Wow this story had problems.
First the good stuff:
I like what he said about zoos. It's how I feel, too.
I love that there are also het relationships here, and women who do stuff that is important, not just cook and wait for their grandchildren.
I love that the alpha is black.
I like that he is a caring leader rather than an idiot who is only in power because he's stronger than anything else and who is constantly having to push back his animal who is always on the verge of running amok at any time.
The bad stuff:
Dogs are not color blind and they don't think wolves are either, just that the colors don't mean a lot to them. They are probably only partially color blind. It drives me crazy when books depict wolves as colorblind and it's frequent.
A very dark skinned black man in Scotland a hundred years ago had an elderly grandfather, too, who lived there? black slave brought to Ireland? Why did he go to America and leave his pack or how did someone come to bring a slave where it wasn't legal.
That girl is not twelve. She acts like she's five. 12 year-olds don't carry Barbie dolls to BBQs, especially one who has been taking care of herself and being abused and neglected. Seriously, an abused adolescent is defensive and aloof around other people.
Whipping is so archaic and disturbing.
Pretty good peril but didn't break any new ground, even mimicking the last book. The really good peril scene was completely irrelevant to the plot and other than the alpha saying he'd like to hunt down and kill those who hurt his mate, that's the end of it. I don't know why Declan didn't look for them.
There's so much missing information such as what happened with Russell and his mate and why he was the way he was (because homophobia doesn't explain his martyrdom, and what they were talking about with Lark getting shot. (My guess is that she had him get shot in her first draft and then make it just him getting beaten up instead).
The epilogue wasn't an epilogue, it's just a week or so later, and introduces new random stuff.
Lack of concern about brain damage is odd considering he got knocked out twice within a week or so at least once with a concussion, and also he felt faint and nearly blacked out a couple of times.
And what happened to the other shifters they rescued? They rescued over a dozen, yet at the end only four or five had been accounted for. (I'm not sure about Sam.) And the whipping is just so archaic for a pack that feels really modern.
I enjoyed it, though, because I love peril for any reason. :) So although this probably doesn't deserve it, I give it three stars.