Shifter
by Rebecca Zanetti
Release Date: February 13, 2024
Book #3 in the Stope Packs series
Number of pages: 317
Paranormal Romance
Ages 15 and up
CW: violence, sexual harassment, murder
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She’s a wolf-shifting scientist who needs cover…and He’s an alpha without a pack…
As the only living wolf pack member with the tiniest drop of alpha blood in her veins, Luna McElhanney should be happy. Instead, she just wants to be left alone in her lab with her experiments, until she discovers something that could end them all. In a heartbeat, she goes from living under the radar to the one being hunted. There’s only one solution, according to the pack, and that’s for her to mate Erik Volk and bring him into the fold.
Erik Volk has been fascinated by the petite wolf shifter from the moment he’d kidnapped her so she could help his family, which she cheerfully did. He enjoys his job as the Enforcer for his brother’s pack, but the Alpha in him keeps yanking against the chains. When he discovers Luna is in danger, not only from her pack but from a serial killer hunting wolf shifters, he has no choice but to let the Alpha loose and become the Shifter they should all fear.
Although I preordered this book, I put off reading it for a bit. I wasn’t quite on board with how things were going in the last book and was afraid of being disappointed in this one. This is one of my favorite authors and I want it to stay that way. (I’ve had a few fave authors in the past who changed their writing style and their style eventually didn’t fit with my reading. It’s a sad thing.) I was so happy to discover this story felt more like the Rebecca Zanetti I love.
Both Luna and Erik are characters that were introduced in earlier books, with Erik having more time on the page than Luna. In this story, Erik accepts an invitation to Luna’s pack and their idea of making him their alpha. The Copper pack doesn’t have any males with alpha blood and Erik is an alpha in a pack that already has one…his brother. He loves his brother and the Silver pack, but his alpha is fighting to get out. Plus, he knows there is intense chemistry between him and Luna. The Copper pack would prefer he mated with Luna, but regardless of who he mates with, it must be someone from the Copper pack. It’s kind of funny the way Luna tries to push Erik toward a couple of her friends because she doesn’t think she’ll make a good alpha mate, yet she gets jealous of him having a conversation with any of them. She tries soooo hard to deny their connection.
There are a lot of secrets in this book on both sides. Luna and the Copper pack don’t want their weaknesses exposed while Erik accepted their invitation to root out their weaknesses for the Silver pack. I love how protective Erik is of the Copper Pack’s children and elders from the moment he’s on their land. His brother Seth, the MMC from the first two books in this series, calls him out on his savior complex. Before Erik is ready to admit it to even himself, Seth sees the writing on the wall and knows there is no way Erik will leave a pack in need to fend for themselves.
The Copper Pack has been through a lot and it was almost sad to see the shock they would show at Erik’s actions. It was like they no longer knew what it looked like to have people be kind for the sake of being kind. They didn’t seem to understand Erik doing things because they were morally right instead of kicking them while they were down. Of course, that meant the kids instantly recognized him as someone they could trust to have their backs. Kids always know.
All along it’s obvious someone in the pack is a traitor and I kept changing my mind as to who it would be. It kept me on my toes. There is a lot of bloodshed and lives lost before it is all settled. Yet there are also a lot of new faces introduced that play into some intrigue for future books in the series.
The main thing I enjoyed about this book is the connection between Luna and Erik. I have a thing for shifter romance where there is a chase between the main characters. So sexy! There are also some amazing playful moments between Erik and Luna that had me grinning ear to ear.
I’m not sure which story will be told next in this series, but this book pulled me back into the Stope Packs universe and I’m glad.
4 stars
All In Good Time 