When Quinn, the Supreme Alpha of all the Nine Territories first sees a young man in the arena, he is struck by his beauty and by the fact that despite his chains, he’s barely contained. Quinn recognizes him almost at once as the human who led an assassination attempt on him just weeks before, yet when he tries to take him into custody, he’s shocked to find the human is his fated mate. He has only one option to keep the council from executing the young man for his crimes—to make an example of Aaron, and to debase and degrade him as his love slave so that none of Aaron’s followers will celebrate him as a martyr or a hero.

Aaron is on a quest to find his brother, separated from him during the plague that devastated the population, killing seventy percent of all the humans on the planet. When he gets word that his brother is among the rebels, he joins them too, hoping to find him. Instead he gets caught up in a failed assassination attempt on the Supreme Alpha, a strong, powerful wolf shifter who now has Aaron right where he wants him–at his mercy.

Despite his growing attraction to Aaron, Quinn has to try to keep his heart from getting too involved, and when another assassination plot is uncovered, Quinn has to make a difficult decision. He must put Aaron aside despite his feelings for him and imprison him, even though the mating bond between them means Aaron will suffer and die without Quinn. And when Aaron disappears and word gets back to Quinn that he’s dying, he has to take a leap of faith to bring him home and back to Quinn’s bed where he belongs.

Those who know me are aware that I absolutely love shifter stories. The more alpha the shifter, the happier I am. In ‘Property of the Alpha’ by Shannon West and Victoria Sue, we’re given Quinn, the Supreme Alpha of all the Nine Territories. And DAMN, he lives up to his title.

In the world that this book takes place in, the human population has been devastated by disease. Unable to care for themselves, the wolves decide to take the humans into what basically amounts to protective custody. They care for the humans, but in the way of the wolf, humans are seen as inferior, and as such, they’re treated like omega wolves. To be shown discipline and respect. Those who aren’t with the program, are sent to learn a better way. Of course, being the willful beings that they are, some humans aren’t altogether thrilled with the wolves generosity, and they rebel. One such person is Aaron, who Quinn recognizes as his mate. The problem? Aaron led an attack against Quinn, that resulted in the deaths of several wolves. Quinn knows that his options on how to deal with Aaron are few. He cannot be allowed to be seen as weak by the packs he leads, so he decides to make Aaron his love slave. Oddly, Aaron doesn’t seem to be with the program, and he protests mightily.

This book is full of little twists and turns. I fell in love with Quinn from the start. He’s big, bold, and he cares what happens to Quinn, but he also cares what happens to his wolves. It puts him in quite the pickle. Taking Aaron in hand is his only option, and what hands they are! Now, I’m going to be upfront: some people might see Quinn taking Aaron as dub-con, but Quinn tells Aaron he won’t do anything until Aaron begs him. So there is definitely consent here, and once Quinn has it, he takes full advantage of it.

Aaron is a little bit of a mystery to start with. He’s hard, angry, and he’s lost something precious to him.  While he was trying to find it, he was captured by the wolves, whom he hates. But he finds out that not everything he’s heard is necessarily true. Still, there’s that nagging thing that Aaron needs to find, and Quinn is an impediment to it. Isn’t he? The action starts after the two men are together. Aaron is rebellious, willful, and stubborn, but he can’t deny Quinn anything.

Of course, as it is with all things, their time together comes to an end with an explosive event. Lies, treachery, and deceit abound, but who is lying to whom?

I devoured this book. When I had other work I needed to be doing, I kept rewarding myself with just a little bit more, until I finished it all. This is not my first book by either author, but it is my first one by the two of them together. Property of the Alpha is book one in the series, and I can pretty much guarantee that they’re like potato chips. You cannot stop with just one.