I've been reading the Mercy Thompson series and have mostly heard the characters in this series be mentioned. I was excited to get to meet them. Mercy always talks about how Charles is scary, and based on everyone else's reaction to him, she's not wrong. He is also very protective of those he cares about, though. You can tell that he cares a lot a out Charles and also getting to know Anna and making her comfortable. It was nice to see how a mating bond between two werewolves works. Anna is also a super interesting introspection into this world. She's an Omega and it's made pretty clear that they are different from other werewolves in many ways. It's almost like they don't have to bow down to a pack or an alpha really and are there to keep the peace. It's a nice addition and a great depiction of more submissive wolves. The word submissive tends to have a negative connotation and here it's shown that it isn't necessarily a bad thing.

On another note, I do not like Leah. I think she is an intriguing character, but she is obviously very resentful towards Bran's children, especially Charles. The worst part was seeing that Bran chose her as his mate because of his wolf and for the sake of protecting himself from falling in love with someone and possibly posing a danger to others. It's incredible how much Bran cares and I don't think anyone better could be the Marrok, honestly. He's willing to do what needs to be done even when that means killing a friend. I believe that there are insta love elements in the book, but I think it is explained well enough by the mythology of the world and the future promise that Charles and Anna will continue to get to know each other that it does not actually bother me. 

Anna's backstory is alluded to pretty often and it's clear that she has been a victim of abuse, sexual, emotional, and physical, ever since she became a werewolf. She clearly shows signs of that through her behavior, and it's nice that Charles is aware of it and gives her space. They both know their relationship has moved at a weird pace and Charles especially gives her space to be comfortable and establish her boundaries. I'm sure that largely contributed to me being okay with the pacing of their relationship. I'm looking forward to seeing how they get to know each other more and what role Anna will play within the pack. 

Asil added another element to the story that helped drive the plot and also show the effects of losing a mate ad a werewolf. I appreciated that by the end Asil had closure and despite not being able to get his mate back, he will at least be able to move on. I couldn't have asked for anything better for that ending really. I'm looking forward to the other books in the series.