Cains are known for being big, brutish and not-too-bright. The mutt clan embodies all the supernatural world’s worst stereotypes about werewolves. But not even the Cains deserve to be hunted down and skinned like animals.

When young Davis Cain comes to the Pack for help, Alpha Elena Michaels can’t refuse him. It isn’t about morality or justice. It’s about not letting anyone think they can do this to werewolves and get away with it.

But Elena is also dealing with the Pack’s homegrown monster—Malcolm Danvers, onetime enforcer, full-time psycho. Malcolm is now under Elena’s control, as part of the most difficult decision she’s had to make as leader. But if she has to let Malcolm in, she’s going to make full use of him…and the best person to catch monsters is one who knows exactly how they think.

So let me begin by saying, I really enjoyed this novella and practically couldn’t put it down until I was finished with it. It’s been several years since the end of the series and Elena’s status as Pack Alpha may be cemented within her pack, but it’s still in question by the rest of the werewolf community. Most assume it’s a guise to protect Clay, while others assume it’s a joke.

This novella starts off with Elena meeting with Malcolm in regards to his request to rejoin the Pack. I’ve clearly missed a short story or two, because last I knew, he was still locked away within a Cabal holding cell and no one knew he was still alive. Nonetheless, Elena gives him ample opportunity to attack her and when he never makes a move to do so, she reluctantly takes Jeremy’s advice to accept him within the fold, but also with restrictions. This is a decision that Elena comes to question time and time again throughout the novella and it’s one that as a fan, I even questioned.

As the young Davis Cain reaches out to the Pack for help, I really got a chance to see just how much the Pack has changed since Elena has taken over. For one, Hope and Karl have had another baby and Nick’s fallen in love. But what’s important is how Elena’s presence has helped to bring an opportunity for the Pack members to have a more traditional family as well as their Pack family. This is also another sign that there are some short stories I’m missing as I do not recognize several of the new females mentioned. This is a little off putting, especially when it turns out to tie back to a case that Nick and his mate have been trying to take care of.

I don’t want to give away too much about this novella, but I can say this is probably one of the best novella’s since the ones that focused on Clay’s past. You continued to learn more about Malcolm’s twisted past of terror, but you also get to see the Pack continue to move forward. It’s nice to see them actually help Davis, when there was a time, not so many books ago, where he would have been ignored and left for dead. Sad as it is, even in Jeremy’s reign as Alpha, the Pack was far too exclusive and the story would have been a completely different tale. Which is sad, because he would have sent someone to investigate and he would have never ordered Davis’s execution. But he just wouldn’t have been willing to take the poor boy in.

There’s one thing I’m confused about and I’m going to have to do some research into it. There’s a mention of a young Cain who was part of a Cabal experiment. He’s described as being extremely intelligent, having bad acne, being a bit of a brute in size and having a necromancer girl. Now, it’s been years since I read the Darkest Powers trilogy by this author, but that sounds a lot like Chloe and Derek. I never realized the two series were linked and kind of wish I had. Now I’ll have to make it a point to reread that trilogy and see what else I can see that connects the two.

Great novella and wonderful edition to one of my favorite series.

Reviewer’s note: I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Rating

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