Hexmate: A Gay Shifter Paranormal Academy Romance

Widdershins Supernatural Academy #1

by Blake R. Wolfe

A witch without power. A werewolf with everything to lose. A forbidden love that will change it all.


Being a werewolf and the star of the wrestling team means my life is all about control—control on the mat, control under the full moon, and control over my emotions. I’ve spent years perfecting it. But then I met Caden, and all that control started to slip. He’s a witch without magic—or so everyone says—but there’s something about him that draws me in. He’s got this quiet intensity, a spark that feels more powerful than any spell I’ve ever seen.

But in a place like Widdershins Academy, where bloodlines and magical purism rule, witches and werewolves are not supposed to mix. The rules are clear, and breaking them could cost me everything—my pack, my title, and even my future. Yet, every time Caden looks at me, every time he brushes against me, it feels like the world shifts, and suddenly, those rules don’t seem so unbreakable. I can feel his soul calling to mine and when I finally get up the nerve to kiss him, I know I won’t be able to stop.

Caden:
I’ve spent my whole life feeling like a failure. Born into a legacy of pureblood witches, I should have been powerful, but my magic never came. In a world where worth is measured by power, I’ve always been on the outside, trying to blend in and failing miserably. And then there’s Atlas.

He’s everything I’m not—strong, confident, and untouchable. But somehow, he sees me, really sees me, in a way no one else ever has. When he’s near, it’s like I’m more than just a powerless witch. But I know better than to hope. He’s a werewolf, an alpha, and everything about our world is designed to keep us apart.

When a cruel prank leaves me stranded in the woods during a deadly snowstorm, it’s Atlas who finds me. He saves my life, his wolf instincts guiding him through the snow, but the storm traps us together in an abandoned cabin. There’s no escaping the truths we’ve been avoiding, and as the fire crackles, we give into the instincts we’ve been denying for too long. In those intimate moments, I see the vulnerability he tries to hide, and for the first time, I believe I might be someone he truly needs.

But the storm is only the beginning. When a magical attack threatens Widdershins Academy, we’re thrust into a battle bigger than either of us. As purists tighten their grip on our world, we’re faced with an impossible defy the rules that divide us and risk everything for the love we’ve found or let the system win and tear us apart before we’ve even had a chance.

Hexmate is a heart-pounding, magical sweet and spicy romance filled with forbidden love, sizzling chemistry, and the courage to challenge a world built on division. Set against the enchanting backdrop of Widdershins Academy, Caden and Atlas’s story is a spellbinding tale of resilience, redemption, and the power of love to rewrite destiny.

Genres: Fantasy, Romance, M M Romance, Paranormal, Shapeshifters, Magic, LGBT

274 pages, Paperback

Published March 8, 2025

About the author

Blake R. Wolfe has adored werewolves and monsters since he was a child growing up in a small rural Michigan town. Now he lives near the shores of Lake Michigan with his two partners, two cats that need to be fed every three seconds, and a dog that is very spoiled. He spends most of his free time hiking through the nearby forest, thinking up the next great romance story for his readers.

Blake writes under three separate Pen Names:

--Blake R. Wolfe -- Gay Paranormal Romance

--Atreus Rosewood -- Gay Contemporary Romance

--Eoghan R. Cunningham -- LGBTQ+ Fantasy

Sign up for Blake’s newsletter for exclusive discounts and special editions at www.blakerwolfe.com

Get access to exclusive short stories on Blake’s Patreon!
www.patreon.com/blakerwolfe

Reviews

[Beew]

Good Plot, Terrible Execution

The plot, it the idea of the plot, is great. I had a lot of expectations for this one. Unfortunately, I was.very disappointed at how poorly written it was. It was as if no one actually proofread this before publishing it. There were minor continuity errors in almost every chapter, grammatical errors throughout the whole book, and at least one continuity error that impacted the plot. The errors were very distracting and took away from how good this story.could have been.

[Megan (feral hearts club)]

Ai slop

[Gaby]

Meh, I got to 37% and I wasn’t feeling it. Came here to check and why am I surprised? It seems to be AI 🫠

[⋆ ˚｡⋆୨ Jinx Reads ୧⋆ ˚｡⋆]

AI… Again

I need to stop trying books off instagram accounts giving random recommendations…

This is also AI, not just the cover, but it reads okay at the beginning, then it goes wild on the plot holes…

Actually wild that these people are published and get more attention than real authors that actually work hard for their books to be published and get attention.

Just mentioning that the books are coming out once a month and the ‘author’ has 3 different pen names! Which means they use AI to probably do it faster. DISGUSTING!

[Bella]

Yeah, no.

I wanted to give this book the benefit of the doubt, but I absolutely could not get into it. The plot itself has potential, but the writing feels completely childish and underdeveloped. Unfortunately, this one wasn't for me.

[Moraa]

RTC

[Kelan]

This had a lot of character issues, unnecessary plot elements that shouldn't be used in that way, and just why I'm the world would you basically make this character like they never had a past? At no point is there anything said about the woman that raised him or gore he felt about that, or admit anything that happened before the literal beginning of the book. People aren't just blank slates like that

[Cecilia]

This is so bad I want to give you a zero but thats not possible, so I give you a one.

[Bri]

This book was so bad, oh my god.

[Love Is All Around]

Voto: 3.5
RECENSIONE A CURA DI EVELYNE
“Hexmate” è il primo volume della serie “Accademia Widdershins” di Blake R. Wolfe. Una serie che mescola streghe senza potere, lupi mannari alpha e un’accademia purista dove le regole dividono i diversi mondi. Caden è una strega emarginata con pochissima magia in una famiglia purosangue. Quando incontra Atlas, stella del wrestling e lupo mannaro alpha, il suo potere va fuori controllo. Tra tempeste di neve, una baita isolata e attacchi magici, il loro legame strega-famiglio sfida le convenzioni sociali di un mondo che non accetta il loro legame: i puristi non vogliono che streghe e mutaforma si mescolino e che il sangue puro e carico di magia si esaurisca per colpa di esseri considerati inferiori. Tutti i mostri e i mutaforma non hanno vita facile nel mondo magico e l’Accademia è solo uno specchio di ciò che accade fuori: Caden e Atlas rappresentano lo stereotipo del maschio alpha e fisico e dello stregone delicato e indifeso in un mondo che non accetta nessuno dei due.
Una storia carina, ambientata tra i corridoi incantati di Widdershins, che cattura il lettore per la semplicità e la fluidità della narrazione.
Atlas incarna il controllo alfa: sul tappeto da wrestling, sotto la luna piena e nelle emozioni è senza ombra di dubbio il personaggio dominante che ci saremmo aspettati da un mutaforma erede del proprio branco. La sua caratterizzazione resta purtroppo superficiale, con un passato accennato ma mai scavato. Suo padre compare, vediamo uno scorcio del passato e presente di Atlas, però non vediamo davvero cosa lo circonda. Caden è il fallito di una delle famiglie stregonesche con più potere magico. L’evoluzione da “senza magia” a eroe superpotente senza alcun allenamento è davvero repentina e stride non poco. Tutto questo toglie credibilità e sminuisce il legame tra i due, rendendo la coppia meno profonda di quanto promettesse.
Continua sul nostro blog!

[O da Joana]

Yeah, I believe the AI allegations, this was bad..

To be fair, at first it was ok, and it had potential but it quickly became super repetitive, like, actual sentences being repeated, the characters suddenly had shifts in personality and it just started to feel weird.

It got more and more obvious and it became a thing I was analyzing, instead of enjoying.

Safe to say that I won’t be continuing with the series..

[Cata♡]

buena trama pero no me atrapó los suficiente, si bien la dinámica entre ambos personajes me encanto sentí que en si el libro es muy obvio en todo aspecto, lo que me aburrio desde la mitad en adelante.

[Pazi ×Winter Of Books×]

Primero que nada, es una mezcla entre Romeo y Julieta, Harry Potter, Winx Club y Halloweentown.

¿Va a ser la gran obra literaria del siglo? No pero a quien le importa eso, es liviano, aunque al inicio te bombardea con información y te da vibes de novelucha de wattpad (literal).

Caden tuvo su intro digna de rayita en las epocas de tumblr, el único y diferente, medio ñoño, todos lo odian, hasta su papá.

Y entonces llega Atlas, entrando en todo lo alto al estilo Travis Maddox, lo vió (en los camarines, obvio) y se flechó (en realidad no fue un flechazo, fue otra cosa).

La trama fue bastante simple y hubo bastante spicy también pero no me voy a quejar esta vez.

[Diana]

First of all, this has to be the most amazing cover that I have ever seen! It is so beautiful. And, the story is as good as the cover. I thought the story was great and that the author came up with a great universe. It was definitely giving me Romeo and Juliet vibes with them being from different species and are expected to hate each other. But, they don't let that get in the way of their love. There were so many cute moments throughout the book. Plus, not gonna lie, I do love a good monster x human romance.

[Eric]

While not my favorite read, it wasn't "bad." However, it took longer than it should have to get into the story. At the very beginning, we are introduced to the MC in a moment of high drama. Without giving spoilers, it just became incredibly difficult to like the MC or see them as anything other than a whiny "Oh, woe is me!" type. For too long, the MC is just kind of mopey so it honestly took a lot to get through this book. And honestly, parts of it felt AI. Can't say that I'm a fan of Wolfe after reading this book. Long story short: Good idea, bad execution.

[la review bleu]

I loved this book. Usually I don't read College romance, but this author is one of my favorite, and didn't disappoint at all. There is nothing I didn't loved in here. The characters were great, the plot phenomenal, and what else can I say - I loved it. The spice war hot af! The burning desire between Caden and Atlas was a treat. Overall, I loved the idea of mates, and familiars. Amazing world-building. Can't wait for the next book.

[Betsy]

AI cover
(+AI translation)

[Liz]

2.5

[Brooklyn]

Man I wanted to dnf this book but I was like 80% through it. It’s not bad per say but it’s just not my cup of tea

[Alexis Woods]

Excellent

So good... I shouldn't have had this on my TBR list as long as I had but I'm really glad I finally chose to read this book. Caden is pulled from a normal human life into one of magic by a father he didn’t know existed. His magic is weak, and he struggles through his classes, all except herbalism. When he comes to the aid of alpha werewolf Atlas, another student, caden's life takes a turn for the better... or for the worst?

Wonderful story, engaging characters, magic and mayhem and mystery abound.

KU, book in a series, standalone, college?, fated mates, shifters, magic

[Miyawakiss]

The plot had potential and was actually quite decent 💗 the smut was yummy and the premise was very interesting.

Unfortunately, the execution fell a bit flat. 🙃 This definitely needed an editor (or a new one) and a proofreader because there were quite a few spelling and grammatical errors along with repetitive scenes (like when Caden told Atlas his dad wanted to kill him). 🤦‍♀️

This was an easy and fun read but yeah, definitely needs a few rounds of editing.

[R. Andrade]

A fast-paced supernatural MM romance, filled with action, ruthless enemies, and a couple that radiates sexiness and spice.

[Alana]

Surprisingly bingeable
Like a xxx rated, supernatural Heartstoppers

[Aran]

Quick read.

[Nocturne Pages]

The overall story is cute, but the execution of it is awful. I’m certainly not one to accuse someone of using AI to write their stories, but after reading this, I did some research, and it appears this one very likely was generated by AI. Which makes sense with the writing and many, many inconsistencies and continuity errors that make me wonder if the author even read this before publishing.

Atlas can speak in his Alpha form the first time, but all of the other times, he suddenly can’t? That was the most annoying one to me. When Atlas’ father comes in to a room where he and Caden are, he addresses him as “father”, but then Caden asks who that guy was as if he wasn’t standing right there. There’s many more, and the whole thing was frustrating.

I should have done my research before picking this book up, but thankfully it’s one I got for free, I think during a SYK event, so at least I didn’t contribute money to something that screams AI-generated. I should have DNFed, to be honest. I’m glad the author put their other pen names in the back of the book so I know who to stay away from.

[Kelly]

I got suckered into an Instagram sale for this series. It had potential but there was no character development or world building. Pages of dialogue and potential. And 12 blank pages at the end, not sure why.

[Lily]

Okay, I'm a sucker for a good paranormal romance, I will eat it up every time. This was a cute insta love story and while it wasn't bad, I probably would not reread it.

Hear me out, the whole people being cursed and stuck in a days-weeks long coma while the person who cursed them is alive is definitely giving Harry Potter and the basilisk. Like the people who looked the basilisk in the eyes and then froze and couldn't come out of the coma until it had been killed? The witches are more superior than other supernatural creatures was definitely giving muggles vs wizards in Harry Potter too, especially the 5th movie. Once I saw it, I couldn't unsee it.

There were quite a few grammatical errors. Like one of the MCs being called a 'need sl*t' instead of a 'needy sl*t'.

Let's go back to the beginning for a second, how did we skip over Caden finding out his 'mom' of 18 years was actually not his mom and then the whole 'you're a wizard Harry' moment with his dad??? Like pre k pause because wtf was that??? Also, was he in a different realm? Because it seemed like he traveled to a new one, but then the school had wards to protect it from humans so...what realm are we in? Did he have other family members there? Friends? We literally get NO backstory on this MC and I have several questions.

Why did they STAY in the woods during the blizzard? Maybe I misread it, but it didn't seem like they were that far into the forest when things happened, so like, why go further INTO the woods when they could go back to their school?

The whole dryad/ not fully a witch thing had me confused. At that point, I just went with it, but do we know ANYTHING about this man's parents and his past???

Lasty, the whole being f*cked by a werewolf while he's in his Alpha/ very furry form with a snout, how are you making out with him? Because that was mentioned but like...logistically how? And Caden also mentioned his werewolf 🍆 was TWICE as big as his own, so at LEAST 12-14 inches. Babes, where is that going??? And with a knot??? There's no way.

[colleen the convivial curmudgeon]

This was a cute, quick read, and I did enjoy it, overall. But it was also kind of a hot mess.

First off, I should say I'm not a huge fan of the fated mates trope, though I'm coming to expect it from any werewolf romances. It just smacks way too much of insta-love, and people swearing undying and eternal love after, like, three fucking days.

I do enjoy some forbidden, star-crossed romance vibes, though.

I found the villains a bit OTT. There's a typical school bully who has it in for Caden for no real reason aside from being a rich snob or something, and there's the prejudiced teacher, though at least the teacher came around a bit and realized she was being prejudiced in the end.

The biggest issue, writing wise, though, was there was a lot of repetition and weirdness in the dialogue. Something would get said and two pages later either the same thing would get said again, or someone would act like the thing was never said.

One example is, like, someone's dad shows up and he says, "Father", and then two pages later someone who was standing right there was like, "Who was that?". Stuff like that. And it's small stuff, but it happened, like, a lot. Like a lot a lot.

So, yeah, some major editing is needed, toot-sweet!

ETA: Oh, I should also mention that the plot, what there is of it, is interesting, but definitely more of a foil for the romance. Definitely more spice than story for this one.

But, like I said, I did enjoy it. It was cute and short, and I read it in, like, two days.

[thebloggerandthegeek]

I think I finished reading this out of spite. I wanted the story to actually improve, but sadly, this was chaotic and not in the best way.

The characters were so underdeveloped.
Why did the witches and wolves hate each other?
We didn't get any explanation about Caden's mother, the one who raised him his entire life. No tear, no breakdown, NOTHING.
Caden is all "my father will kill me in a year," but damn, boy, find a way to escape. Get a clue. You had two years to plan something.
He tells Atlas immediately how he's all broke and how he's mistreated by everyone. Argh, I couldn't deal with the pity party. He's all 'I'm the powerless with everyone hates wa wa wa'.
The plot was all over the place.
The climax was also so blah.

I do not believe this author had a beta reader or editor for continuity and overall check.

I did judge the book by its cover, which is why I read this. From now on, I will try to see beyond the cover...

[Charlie Bell]

This is a hot and steamy shapeshifter romance M/M. I loved the character arcs for both of the major heroes, and there were enough plot twists and tension to keep the story from becoming predictable. This is not a genre I've really read many books in, but this one left me wanting more, and I'll definitely read the next in the series. If you're looking for magic and spicy male locker scenes, this book is for you.