Alpha’s Mate by Caryn Moya Block

ALPHA’S MATE by Caryn Moya Block

ALPHA’S MATE is the first release (January 2012)  for indie author Caryn Moya Block. The premise involves the unexpected revelation that psychic human females can be true mates to the shape shifting Siberian wolves of the Russian Pack. With very few females available for the many males, the wolves were going rogue and attacking their own. Hoping to find a solution or die trying, Alpha leader Dmitry Volko vowed he would step aside should no answer be found.

Dmitry Volkov was on assignment in Moscow when an unfamiliar heat caught his attention-mate. But humans were not mates, unless something was different. Pushing the limits of her mind, Dmitry was able to connect psychically with the woman who would one day be the alpha female to his male and with that the possibility of continuing the line of alpha succession.

Violet Armstrong became aware that she was being watched. But the push against the defenses in her mind, were a warning that someone was trying to connect on a different level. As a professional photographer, Violet was about to embark on a journey into the forests of Siberia to photograph the elusive Russian wolves. But little did she know, that the elusive wolf was only a few steps away.

The story builds when the psychic connection between the couple is so strong that separation is both painful and heartbreaking. But an attack against the pack finds Dmitry and his ‘brothers’ needing to return to Siberia. Knowing the separation could mean death to his mate, Dmitry must ensure that Violet makes the trip to the Russian north. Upon arrival, the others notice the ‘golden cord of light’ –the mate bond between the couple that shines in acknowledgment of their connection as true mates. But the stories of unmated males and the low birth-rate of female pups, saddens the new alpha female, when several members of the pack begin to turn on each other in the hopes of finding or taking another’s mate.

Learning the duties and directions of the alpha female, is both tiring and exciting, but with the help of Dmitry’s mother and family, Violet is quick to discover that the pack function like a well-organized machine. The bonds between the families are close and the males will pledge a blood allegiance to their leader. But it is Dmitry’s demeanor and behavior that have Violet worried when he is willing to risk his health and his relationship for the sake of his pack. Thinking she is not worthy as an alpha’s mate, Violet resigns herself to a life without the possibility of love. The pack alpha needs a mate to continue the line, but as a human she fears she is not what they need. But the death of a mated male brings with it the knowledge, that her connection with Dimitry is a matter of life and death.

ALPHA’S MATE is a paranormal/fantasy story but a story so familiar that I cannot but help make comparisons to the Carpathians by Christine Feehan. Change the wolves to Carpathians, and the story is almost identical. Russia vs Romania, True mates, bonding rituals and words, psychic human females, leader willing to step aside, best friend and second in command to the alpha is Grigori, not enough female children, sickly newborns, males turning without females, a 16 year old female as a true mate to an older male, a computer data base for psychic females, the death of a mate brings death to the other, the males share blood with the alpha to better communicate telepathically-a connection to each other-all eerily reminiscent of Christine Feehan’s Dark Carpathian series. As a fan of everything Christine Feehan, no wonder I liked the premise of the story-because basically it is almost identical to the Dark series of novels. It is an easy read, but one that will resound with similarities and déjà vu. And what can I say about the cover-just…no!!!

reviewed by Sandy