felt rushed and it was told in both POV’s. Both main characters were strong in their own way. Charles because he was a very dominant werewolf, even an dangerous enforcer and son of the alpha leader of the North American werewolves. But even being so dominant, he also knew how to be gentle with Anna and I loved that about him. How he treated her with care and gentleness for her fear of dominant males but still with respect for her inner strength and qualities as a woman and an omega wolf. And Ann was a wonderful character too, she was caring and friendly, she may have fears but that was totally understandable with their past experience.

I’m very curious about how their relationship will grow and especially how Anna will grow into her strength and her omega wolf.

I really love all of them. I also really love how when they change into Werewolves. That they actually change into big wolves and not on two legs that are Lycans. So much better and love the father in it. I’m not fond of her other series. The Mercy Thompson ones. It starts off good but by book 3 or 4, I’m good. I wished she made more of the Alpha and Omega one though. Sorry and thank you.

I don’t know that I would actually say “wonderful characters” but I did like the characters and care what happened to them.

Greatest writings. Hooked.

Love this series! A must read!

Ahhhh Charles.