The Alpha Challenge: Age Gap Wolf Shifter Romance

by A. Mariposa

For fans of Werewolves, Supernatural Romance, Angst/Drama, Age-Gap, Domination and Submission, Virgin, and Bad Boy Romance stories.

"Favorite book of all!! The writer has MAD SKILLS!! Entertaining, & she makes you care about the characters, bringing them to life with her written words!! Thank you so much!" ~Youtube Reviewer

Maddy has finally mastered her first Change, but life as a wolf girl is fraught with danger, especially when an enemy pack wants you as a breeder. Can she escape the traps laid by the Grayridge pack, or will she hand herself over for Gareth's safety?

It's time for Gareth to take a stand against the Grayridge pack, but the upcoming battle has triggered an impromptu family reunion. To secure his territory and his future with Maddy, he must face his past and make amends with his family. Or will his pride get the best of him? As the new Black River Alpha, he still has a lot to prove.

340 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 31, 2025

About the author

A. Mariposa. Her first series, BLACK RIVER MOON, is a bit like Teen Wolf for an adult female audience. Ms. Mariposa grew up traveling between Los Angeles, CA and Washington State, which gave her a love of diversity, Southwest culture, big forests, rainy weather, and a fascination with weird little historic towns. She currently lives in Seattle, WA with her husband and two fur babies.

A. Mariposa is not very active on Goodreads.com but runs a popular Youtube audiobook channel featuring BLACK RIVER MOON as a dramatized audiobook podcast. If you want to listen to a theatrical version of the story, check it out! Link to channel below.

https://www.youtube.com/@blackbutterf...

Reviews

[Lori Kays · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, as I finish the series, I think I overall have to give the whole thing about 3.5 stars. This last book was the best one of the series and surprisingly, I really would have enjoyed this book, it could even be a little longer, which is surprising considering the first two books had so much superfluous content. I feel like I had to deal with SO much of Maddie's terrible attitude and bullshit to get her, I wish we could have seen more of their life together after Maddie matured more. I read the author's comment somewhere that she was going for a bit of a 'slice of life' vibe at the beginning and I wish she'd have saved the brevity of this book for books 1 and 2 and then made this book more slice of life. I feel like through all the annoyance and the bullshit, I got attached to the characters and the story. I wanted to know more about mating season and what all that entails. I wanted to see them build their pack, add new member and live their lives together. I wanted to see more of his brothers, especially Tony and what's happening with them. I wanted to know more about her Mom, I was hoping she left her something interesting or compelling. I also wonder how she went from being mates to an alpha astrophysicist to being married to a drunken lay-about. I am glad this last book didn't just start over again and really carried the maturity and progress through from the last book. I also appreciated that this book has a lot more sex. I definitely feel like the two of them finally came into their relationship in this book. This story is far from perfect. There's so many random plot points that went nowhere. What was the purpose of the whole weird attraction to Gareth's brother Tony other than just to make us feel weirdly uncomfortable? What was the point of Bea's mom's weird AF behavior? We didn't get any REAL resolution to the Kaylee thing, it just kinda happened in the background. The story ends with Maddie working for friends of DEANS at the bar where he wasted all their money, got drunk and then came home and abused her. That was messed up. I was hoping to see Gareth step up and tell her not to work there and hire her to work at his place. For a story with so many little sprouts of potential stories, so few of them actually bloomed into something. Still, I feel like I'll have a book hang-over from this trilogy and will find myself thinking about the characters often. Hoping to find more books similar to this, since this seems to be the only series by this author.

[Amelia Esparza · Rating 5 out of 5]

we need an epilogue

I am begging- we need another novel or an epilogue! There is so much potential for another story and I’d like to see Maddy grow up a bit and into her new role! Otherwise good conclusion to the series.

[Tami · Rating 5 out of 5]

Intriguing

Absolutely love Maddie and Gareth. The fight between the alphas really wasn't much of a fight Gareth kicked ass. Amazing story