The Tyrant Alpha's Rejected Mate by Cate C. Wells

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After bingeing through a lot of contemporary romance at the end of February, I needed a change of pace. Since I was able to fully mood read, I decided to pick up The Tyrant Alpha's Rejected Mate by Cate C Wells. This is the first book in her Five Packs series (and the second book comes out in April). I used this for the prompt "the" in the title for Love Has Sprung.

After werewolf Una was injured as a young child, she has been relegated to the edge of the pack. Her injuries were so severe that her wolf magic couldn't properly heal her all the way. Even though she's in her mid-twenties, she still has not been able to shift into her wolf despite sensing her. When she suddenly enters heat and ends up shifting for the first time, it's due to the fact that she has suddenly recognized Killian, the alpha, as her mate. When he rejects her in front of the whole pack, Una ends up asking the witch of the pack to remove the mate bond. When Killian starts to experience and feel the mating pull himself, he has to go about setting things right with Una and fixing the way things are done in the pack.

Oh my gosh, I went into this book pretty blind. I knew the basic trope thanks to the title and was so on board. While the basic ideas of werewolves and packs are similar to the genre, there was a lot of different twists and takes on the tropes and setting that kept it feeling new and fresh. I honestly wasn't sure where the story was going a couple of times because I was so entranced and transported. I absolutely loved Killian's mate and really enjoyed how the dynamic between him and his wolf and Una and her wolf were so different. I found it so interesting that there wasn't one cohesive way to interact with your wolf and that there were different teachings. I don't know, it just was so interesting.

I do have to say, Killian's grovel is so good. The way he just constantly is there for Una and trying to build the mating bond back between them. It was so much fun and really sweet. I also loved that we got to see beneath his cold persona and how he felt he needed to perpetuate that personality to keep the pack in line. There's conflict with the way the old-timers ran the pack and moving into a more modern society. I just really, really enjoyed this a lot. I also do want to mention that this did feel a lot more grittier than the paranormals I've been reading lately, but I wouldn't really say it's dark. Just more of the grittier vibes.

If you are looking for a paranormal and/or werewolf book that feels different, definitely check this out. When I first picked up this book, it wasn't marked as being part of a series on goodreads. When I got to the end though there was an author note that book 2 was coming soon in the Five Packs series. Since it's been a bit since this came out, The Heir Apparent's Rejected Mate comes out soon on April 22nd! I really enjoyed Cate's writing once again and will definitely be looking into more of her backlist moving forward.

Have you read The Tyrant Alpha's Rejected Mate?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: The Tyrant Alpha's Rejected Mate, Cate C. Wells, 5-stars, 1 day, eBook, 320 pages, published in 2021, indie published