The Kingdom of Askara has been torn apart by conflict for centuries, where humans exist as subservient beings to their werewolf masters. Legend says it will only be able to heal itself when an Alpha King and a pure omega are mated and crowned together, but a pure omega hasn’t been born in over a thousand years.Luca is an Alpha-heir eagerly awaiting the choosing ceremony on his twenty-fifth … birthday and the gifts granted by whichever omega he mates. His small pack is destitute due to the decisions of its ruling council, but being only an Alpha-heir, he has no authority to challenge them. Not until now—this moment he has waited a long time for.
Kit grew up as a street-rat, an unlicensed human who would never be more than a slave for whichever master owns him. Then one day he came across a young Alpha-heir, attacked and dying of poison, and found out their fates were suddenly entwined.
Luca needs to take over his pack and save his people. He cannot afford to be distracted. But when he meets Kit, he develops abilities indicating he is not just a pack Alpha, but the King his world has needed for a thousand years.
Is Kit really the cause of Luca’s newfound power, the true mate he needs? How is it possible when the young man isn’t even a werewolf, and as merely a human, a mating is not only forbidden, but for Kit, a sentence of death? (MPreg)
more
I’ve had the occasion to encounter Victoria Sue on Facebook. She is a kind, gentle, caring person. When reading her work after meeting her, you may get a bit of a jolt! She isn’t afraid to go to the dark places with a story, making the character’s triumphs that much greater, the joys much more abundant, and the loves so very much sweeter. Welcome to the Kingdom of Askara, a world of the distant future torn apart by conflict for centuries. You are invited to this incredibly compelling work with a thought-provoking premise! And courtesy of our writer, there are some new heroes on the horizon and some positive changes in the wind.
At the beginning of the narrative, we encounter Luca a werewolf who is dying after being poisoned by his twin brother born minutes after him. Luca was unaware of his brother’s ambition to rule their destitute pack. While languishing, he is approached by a young human slave boy named Kit who intuits their connection and the value Luca will have on the entire Kingdom of Askara. Kit reaches out and their link results in Luca’s healing and Kit is punished for being someplace with someone without his master’s approval.
On his twenty-fifth birthday, Luca challenges his packs ruling council and rescues Kit from a brutal master after encountering him again. Acknowledging that Kit is his omega mate in spite of the illegalities of human-wolf mating is a brave one that can carry a death sentence. Long ago, wolf shifters were subjugated by humans who became so corrupted, the shifters were able to overthrow them. Being concerned about the human’s robust ability to procreate and their exceptional potentially destructive tools and use of technology, human matings were understandably limited.
Referencing historical documents as precedents, Luca honors the legends that he and Kit are to be crowned together. They encounter those that would challenge their mating for a variety of reasons in addition to those regarding the long-held prejudices against human beings. Together Luca and Kit overcome several obstacles and receive one very delightful surprise: male omegas are capable of bearing young! With their offspring in tow, they are successful in establishing Luca as the Alpha King of Askara!
If there is ONE thing that makes a fantasy novel awesome it is a rationale for the premise. That bit of history or backstory that allows the books of the series to form a cohesive unit. Victoria Sue knocks this right out of the park. She continues to reinforce the premise with additional ‘historic’ information in the other books of the series. The world-building is extraordinary and the character development is phenomenal! In addition, there is optimum pacing (the rate at which the writer introduces key elements in the story), and exemplary balance (the distribution of varying types of elements in the narrative) that keeps the readers engaged, turning the pages, and anxious to get to the next book of the series.
Luca survived his poisoning only because a child distracted his tormentors. When Kit turns up at the choosing ceremony as a slave, Luca sees red and kills the current Alpha who was pretending to be The Alpha King. The Alpha King is a tite long since abused, but can only be held by an Alpha who has a Pure Omega as a mate. That his mate is a human MALE makes no odds to Luca, but he needs to look after the pack, ALL the packs, and having Kit as his mate will be one more difficulty he needs to overcome.
I LOVED this!
Luca knows he will be Alpha of a pack one day, he just has to bide his time. He never expected that Alpha title to come with a King on the end. Kit called him that, all those years ago, but he never thought anything by it. Now that Kit is in his arms, and Luca has inherited the title properly, he also comes into his powers. He didn’t know about those. Kit’s presence in his life, in his bed has opened a whole can of worms but Luca knows he can shut it.
Kit is an unlicensed human, used to life treating him in the worst way. He knew, he always KNEW that Luca was his mate, that Luca would be the salvation for all humans and the way they were treated, he just didn’t expect to actually FEEL for Luca, to fall in love with him.
Both Luca and Kit have a says, in the third person. I wasn’t sure Kit would for a time, since it is a way into the book before he gets his voice, so I was mighty pleased about that. It’s deeply emotional in places, when Kit tells of his childhood (such as it was) and Luca talks about the future. It’s violent in others when Kit is kidnapped and Luca does what he has to do to save Kit, and the consequences of that action.
It is a wonderfully told story!
This world is (currently) a bad place for humans, since the wolves overthrew the humans and enslaved them centuries ago. Once, the humans were the dominant species and much of their history is now lost to the winds of time, but Luca has a very industrious friend who digs up all kinds of long lost information, for both the humans AND for Luca and about the title of Alpha King and the Pure Omega who mates him. Things that are all kinds of spoilers and I’m not saying. But I also have a feeling that much more will be discovered in time that will turn a lot of things on their heads.
There are a couple of characters who I would like to have either heard from here, or would like if they could have their own stories, but I’m not sure that would work, in the grand scheme of things. Sam and Asher especially, but another couple too.
Joel Leslie narrates.
I love Mr Leslie’s work, I really do. I could listen to the man read the phone book!
I cannot fault the narration! Everyone’s voice fits their descriptions, each voice is clear and easily definable when in multi person conversations.
Leslie’s reading voice is deep and even, and I had no problem with keeping up when Leslie gets over the emotions these guys were feeling. Sometimes, I lose that, when a narrator dips their voice when the characters are emotional, but not so Leslie!
I have books 2 and 3 to listen to, just as soon as I find some time. I can’t wait!
5 stars for the book
5 stars for the narration too
**same worded review will appear elsewhere**