Unwanted Mate

This is a paranormal romance, with themes of fated mates and second chances. It is not your usual bully romance, the hero Mark does admit that his bullying behavior was wrong and seeks to make amends. And the heroine holds onto the trauma it caused before slowly allowing him to show that he has changed, it is refreshing to see that being fated mates does not forgive all past wrongdoing and it's not insta-love, just a very magnetic pull towards each other.
I love the sisterhood amongst the women of the pack and good supportive female friendships shown, to affirm that being a mate is not the be all and end all of the heroine Sapphire. Looking forward to seeing more from the author!

This is a fast hot read. We all have someone from our childhood who bullied us. Sapphire's comes back into her life in an unexpected way. The ending is a bit of a shock. All in all a good book.

When their father dies, Ezra and Saphire go back to the Katu pack. Their mother then breaks down due to a broken heart. Five years ago, their father and the Katu Alpha had a falling out, and in the middle of the night, he leaves the pack. He and his family have been moving around ever since. Now, there is a new Alpha in the pack, and Ezra decides it's time to welcome them back. Saphire is not happy about this.

Saphire was Marc's bully growing up. She has never forgotten what he and his friends did to her, and she is constantly screaming and kicking as they go back. During this time, Marc is out with the other males of the pack, as their mates are having a girls night out. The Alpha is then called upon once the girls get into the bar, where they are dancing and making a scene.

The men in the pack rush to the bar to get their women, making it clear that they are not available. Marc senses Saphire before he sees her, and he knows that his fated mate is there. A drunk man aggressively approaches Saphire while she is dancing, and when she approaches him, Marc comes from behind and wraps his arms around her waist. He then tells the man to leave her alone. Saphire can't wait to see her fated mate, as she feels the electricity running through her body, and upon walking around, she is stunned and confused. She kicks him between the legs, causing him to fall to the floor. Marc knows that he has a lot to prove, and he refuses to make it easy for himself.

Saphire doesn't trust him, she doesn't want him to be her mate, and she hated him as a child. The story was very quick, and it felt like it was a prequel. I think that Saphire should have made Marc more aware of what he was doing to her. As an adult, he was constantly getting annoyed by all the shifter women and human women that he could find. Some of the women approached him multiple times during his make-up dates with Saphire, and he had no shame in telling her what he had done to them. Although he felt bad, he didn't exactly stand up to them. Most of the time, he just felt sorry for himself. Saphire then put on her big girl pants, and he decided to move on instead of looking back. The ending wasn't great, as it revolved around what happens to Keela.