Review: Good installment in this werewolf series
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 05 8, 2013
This is the third book in this author's Lycan series and just as good as the first two. The title refers to the rule in the Book of Lycan Law that requires werewolves to keep their presence a secret from humans at all costs, keeping the packs safe from being hunted down. This story picks up a thread from the previous book, "The Mating", and follows it, but though there are also characters from that book as well, they play a supporting role and this book does stand alone. It's helpful to read the series in order, just for clarity, but not strictly necessary. The story is well crafted, the characters well developed and interesting, and the plot complex enough to keep the reader's attention all the way to the end.This is the story of Ryne Taylor, the Alpha of the newly established pack in Northern Ontario. Ryne is the half brother of Kane, the leader of the Oregon pack and he's a mechanic as well as a wildlife photographer. Before he moved to Ontario, Ryne had taken a magnificent photo of Kane in his wolf form. It was never for public display or sale, but the wolf who betrayed the Oregon pack for money, Ryne's former lover Marla, stole it and sold it to a private collector. The collector, Mr. Greyson, has been searching for years to find evidence of werewolves in the US, and now that he has Ryne's photo, he's sure he's got the goods. Since he's a reclusive billionaire, Greyson sets his lawyer on the task of finding the photographer so he can find out where the photo was taken.  After interviewing dozens of people for his client, lawyer Aldrich gets the ok to hire a particular investigative reporting student to track down the elusive photographer.Melody Greene is taking a semester off from college in Chicago and working two jobs to save up enough money to be able to afford to go back and finish her journalism degree. When she gets picked to go locate and interview a reclusive photographer for an anonymous client, all expenses paid, and a generous stipend, it seems to good to be true, but too good to turn down. When she goes to his last known town, nobody seems to know where he went and won't give her any real information. She just happens ( because she's nosy) to see a package on the counter at the post office that his brother is mailing to him for his birthday. Traipsing back across the continent, she finally finds the tiny town of Stump Creek, where everyone knows everyone and they all know each other's business, but in a friendly-like way. Everyone is very nice, except the man she needs to interview. He's not interested in talking, and no amount of charm or stalking on her part has changed his mind.  Unfortunately, the lawyer wants results for his client's money and she's signed a confidentiality agreement so she has to stick with her story that her interview is for school.Despite his attraction to her, Ryne can't have Melody sniffing around, it's too dangerous. He certainly can't tell her where he took pictures, that would endanger his brother's pack. If she gets too persistent, he might have to make her disappear, and he doesn't want that to happen. If she publishes an article about him that gives too much information, his brother's pack will have to evacuate their lands,some members will have to die to make it look like a cult suicide and a dead end,  all to follow the law of keeping and to protect secrecy. Mel has no idea why Ryne is being so stubborn and blowing hot and cold. One day he gave her one of his cameras so she could experience wildlife photography and he slept with her, the next he's in a bar fight and wants her out of town.  Once Mel leaves town, Ryne realizes what pictures were still on the memory card in the old camera he let her borrow and what might be on her computer.  Can he reach her before she realizes it too, or before she gives anything to the lawyer?  Why does Greyson want to know where the picture was taken?  Will Ryne be in time to save the last pack members of his brother's pack and stop them from enacting the keeping?Heat factor hot.