When an attack results in the abduction of a half dozen females from the Pine Ridge Pack by the Hemlock Lake Pack, Ethan, the alpha of the ridge pack, knows he can’t let this slide. For decades, the ridge pack has ignored the provocations of the lake pack in order to keep the peace between them. But when his mate, Kate, is among the taken, he knows he’ll stop at nothing to get her back.
Meanwhile, down at the lodge by the lake, Ruby, Ethan’s first mate, anxiously awaits the return of the males of her pack, worried that they have attacked her former home. When Nick, her fake mate and the alpha of the lake pack, comes back with a familiar blond slung over his shoulder, she’s worried for what this could mean for relations between the packs.
Kate wakes up tied to the bed of her enemy and scared for her life. As Nick boasts about his plans to finally take out the ridge pack, she doesn’t know if she can trust the female who was Ethan’s first mate—the one stolen from him over two decades ago.
How will Ethan, who never wanted to be alpha, save his pack and his mate? Can Kate trust the female that Ethan had left to the lake pack all that time ago, or would she resent her getting the life she never got to have? Will Ruby be able to believe Kate when she tells her they’ll leave there together as they grow close and seek comfort in one another?
Tropes: two packs at war, how far would you go for those you love?, finding inner strength, FFM, long distance teasing, finding comfort in unlikely places, fated mates, mates reunited
Available: Kindle – Kindle Unlimited – Paperback
Content Warnings
DubCon/Sexual Assault/Sexual Violence: There are several instances of threats of sexual violence for noncompliance. Nick commands Ruby to give Kate oral sex in his stead, with the threat that he’ll do it himself if she doesn’t. In another instance, he makes Kate perform oral sex on Ruby in front of all the adults of the pack. Nick doesn’t wait for Ruby to be adequately lubricated, and it causes vaginal tearing. There is historical (alluded to, with minimal details) about Ruby’s sexual experiences under Nick, of how he has never cared if Ruby was in the mood or wanted to have sex. There is mention of restraint usage in the past that wasn’t something she wanted. There are instances of unwanted groping and touching of both conscious and unconscious females. Nick threatens to let Kate go into heat so that Ethan will lose control and come after her, which would lead to either Ethan’s death at Nick’s hands or Ethan’s sexual assault of Kate, as he would not be in his right mind if he went into rut.
Abuse in Forced Relationship: Ruby, one of the FMC, was used to cement the treaty between the packs. She was to serve as the mate of the other pack. During her time with that pack, she was abused. These abuses include humiliation, verbal, physical, and sexual.
Sadism/Torture: Nick, the antagonist, is keeping the five females from the ridge back in cages in the lodge. They are being deprived of food and water and are forced to use only a bucket for bodily functions. Each evening, Nick releases one female from the cage with a provocative message to deliver to Ethan. If the females can make it to the ridge pack’s settlement, then they are free. Males from the lake pack can give chase to the females, and if they catch them and bring them back, then they get to have them to do with them whatever they choose.
Abduction/Captive Keeping: There are half a dozen females abducted from the ridge pack and brought to the lodge, each injected with something to knock them out. Five of them are kept in cages. Kate is tethered to Ruby by a collar around her neck and a shackle to Ruby’s wrist with a chain in between. Ruby was taken in the night against her will as part of the treaty between packs.
Suicidal Ideation: Due to the misery she faced at Nick’s hands, she has contemplated suicide in the past. It is briefly mentioned with no details of options.
Violence, Gore, and Death: These are two packs at war. There is a battle at the beginning of the book, and most of the lake pack males are slaughtered at the end. Two wolves are held, with one of them murdering the other to keep him quiet. The ridge pack kills the remaining one. The antagonist’s throat is slashed at the end, and he is murdered.
Possible Infidelity: This is more in how you look at it. While being kept captive, Ruby and Kate are commanded to touch each other. In their time alone together, they seek comfort and pleasure from one another. They share a mate in Ethan and eventually become mates themselves. None of those involved views the actions as infidelity.
Misogyny/Patriarchal Customs: The lake pack is very misogynistic. Females are treated as objects, and they have little say in their lives. Comments and insults are frequently misogynistic.
Explicit Sex
Shonna Preston 