Shifting Shadows

Per

Patricia's website, this anthology contains:

Previously Published Stories:

~ [b:Alpha & Omega|5393637|Alpha & Omega (Alpha & Omega, #0.5)|Patricia Briggs|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1368147080s/5393637.jpg|5461162]: The first novella about Anna and Charles, which led to a whole spin-off series.

~ GRAY: An vampire buys the home where she lived with her husband, which has fallen into disrespair. She begins remodeling the place, only to find that old and beloved ghosts still linger.

~ FAIRY GIFTS: Mining towns are rough and human life is cheap. In the turn-of-the-century Butte Montana, a young man, turned to a vampire, struggles with his nature and eventually finds a measure of redemption in an unlikely place.

~ [b:Seeing eye|37657887|Seeing eye|Patricia Briggs|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/book/50x75-a91bf249278a81aabab721ef782c4a74.png|59255302]: White witches are rare, and seldom as powerful as their morally-compromised counterparts. In this story, a blind witch teams up with a werewolf on a mission.

~ THE STAR OF DAVID: Being a werewolf can wreck havoc on family relations. This is a story of how murder and deception can bring a family together . . .

~ IN RED, WITH PEARLS: Warren is a werewolf, and a private detective. This is a noir-flavored story about some truly terrible neighbors and why you should always treat a werewolf nicely.

New Stories:

~ SILVER: This is probably the only depressing story I've ever written, and it was a hard story to write. This covers how Bran and Samuel were first made into werewolves, and how Samuel first fell in love with the Ariana. Of course, as we learned in Silver Borne, things have to take a tragic turn.

~ OUTTAKE ONE: After the tragedy of Silver, I had to remind myself that with long life comes the opportunity to overcome the past, and forge a better future. Samuel and Ariana have another chance at love, and they're determined to make it work. This is an outtake from Silver Borne

~ ROSES IN WINTER: A young girl survives a werewolf attack, and is transformed into a werewolf. When she wasn't able to control the wolf, she was moved to Bran's pack. The law is absolute: if a werewolf cannot learn to control the wolf, they must be destroyed for the safety of all. With hope fading, Asil intervenes.

~ REDEMPTION: Ben's got a quick temper, and a quicker tongue. He's also made a bet that he can stop swearing for a week, and it just might change his life.

~ HOLLOW: A wealthy recluse is haunted by a terrible ghost, and asks Mercy for help. What could possibly go wrong?

~ OUTTAKE TWO: A bit that I wrote in Adam's viewpoint for Night Broken.

Really great collection for Mercy-verse fans, that fills out some detail on the stellar secondary cast in the series.

Silver - 4.5 stars

I ate this one up for the details about Bran and Samuel's beginnings - anyone who has read my Mercy reviews knows that Bran is my favorite character, and so it was great to get these details. Lots of it was heartbreaking.

I didn't care so much about Ariana - she feels a bit like a convenient booby-prize that wrapped up the love triangle, and I'm not entirely convinced that this short works with the little bit of backstory we got on their relationship in

Silver Borne ...

I just re-read it recently, and so I'm positive that in the book Samuel left her way back then because he couldn't bear her terror of wolves/dogs. But in this short, she actually leaves him, because she's afraid she'll lose control again (after nearly killing him when she lost control).

I love Samuel, and I love that he got a real HEA - he deserves it - rather than just left adrift when Mercy picked Adam. But I don't care much about Ariana and I probably never will. She's too convenient ... this super powerful fragile doll that Samuel is utterly devoted to and has to protect.

What I'd really love is a short story that really hammers out what happened with the witch, and how Samuel got his father back.

Fairy Gifts - 4 stars

This was an excellent short giving us the background of Thomas and Margaret... and I really enjoyed it. I'm embarrassed to say, though, that it took me a good chunk of the short to remember who Thomas is - I finally remembered when he first encountered young Margaret in the mines, and then kicked myself for being stupid.

Really well-done story, and it is fantastic to know just what went on to create this unusual devotion between the vampire and the fairy princess.

Gray - 5 stars

This one surprised me. I didn't know the character (still don't - I think she may be a new one in the Mercy-verse, created for this short?), but the story was so tremendously engaging ... this heartfelt story of love, loss and redemption ... that I was completely engaged. I am getting choked up now, just putting the review together. Excellent, excellent short story. And that's saying something, because in general, shorts aren't my favorite things... and shorts with characters I don't know are usually even less appealing to me - there's barely time to get to know the character, much less get invested, before we're done. So this one is well worth the read.

Seeing Eye - 4 stars

The story of how Tom and Moira met (characters from the Alpha and Omega series). It was good, but they were so focused on the crisis (and of course they were, that's not a slam) that we didn't get much of a chance to explore their connection with each other. I feel like... I'd have loved for this to have like 30% more story, so that we got to see Tom and Moira really form a personal connection. As it is, in this short, they worked well together, but I'd sort of expect that, now that that business is done, they'll each go their own way. We know that doesn't happen (because their appearance in A & O is after this), so I'd like to see how that relationship grows.

Alpha & Omega - 5 stars

This story is about Charles and Anna meeting. I've read it before, and it is fabulous. This is the kick off to the A & O series.

The Star of David - 3.5 stars

We get to meet David Christiansen. Okay, we met him briefly in

Moon Called but he didn't really stand out - in that first book, we met SO MANY characters that he was sort of lost in the shuffle. Even more so because he sort of came out of nowhere in the 3rd act, and we weren't really sure who he was, what his motives were, etc.

Anyway, David's life was tragic - he, along with Adam, was Changed while on a mission. But while Adam was fortunate, and was found/helped before he hurt anyone, David was not so fortunate - he changed and killed his wife. And, we find out in this short, probably would have killed his children, but his daughter stopped him.

This story is David's reconnection with his daughter. It was a sweet story, but hard to get emotionally invested in. I think the difference between this and

Gray (because that one worked so much better at getting me emotionally involved, despite it also being about characters I don't know) is that this one had so much going on. We had to stay focused on business - the vampire, the wizard kid - and didn't get much time to buy into the relationship between David and Stella. Because ... I still don't believe it, I guess. Why, after all this time, would she call him for this? Okay, I get that she thinks something hinky is going on, but why wouldn't she call her brothers, then? And how did this mend her relationship with her father? What realizations did she have? We didn't see any of this, so I feel like I don't know.

Roses in Winter - 5 stars

We finally get to see what happens to Kara!!

And even better, Bran and Asil (who I never talk about, and I don't know why, because I adore Asil) were core in this story.

I would like to say, though, that for a people who regularly mourns that they can't have children, and supposedly cherish them ... I can't believe

that they were all hardcore about the rules for Kara. Give me a fucking break. She spent years in a cage. She's making progress, and they can all see that. Why can't it be like... she gets a year WITH BRAN to get her shit together? There's no precedent for one this young - if Bran and Asil don't know of any werewolf this young, you can bet there probably has never been one - so give her some room to see if she survives.

I just cannot believe that everyone wouldn't agree that this is a special circumstance.

Mostly, I really loved this one because... Bran and Asil have a great relationship. The way they dance around each other is wonderful. And seeing both these old wolves struggle because they love this child, and they are old enough to know that allowing connection to anything is dangerous ... it's just a really beautiful story.

Also, I'm waiting for the book where we really see Bran throw down. He's put himself in a position where he doesn't need to fight, for the most part - and I feel like that's a good strategic move. I mean, so many of the old wolves struggle with not losing themselves... I suspect that if Bran had to fight and kill as much as, say, Charles ... they'd probably lose him.

But he will need to fight eventually. Every once and awhile, the Big Boss has to show his teeth, so people remember why he's the Big Boss. And I think that this short made it clear - with the douche Alaskan Alpha - that it is probably time for Bran to show his teeth.

In Red, With Pearls - 4 stars

I enjoyed this, because I love Warren and Kyle. They are two of my favorites from Mercy's supporting cast, and I'm always happy to revisit.

That said, this was fairly ... straightforward. It also felt weirdly retreading to have

yet another one of Elizaveta's family be the bad guy. I just have to wonder how many of her family members are going to be behind attacks on the wolves before they are like "well, okay, fuck this... let's wipe out the witches." Bran is right, can't trust any witches in the Mercy-verse.

This short is a comfy cup of cocoa with old friends. Not challenging, not particularly emotional, but a lovely time was had by all.

Redemption - 4 stars

Ben is another of my absolute favorites in the Mercy supporting cast. (He's no Bran, but Bran is in a league of his own. Ben, though, with his harsh exterior and squishy, hurt interior has utterly won me over.)

This short story was fun, because I noticed the change in Ben in the Mercy-verse - the way he was taking on more of an authority position, and watching out for the other wolves - and it was awesome to see the beginning of that.

Hollow - 4.5 stars

Mercy, Zack, and a ghost story. With a little bit of Adam, Samuel and Ariana thrown in for extra fun.

It's a good short story, and a wonderful treat for the end of this collection. Poor Adam. He may actually be the first wolf in history to die of a heart attack. And you get some extra stuff too ... Mercy struggling with whether to rebuild the garage, struggling with what her role is. Really enjoyed this short.

A nice collection of stories that cover the wider universe by not concentrating on Mercy. I love Mercy, but it was cool to see the perspective of other characters in her world. Apparently most of these have been printed before but the only one I read was "Alpha and Omega," and I liked that one so much I read it again.

The cover designer sure did give Mercy a huge rack for some reason.