Cry Wolf by Patricia Briggs

Continuing the Alpha and Omega story from the "On the Prowl" collection, Anna has travelled north with Charles, the Alpha Wolf she cares for and is coming to love. But her introduction to the Marrok's pack leaves her feeling more like an outsider than ever, despite everyone being welcoming.

One of the Marrok's wolves, a supposedly insane wolf named Asil, tells her he'd be more than happy to take her off of Charles' hands if she ends up being unhappy. Not only is Asil supposedly insane, but his mate was killed long ago, and with the advancing years, he feels as though his sanity is drifting. Before he can go completely insane, he wants Bran, the Marrok, to kill him so that his soul can join that of his mate in the afterlife.

Charles, whose inner wolf has accepted Anna as his mate, finds his control tested. But since he was wounded with silver in the "Alpha and Omega" short story, he's really in no condition to fight Asil. Luckily, Charles' brother Samuel is home, and is trained as a doctor, so he checks Charles' wounds and finds a bit of silver still in one of them, which he removes, allowing Charles to heal faster. Shortly after a funeral for Bran's longtime friend Doc Carter, who was changed into a werewolf but went mad and had to be killed during the change, Charles is sent into the cold north country to track down a rogue wolf who has been killing humans.

Anna won't hear of anything but to go with him, and being Omega, she can't be ordered into staying behind by Charles, since Omegas don't follow orders at all, being outside pack hierarchy. They travel to the area together, only to be attacked by a wolf. When Charles takes off after the werewolf, Anna is confronted by a woman who claims to be a searcher looking for a missing hiker.

But the woman is not really a searcher, but a witch, and this witch has the power to both remain unchanged and unaging, and to command the power of the pack. Not only does she have animals following her, but the spirit of Asil's wife, who she slew and turned into a guardian, a spirit creature who is stronger and faster than even the werewolves. However, her spirit is still that of Asil's wife.

But when Bran comes searching for Asil and Charles and is captured by the Witch, can Charles and Anna take her down before she figures out that with the Marrok under her control, she could control the Werewolves of North America through him? Or will Bran be forced into his berserker mode and kill everyone and everything as his rage at being captured breaks out in a most appalling way?

I liked this book a lot. Patricia Briggs is one of my favorite authors. I've loved her Mercy storied, and now there comes Anna, who is both like and unlike Mercy. But while Mercy is a werecoyote (and not even really a were, but a shapechanger), Anna is a different kind of outsider, an Omega Werewolf. Omegas have both their good points and bad. One, most werewolves cannot even concieve of harming an Omega. Two, Omegas calm down other werewolves, and help them adapt to their powers, so a pack with an Omega in it will have more of its werewolves survive their first change. Three, Omegas do not have to follow the orders of anyone, even an Alpha. And since Alphas are meant to command other werewolves, there is no way to control them.

The drawbacks, of course, are that One, They are outside of the pack hierarchy, so most werewolves who have never met an Omega are terminally confused by them. And two, They are exceedingly rare in the Werewolf population, so most werewolves have never seen, met or heard of one. Even Charles, who is son of the Marrok and right hand to a being who rules over almost the entire werewolf population of North America, has only heard rumors of their existence.

Luckily, one of Anna's Omega qualities makes it simple for her to defeat the witch, although it doesn't seem to be possible until she actually does it. Anna herself is a mass of contradictions. She's a werewolf and should be strong, confident and potent, but her victimization at the hands of her packmates leaves her feeling weak, outcast and much, much thinner than she should be. Charles spends most of the book trying to build her up, but it isn't until she realizes the strength of her position as Omega that she comes to believe in herself.

I liked watching Anna's growth from abused woman struggling against what has been done to her by the people who should have been treasuring her to a stronger, confident woman who knows she can take care of herself. It was wonderful to read, even though it was somewhat cringe-inducing at certain parts for the way she felt about herself and the way in which some characters treated her. I recommend this book highly, and will be recommending it to my friends.