Book Review: The Forbidden Wolf King

Title: The Forbidden Wolf King
Author: Leia Stone
Genre: Fantasy, Romance, Fiction

What It’s About: Zara Swiftwater speaks to her brother, Cyrus, and he asks her if she really wants to do the Queen Trials, where the most dominant female wolf from each pack is called to fight to death. Zara has had prior history with Axil Moon, the current King Wolf, as they me t when they were 15. Cyrus is worried about that but Zara wants to prove to Axil and his older brother, Ansel, the former Wolf King that she’s not some weak mud flat wolf. That’s what Ansel had called her at the time when he caught the two of them together and Axil had walked away without even defending Zara. Of course, someone else could go in his stead if her alpha needs her. Zara speaks to Dorian, her alpha, and he also worries about her relationship with Cyrus, but ultimately approves it. She is his third in command after all. Zara then begins training with Cyrus, who is also a battle strategist that is sought out by other clans in the Wolf Kingdom.

Two weeks later, she spars with Dorian all out, and defeats him. She asks Oslo, her youngest brother, whom she raised from childhood to stay with Amara–Dorian’s wife. He clings to her as she is his only mother figure so he doesn’t want to lose her, but reluctantly lets her go. She does worry about him being very submissive. Zara, Cyrus and some of the pack members travel to Death Mountain that day, getting there the same day. Cyrus had her spar with Dorian after she got dressed for the sole purpose of making her look dirty and bloody as fights are as much physical as they are mind games, and he wants to start playing the mind games early. When they arrive, the way she looks sends a message to all her competitors and people do take note of her on the streets of Death Mountain. When they check in with the Royal Advisors, he offers them a bathing chamber but they refuse it in order to go eat at the ballroom.

During the feast, Zara knocks a woman–one of her competitors who is nicely dressed up–for making a comment about Zara, thereby showing that she will not tolerate disrespect. Axil shows up and speaks to Zara telling her that he’s happy to see her but that it’s also a curse to see her. This confuses her–didn’t he walk away from her at 15? Zara does meet a girl at the ball that is a bit too nice and tells her that the next person she speaks to, she must knock her out.

The next morning, Zara goes to the competition tent, where she gets number 1. She wonders if Azil put her there or there was a different way of ranking the women. The girl Zara had knocked out was Ivanna from a pack that lives in the mountains, and the girl that was too sweet to her is Eliza of the Death Mountain Pack. Eliza has come in saying that they will be given weapons, to which Ivanna says that she won’t take one. Zara wonders if she should take a weapon if Ivanna doesn’t, and when the Royal Advisor comes around, she declines. Ivanna does take a weapon, and Zara realizes that she had fallen for the mind games. Eliza doesn’t know what to do–she is too soft, so Zara coaches her and tells her to take the dagger when the Royal Advisor comes around.

The fight is done in reverse order, so Eliza goes first and is a victor. Ivanna goes before Zara and is aggressive against her opponent. When it’s Zara’s turn, she comes out and Cyrus asks her where her weapon is. She tells him it’s a long story, and then fights against her competitor who has a sword, winning anyway. Zara looks up at Axil after the fight, and notes Compassion on his face, like he knows that she doesn’t feel great about this senseless killing of other females for a man–one that she isn’t sure she wants. She runs out of the ring and up to the edge of the mountain. Axil follows her and is angry about her not taking a weapon. Zara snaps back that it’s a surprise he knows anything about her at all considering he left her standing. Axil tries to explain, but Zara asks him if he’s really that afraid of getting her to be his wife. She laughs and he tells her that he had forgotten how sexy that laugh is–though he remembers how good she smelled, and that he dreams of being stuck with her forever. He doesn’t fear it. She steps up to him and tells him that she hopes he remembers how she kisses because he will never taste her as she plans to win, become his wife and leave him to an empty bed forever. She runs off and hears Axil howl behind her.

The next day, she gets up for the 2nd trial. Cyrus had found out that the next trial is one that she is uniquely suited for as she might have to go a while without a meal, which is common in the Mud Flats. They are told to leave any belongings that are not clothing, and Zara sees Eliza, who looks upset after what could be potentially her first kill. The group of women has been culled in half, and the next trial consists of being blindfolded, dropped off at an unknown location to try to live off the land. Zara knows that Ivanna and one other wolf might be able to survive this because they are from packs that also have to struggle to survive. When she is called out of the tent, she finds Cyrus who uses hand signs–something that they started when one of the boys in their pack was born deaf–to tell her to find water, and make alliances. She feels relieved that she will be able to help Eliza without furtherly betraying her brother’s command. She grabs Eliza aside, and offers the alliance, which Eliza takes saying that she doesn’t want to die on her birthday. Guards approach the other women and put on blindfolds. Axil approaches her and puts her blindfold on while simultaneously telling her via a mind link he can only do when touching another wolf that she will be going north to the dead lands where there is no bush or tree for shade. He tells her that in order to find water, she must look for a round bulbous plot that looks dead but is not. When she asks him why he is doing this, he tells her that the thought of her not coming back makes him forget how to breathe. This pisses her off because she doesn’t know why he’s saying all of those things when he really had walked away from her.

The sleds make the trek, and when at the location, all of the women are taken off the sleds and knocked out. When Zara comes to, Eliza is defending her and protecting her from Ivanna in her wolf form. Zara offers Ivanna a fight since the woman had tried to kill her in her sleep, but mentions that Ivanna might have trouble fighting them both, which causes the woman to back off. Wanting an even playing field, Zara tells the other women the same information about the water, but Ivanna muses that maybe she could be making it up to make them go off course. Zara and Eliza leave, letting the remaining ladies argue it out. As they walk, Zara tells Eliza that she’s a pretty big wolf and she should do her fights in that form if she can shift fast enough. Then, they try to look for plants and find them with water, just like Axil had told her. Zara does notice four other wolves following in the distance, but it’s unclear if any of them are Ivanna.

The two find a place to camp for the night, and Zara also changes into her wolf form and reminisces about the time she met Axil–it was at a camp for dominant wolves. On the first day at registration, he had come up to her and she’d fallen in love with him when he told her that she smells like his future wife. They spent the next several weeks of camp together, and the following year she planned to return to camp to make Axil jealous but he never showed. Zara wakes up to growling from Eliza and finds that she is facing off against four wolves, including Ivanna. Zara knows that fighting four at once when they are not a pack is a death sentence, so she with her quick thinking she makes Eliza a part of her pack, which is something that usually only an Alpha or a Beta could do. The two of them work together and manage to eliminate two of the four wolves, but Eliza’s flank is hurt by Ivanna. Ivanna and the other walk retreated because they knew this was way too coordinated for them to not be a pack. Zara tries to help Eliza heal but Eliza would need food to speed up the process–and while they do have fresh meat in front of them, Eliza won’t eat anyone that is a wolf. Zara moves them further away from the fresh kills because they attract animals, and Eliza tells her that if she’s not better, to leave her as she doesn’t want Ivanna marrying the king. Zara knows that she won’t be able to leave her because she is a packmate now. Eliza then asks for a story to distract her, so Zara tells her that she knew King Axil as a teen and loved him. In response, Eliza tells her that it explains a lot about Axil as her sister works as his personal assistant, and once she had asked why he didn’t take lovers, to which Axil said that he’d already given his heart away when he was 15. That surprises Zara because she doesn’t know how he can say that about her when he walked away.

While resting, Zara smells a bearin who tries to come for Eliza, but she fights the bearin off alone because Eliza is unconscious and the animal runs off. Even though she is now hurt as a result of the fight, Zara shifts back into her human form, and picks up Eliza, who now has a fever from an infection. Once again, Eliza asks her to leave her and save herself, but Zara refuses to do so. She hefts Eliza on her shoulder, makes a walking stick and walks both of them to Death Mountain. As she limps into Death Mountain, a woman calls for medical while another takes Eliza off her shoulders. Zara starts to collapse, Axil catches her, and she vaguely hears someone ask why Zara would save Eliza when she could have left her. Axil responds that this is who Zara is–she’s loyal–and then she loses consciousness.

Zara comes to and overhears the Royal Advisors arguing about Zara and Eliza being pack mates, making it against the rules. Axils says it’s not, since they really entered from two separate packs, and were forced to survive. One of the advisors comments that it would give them an advantage in the next fight, and Axil replies that they want him to marry the strongest member of their kind–a woman who isn’t even alpha was able to force a pack bond is a pretty strong in his opinion. The advisors leave and Axil tells Zara that Eliza is fine, though his tone is clipped. Zara accuses him of being a spoiled brat who only cares about his Royal reputation, and they get into an argument about how he left her without defending her. He is shocked and asks if he spent all of these years loving him but she hates him? Zara lays into him, telling him that he broke her heart when he did that, and that she is dead inside because of him. Axil breaks and sobs, which surprises Zara because he never cries and even though she wants to pull him in for a hug, she leaves.

Zara finds her pack, rests and eats and the next time she wakes up, Cyrus lays into her that making Eliza into a pack was insane. They talk about that and Cyrus keeps reminding Zara that two people cannot win this. She is aware but Zara doesn’t think she can do anything to harm her. She goes in search of food and one of the guards at the castle recognizes her. He thanks her for what she did for Eliza and she realizes. that she’s gained their respect when she did something she didn’t have to do for Eliza. The guard directs her to Eliza’s room, and the two girls talk about the upcoming challenge and also King Axil, when Zara relays to Eliza what had happened between them. Zara asks Eliza, over food, if Eliza could drop out seeing as she’s injured. Eliza says that it’s the same thing as forfeiting, and she’s also from the King’s pack. Realizing that she may have to kill Eliza, Zara loses her appetite and leaves Eliza’s room.

Zara wanders around the Castle, thinking about things and finds her self face to face with Axil who is pissed off. He tells her that she didn’t even let him speak and takes her aside into another room–a library–and tells her that she must not be serious that he walked away from her; she must’ve known it was against his will. As she responds, she realizes that Ansel was king at the time and he had the ability to control others–a power granted to the Wolven King. She realizes that he must have used those powers to control Axil, and made him walk away. They share a moment with him questioning why she would believe that he’d so easily walk away from her, but they are interrupted by a Royal Advisor who tells Axil that they have news of war. He tells Zara that they’ll talk later, and then leaves. Still, that leaves Zara confused–he’s been a king for two years, why didn’t he send for her? Why’d he’d stay away for five years?

Zara returns to the tents and finds out that they will fight Ivanna the next day, so she and Eliza train together. That night, Axil’s responses plague her, so she sneaks out of her tent and makes her way to the castle, preparing a speech for the guard because it is forbidden to have a relationship during the Trials. The same guard is there that thanked her for Eliza and once she confirms that she is here to see the King, he takes her through the halls into a room that turns out to be Axil’s personal quarters. Axil strolls in a bit later, happy to see her, and they begin talking. She tells him that she can believe his brother forced hi to walk away, but what about all of the days since? Instead of responding, Axil takes off his shirt and Zara sees a network of scars across his abdomen–ones that did not exist when she spent time with him as teenagers. Axil reveals that he was imprisoned for two years after he was forced to walk away from her at camp. This was because his brother had become King and Axil’s instructors at the camp had said that he was perfect at everything and that if Ansel didn’t watch out, Axil could overthrow him. Ansel beat Axil every day trying to get him into submission, so that he could be sure that Axil would never challenge him. Ansel starved Axil, forcing him to be scrawny and weak. When finally Ansel let Axil go, he played it safe–did not lead and stayed mid-pack dominant. It was at that time that Axil sent a letter to Zara that was intercepted by Dorian, who sent it back saying that Unless Axil shows up with a ring from Zara, he is to come nowhere near the territory. Axil gives her the letter, and Zara reads both sides–she is heartbroken by Axil’s confession in the letter but also grateful to Dorian that he wrote what he did because she had just started to do a little better at the time. The letter would have spiraled her back down. Axil admits to Zara that he didn’t tell her that he was a prince at the camp because he had no intention of taking the throne and wanted to have her, a small house in a village and a dozen children, but the two years in captivity gave him a lot of time to think. To see his brother show such cruelty, he knew that they would never be safe, so he challenged Ansel for the Kingship, but could not kill him because wolven law states that two heirs of the royal bloodline must be alive at any given time. Since Ansel and his wife did not have pups, Axil had to let him live. The reason that he never sent for her to become his wife, is because he found out that a King only can take a wife through the Queen Trials, and so he trapped himself into this situation. Part of him wanted her to enter so that they can finally be together, and the other part wants her to stay at home safe. He tells her that she’s his mate, which he has known since he was 15 and Zara tells him that she had hoped he was her mate. And then they spend the night together in bed, making up for all of those years, though it’s forbidden by the Queen Trials.

The next day, they wake up, have a bit of banter and breakfast. Then she heads out for the fight. Cyrus tells her that she smells like Axil and to use that to get in Ivanna’s head. Zara quickly takes out Charlizeby throwing her sword at the girl, and then starts to wrestle with Ivanna. She takes a soft stab from Ivanna controlling where she gets hurt like Cyrus taught her, and Eliza finished Ivanna off. The two were going to fight a second pair of female wolves that came back, but those girls fled to Cinder mountain and are now outcasts. That leaves Eliza and Zara to fight each other. That night they celebrate their win, and when Zara dances with Axil, she tells him that she’s always loved him. After, Eliza takes her up to her favorite location on Death Mountain, and tells her that she will forfeit the fight because she sees that Zara and Axil are meant to be. They go to see axil to break the temporary pack bond but Axil is unable to break it as they have created a much stronger bond. Zara tries to figure out a way to save Eliza, suggesting that she stay’s Axil’s love but he tells her that he cannot remain king without a queen and eventually an heir. He tells her that it’s always been a law that someone can forfeit the Queen trials and keep their life, but it’s the people who continue to do this by killing the person who forfeited, because Zara wanted to know if it’s possible for both of the women to survive. He tells her to do what she can live with and he will find a way to make sure they are together. She gives him a kiss and he knows her decision.

At the fight, the next day, Zara sees Oslo, Dorian and Amara–they had come all this way to support her. She tells Eliza to be good to Axil and tells the crowd that she and Eliza forged a bond that not even the king could date away. She admits her love for Axil, but says that she cannot hurt a pack sister. Before she can even forfeit, Axil announces that he steps down as King and per the law, the Queen Trial ends. He tells Ansel that he will give him the crown if Ansel lets him and Zara run off together. People boo, but Ansel gives his word and they transfer the powers back to Ansel. Zara realizes in that moment that Axil has planned this for months; he was ready to do this at any time there seemed to be a chance she might fail.

Axil and Zara start to walk away with Oslo, while people are yelling insults at them (or so Zara thinks). They barely make it to the forest, when they both get controlled by Ansel, who has them march back to the castle and strings them up in the dining room. While the two are being starved, Ansel and Jade (his wife) eat. Ansel reveals that Jade has not given him any kids, so he will divorce her, impregnate Zara and then kill Axil. Axil goes berserk, and Zara realizes that Ansel is controlling his wife as well. Suddenly a guard announces three visitors–Queens of Thorngate, Archmere, and Embergate. The women are looking for Axil but Ansel tells them that he’s king. They explain to them why they are there, but Ansel does not care. He begins to control them too and forces the three Queens, Axil and Zara to march around. First, Ansel puts Axil and the three queens into the dungeon and forces Zara to march to his room.

In the meantime, the three ladies introduce themselves to Axil and talk about getting out. Kailani gives Axil the box and he goes through it while Madelynn kills the guards, and Arwen melts down the bars. The women help him get to Zara in return for his army to fight the war. As this is happening, Zara tries to fight back and she also tries to stall Ansel. He undresses her and she manages to slap him. He tells her that he likes his women to be spicy, and it’s a turn on. He starts walking towards her, but then starts to panic, clawing at his throat before turning purple. Zara recognizes Madelynn’s power, and as Ansel weakens, Zara takes this opportunity to rip out his throat. Axil makes it into the room and they take a moment to themselves to talk. Axil is unsettled because there have to be living heirs, but he never finishes his thought as two Royal Advisors come in and he tells them that he killed Ansel because he was too dangerous to be kept alive. The Royal advisors tell him that he should have done something else, even though they agree with him, but now he will have to endure the challenge because there are no two heirs of the royal bloodline. This means that he will have to openly fight pack members who challenge his strength to lead, and Zara realizes that her actions to protect Axil by killing Ansel, puts him in the path of danger.

Zara sends for Eliza, Dorian, Oslo and Cyrus, introducing them to the three queens. Dorian advises Axil about the six contenders–the most difficult one is Brutus and unfortunately he will be the last fight of the day, so Axil will have to conserve his energy. Zara watch the the fight next day–Axil is already on his fifth fight, and has the other work fly the neck, when a black dragon swoops in with a rider. Arwen says that he’s with her, and Zara looks back in time to see the other wolf take out Axil’s eye though Axil manages to finish him. Brutus is ready for a fight, and Zara tries to stall for time to give Axil a moment to recover, when the Dragon King booms asking what is going on. The advisor tries to give hime the run around, but the Dragon King asks again, and gets told that Axil is fighting because there need to be two heirs. The elf king responds that there are two heirs, to which the advisor rolls his eyes and dismisses him as he just got there. The elf king once again tells the advisor that there are two heirs–Zara is pregnant–and the advisor says that it is forbidden to have a relationship with the candidates. Zara does admit to being bedded. Someone else questions Raife’s abilities, so Raise heals Axil and only then do they believe that he is telling the truth. At that moment Brutus lunges at Axil, and Zara calls out for the Royal Guard to protect Axil. They do, and then Zara and Axil hug. Axil begins to command the troops to prepare for war, but Brutus’ wife says that Zara was going to forfeit so she can’t be queen. Zara tells anyone who wants to challenge her to fight now. Eliza steps up, and Zara’s heart sinks, but then she goes on one knee, head bowed and submits. Many other women do the same thing, and Zara Swiftwater becomes the people’s chosen Queen.

The group leave that same day on top of the two dragons back to Thorngate, and see the battle below them. Maddie uses her magic to help their people, and they even see an old that was clearly the result of stolen magic, which Raife explains is not as effective for them as they would like. Then they even see Necromerians–creatures that drink blood but usually keep to themselves–fighting for the Nightfall queen. Axil gets control over the Necros and has them impale themselves on the nearest weapon. The group arrives at the Winter court and they all talk. Axil states that he is not able to control the entire army but he could share his power with another dominant wolf. Zara agrees, but she also has an idea–have them ride on the wolves and make their way for the castle and Zaphira. Raise says he’ll be the one to ride and kill Zaphira for what she did to his family. Arwen and Drae will fly overhead, and Lucien and Maddie will manage troops at the front line. Arwen and Drae’s twins are brought out and Zara asks Raife about whether it’s true–he confirms it wasn’t a ruse, and that she’s indeed at the very early stages of her pregnancy. Axil is over the moon and says he needs to train Zara. Arwen and Drae do night runs to bring some of the Royal Guards to help in the meantime.

Axil brings Zara into the Death Mountain pack and trains her. Four hours later, she is able to control people so they sleep and are getting ready the following day to set out, when Axil gets news. He tells Zara that Cyrus was killed and Oslo was kidnapped. Now the plan changes to become also a rescue mission for Oslo. Raife travels on Axil, Kailani on Zara and they make it through the woods to the city. There are too many soldiers so Axil and Maddie cause a distraction, while Raife, Kailani and Zara (now in human form) hop into the storm drain and make their way to the city. First, they check out the lab, but Oslo isn’t there, so they have to go to the Castle. Zara uses her control powers to get soldiers to give Kailani and Raife keys. Kailani and Raife make it seem like they apprehended the Wolves queen, but then a soldier changes her cuffs into a different one and takes both her and Kailani to the dungeons. Zara finds Oslo there and tells him that he has to be brave, get out and run, after talking to a cell mate who got her sister out. There is a distraction created by another cell, and they get Oslo out, who as a result has started to show more dominant qualities.

Kailani and Zara are taken to meet the nightfall queen, who is dining with the Necro King. The queen wants Kailani’s magic, so she gives the necro the rights to Zara–he tastes her blood and can sense Axil. The queen continues to eat her meal, when suddenly her poison tester runs in saying the food is poisoned. But it’s too late as she is also poisoned, and so she tries to ask Kailani to save her, but Raife puts both Zaphira and the Necro down with his bow and arrow. Zara unlocks them and stabs Zaphira with a steak knife for good measure. Then they cut off Zaphira’s head and take it to the general for a ceasefire. As a result, Zaphira is reunited with Axil and Oslo, but sends Oslo to Thorngate to be with Arwen’s and Drae’s twins. The four kings and queens start the work of cleaning up and disarming the Nightfall kingdom. The general had surrendered and went to fetch Zaphira’s oldest son–she had kept her children spread apart after the age of seven.

Prince Callen arrives and is all business, but when he takes the negotiations inside, he admits to the Kings and Queens that he had to show up tough in order to align with his mother’s loyalists. They reach an agreement–he signs the peace treaty which asks him to destroy the magic stealing contraptions (good riddance, he says) and promises to marry someone from the magical realm. In return, they will leave soldiers to help him cement his reign and weed out his mother’s loyalists.

Two months later, slightly showing, Zara heads in a coach with Eliza to Archmere for a memorial ceremony for those who had fallen in the war. Axil had been teaching Oslo all of the manly things needed to be an alpha and a leader, and the boy has been coming into his own, showing a good amount of dominance. Eliza keeps trying names of what the baby could call her, and Zara suggests Auntie Liz, before teasing her about Shane–a lad from the Mud Flats pack that Eliza has reportedly been spending a lot of time with. In Archmere, they all stand around a weeping willow and Raife and Kailani make some speeches. As the sun sets, the willow has something on them–thousands of them–that start shining. Looking closer, Zara realizes that they are crystal butterflies that are powered by the sun, each inscribed with the name of a loved one who died in the war, and she finds Cyrus’s butterfly.

One year later, Axil talks to their three month old, Koa Cyrus Moon, about being an Alpha. Zara checks in on him and whether he will be able to manage alone with the baby. He assures her that they will and for her to go have fun with the other Queens as Kailani has organized the first annual Queens retreat. he also tell her that Koa needs a sister, and they end up in bed, so she is late to her girls getaway trip. When she arrives, she finds out that Arwen is pregnant again, and Kailani is pregnant swell. Only Maddie is not pregnant alongside her, and Maddie says that she and Lucien are planning on traveling around for a little while. The four talk for hours and Madelynn suggest that they have yearly retreats for their kids just like their husbands did, and Zara adds that they should also include the Heir of Nightfall. They are, and Arwen then stands up, pulling out a box. She suggest that they do what they boys did with their tin box, but instead write letters to themselves in 20 years. They all go ahead and do that and Zara feels happy.

My Thoughts: I really enjoyed this story–it’s definitely different than the other four in the series, but I thought Axil’s background was tragic, that he suffered at the hands of his brother for so long and then had to wait for the love of his life to go through a trial to finally be together. Still, I loved the conversation between the two of them, and how they managed to work out together in the end, winning against seemingly all odds. It’s too bad the series is over with this book (at least at the time of the writing), because I would really like see more stories of the four kings and queens–maybe even seeing how Prince Callen falls in love with someone from the magical community.