So first off, let me say that this book's cover is phenomenal. I was hooked literally from that alone and I'm surprised that this isn't on more people's radar.
Secondly, I think the fact this book was so short really affected my appreciation of the story. Everything was super fast-paced, just running on at light speed. Correct me if I'm wrong but it seemed like barely a few days passed between her almost being sacrificed at the altar by the man she thought was her mate - then falling in lust with the man who allegedly killed her parents - to then potentially getting more-than-friendly with another dude. It was probably longer tbh, but the pacing made it feel very fast.
As a result, I didn't feel as though the emotional impact of the first betrayal was portrayed as well as it should have been with all the relationships that were developing. I mean, you'd think her guard would be up after realising her pack had duped her for eight years, right? And that made it even more surprising when she succumbed so quickly to the alphahole from hell, Killian, the guy who legit is the last person on earth she should be sympathetic towards. His treatment of her was appalling (even with the added depth we gain from his POV I didn't feel any better about him, he just seemed like an emotionally repressed man-baby straight out of the Harlequin playbook) and I felt awful for her when he 'discarded her' after he took her virginity (very roughly, I might add).
THAT part was extremely well written. So much so that afterwards, I was ready to pitch Killian into the sun he pissed me off so much (I know that some readers like that type of MC, but damn). So, after these two men treat her like literal poop on their shoe, she then trusts a THIRD man and while he is def the best of the bunch by farrr, I'm exhausted that this chick has still not learned a single lesson from her experiences in the last week. She had no backup plan, no weapon, nada.
So, yeah, overall, Zoriah is a pretty naive/weak heroine. Not really very alpha-like at all in her actions. I'm happy to chalk the naivety up to her youth since this technically counts as New Adult fiction and I guess she might grow into that role as the story progresses.
Despite everything I've said so far, there is something extremely compelling about this story and Scarlett Snow's writing. Though the worldbuilding is sparse, and there are hardly any secondary characters at all, some of the details the author has revealed about where the story might go are intriguing. I wasn't in any way affected by the cliffhanger - the story was too short to justify a cliffy, IMO - but I'm willing enough to pick up the second one when it's out and see where things go.