The title I usually get stuck with? The Alpha’s Bastard.
My father, Antonio Salazar, Alpha of the Queens Pack, had an affair and got stuck raising me when my mom died giving birth. Guilt made him keep me; shame made him ship me off to Colombia at thirteen.
Big mistake.
He thought I’d disappear. Instead, I became La Loba Blanca—the White She-Wolf of Colombia. An urban legend who hunted the monsters terrorizing the streets.
Then my mentor called. My father’s dead—killed by his beta, Tian Láng—and I’m headed back to New York City to protect the family that once threw me away. But the city I return to isn’t the same. Wolves are vanishing. The ones found aren’t just dead—they’re poisoned in ways no one can explain.
That’s when I meet Elias Láng—the God of Death. Cold, brilliant, impossible. My rival. My equal. My worst mistake waiting to happen. Then there’s Angel Rodriguez—a tattooed ex-con lone wolf fresh out of Ironwood, all charm and chaos, who shouldn’t care but somehow does.
Between the Alpha’s son who challenges everything I am and the lone wolf who sees everything I hide, I’m walking a line thinner than a blade.
I have one rule: trust no one.
But when loyalty and lust start to look the same, even legends can bleed.
New York’s full of secrets, and I’m done being exiled from my own story.
They can call me a bastard all they want.
But this bastard bites back.
I love the cover of this one, the bold, new female character of Frankie being at the centre of it, but it is similar enough to the covers of the Mackenzie Grey covers for it give you the clue that it is set in the same Universe and to fit well the covers of the other books too.
Having read and loved the Mackenzie Grey Universe I was super excited and eager to find out if any of the characters I already knew and loved would be appearing in this book. However, before any of that is revealed we meet the new characters. Frankie is with her team Caro, Santi, Rafa and Isa. They are in midst of a battle in Columbia with a gang who are attempting to kidnap children etc. We get an introduction to each character and their particular specialities whilst they are fighting. It’s after the fighting has stopped that Frankie receives a phone call from Matteo, her Alpha at the Cali pack. Matteo is not only her Alpha but he has also been her father figure since she was sent to his Cali pack when her father banished her from her own pack in New York. Frankie was born Francesca Lucia Salazar, illegitimate daughter of Antonio Salazar. Her mother whom Antonio had an affair with whilst he was married to Carmen, whom he already had children with and went on to have more with after Frankie was born. Carmen later became stepmom to Francesca despite the fact she clearly despised her as she was a constant reminder of her husband infidelity. At age thirteen Antonio sent Francesca/Frankie to Matteo who trained her to be the literal fighting machine she is! It’s whilst in Colombia fighting guerillas and gangs that Frankie earnt the name La Loba Blanca = the white she-wolf.
The phone call from Matteo is to tell her that her father Antonio is dead, his position as Alpha was challenged and he lost to his beta aka second in command Tian Lang. Matteo wants Frankie to attend the funeral as well as try and sort out something her father was investigating at the time of his death. Someone is taking supernatural’s, wolves, witches, fae, warlock etc and injecting them with an unknown poison. They need to be stopped as the dead bodies of some of the supernatural’s are turning up and some are still missing. Not everyone knows a special fact about Frankie that she is immune to almost all poisons making her an ideal person to investigate, find out what poison is being used and what is happening to the different species of supernatural’s whose bodies are not being found.
Frankie meets Camilo, an old friend of Matteo’s who gives her the keys to an apartment and agrees to keep an eye out for her as a favour to an old friend. It’s whilst she’s at Camilo’s restaurant that a newly out of Ironwood/Supernatural prison that rather persistent lone wolf, Angel Roderiguez meets Frankie and decides to take her under his wing and shamelessly flirt with her.
Frankie makes a brilliant entrance at the funeral, she is definitely announcing that the Alpha’s Bastard is back in perfect kick-butt style, (she really would get along with Mackenzie Grey!!) There’s a brilliant scene where Frankie meets an old favourite of mine from the Mackenzie Grey Universe. I loved it and I already adore the potential of the friendly relationship that could develop between the two. I thoroughly enjoyed the interaction between Frankie and her stepmom Carmen who insists on calling her Francesca as she knows it irks her. Frankie also comes face to face with her step siblings Antonio Juniora, Cristian, Javier and younger sister Estefania whom she hasn’t since she left at age thirteen and Estefania was a baby. It’s pretty clear Estefania is curious about her older sister, and perhaps knows that all the stories her mom has told her may not be the whole truth.
After the funeral Frankie begins what she considers to be the real task that she is there for and that’s to find out what is going on with the missing supernatural beings. New Alpha Tian Lang instructs Frankie to work with his son Elias, also known as the God Of Death. Theres definitely plenty of tension between Elias and Frankie neither really wanting to work with each other much preferring to do their own thing, but the Alpha has spoken. Elias knows just which buttons to press when it comes to Frankie and goads her and tricks her into proving herself in front of the pack, having her fight four of his best shifters, in front of everyone, all at once! Frankie certainly isn’t the somewhat still naïve teenager that left, she shows Elias and those watching that she can fight, that she really earned her name La Loba Blanca.
Elias takes Frankie to the SIU mortuary to view one of the recovered bodies, time some more faces we know from the Mackenzie Grey Universe as well as being introduced to the Fae that took over when Mackenzie Grey left the SIU. When Frankie is attacked whilst with Elias after their visit to the SIU it soon becomes apparent whoever is kidnapping supernatural beings wants her next!
Frankie is both shocked yet at the same time not totally surprised when the rest of her team from the Cali Pack arrive to help her with the case. Her Cali Pack have heard about the little fight that Elias arranged and to say they are annoyed is an understatement. Frankie fills them in on the main reason she is staying in New York for now, and of course they want to help but then they receive an offer of accommodation on pack grounds from Tian they cannot refuse without creating a war. This also prevents them from really helping Frankie in her investigation forcing her to work solely with Elias. However, when she realises she is being targeted and information about her that only a select few seems to be known by someone in the organisation taking supernatural beings she wonders if someone in the New York Pack is involved. Frankie finally speaks to Matteo and she decides she must find a way to send her team away from her and the danger, as they may end up being targets to get to her.
I absolutely loved this book from the beginning to the end and everything in between! Revisiting the Mackenzie Grey Universe is amazing! The bonus of that is we get to reconnect with some of the amazing characters from those books as well as meeting the new characters of The Damned Return series. I have to say….**spoiler free here** as soon as I read the words or should I say heard the words as Karina’s books always play out in my head like a movie! Anyway, as soon as I heard “her orders” I just knew who “her” was! I love, love, loved it!!
I think Frankie is yet another amazing kick-butt, smart-mouthed, sassy, take no prisoners type of character the type I have come to expect from the books I have read by Karina Espinosa. She’s fiery, feisty, in your face when needed yet not overbearing or pushy in the wrong places. Its clear she has a soft spot for Estefania and is open to some sort of communication and relationship with her and hey it’s a bonus if it irritates her stepmom Carmen at the same time! Frankie’s character did remind me of the no nonsense, never back down, doesn’t care about the male posturing that goes on in packs, Mackenzie Grey.
I’m enjoying all the possible love interests for Frankie, this kick-butt young women really has plenty of options!
Firstly, there’s Angel Roderiguez, ex-con, highly flirtatious but not afraid to step in and fight alongside of Frankie if needs be. The whole time I was reading about Angel I couldn’t decide if he was a new or old Mackenzie Grey Universe character or if he just reminded me of a character from one of Karina Espinosa’s other book series.
There’s the new Alpha’s son, Elias, the God Of Death himself, Elias, the pack enforcer who seems to remember Frankie a lot better than she can remember him from her time at the New York Pack. He also seems to be very apt at pushing her buttons and wants to see just how far he can push her. Does this behaviour mean he had/has a crush/feelings for Frankie?
Next up is Camilo, Matteo’s old friend, we don’t know how much older he is and hey wolves live a long time he obviously cares about Frankie the way he is with her, is it just because he promised a friend he’d look out for her or something more?
Finally, possibly a wild card here, but SIU Detective Cassidy Chan, not sure on his age or relationship status but I really like his character and he could certainly help Frankie with her investigation!
I have plenty of thoughts on the organisation targeting the supernatural beings, it reminds me a little of one featured in Karina Espinosa’s Joey Santana series. My theory is someone is trying to create a hybrid or super-supernatural army or maybe they are some sort of “collector”…..I can’t wait to find out more.
I don’t want to spoil the revealing of who appears in this book that was also in the Mackenzie Grey Universe but I have to say….no promise you will not be disappointed! I could chat forever about which characters are is and how, I loved all that were featured from the Mackenzie Grey Universe and can’t wait to see how things develop.
My immediate thoughts upon finishing reading the book were Amazing!
Fantastic world building great well thought out detailed plot with amazing characters.
Summing up I absolutely adore that its set within the Mackenzie Grey Universe and thought the book had a really great mixture of old well-known characters and new characters we quickly learnt about too. I thought it was amazing how the two interacted so well and honestly, I cannot wait to read more of The Damned Return!




