Trial by Fire by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Trial by Fire:
There can only be one alpha.

Bryn is finally settling into her position as alpha of the Cedar Ridge Pack—or at least, her own version of what it means to be alpha when you’re a human leading a band of werewolves. Then she finds a teenage boy bleeding on her front porch. Before collapsing, he tells her his name is Lucas, he’s a Were, and Bryn’s protection is his only hope.

But Lucas isn’t part of Bryn’s pack, and she has no right to claim another alpha’s Were. With threats—old and new—looming, and danger closing in from all sides, Bryn will have to accept what her guardian Callum knew all along. To be alpha, she will have to give in to her own animal instincts and become less human. And, she’s going to have to do it alone.

Second in the Raised by Wolves trilogy, Trial by Fire was action-packed and full of excitement. Jennifer Lynn Barnes created an incredibly strong and interesting heroine that I immediately connected to in the first book and that connection grew in this book. Bryn might be human, but she doesn’t let that stop her from protecting her pack. There was a great mix of humor and danger to keep you on the edge of your seat. I would have enjoyed a little more romance and a little less politics, but I also understand that romance was not what this story was truly about. Twists and turns, secrets and revelations fill the pages, making it near impossible for me to put this book down.

A new threat has come to Bryn’s territory and leading that threat is an unknown werewolf. Lucas came to Cedar Ridge in search of help, but he is part of a bigger plan than even he could have imagined. A group of psychics are threatening to destroy the Cedar Ridge pack, unless Bryn turns over Lucas to them. But she can’t willingly give him over for more abuse, and at the same time she has to think of the safety of her pack. When Shay (Lucas’ alpha) pays a visit and demands his werewolf back, Bryn realizes that the whole attack has been his plan from the beginning: destroy Bryn and he will obtain her territory and her wolves. Tied by werewolf senate law, Callum (Bryn’s old alpha) cannot offer her any help beyond cryptic messages. When the final battle occurs between the werewolves and the psychics, there will be losses on both sides and new, tentative alliances will be made.