The Cursed Alpha

by Skye Bryher

My Alpha arranged my mating without asking. An ancient tradition offers one steal a sacred stag from enemy territory.

The stag belongs to the cursed MacLeods of Glencoe. No trespasser has left their lands alive in two centuries.
I'd rather die free than live in a cage.

But their heir, Torin MacLeod, captures me instead—and his shadows recognize something they've never known. Peace.

For the first time in his cursed life, the darkness retreats.
My wolf knows what that means before I fated mates.

Now Alpha Lachlan is keeping me prisoner. Watching. Testing. He knows what I am to his son, and he's going to use me to destroy my pack.

I'm trapped between two impossible escape and abandon my fated mate, or stay and become the weapon that destroys everyone I love.

Scottish Highland shifter romance • Fated mates • Enemies to lovers • Forbidden love • Ancient magic

349 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 2, 2026

Reviews

[Andrea Nagy · Rating 5 out of 5]

The five clans of Scotland shifters once lived in harmony - until one clan, the Macleod's, turned to shadows and to darkness. A 150 years ago a great war for power and dominance broke out. The clans, once united, now separated - only accessible through a stone circle portal that opens twice a month and only those with the power to do so.

What do you do when, in an attempt to earn your freedom from an arranged marriage, you find your fated mate? What would you do if that fated mate was the son of the Alpha of the most hated and most feared clan in all of Scotland?

All Rhona Lamont was trying to do was complete the task - sneak onto the MacLeod lands, kill a sacred stag, take it back home through the portal and earn her freedom. Simple, right?

All was going well until the Alpha's son, Torin MacLeod, showed up to capture her for killing a sacred stag on his lands. That's when everything went wrong - she was not anticipating her fated mate to be the son of the enemy.

All Torin is trying to do is find a way to break the curse of darkness that has held his clan within its grip for the last 150 years. Every time the pack uses their shadows, the shadows take more of their heart - until there is nothing left but hollowness, bringing forth a beast that must be brought down. Torin just wants to be free - he wants to feel - so he is surprised when he finds a Lamont shifter on his lands and his wolf starts yelling "Mine" - making him feel things he thought he forgot how to.

Navigating new emotions, a fated mate bond, and a curse that threatens to swallow his clan whole - can Torin and Rhona, fated enemies turned fated mates, break the curse before the point of no return? Can they unite the clans against the threat that would rather see them dead than succeed?

This book took me on a magical adventure through Scotland - through the forests and the lochs - through love and hatred and through absolute suspense. Once I started, I could not put it down! It reignited the feeling that love truly is worth fighting for, regardless of the odds and that though the shadows are powerful, all it takes is a thread of hope to hold onto to cast the shadows aside.

Disclaimer: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Lori Porter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing take on fated mates! I absolutely loved the plot, Rhona and Torin’s story is so different than any I’ve read before. The Macleod clan has been cursed for decades, they have been led to believe, by the Lamont clan. There are five clans who travel through the stones to visit and do business occasionally. But no one goes to the black Macleod land. Trespassers are killed on sight, they’re very secretive. But this is an emergency, Rhona won’t be forced by her Alpha into a loveless mating. She decides to travel through the stones to Macleod territory to kill one of the sacred stags so she can be granted any wish. Not everyone knows how to do this but she found something in her mom’s things addressed to her and gains access. When Torin smells the blood of the sacred stag he uses his dark powers to get to the perpetrator within seconds. Rhona is terrified as he pins her down ready to pass judgement… but something about her causes him to hesitate. She knows instantly who he is! Her fated mate, why is he hesitating? Doesn’t he recognize her?

What follows is so great, dark magic, the hollowing, evil henchmen and Torin’s father the Alpha whose machinations leave Torin terrified for Rhona’s safety even though he’s not sure why. Everyone in Macleod pack believes the Lamont clan knows how to break the curse so Rhona is not well received when she claims no knowledge of how to do this. Undercurrents of maliciousness, violence and danger greet her. Torin is confused but drawn to her, his evil father waiting to use his bonding to further his power. I could go on and on this book is that good. I wish I could tell everything but you have to read this book to find out more. You won’t be disappointed!

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Leah Desjardins · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a well done shifter romance. It had everything that encompasses what we all love to see:
- wolf shifters
- curses
- magic
- pack politics
- fated mates
- strong plot
- good side characters
- a tall, dark, broody and handsome MMC

The dual POV was definitely crucial for this in order for the reader to get a full grasp on the history and differences between the packs, how they work and also how the curse affects the mating bond for the McLeod pack.

I loved our FMC, she was funny, strong, likable and fights for people she loves. Her tenacity makes her even more endearing. I like that we got to see her and Torin get to know each other on a deeper level and it wasn’t super insta-lust vibes. Their bond felt authentic.

Torin is dealing with a lot. He has single handedly taken on more of the curse in his efforts to save his pack from having to increase the likelihood of making their curse advance and losing more members. As if the curse itself isn’t bad enough, his dad is quite literally the worst and is extremely psychopathic. The amount of hypervigilence he has as a result of that is equally understandable and very sad.

The plot here is good, the pacing is pretty spot on. There are not many boring parts, there’s not a super excessive amount of violence or crazy amounts of spice really either. This was on the shorter side but was a great time. They had me very scared near the end for a bit but overall I loved this.

Thank you to Book Sirens and to the author for this advanced reader copy of the book. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily

4⭐️
1.5🌶️

[Keneisha · Rating 4 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (4/5 Stars)
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This is my first book by Skye Bryher, and I really enjoyed her writing style. It was incredibly descriptive and immersive—I could vividly picture every scene she created. The way she brought Scotland to life honestly made me want to book a trip immediately (lol).
Now let’s get into the story. This is a shifter romance centered around two rival packs: the Lamonts and the MacLeods. We follow Torin MacLeod, the alpha heir, and Rhona Lamont, who discover they are fated mates—except one of them is firmly in denial.

The MacLeod pack has been burdened by a decades-long curse, one that only affects their bloodline. Many MacLeods believe the other founding families are responsible, which only deepens the hostility between the packs. There’s also the mysterious Eldritch form—something only the MacLeods can shift into, but only if they stop resisting the pull within them.

I won’t give too much away—you’ll definitely want to experience the twists for yourself.
Torin has spent his entire life watching the curse destroy his mother piece by piece, so discovering he has a mate makes him question everything. He fears history repeating itself. Meanwhile, Rhona is strong enough for both of them. She refuses to give up on her mate, even when he’s fighting himself just as much as he’s fighting fate.

Their journey shows that sometimes love really does conquer all—especially when it has to battle curses, pride, and generations of pain.

[SassypantsReading · Rating 2 out of 5]

Yikes. Ok, I’ll start by saying I loved this storyline and the plot itself sucked me in. That’s the only reason I didn’t DNF this one. Otherwise, I just…where was the editor? The beta readers? Literally anyone who could’ve caught the mistakes, plot holes, inconsistencies, and redundancies? My biggest and number one pet peeve is the gratuitous use of incomplete sentences. I realize many authors write how they speak (see my semi-hypocritical use of sentence fragments above), but I can’t imagine this author only talks using fragments. I could probably go back and count how many actual complete sentences were used. Ok, enough of my soapbox. This book was long, and if you took out all the redundant material, it would probably be about half the length. I’m not here for word counts, I’m here for substance. Telling me the same thing over and over is a surefire way to lose my interest in a hurry. There were also plot holes galore, plus quite a few inconsistencies. Just one example, we’re told Mhari only has one arrow left, she shoots it, then two pages later she shoots another (last) arrow. Which one is it? I think the shifter-witch magic was too complex, so we kind of get an info dump on it, but it doesn’t all make sense. That needed to be simplified a bit for sure. Overall, not a great read, but there’s sooo much potential with the plot.

[Claire Carruthers · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have marked this novel as a 3 star read- very enjoyable and the storyline kept your intrigued throughout.

The Wolf shifter clans of Scotland have been separated by a curse, the portals between them shut for generations.

Rhona is desperate to escape her fate of an arranged mate by her Alpha ,but there is an ancient tradition that if she steals a legendary stag on another clans/enemies land she will be granted a reprieve. Unfortunately the clans land she ends up on is home to Torin MacLeod, heir to the most feared and cursed clan, and he is her fated mate. Torin's father keeps Rhona within their keep. Shadows are dangerous in MacLeod territory, should Rhona escape and risk losing her fated mate or stay and be in continuous danger?

I enjoyed the tension and pull between Torin and Rhona, the many secrets held and magical system within the Cursed Alpha. However there were a couple of let downs: in one of the spicy scenes the mmc is already within the fmc yet on the next page he enters her for the first time… but confusing. The second point is the Scottish traditional dress… as a Scots lass parts were incorrect, a little more research could have been done.

An enjoyable story either way.

Thank you booksirens for the arc to read and review.

[Reda · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is much heavier fair that I typically gravitate to, even in the fantasy genre, but the darkness didn't keep the story from having a lot of heart. The beautiful world-building and a rich backstory instantly drew me in, but the characters and relationships kept me reading. The story dragged in places because of significant redundancy in the internal and external monologues, which is the only reason I didn't score this book higher.

This book is styled as "Book 1" in a series, and I'm curious to see where the narrative will go next. I'll definitely be giving the next book a read.

Many thanks to Booksirens for an ARC in exchange for my honest assessment of this work.

[The Book Ssirren · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this story. I loved that it wasn’t a typical shifter romance. Torin and Rhona were fated mates. She had no idea until she ended up on his father’s land to catch a stag that was considered a tradition in her pack. And when Torins father found out he held her captive. This story was intense and chaotic. I loved the danger and intrigue. These two were so awesome together once they were about to get through the mess of his father. This is the first time I’ve read this author and I really liked it.

[Amanda the_bookish_introvert07 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read a lot of wolf shifter stories, and this one was so different (in a good way)! I loved the addition of magic and lore. The beginning of the story was a little slow, but once it picked up, the action flowed and I couldn't put it down. I loved the overall theme of love conquering darkness and choosing it over your destiny. I love the twist of fated mates meets enemies to lovers. Set in the Scottish Highlands with men in kilts is always an added bonus! Well done Skye!

[Kiki James · Rating 3 out of 5]

A mixturer of Quicksilver meets outlander.

Scottisch culture of werewolfs colliden with each other. A good in between book to just relax .

[Kate Lang · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this one. It shows there's your side, my side and the truth. The curse and how it came to be had a very nice twist that I hadn't seen clearly until revealed. I enjoyed Rhona's personality and the spirit she showed. Torin, was well written and had depth.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.