Author Victoria Sue tears my heart into a dozen pieces and rebuilds it one piece at a time with ‘The Alpha Heir, Kingdom of Askara Book 2’. In it, readers will encounter the saddest, sorriest werewolf imaginable! Caleb Harken had been wrongfully imprisoned, woefully neglected, and horribly tortured when he finds himself facing the sweet release of death at the hand of human rebel leader Teagan Callan. Caleb has never shifted so Teagan is unaware that he will face a wolf with far less strength than he possesses but fate intervenes in what would be a fight that would end in Caleb’s death. Other rebels bust in on his pack’s festivities where his death at the hands of a human was to serve as principal entertainment and the heir apparent is killed. Teagan takes him along to use as bargaining leverage not quite realizing that Caleb was an unwanted prisoner in his own pack.
It is fairly easy for Teagan’s mother to discern the gentle nature and nurturing quality Caleb possesses as she cares for the injuries he suffered during his six years of imprisonment. When it is clear Caleb is incapable of those things innate to werewolves, Teagan relaxes his role as a prison warden and grows close to him. With more time spent with Caleb, Teagan begins to question an existence filled with rebelling against werewolves and considers a different life for his mother and himself with Caleb by his side. But Teagan discovers that Caleb’s uncle, who is currently running the pack, is desperate to regain custody of Caleb. Evidence points to the uncle’s wife using black magic in hopes of transferring the Alpha power from Caleb in a ritual sacrifice, but they have misunderstood historical records.
Ancient Askaran documents suggest that current werewolves were a direct result of human experimentation with wolves in an effort to create a superbeing who had extraordinary strength, an ability to heal from injury, and a capacity to mentally control others all while possessing the ingenuity and intellect of a man. Being double-minded about the results, the populace split with ‘the scientists’ leaving to start lives in another location and ‘the purests’ remaining to continue with their current society relatively free from their reliance on technology or magic. When the aunt and uncle are killed before they are successful with the ritual sacrifice, Caleb regains his rightful position as the pack’s alpha though he had no intention of mate-bonding with an omega. As an alpha heir, his gift of giving comfort and encouraging others manifested without such a union.
The writer contributes greatly to the world-building for the Kingdom of Askara by adding to its history in the narrative. Readers are treated to a rationale for the existence of werewolves and the reason for the hostilities between humans and werewolves. In addition to outstanding world-building, the character development for this book is amazing! We have a rebel who grows to love a werewolf, a werewolf who grows in courage, and some positive changes that occur among several secondary players! With extraordinary pacing and outstanding balance, Victoria Sue makes this novel another page-turning addition to the series.
In spite of the annoying volume level discrepancies, Joel Leslie renders an incredible performance and remains one of my favorite narrators.