This is book two of the Wolves of Evergreen series and the main characters are Xander Miller, alpha wolf, and Felicity Jordan, his best friend after she moved to Evergreen to live with her Nana in high school. Felicity never knew her father and her mother had a swinging door policy of different men coming into their lives, often marrying for their money and then divorcing them soon after. Xander and his siblings Macy, Kingston and Dylan, lived a life ruled by their very strict mother Marianne, who punished them all for the slightest things. It was only after Xander asked Felicity to be his fake fiancé when his mother wanted to see him mated, that the mating pull actually happened and they both had their moon dreams of the other, a very shifter thing. Xander’s father had stepped down from his alpha position when he felt he was ready and should have been enjoying his life with his wife and mate, but she had gone off with the feral alpha of the neighbouring Carter’s Creek pack, Quincy Houghton, after trying to abduct and kill Felicity, not wanting a human for her son’s mate! Now Felicity is one month pregnant with twins, out of a short four month pregnancy and abut to move into her dream home she had saved for ages to buy. When Xander finds a threat on their doorstep as they are packing, the move is postponed and he takes her back to the pack house for safety. She also needs to agree to a mating ceremony asap, so the rest of the pack will treat her as one of theirs and protect her when Xander can’t.
The celebrations are interrupted by Xander’s uncle Clinton Morrow, his mother’s sister, who he has never really known. They had invited him and his father Samuel to be courteous, but never had a reply. So his showing up at that precise moment was a bit worrying. Clinton finding out she is carrying twin alphas makes him offer for one of them to become alpha of Portersmith, the Morrow family pack lands, and asks them to go and visit. They intend to only stay a day, but other matters soon get in the way and the reclusive Samuel is playing with them all, especially his own son. Xander can see a little of how his mother became like she did, as Samuel may have given over the alpha lead of the pack to Clinton, but he continues to rule everyone with fear, the only way he sees it should be! A shocking invitation for Felicity soon has her helping another human, but also not telling Xander, knowing he would want to kill the person, no matter that it would probably start a war! Their visit is extended long past the time they are comfortable with, but Xander has to play his alpha card very careful so as not to annoy distant family, no matter what. All Felicity wants to do is to get back to their own pack and home, with those she knows and trusts. But they aren’t safe from the threat to their babies, even with supposed family, as the threat from Marianne and Quincy gets closer and no one can seem to find a trace of them!
The book ends on a very sharp knife edge of a cliff hanger, just as you thought matters were getting settled. You really get into Xander and Felicity’s struggles by then and could be fully committed, only to have a chasm explode as the story ends abruptly. So fair warning! Felicity manages to uncover a large number of secrets about Samuel, but that just makes him ever more dangerous to her, Xander and even his own son. Felicity can sense some of the wolf vibes that as a human she shouldn’t be able to, but while she thinks she is 100% human, not knowing who her father is kind of really means she can’t actually be sure of that! That was a bit of a silly premise in the book for me. Loved how Xander was so protective of her and wanted to protect her and their babies, but he knows far more about wolf law and customs than she does and has to get her to follow his wishes, even when maybe he should have questioned her reluctance about some matters for the warning they were! I would have loved to not have it end quite the way it did, but I am obviously now looking to get the next book asap to find out what happens. I received an ARC copy of this book from BookSprout and I have freely given my own opinion of the book above.