I didn't hate it, but I didn't love it. I'm okay with dub-con and even a little non-con depending on the situation and how it is written. Mostly I felt sorry for Nicky throughout the book because mostly everything done to him was against his will or without his prior consent. He was taken and turned against his will. I understand it was done to save his life, and that's always forgivable in my book, because the intentions were in the right place (usually). What bothers me is how mad everyone was at him for not just jumping for joy at this sudden, major change in his life and quite frankly his freedom. He was no longer fully human, he had become dependent on a biological imperative that he'd never asked for, and he was to become a slave, a submissive to a master he didn't ask for. He wasn't even into dudes before any of this happened. It's a lot to take in and he wasn't really given a chance to process, he was just told to behave or be punished.

As a pet, or mate, he was expected to be submissive but he wasn't. And when he tried to explain that it wasn't in his nature before he was turned, so he shouldn't be expected to be that way after. Nicky was basically told over and over that he didn't know his own mind and that everyone else knew what was best for him. His alpha wouldn't listen to reason that, perhaps the ways of their ancestors were wrong, or at the very least in need of an overhaul as the bloodlines had been diluted over the centuries, and the world had changed.

A lot of the complications could have been avoided if Marco had just approached Nicky and explained things to him in the first place. If he had given the chance to make an informed choice, maybe things would have turned out different. I know part of the story had to be angst and strife, but that could have been covered with the rogue pack and the prospect of hunters.

So I didn't hate it, but it didn't quite rank three stars for me. I'm considering reading more of the series; maybe it will get better.

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