“ALPHA MAXIMUS – THE LAST LYCAN” by Jazz Ford is an easy read, perfect for Christmas between guests, gifts, wine glasses, and good vibes
Since I’ve been a good girl, I got a Kindle as a gift.
After syncing it with my phone, Audible, and Goodreads… it decided that Alpha Maximus is my Christmas bestie.
So this Christmas, I met The Slave.
She’s a little girl, abandoned in a forest by a lake, now property of a werewolf pack.
Festive, right? Slave is about to turn eighteen and to find out who her mate is, as the Moon Goddess has fated her. In ziua mult asteptata, descopera cu stupoare ca viata ei tragica nu s-a terminat. Partenerul ei este Alpha Tate, conducatorul haitei pentru care ea era sclava. Since she was a baby, this man made her live a life of pain, abuse, and misery, and now he was her absolute master. With a sprinkle of luck, Alpha Tate rejects the mate bond. His oversized ego couldn’t handle such humiliation.
Through a twist of fate, Alpha Tate gets injured, and the slave accidentally heals him.
Plot twist of the century: not only is she a werewolf, but she’s also got magical powers. Because, of course, she does. Now Tate sees in Slave a thing good to be used and abused to fulfill his dreams of powers and dominance. In a few words, Tate is the villain of the story.
Alpha Maximus is the last Lycan, a creature far more powerful than a werewolf so much more feared. For some time now, Maximus has been looking for his mate that the Moon Goddess has planned for him. Hopeless, he decides to visit pack by pack and meet every unmated female, maybe, this way, he will find his bride.
And here is how the story starts.
The story
While Maximus visits pack after pack with no luck, Tate plans and plots to kill him, becoming the hero who eliminated the last lycan and took his pack. Because Maximus is very powerful, Tate needs Slave and her healing abilities to be the winner. With her last shred of courage, Slave rejects the mating bond, and any involvement in Tate’s plan, ending up in a cell. Some days after, Alpha Maximus is brought into the next cell, drugged and unconscious.
Like every small character, Tate not only wants to kill Maximus, but he also wants to torture and humiliate him. His fortune ends here though, Maximus and Slave are mates by the grace of the Moon Goddess. That helps them to support each other, to fight for each other, and to save themselves. Slave has the chance to know the world outside the pack she has been living in for eighteen years. She is lucky to be next to a man who loves her unconditionally and who names her Hope.
From this point on, we embark on a trip full of adventures and situational shifts. The two lovers are chased by the vengeful Tate, the narrow-minded alphas who want to enforce their status by killing the last lycan. Since love and loyalty help overcome all that life throws at you, our two heroes reach Maximus’s home and regain their places as Alpha and Luna
Well, this is not the end of the story though. Hope manages to discover some clues about her family that she has not had the fortune to know. In front of us develops an entirely new story about witches, magic, and miracles. This story’s finale is soaked with fulfillment, love, and peace. The author reunites Hope with her family and also shows her with her children.
It is an end where the past, the present, and the future live together. It is a lesson about unconditional love and loyalty.
What I loved
It is an easy read, pleasant and relaxing, and perfect for a holiday. I loved the characters. Even though they are not described in all the minor details, they are complex and have layers that reveal themselves through the situations that the characters have to go through throughout the story. It is a growing-up travel for Hope. At the beginning of the story, we meet the almost invisible Slave. The end of the book has Hope front and center as daughter, wife, mother, werewolf and witch, beloved Luna of the pack.
What confuses me is that, in every supernatural world, love and loyalty are for life. How is it possible that real or fictional mortal people are not able to control their emotions and experiences, their decisions and mistakes so that they can reach positive feelings? We are so frightened of the idea of assuming responsibilities that we prefer to pay with pieces of our souls instead of teaching our free will to make just and honorable decisions!
