Thursday, February 2, 2017

The Alpha King by Victoria Sue - Blog Tour with Exclusive Excerpt and Review




Blurb

The Kingdom of Askara had been torn apart by conflict for centuries and humans existed only as subservient beings to their werewolf masters. Legend said that Askara would only be able to heal itself when an Alpha King and a pure omega were mated and crowned together but there hadn’t been a pure omega born in over a thousand years.

Luca was an Alpha-heir eagerly awaiting the choosing ceremony on his 25th birthday and the gifts that would be granted by whatever omega he mated. His small pack in the northern most territory was destitute. As Alpha-heir only he had no authority to challenge whatever the ruling council decreed and he had waited for this moment for a long time.

Kit was a street-rat. An unlicensed human child only ever able to slave for whatever master owned him. Then one day he comes across a young werewolf attacked and dying of poison, and finds out that his fate and that of the Alpha-heir are suddenly entwined.

Luca needs to take over his pack and save his people. He cannot afford to be distracted by the young human even if Luca seems to be developing abilities indicating he may no longer be just a pack Alpha, but may be the King his world has been needing for a thousand years.


Could Kit really be the cause of Luca’s new found power? How is it possible when the young man isn’t even a werewolf, and Luca would be forbidden to mate a human?


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Exclusive Excerpt 

The next omega announced was Tara and Luca heard the murmurs as her breeder status was announced. Luca had had met Tara a few times, and she had indicated his advances would be welcome. If he had to pick a female, a breeder would be the best choice. Male to male matings were permissible in Askara, but it got complicated when it concerned an Alpha. All Alphas wanted heirs, and if they mated a male omega, then they needed a female breeder to produce one—since she-wolves only went into heat once every three years, while breeders were guaranteed nearly constant heats from the time of the first sexual encounter until the Alpha’s seed took and the breeder became pregnant. The process would be initiated again whenever the Alpha decided to lie with the breeder again. The whole process sounded crass and unfeeling, but breeders lived a life of luxury, as they were spoiled, pampered, and wanted for nothing. As soon as the required minimum of two pups were born, they were gifted their own house and servants. They were then free to take any lover they chose. Tara would have been a good choice for him, and while most werewolves were willing and capable to mate with either sex; Luca’s strong preference for males was unusual.
“Hey,” Sam elbowed him and said sarcastically. “You’re not listening. What if you miss the chance to be crowned an Alpha King?”
Luca snorted and sat up. Yeah, like that’s going to happen. Arwenn and Anton would be claimed immediately, and to be honest, neither omega, even male, did anything for him. He yawned and reached over to fill his goblet as the last gilded chair passed, then he paused in shock. The slave who had taken the whipping earlier was now being forced to be one of the servants carrying the chair the last omega sat on. Luca took in the shaking limbs as the boy struggled with the weight of the huge ornate chair. He was far too small for such a task and it had obviously been doled out as further punishment. The slave kept his face down as he staggered past Luca, then he stumbled. Luca saw the red and bleeding stripes on his back at the same time as Mickela raised the arm he carried the whip in.
But the grand-beta never got a chance to bring it down because before Luca realized what he had done, he had leapt from his seat, and grasped Mickela’s arm, effortlessly keeping it still. The beta, all three hundred pounds of him, was helpless to break Luca’s hold.
“What is the meaning of this?” Mickela spluttered, and in seconds Luca was surrounded by Alpha Hendrick’s human guards. He dropped the beta’s arm, vaguely surprised at his own strength. Two other gammas surrounded the chair as it was lowered. Mickela clutched the boy.
“He was about to whip a servant for failing at an impossible task. The boy is too small to be a chair-bearer and he has already been beaten once.” Every conversation seemed to have ceased.
“Nonsense,” Alpha Hendrick snapped out, walking over to Luca. “The boy is human, and my slave. He has no rights here. Sit down, Luca,” Hendrick said jovially. “Today is a celebration, but to remind you of your responsibilities I will do one thing for you.” He gestured to Mickela and the boy. The beta’s fist tightened cruelly around the slave’s arm. “Instead of giving you twenty lashes for your impertinence at stopping the choosing, I will give your punishment to the boy.”
Luca gasped. “Absolutely not,” he replied before he thought better of it.
Hendrick barked an incredulous laugh out. “I think you would do better to wait until next year’s choosing. I doubt you have the maturity yet to take on the Alpha’s role.”
Luca opened his mouth to take a deep, angry breath and then he simply forgot to breathe altogether because at the same time as he heard Mickela laughing while he unleashed his whip, the boy finally lifted his face. Piercing blue eyes stared back at him. Eyes he hadn’t seen in exactly seven years. He had convinced himself he had dreamed of the child that day when he had almost died and he had let himself be convinced the boy’s words were nothing more than a product of his fevered imagination.
But as soon as he saw the boy’s eyes he recognized him. Luca took another breath, completely lost for words as the most incredible scent surrounded him. He took a step towards the boy. Luca’s wolf reared up and he had to grit his teeth to stop his change. His animal wanted out, and out right now. One of the gammas lunged for Luca as if he thought to stop him touching what was his. Luca merely shot out his left arm in an attempt to block him. He must have pushed him hard though because the gamma went sailing backwards and crashed into one of the tables where the guests sat.
Angry snarls erupted as the other Alphas moved. “Grab him,” Hendrick shouted, gesturing to his guards, and they all rushed at Luca. Luca barely took his eyes from the boy, just dealing with the guards as if they were merely an inconvenience, but in a few seconds all the guards lay unconscious on the ground where Luca had thrown them. Everyone was silent, scared. No one werewolf was strong enough to fight like that, and Luca had barely moved. Sam quickly put his back protectively to Luca and eyed the other Alphas warily.
“I know you,” Luca said quietly, and gently took the boy’s shaky hand, registering the sparks that traveled up his own at the contact. “What’s your name?”
The boy swallowed, and immediately Luca realized he was older than he had thought. It was the fact he was nothing but skin and bone that made him seem small. Luca frowned. He looked exhausted and his face was unnaturally pale.
“It’s Kit, your Highness,” he whispered, and before Luca could stop him he fell to his knees, and bowed his head.
Luca ignored the gasps around him and bent down quickly, reaching for Kit’s arms. “I’m not...”  He started in confusion, then Kit looked up.
“I told you once,” he said softly. “You are the true Alpha King.”
“Blasphemy,” shrieked the grand-beta. “Put the slave in shackles.” More guards rushed forward but Luca turned, snarling. His growl rumbled from his chest, getting louder and louder. The ground started shaking, tables wobbled, and goblets fell over and spilled. The gammas all stood frozen until Hendrick in desperation shouted again. “Kill the usurper!” He pulled clumsily at the small knife all Alphas kept in their belt.
Luca whipped around, his cloak swaying around his legs and at the same time he clasped the small knife he kept in his own and threw it...straight at Alpha Hendrick, where it lodged between his eyes. The man was dead before he hit the floor.
The ground was still shaking and an ungodly growl was still coming from Luca’s throat. The servants dropped to their knees first, quickly followed by many of the guards. Luca stared at each wolf in the clearing until finally even the Alphas and the other heirs bowed down. Luca blinked and the shaking stopped. In the silence, Sam turned. He brought his arm across his chest, bent one knee, and bowed his head.
“Sam?” Luca said shakily, staring at his best friend.
“Your Highness,” Sam replied immediately. “I am your servant to command.”
Luca stared in astonishment at all the people on their knees. It was impossible. He wasn’t...
Luca heard a small sound behind him. Kit had stood back up, but his face was drained of color and he swayed. Luca lunged and caught him just as his eyes rolled up and his legs gave way. Luca took a breath and clutched Kit tightly, possessively, stunned at his own reaction and that of his wolf. Werewolves never mated humans, ever. He had no idea what was happening or whatever had just happened but whatever it was Luca was sure of one thing. He wasn’t letting Kit go. Not now. Not ever.       

4.5 out of 5 stars
The Alpha King is the first in a new dystopian-esque, high fantasy, wolf shifter series. 

I'll say it.. I'm a big fan of this author and her previous shifter mpreg series, Sirius Wolves. So when I found out she was creating a new world with shifters I was very excited. Knowing that it featured mpreg was a total bonus. 

The Alpha King is definitely more dystopian/fantasy based as the world as we know it is not featured at all. Instead wolves control the world, humans are subservient to the wolves and treated to extreme working and living conditions, in particular with the current Alpha of their region. There is also a pretty extreme class difference even among the wolves. Alphas are still the top dog, with gammas as their security force, and omegas of both sexes are the mates and breeders for the Alphas. 

As this is a first book there is quite a bit of world building but it flows well into the story. That is a very consistent trait with any of this author's books, she is able to create significant areas of world building within the existing story without making it feel like it's an 'info-dump'. This is something a lot of sci-fi or fantasy books can either over- or under-whelm a story with the background. In this story, the author could have included even more information about the world without bogging the story down, but she did keep it at a very decent ratio for the first book.

The two main characters, Luca - the Alpha Heir, and Kit - the human omega, meet once, 7 years prior to the mating ceremony when Luca turns 25. Now Kit isn't part of the ceremony as he's a human servant, in fact no one knows that he's a human omega at all. Until the events happen to bring him and Luca together again at just the right time. I really liked both Luca and Kit, even though they suffered from the typical lack of communication that many romance characters face. That's probably my only issue with this story and others similar, especially when the characters are  'tied together' by their mating.  You'd tend to think there would be less communication issues when you can read each other's thoughts or at least speak to each other telepathically. 

There is a lot of storytelling within The Alpha King and again this is one of those books that it's best read instead of told to the reader. So I highly recommend picking up this book to get all the good parts, and the sweet parts, and most definitely the sexy parts between Kit and Luca. I look forward to further books in this series. 
                                                                         
Bio and links


Victoria Sue

Wrote her first book on a dare from her hubby two years ago and he says he has regretted it every day since. Loves writing about gorgeous boys loving each other the best, and especially with either a paranormal or a historical twist. Had a try at writing contemporary but failed spectacularly when it grew four legs and a tail. Loves her wolves!

Is an English northern lass but is currently serving twenty to life in Florida – unfortunately, she spends more time chained at her computer than on a beach.

Loves to hear from her readers and can be found most days lurking on facebook.



@vickysuewrites

https://www.facebook.com/victoriasueauthor/  – sign up for my newsletter and download a free story The Wrong Alpha


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