Patricia BriggsAlpha and Omega: A Novella from On the Prowl

This is the beginning of a great story, a nice companion to the main story. I'm glad I got all of them at once, so I can binge

The story of the meeting between Anna and Charles is swift and beautiful. I like that Boyd is an ally and that Justin was meted out justice along with Leo and Isabelle. Their deeds were so unjust and cruel.

Plot Summary: Anna is an abused, submissive wolf in a Chicago pack, and when she sees the face of a missing boy in the newspaper, a boy who was changed and sold by her alpha, she calls the head of all werewolves in North America, the Marrok. Bran sends his son and enforcer, Charles, to investigate, and Anna meets him at the airport. When Charles sees Anna, he realizes two very important things about her: 1) She is a rare Omega wolf, who is neither submissive or dominant, and 2) Charles's brother wolf wants her for his mate.I read "Cry Wolf" about a month ago, and at the time I was confused by the beginning. It felt like a whole chunk of the story had by-passed me somehow, and since "Cry Wolf" is the first book in the Alpha and Omega series, I wasn't sure what had happened. The answer is that Briggs wrote a prequel novella called "Alpha and Omega," which covers the critical period of Anna and Charles's first meeting, and her rescue from a twisted wolf pack.Now that I've read the novella, I sincerely wish I had read them in the correct order. It all makes sense now! And even though I'm forced to give this novella a good rating, I'm still tee'd off that I had to buy it separately from "Cry Wolf." My cynical side regards novellas as just another way to gouge readers into paying extra for information that should be part of a full-sized novel.So, for anyone who is thinking about reading this series, which shows excellent promise, don't be cheap. Cough up the extra couple of bucks and buy "Alpha and Omega" and "Cry Wolf" together. Treat them as one read. There are two ways to get your hands on this story: 1) Buy "On the Prowl," an anthology in which Brigg's story is just one of many, or 2) buy it as an E-book download, which is how I did it.

I love the story. It’s a great mixture of action and romance without any smut. It leads right into the novel Cry Wolf and is a companion to the Mercy Thompson series.

My favorite genre to read is mostly paranormal, and here is where I admit that I had never read anything by Patricia Briggs. And now I am kicking myself. I decided to start with this novella because it’s really the first part of the story, and also so that I could see if I enjoyed the way the author wrote before taking on a new series. So reading done and the first I thing I did when I finished this was of course, buy the first real book in the series,Cry Wolf, and immediately start reading. Why? Because I have already fallen in love with the main characters.Anna is a werewolf that was changed against her wishes, and has been living a horrible life ever since. Used by the alpha of her pack as a reward to any werewolf that does good, Anna has been repeatedly raped. She is submissive and has had to do anything that is asked of her, including giving a big part of her wages to the pack, making her almost destitute.That is just told to us so we don’t have to see her go through the rapes-thankfully. Charles is the son of the Marrok, also known as the leader of all the werewolves. He comes to Chicago to visit Anna after she gets the nerve up to tell some things she has witnessed in her pack. I am not going into any more of the story at this point due to this being a novella.It’s a very short read and actually the story didn’t start until 10 percent into the read due to advertisements of other books by the author/publisher. Usually that doesn’t make me happy, but since the story was so satisfying and good, it really didn’t bother me in the least. Also keep in mind that this was originally part of an anthology, On the Prowl, back in 2007.Werewolves, packs, alphas, pack rules, and the beginning of a romance, this book has all that.I loved the characters, the premise, and look forward to continuing on with this series.First read by Patricia Briggs ended up being a winner for me all the way around. Highly recommended to all adult paranormal romance/urban fantasy readers.4.5/5 stars (PureTextuality.com)

I love her Alpha and Omega series. The chemistry between Charles and Anna is magical. The perfect prequel to their series.

I loved this background story.Ana and Charles are my favourite paranormal couple of all times and I can never read enough about them.Good times!

Charles, Bran's son and Pack enforcer has alwasy been something of a scary, mystery figure. He likes it that way, he's a loner by nature and by keeping aloof it makes his job of enforcer less emotional if he has to kill a wolf. Its a tough job, but he's done it for a long time and Bran relies on him and his neutral nature to do whats right. Then he meets Anna, who's been through unimagionalble trauma. Remeber poor Mac from the first Mercy novel? Well this si where he started, changed by force by a pack who's frankly gone really far astray from what it should be. chalres has been sent to investigate and what he finds out challenges him and his wolf, especially when his wolf decided Anna is his. charles would have liked to take time but for once the wolf isn't going to wait....It was great to see more of charles, he's always been a bit of a mystery so far but this sereis focusses on him and Anna. they have a different feel to the Mercy series but the same fabulous writing and plots that Patricia Briggs does so well.

Diese Kurzgeschichte von Patricia Briggs geht dem ersten Roman der Reihe Alpha und Omega vorraus. Es ist zwar nicht zwingend nötig, sie vor Lektüre des Buches zu lesen, hilft aber ungemein, um die Hauptcharaktere besser zu verstehen. Meiner Meinung nach sollte man Buch und Geschichte nicht trennen.Es wird erzählt, wie Charles die missbrauchte Omega Anna aus ihrem Rudel befreit, dass von einem Alpha angeführt wird, der wortwörtlich alles tut, um seine altersirre gewordene Gefährtin zu schützen. Dafür opfert er auch eine Omega wie Anna, deren Magie seine Gefährtin stabilisieren soll.Charles ist der Ritter auf dem weißen Pferd, ist aber als Charakter so ruhig und stoisch, dass es nie wirklich kitschig wird. Sein Hauptziel ist zwar Annas Befreiung (und ihre Gewinnung zur Gefährtin), aber ihm ist immer bewusst, das er ihr ihr Selbstbewusstsein, ihre Selbstständigkeit wiedergeben und stärken muss, wenn sie überleben soll. Das macht diese Geschichte zu einem wundervollen, befriedigenden Leseerlebnis, ohne, dass man sich wieder über eine Jungfer in Nöten und ihren Neanderthalerbeschützer ärgern muss.

Well written. Believable characters for those who like to lose themselves in the world of fantasy fiction. Each story continues but is readable on its own. Love her writing style.