Cry Wolf (Alpha & Omega, #1) in SOS: Serious Overload of Series

Sep 10, 2009 Literary Ames rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: weres-shifters, favourites, read-in-2009, dtb, 1st-in-series, urban-fantasy, m-tbr, read-in-2017

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I’m a big fan of the Mercedes Thompson series and was intrigued by Charles and Anna’s short story in the anthology On the Prowl.

Charles and Anna are polar opposites. Anna was made a werewolf against her will, her status as an Omega and her ability as such were kept from her, she was brutalized by her pack to keep her submissive and was forced to sever all ties with her family for fear of their safety. Charles on the other hand is an Alpha and assassin for his father the Marrok, the leader of all I’m a big fan of the Mercedes Thompson series and was intrigued by Charles and Anna’s short story in the anthology On the Prowl.

Charles and Anna are polar opposites. Anna was made a werewolf against her will, her status as an Omega and her ability as such were kept from her, she was brutalized by her pack to keep her submissive and was forced to sever all ties with her family for fear of their safety. Charles on the other hand is an Alpha and assassin for his father the Marrok, the leader of all the American werewolves.

When Charles found out about Anna, he killed the Alpha of her pack and brought her home with him. Charles and Anna’s wolves are attracted to one another and I can sort of understand why. Anna’s wolf wants someone strong to protect her from more harm and someone who will not hurt her. Charles when confronted with Anna finds he doesn’t just want to be a seemingly unfeeling murderer anymore. He sees the opportunity for more and attempts to make Anna feel safe. He does his best to protect her and to be honest even when it could cost him her affections. He even goes so far as to seek advice from Asil, a very old wolf with a grudge against him, whose former mate was also an Omega.

Anna is a mess, she’s physically very thin and emotionally scarred by her experiences with her former pack and finds herself in unfamiliar territory with a stranger she is attracted to. It is incredibly difficult for her to trust and to remain calm in the presence of dominant wolves due to her past negative experiences with them. She has low self-esteem and constantly doubts others’ especially Charles’s feelings and intentions towards her. Anna sometimes uses her wolf to give her courage and during one of these times she decides to become Charles’s mate and sleeps with him. However it turns out the bonding didn’t work as planned, her wolf bonded to Charles but her human side was still unsure which showed the next morning when she becomes nervous around Charles again. It’s only when Charles and Anna are alone in the wilderness searching for the rogue werewolf that Charles and Anna become more comfortable with one another.

Walter gives Anna a purpose to her life. He is a Vietnam veteran who hides in the wilderness after his flashbacks led to him killing a civilian. During his time there he protected a hiker from a werewolf attack and in turn became one himself. His memories haunt him night and day so when he approaches Charles and Anna, she sees he is hurting and reaches out to him with her gift of giving a sense of peace and he falls into a dreamless sleep. He in turn becomes very protective of Anna which Charles accepts without challenge because he realises it’s not sexual.

Another very interesting character is Asil. He is haunted by his mate’s death and is worried that at his age he could lose control of his wolf at any moment and persistently seeks the Marrok’s mercy by asking for his death. The Marrok refuses and has continued to refuse for the past 15 years, he doesn’t believe Asil is as close to insanity as Asil feels he is. Cry Wolf dealt with his obsession with the past and his inability to see anything beyond his own nightmares. I noticed that Sage spent the most time with him and wondered whether there would be any romance between them in future books. She seemed to be waiting for Asil to look up from his roses and notice her interest in him. Good thing she seems patient!

Even though we have Samuel in this book, the link between this Alpha & Omego series and the Mercedes Thompson series is Bran, the Marrok. My question over his loveless bond with the awful Leah was answered but I found it saddening. Due to his evil mother he compromises his own happiness to protect the wolves.

I know someone with post-traumatic stress disorder so I was impressed with the way Walter and Anna’s characters were portrayed. I’m going to be honest. I didn’t care too much about the story. I cared about the characters and the way their lives unfolded in the pages. This book for me was about character development which was portrayed extremely well by Patricia Briggs. ...more

2 likes · Like · see review

Jul 18, 2009 Lisa M rated it it was amazing

Shelves: urban-fantasy

Like the rest of Patricia Briggs' books, this is well written and with great characters. I actually read this book first, without reading any in the Mercy Thompson series (this is set in the same world, and has a few of the same characters). Without any previous knowledge of the series, I had no problems following the story or the characters. Right now, this book is a complete stand alone novel (although a sequel is due out later this year).

Unlike the Mercy series, this is written in third perso ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Jan 04, 2010 Trish rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2011-reads

I love the Mercy Thompson series. This series is a little side trip from that series. We learn more about Charles, Samuels brother, and Bran, their father. We also meet new werewolves and a story or two about them. We learned in one of the earlier Mercy Thompson books that a werewolf had attacked a girl, but had not killed her. What resulted from that was that girl is now a werewolf. This is her story right after meeting Charles and then becoming his mate. Anna has a lot of internal conversation ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Aug 26, 2009 Samantha wickedshizuku Tolleson rated it liked it

Shelves: twice-read, reviewed, female-lead, 2011, 3-stars, not-manga, paranormal, 2015, werewolves, can-i-live-in-this-book

This was an all right read. I'm not to into Charles. I'm about to start the next book, and hope that the plot won't feel to awkward.
Read this a second time, and I can tell that my memory is lacking both characters and plot.