Father of the Wolf by L. Shannon, the first book of the Eagle Clan Series, is an erotic paranormal book. The book begins and we first meet Hope Carter outside her office waiting for a ride from her friend Steve. Hope was in a car accident years ago which left not only physical, but mental scars on her leaving her uneasy about vehicles. While waiting, Hope thinks she sees a stray and goes after it so she can take in into the veterinary office where she works. Hope ends up in the middle of a fight for survival by a young woman who is fighting a pack of wolves or something different. When she is seen, they target her, but Steve returns and the pack leaves. The leader gives Hope a look that says that they will return to complete the attack. Steve then takes Hope to the hospital.

Next, we go back in time and meet the Eagle Clan after most of the clan had been killed leaving a few young adults left to care for the little ones. Athair, the clan’s leader, wakes up from this terrible memory to deal with two of the younger members who are fighting. Ever since that terrible day, the Eagle Clan has isolated themselves from all others, were and human, to protect themselves, but Athair and his brothers are finding that for the clan to thrive and continue they must reach out to other clans to learn about modern society. They also need to find mates for all the young ones to give then an outlet for their need of love and intimacy. Each of the members of the clan has different magical abilities, such as controlling the weather, seeing into the future, empathy with other animals, etc.

When Hope awakens in the hospital, she tries to piece together what she saw with what happened, and all she can come up with is a werewolf which is a story that she doubts anyone will believe. Athair and his brothers each take a few of the younger members and go out on a quest for some to see the outside world, others to meet with another clan for knowledge and social contacts, but for all to find mates. At the same time that the Eagle members go off on their journeys, Hope is released form the hospital, but she is no clearer about what she thinks that she saw. The two worlds are quickly fated to collide. Athair and his young ones go to the Bear Clan where they meet with much resistance of a few members which causes fighting to break out which ends up with Athair running and finding his way to Hope injured in his wolf form. I have to give Hope credit, she takes in stride that Athair is what he says he is. Most people would think that they were hearing things and never believe what was happening was for real. Eventually the others arrive and Hope and her friends get pulled into the problems of the Eagle Clan. But, there is more to Hope than meets the eye and she maybe up to the task that has been laid out for her.

The growing relationship between Hope and Athair was very beautiful to behold. The unwavering belief that they have in each other helps drive the direction of the plot. The different forms of magic that each clan member has gives the story line unlimited flexibility to work with. One of the younger members, Dan, has the ability to see different pathways to the future to help guide the clan on the best pathway. This must be a terrible burden for one so young and relatively untrained. One of Athiar’s brothers, Sgrios, reminds me of a Judas type of character who has feelings of doubt and self loathing. The story was well written and the characters worked well and enhanced the plot line. I greatly enjoyed reading this book. I will be looking forward to reading the second book to of the Eagle Clan Series.

Reviewed by: Teresa