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?
Jenni Lea
Look out world, JL’s got her hands on some mpreg!
Oh, how I do love me some mpreg! It is my number one most favorite guilty pleasure. And when it’s mixed with Alpha/omega dynamics? Well, that just makes me want to roll around on my bed and kick my heels up into the air. I am actually giddy that I get to feed my addiction with all the cracky goodness that it provides. I don’t know if I can explain what it is about this sub-genre that gets me all in a lather but I’ll give it my best shot.
You see, for an A/o mpreg book to be truly delicious it has to be written a certain way. You have to have a strong, almost overbearing Alpha; one that will protect his omega. He has to be a leader and have a strong personality. This can vary a little, maybe he has a chip on his shoulder or starts off being a bit of an asshole. Maybe he’s a bit of a player or maybe he’s the strong, silent type. But one thing he definitely needs to be is big, as in tall, muscular and a bit intimidating. The omega needs to be smaller but only in size. Omegas can vary too. They can be bratty or mild mannered, possibly super smart or even the life of the party. But they are never weak. No pushovers allowed! The omega is there to temper the Alpha’s overbearing personality and bring out his gentle side. And when they get together is where the magic happens. The sex is usually rough with a lot of grabbing and biting and an overwhelming need to Claim His Mate. There’s so much passion and need and it usually burns my screen it’s so hot!
And this book had it in spades.
Luca is an Alpha-heir who’s finally come of age and can choose the omega who will be his mate. On Choosing Day he’s offered a wide variety of omegas to pick from but he can't help but feel disinterest. While all werewolves are bisexual for the most part, Luca prefers men and there are only two being offered and he’s sure they’ll be snatched up by the other Alpha-heirs before it’s his turn. But none of this matters when he looks into the eyes of a lowly human servant boy who is about to be punished for not being strong enough to do an impossible task.
This was a great story, well above par for the mpreg genre. All of the characters were engaging and I was so invested in what was happening that I couldn’t put the book down. The world building, though there were a few inconsistencies, was fascinating. I couldn’t tell if this was an AU or if it was earth set thousands of years into the future. Some passages in the story alluded to a future earth but there were two suns so I’m not really sure. That didn’t stop my enjoyment though. My belief was already suspended (hello… mpreg) so it didn’t take much for me to accept everything and skip merrily along through the story.
My only snag was the angst. I’m a Big Ole Chicken (bawk bawk) when it comes to relationship angst. I avoid books with the Big Misunderstanding caused by a Lack of Communication trope. It causes my stomach to knot up and I just wanna shout “Talk your shit out you morons!”. I had to drag my best pal Red into a buddy read so she could hold my hand through it. Seriously, I’m surprised I don’t break out in hives when I come across angst like that. But here, I can kind of understand why Luca did the things he did. He hasn’t had a positive role model in his life. His father is dead. When he was alive he let Luca’s raging bitch of a mother walk all over him. His brother betrayed him and now he’s become the first Alpha king in over a thousand years. He’s afraid he won’t be able to live up to the role he’s been thrust into and doesn’t have anyone he can seek out for advice. He has no clue what he’s doing so he makes mistakes – a lot of mistakes. Boy, does he make a shit ton of mistakes! He jumps to conclusions about Kit and nearly leads their relationship into disaster. Thank goodness for Kit, who now has a newly stitched pocket waiting for him. I adored Kit. His life has been absolute crap up until he meets Luca. He’s so strong! I would have cracked under all the pressure of everything that he’s been through. He’s vibrant and charming and has a great sense of humor. Once Luca got over his idiocy they were perfect for each other. They’re both great individually but together they can rule the world, quite literally.
Overall, I enjoyed the hell out of this story. It was a fast-paced adventure full of intrigue and red herrings that kept me guessing until the very end. The ending was a bit rushed though. I wish that it could have been expanded upon a little more. The climax of the story was a bit anticlimactic. It felt like a big part of it was skipped over and I needed to see what happened in more detail. I want to know more about this world and the lives of the people in it. Thankfully the author is planning a second book so hopefully I will get the answers I’m looking for. I recommend this to all those who love mpreg and are looking for a story with more meat to it. It was so much more than merely an mpreg story so if the blurb has caught your interest and mpreg doesn’t squick you out I say give it a chance. Who knows, you may end up becoming just as addicted as I am.
Sara
In a new order where wolves rule and humans are categorized into groups, we enter the world of Askara…
With the prologue, we meet werewolf Luca Hightower as he is wounded after being attacked and poisoned via revenge by his twin brother Kieran. Luca fears he is dying until he hears a voice, a voice belonging to a young human boy who appears to have knowledge of who Luca is and who he will become. The young boy with the lightest blue eyes Luca had ever seen, prophesizes Luca’s rise to be the Alpha King. Unfortunately, the boy is taken away and though Luca is saved, he has no idea who they boy is but he will never forget being saved and the blue eyes of the boy who saved him.
From the prologue we move forward seven years to Luca’s 25th birthday and the ceremony which will allow him to pick an Omega so that he can come into his Alpha powers and lead his pack. But fate has a way of stepping in and when Luca comes to the rescue of a human slave who is about to be whipped, things get way interesting.
True mates were so rare they were merely whispered about.
I have to tell you, I truly adore the fated mate trope and this one made me all sorts of gooey. Not only is Luca destined to be the Alpha King but his destiny comes wrapped around a True Omega and no one ever said an Omega had to be a wolf or female now, did they?
Goodness. I have a whole list of reasons as to why I adored Kit but each of them could be a spoiler so I will try to slow my roll and just say he is adorable AF but he does have a few issues. His gift of foresight is amazing and how he instantly changes all that Luca is as an Alpha to an Alpha King was great to read but these two, they have some issues they need to deal with.
Luca. My mate. The Alpha King destined to heal a fractured Askara, and me, Kit, a guttersnipe bastard orphan destined to help him.
This book, it comes with angst and I am a self-proclaimed angst whore. I love the hell out of it and this book delivered. Sure, some of the angst could have been avoided but when you really look at Kit and Luca, they are babies in this new world of Alpha King and True Omega and any newlywed couple is bound to have communication problems.
Luca, I swear a few times I wanted to throw my Nook at you but you are the best at getting forgiveness and you really do love and adore your mate. Kit, you are not without fault in the angst that was created because all you had to do was ask. And yet again, the way you and Luca make up is so very worth it.
“You are my life. Every second of every day I thank the fates for being poisoned.”
So while we have the fated mate romance with knotting and yes, mpreg, we also get this wonderful world building of the story that I fell hard for. When something is introduced, I need to know all about it and the author does a fantastic job of building a world where wolves rule and humans are slaves all while giving us a detailed history on it so that it’s easily understood. The rift between human and wolf was one of importance to the story and how both sides would accept the mating of the Alpha King with the True Omega. There was a lot of knowledge being shared and yet it was never an info dump nor too complex to go over my head. Not only do we get the wolf/human dynamic but we have this history, an almost mythology of the Alpha King and True Omega that leaves so much to be learned. It was helpful to have Gabriel along to aid Kit and Luca in what their mating would lead to and I really wish they would have used him much earlier when they had questions but once again, all of this was new to them.
Luca’s sisters were remarkable when we meet them and all they do for the couple. I could have dealt without Luca’s mom as she is awful but I like how she was dealt with. Those Luca holds close and whom he trusts gave a richness to the story all while fueling my desire for more stories with other couples that we meet along the way and one I just need desperately *cough* Sam *cough* Asher.
…he is the hope for all humans. If Kit can stand by your side then it gives us all hope that one day there will be a chance of equality for everyone.
This story moved at a fast pace and I swear I read it just as fast. Once things started to get going, I couldn’t stop reading and where I usually take notes, I just read until the end. That end? It felt a little rushed to me and I wondered if I was missing pages because I needed more. Is that me being greedy for all that the author gave me? Possibly and yet the epilogue was so stupidly sweet, it pacified me for the moment. But I am not done with this world and I hope the author isn’t either. I need to see what Luca and Kit were preparing for at the end and I really wonder if Kit’s vision of the Black and White pups weren’t something entirely different. Cause, you know?
At the end of it all, this was truly romantic in only the way a true mate story can be. It had everything I love in a shifter story and then some. The history and mythology was magnificent, the romance angsty and swoony and the story, beautifully told.
Now… I just need more.
Find on Goodreads!
