The Last Alpha

The Gathering #1

by Victoria Sue

Dumped on my birthday? Check.
Shifters exist? Check.
A war with vampires who enslave humans? Hold my coat.

Emery Valentine is a kick-ass kindergarten teacher who, with his two besties, could probably take on the world.
What he is not prepared for is one sizzling-hot stranger, a single kiss, and the discovery that shifter mates are very much a thing.

And not the cute friendship kind.
The forever, fated, ride-or-die kind.

Oh, and his new mate? Sometimes he comes with fur, fangs, and a whole lot of attitude.

And if that wasn’t enough, the wolf shifters are battling their ancient enemies, the silver-skins.
That’s vampires, for the non-shifter-speaking ones among us. And these guys definitely don’t sparkle.

Emery can survive a roomful of five-year-olds with one arm tied behind his back, but falling in love and defeating an ancient witch’s curse might just mean he has to work right through recess.

Genres: M M Romance, Shapeshifters, Vampires, Paranormal, Fantasy, Audiobook, Romance

386 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 1, 2026

About the author

Bullets and Babies!

Victoria writes about guys loving other guys in between dodging bullets, kidnappers, and serial killers. She enjoys putting them through hell to get their happy ever after—it’s a character flaw she embraces.

She also believes that family is who you choose, that dogs are often much wiser than human beings, and that we’re steadily destroying the world we live in.

And if people read more books, they'd be much happier.

Reviews

[Dan]

I really liked it. I feel very much in a fantasy mood and this one fit the bill quite perfectly. And while it is officially a stand alone for now, it very much has the makings of a series

[Amy]

3.5. I definitely feel like there was a whole lot left on answered and I wish it would’ve had a better ending.

[llv]

Rating: 4 stars

It took me awhile to get into this book but it definitely got better as it went along. I'm still a bit confused by a couple of things and I really hope the author writes more in this series. Overall, a really good story.

[Mica Weber]

3.0 Stars

Not sure how to rate this.. it was an interesting draft… but not a book. Everything was just descibed very superficial. You need an active mind to get pictures in your head because the details were sparse.

[ButtonsMom2003]

The Last Alpha is a wonderfully complex story and maybe the longest one that Victoria Sue has ever written. It’s the first book in her series called The Gathering, an MPREG, shifter fantasy with many different kinds of shifters (bears, wolves, panthers, mountain lions) and vampires. Because it’s the first in the series, a lot of time has to be devoted to world building but none of that is tedious.

This book is amazing and I loved every minute I spent reading it.

Note: this is a free story for Victoria Sue's patrons at the Omega level on Ream and Patreon. The paperback and hardcover are available on Amazon.

[Christy]

4.5 stars ~ I completely fell in love with this story and the characters. Emery, of course, is my favorite because he made me laugh and giggle quite a bit. Phoenix is seriously hawt and there are wonderful secondary characters, too. The plot is interesting and kept me more than entertained.

[Chris]

Another must read

Once we have the background to understand our main characters the story grabs hold and doesn't let go. I am hoping for at least one more book so I can see more of this pack florish.

[Jordyn Smith]

This was definitely more plot forward with less smut but I really enjoyed the plot and it still had some spice! I hope the series continues because if left off on a cliffhanger with a lot of unanswered questions

[Lillian Washington]

Great Story

Loved the story. Emery is such a kick-*** kindergarten teacher and you can’t help but love him. Phenix is the wonderful wolf alpha. But I really loved Danny. I hope he gets his own story,

[Kate]

**********Contains Spoilers**********

I rated this book 4.5 stars, so I rounded it up to 5 stars. I really enjoyed this book and thought that it was a good start to the Gathering Series. In this exciting new world that Victoria Sue has created there are humans, shifters (wolves, bears, mountain lions & jaguars) & silver skins aka vampires. The humans don’t know about shifters or silver skins and shifters are protecting humanity from the silver skins. Phoenix and his best friends Bayer & Kaylan (Alpha heir of the bear & mountain lion shifters) are basically the last alphas born as the shifters have been having issues getting pregnant and they believe that the silver skins are to blame. Despite being forced to stay in their respective packs they have maintained their friendship for years.

Both Phoenix and Kaylan takeover as alpha of their respective packs at 30 years old, whereas Bayer’s father is a complete and utter a*sehole, abusive father and sh*tty alpha doesn’t want to give up the power, so he just has to relinquish his position by the time he’s seventy so not for another 10 years at least but I don’t know how much of their pack will be left by then. I thought that Emery & Phoenix were great together and that makes them perfect Alpha/Alpha-Mate team as they balance each other out. Man, Emery’s life changed drastically is such a short time and I don’t blame him for wanting some time out but I’m glad that when push came to shove as soon as he heard that Phoenix and the pack needed him he went back.

I loved that Phoenix didn’t want Emery told about would happen to Phoenix if Emery decided enough was enough and that he didn’t want to stay which was the right thing to do as he wanted Emery to decide for himself, as so much had been out of his control already and he knew that that would basically manipulate Emery into choosing their bond. I’m also glad that as soon as Emery learnt the truth he knew straight away why Phoenix had never told him, it just goes to show how much they love and trust each other. I think Emery’s human best friends Danny & Gemma are amazing. Wow, so much happened during this book and I’m looking forward to what happens during the next book. I’m also looking forward to reading more books by Victoria Sue in the future. I’d recommend this book, series, and author to others.

******I received a copy of this book because I’m a member of the author’s Patreon. I would still happily review this book even if I purchased it myself. My thoughts and feelings about this book are completely unbiased******

[Diane]

That was so good! RTC