Tome Thursday: Runt of the Pack

 

Hello everyone!

 

And this week, I welcome you to something slightly different in terms of books, at least for me, since I usually DON'T read these.

 

But when BookSirens suggests something, who am I to disagree with it?

 

Especially as it hasn't steered me wrong yet!

 

Thus far, I think I've thoroughly enjoyed every single book I've picked up, or maybe there were a few that slipped through the cracks of enjoyment, but, overall I'd say the success rate has been pretty high here.

 

So when I grabbed this one, I wasn't overly worried, although I WAS thinking it would maybe be a little bit longer even.

 

No matter.

 

Because the fate of a pack is in our hands. As depicted in Runt of the Pack.

 

No links anywhere to be found, because I haven't the foggiest about these books and don't usually read them, ergo, this is standing on its own two feet.

 

Runt of the Pack follows Vladimir, who was adopted by a clan of bear shifters as a child, and never considered strong enough, so he went and proved them all wrong by becoming Alpha of a pack situated out of Rome - when an old danger comes calling, and he gets a message that his older brother Gavriil is in deep trouble.

 

So he off and leaves for Russia in a heartbeat, and does in fact walk into a massacre because Gavriil's fated mate plummets to her death while he battles a ginormous enemy bear shifter that's been after Gavriil for ages.

Not that it works out, because the bear mauls him and leaves him for dead in the snow (naturally, there's snow - we're in Russia, what did you THINK was going to be there?!).

This is where he's found by a white wolf, and when he wakes up, he's in a cabin in the middle of nowhere, being looked after by a lone woman named Anya.

Anya's been on her own for whoever knows how long, she's a painter by trade and can create immensely beautiful scenes, but she's dangerously drawn to the wolf shifter in her bed who doesn't eve know SHE's a shifter, too - an omega, a runaway from her own pack, hiding from them.

Their inner wolves recognize each other, however, and the first time they're intimate is when the truth comes out and they sort of exchange secret for secret, because they're not only falling for each other, but are fated mates on top of everything else.

Vlad stays in her cabin with her, thinking he failed his own pack and the pack that adopted him, so he's basically an omega now, too - in his own head, that is, until they find the woman commissioning Anya's paintings dead, and strays start flocking to them, right along with his pack from Rome, who still acknowledge him as Alpha.

So really, it's all in his own head. A good thing, too, because Anya's past comes back to haunt them when HER old Alpha tracks her down, sends her goons to kidnap her and mortally wound Vladimir, and drags her back to his place so she can be mother to the next litter of his brood.

Luckily for everyone involved, Gavriil isn't as big of a douche as Vlad believes he is, and the omegas he'd started gathering, his pack, and his brother's all converge and attack Anya's former home, from which Vlad ends up rescuing her.

He also learns Gavriil never hated him as he thought, and that his brother finished that enemy bear shifter, making his shifter fur into a coat for himself, because, naturally.

And at the very end, Anya reveals she's pregnant, so all's well that ends well!

Wow.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily; and it's been a bit since a shifter romance gripped me so strongly, but Vlad and Anya's story is definitely a really good introduction to the clans in Russia this alternate universe holds!

The MCs: I think the nature of this being a rather short story makes it you either love them or hate them fast. And I love them both, because both are wounded, but more importantly, there is no will they-won't they once they realize they're mates.

The SCs: open up worlds of opportunity, especially Gavriil! Very well supported.

The shifter system: needs a smidgen more BUT the promise of that is with all other books in this universe, for sure.

The world: listen, Russia is a go-to for this stuff, okay? Nuff said.

The romance: it's a shifters/fated mates one. Of course it won't take forever. As soon as you recognize that? You're golden to love it.

All in all, I really like what the author's trying to do here, and will absolutely be picking up more books from her. 10/10 recommend.

xx

*image not mine