ALPHA'S CHALLENGE - Lauren Dane
Cascadia Wolves , Book 4
Carina Press
ISBN: 978-1-488-02849-6
March 2017
Paranormal Romance

Chicago, Illinois and Seattle, Washington - Present Day

The Cascadia Pack as well as most of the other Packs in the United States have declared war on Warren Pellini and his Rogues, after Pellini kidnaps Tegan Warden, sister of Cascadia Alpha, Cade.  Cascadia has been trying to take down Pellini for a few years, and now they will be working with an FBI-led task force as well as the Great Lakes and National Packs.  For Cade, travelling to Chicago for the task force meeting will also give him a chance to meet with his sister Tegan and her mate, Ben, and reassure them about their moving into the Great Lakes Pack.  He's watched his brother and three sisters find their mates, and Cade wants that for himself, but with the war going on, Cade knows his duties as Alpha mean putting off looking for his mate for a while longer.  And then she walks into the meeting.

Dr. Grace Pellini was shunned by her Pack, despite the fact that she had nothing to do with what led her brother, Warren, to leave the Great Lakes Pack.  Not willing to be a part of Warren's criminal activities, Grace had been alone for years, until one of Warren's victims came into her ER.  Warren is experimenting with bio-chemical warfare that would affect shifters and humans, and when Grace found out, she approached her brother in hopes of getting close enough to his research to somehow bring him down.  After several months, Grace meets with the task force to share her findings, and is surprised when she meets Cade – her mate.

Considering that her brother is the mortal enemy of Cade and his Pack, the road ahead is going to be bumpy for Grace, but now that they've found each other, neither Cade nor Grace is willing to let anyone come between them.

The situation between the Cascadia wolves and Warren Pellini has been building throughout the series, and finally comes to a showdown in ALPHA'S CHALLENGE.  Cade's yearning for his mate has been building for the past few years, and seeing his siblings pairing up hasn't been easy.  As Alpha of the second largest Pack in the U.S., Cade has a lot of responsibility, and the war is only adding to that.  Finding Grace the way he does is a joyful surprise, and he's now more determined than ever to end Warren Pellini and the threat he poses.  Grace has little experience with a loving family – her parents' favoritism towards her psychopath of a brother has left her feeling like she has no family – and being unjustly shunned from the Great Lakes Pack only exacerbated that feeling.  The Wardens show her what being part of a family is like, and she'll fight however she has to in order to keep that.  She's more than a match for Cade and has no trouble stepping into the Alpha position.

The fourth book in the Cascadia Wolves series, it's probably best to read the stories in order.  While each book focuses on the romance between one of the Warden siblings and their mates, the plot involving Pellini is present throughout the series.  The entire series was previously published by a different publisher under a different title, with only minor revisions and editing.  ALPHA'S CHALLENGE is the entertaining, long-awaited chance to watch Cade find his happy ending, and readers won't be disappointed.

Jennifer Bishop