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Patricia Briggs
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Alpha and Omega Hardcover – October 31, 2009

by Patricia Briggs (Author), Maurizio Manzieri (Illustrator)
4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 4,910 ratings
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Anna, four years a werewolf, raped, beaten, half-starved and handed from one male to another, places a call from Chicago to the wilds of Montana. She reaches the Marrok, North America's werewolf ruler, telling him she's seen a boy, one reported missing and possibly injured. He was in a cage her pack's Alpha keeps for confining new werewolves.The Marrok says that his enforcer is flying from Montana to O'Hare. Anna meets the plane, and, Charles, enforcer, as well as the Marrok's oldest son, insists on staying with her. He has seen she is not the Submissive she thinks she is. Charles is a supreme Alpha, and she is his antithesis, a rare Omega; her very presence lowers tension, calms and soothes. Despite centuries as a Solitary, Charles would wed young Anna. His brother wolf, he says, has already taken her as his mate.There are, as investigation and confrontation reveal, reasons both for the capture of the boy and for what has been done to Anna. It's a surprisingly tender s
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  1. Print length
    112 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Subterranean
  4. Publication date
    October 31, 2009
  5. Dimensions
    5.75 x 0.75 x 8.25 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    1596062878
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1596062870
  8. See all details
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  1. She had the sudden feeling that if she could look into those eyes for the rest of her life, she would be happy. It scared her a lot more than his anger had.
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  2. Right then he knew that whatever else he did in Chicago, he was going to kill whoever had given her that bruised look.
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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This terrific little story, originally published in a 2007 anthology, is the first in Patricia Briggs's Alpha and Omega series. Changed against her will three years earlier, frightened, beaten-down Anna Latham doesn't know she is an omega werewolf, revered for the ability to soothe alpha inclinations at opportune moments. Powerful alpha Charles Cornick, son of the North American werewolf leader, heads to Chicago after the patriarch receives a phone call from Anna, informing him of an unsanctioned murder of a young werewolf. Anna's pack leader feared her abilities, approved her degradation and kept her ignorant of pack lore, which allows readers to learn alongside Anna as Charles teaches her what she needs to know. Spare writing and strong descriptions will entice readers to continue following Anna and Charles in two forthcoming novels. (Dec.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From the Inside Flap

Anna, four years a werewolf , raped, beaten, half-starved and handed from one male to another, places a call from Chicago to the wilds of Montana. She reaches the Marrok, North America s werewolf ruler, telling him she s seen a boy, one reported missing and possibly injured. He was in a cage her pack s Alpha keeps for confining new werewolves.The Marrok says that his enforcer is flying from Montana to O Hare. Anna meets the plane, and, Charles, enforcer, as well as the Marrok s oldest son, insists on staying with her. He has seen she is not the Submissive she thinks she is. Charles is a supreme Alpha, and she is his antithesis, a rare Omega; her very presence lowers tension, calms and soothes. Despite centuries as a Solitary, Charles would wed young Anna. His brother wolf, he says, has already taken her as his mate.There are, as investigation and confrontation reveal, reasons both for the capture of the boy and for what has been done to Anna. It s a surprisingly tender story.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Subterranean; Signed, Limited Edition (October 31, 2009)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 112 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1596062878
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1596062870
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 9.9 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.75 x 0.75 x 8.25 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 4,910 ratings

About the author

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Patricia Briggs

Patricia Briggs

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Patricia Briggs is the author of the New York Times bestselling Mercy Thompson urban fantasy series. She lives in Washington state with her husband, children, and a small herd of horses.

Customer reviews

4.7 out of 5 stars
4.7 out of 5
4,910 global ratings
Read this book first!!!
5 Stars
Read this book first!!!
One of my favorites by Patricia briggs! Must read before the others alpha and omega books! Its short but such a great story! I recomend it to everyone!
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Top reviews from the United States

Pamela floyd
5.0 out of 5 stars Love it!
Reviewed in the United States on April 12, 2024
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I love Charles and Anna! I'm also reading the the Mercy Thompson series. The characters are so different. Great read!
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Lorna
5.0 out of 5 stars Great Beginning of This Series!
Reviewed in the United States on July 10, 2015
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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)
12 people found this helpful
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Ms. B
4.0 out of 5 stars I read "Cry Wolf" a month ago, and I really wish I had read this novella FIRST!
Reviewed in the United States on April 5, 2009
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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.
3 people found this helpful
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Deborah R.
5.0 out of 5 stars Charles & Anna
Reviewed in the United States on February 4, 2024
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MF, no cheating/sharing, no heat, CLIFFHANGER
Prequel to Cry Wolf - how Anna and Charles met. Short, intense story.
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Laura's Book Binge
5.0 out of 5 stars AWESOME !!!
Reviewed in the United States on November 1, 2016
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When I picked up Alpha and Omega again, I was surprised because honestly, I thought I had gotten my fill of this book but apparently not. My original review for the most part still stands however my rating does not. For me to keep coming back to this story and reading it through without skipping a page or noticing what ever edits I noticed in the past speaks volumes to the greatness of the story and it truly does deserve 5 stars and a reposting of the review to a more current date. I strongly recommend Alpha and Omega and although it is a sweet romance and basically a clean read (i.e. no graphic sex) there is still some abuse, violence and action and discussions of rape.

Original Review
Posted on August 2, 2016
☆☆☆☆

Anna is an Omega wolf but has no clue what that is or what means thanks to her douche bag Alpha and his equally douchey cronies. It is because of them that she lives in fear and near starvation. When she finally gets up the nerve to call The Marrok, the Alpha of Alpha’s, he sends her to meet his son, Charles, at the airport. When Charles tells her that she is his mate she will do whatever she can to protect him but as for those things that mates do, she tells him she doesn’t like sex.

Alpha And Omega isn’t a very long read but it does cover a fairly large amount of ground when it comes to Anna and Charles making one eager to read the next story in the series that is a spin-off of the Mercy Thompson series (which I have plans to dive into as some point). I think my favorite part is when Anna and Charles are in the restaurant and he is telling her she is his mate and her response is ‘I don’t like sex’ but then who could blame her.

Alpha And Omega is one of those stories that just gets better with every reading and I think I have read it almost twice a year since I purchased it. Although this year’s reading was just as riveting as always the deaths in this story were rather painful this time so thankfully those are near the end of the story. The fact that this is one of my favorites and I have read it several times had me excited to give Alpha And Omega the five-star rating I was planning to give so imagine my disappointment after counting the edits that I found forcing me to give the story a 4-star rating. All the same thank you Patricia Briggs for creating an amazing world of shape shifters and other paranormal creatures.

Happy Reading
From
Laura's Book Binge
6 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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Athani Cooper
5.0 out of 5 stars One of my favourites
Reviewed in Canada on January 12, 2023
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I love her Alpha and Omega series. The chemistry between Charles and Anna is magical. The perfect prequel to their series.
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Gimmebooks
5.0 out of 5 stars I loved this background story
Reviewed in Australia on October 24, 2016
Verified Purchase
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!
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Jeannie Zelos
5.0 out of 5 stars love this series, side one to the MErcy Thompson ( hauptman!) novels.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 22, 2014
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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.
2 people found this helpful
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Itsme
5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliante Kurzgeschichte
Reviewed in Germany on April 11, 2013
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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.
2 people found this helpful
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CBranson
5.0 out of 5 stars Patricia Briggs is so entertaining
Reviewed in Canada on May 10, 2014
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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.
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