Morgan decides to join Elena's pack but runs into trouble on the way as a small town targets him for hunting. While the three investigate who's hunting and murdering drifters, Morgan doubts whether he should join the pack or not.
( )

For a novella, the plot was rather well constructed and original enough. You don't need to read it to follow the Women of the Otherworld series but it's a nice addition to that universe. ( )

I started reading the "werewolf" books several years ago. The characters have matured but remained the same in personality. The more recent books seem to be much shorter than the earlier ones but it doesn't in any way distract from the quality of the story. A very enjoyable read. ( )

Forbidden comes between Hidden and Brazen in those Subterranean Press Otherworld novellas about Elena Michaels and other werewolves. Amityville Horrible comes before Brazen, but that one's about Jamie Vargas, lover of American Pack Alpha Jeremy Danvers. If you're new to Otherworld, Elena-centric novels in the Women of Otherworld series are Bitten (#1), Stolen (#2), Broken (#6), and Frostbitten (#10).
So far as the novels go, this book is set almost 18 months after Frostbitten.

The numbered chapters are Elena's, told in first person. There are other chapters in third person. Which character's viewpoint they cover can be told by the name of the chapter. It's early November, as stated in the 'Morgan' chapter.

We start with Morgan Walsh, who has finally decided to go ahead and visit the Pack, possibly to join them. He has 90 miles / 144.84 kilometers to go to reach Syracuse, the nearest city to Stonehaven, home of the Pack. Morgan is hungry, so he stops off to eat at a diner in the small town of Westwood. That turns out to be a mistake.

The Westwood police call Elena to come and get Morgan. Elena and Clay stick Jeremy with their twins. Kate and Logan are five years old and suffering 'cabin fever' because Kate has a sprained ankle.

There's a serial killer in Westwood. If our werewolves don't want to be on the victim list, they'd better find out who that is.

Chapter notes (meant to help find particular scenes in this book or references to earlier books, even cultural references, not spoilers):

The 'Morgan" chapter is first.

a. Morgan spent the last two years in Alaska.

b. Morgan's older brother's name is Blaine.

c. The 'DFO' Morgan's father rails against is the Fisheries and Oceans Canada. Mr. Walsh apparently hasn't grasped the idea that trying to limit fishing for a species that has already been over-fished by previous generations is meant to ensure that species will be available for future generations. I'm with Morgan on this one.

d. To mutts (werewolves not affiliated with a pack) such as the Walshes, the American Pack is like the boogeyman.

e. The town sign for Westwood states it loves its werewolves.

f. We learn what kind of food Morgan grew up on.

g. Morgan makes a comparison regarding what changing forms is like for werewolves.

h. Morgan in wolf form was once mistaken for an Irish setter back in Alaska. He weighs 180 pounds / 81.64 kilograms as a human.

h. Morgan's thoughts when he comes to hearing a woman's voice are amusing.

The 'Jessica' chapter appears here. Chief Jess Dales and Officer Wes Kent discuss Morgan.

Chapter 1:

a. There have been snowstorms for three days.

b. Kate and Logan turned five in September. They're playing chess.

c. Logan has to spend an hour in his room if he calls Kate stupid. It's a rule. He tries to get off on a technicality.

d. The twins are described.

e. The really sharp knives in Stonehaven's kitchen are locked up.

f. Jeremy is painting in his studio. He has paint in his hair.

g. Morgan has a page in the Pack's book of Pack and werewolf history, the Legacy. He's in the oddities section.

h. Morgan is 28. Jeremy reminds Clay he did something rash and impulsive at that same age.

i. Elena makes a remark about Jeremy's rule that the Alpha has no adventures.

Chapter 2:

a. Stonehaven is a rural estate outside (how far outside is not stated), the small town of Bear Valley, New York. Syracuse is the nearest city. (There is a real Bear Valley in New York, but it's a valley, not a town.)

b. Westwood is about a hour's drive west from Syracuse, off a regional highway.

c. Westwood has a shop with a huge 'Warning: Werewolf Territory' sign on it.

d. Clay states what he'd do about Morgan if he were in charge.

e. The police station is a storefront between a hardware store and the bank. Elena comments about a sign in the store's window.

f. Elena has spent most of her life doing as she was told and it's a hard habit to break.

g. Chief Dales has a theory about what happened to Morgan. Morgan is insulted.

The second 'Jessica' chapter appears here.

a. Jessica went to college in Buffalo, where she made contact with a few local supernaturals.

b. Look here for some conflicting stories about the Pack before the werewolves joined the interracial council.

Chapter 3:

a. Elena mentions her reaction to Jeremy wanting her for his replacement and why not of the other Pack members were suitable (unless Jeremy wanted to wait to see if Reese or Noah age into Alpha material). Antonio is Antonio Sorrentino, son of the Alpha before Jeremy. Nick Sorrentino is Antonio's son and a close friend of Elena & Clay. Karl Marsten joined the Pack as an adult. You may learn more about Karl in Personal Demon (#8) and Living With the Dead (#9). See Frostbitten for both Reese Williams, an Australian, and Noah Stillwell, son of Joey and grandson of Dennis Stillwell, who were both former Pack members.

b. Elena, Clay, and Morgan make a discovery about Jeremy's sports utility vehicle and Morgan's truck.

Chapter 4:

a. Elena compares and contrasts her situation with a standard horror movie plot.

b. Kate gave Elena the sock monkey mittens she's wearing.

c. Elena finds a white birch with a symbol carved on it, which has been colored a deep red. She's in a circle of carved birches.

d. Elena's reaction stems from being married to an anthropologist who specializes in religion and ritual.

e. Elena has given up trying to recruit experienced mutts who are already suitable for Pack membership, so she's interested in younger ones they could mold.

f. Elena makes another discovery. She explains Clay's reaction to it.

The second 'Morgan' chapter appears here.

a. Morgan reflects on Elena and Clay's view about mutts and some of the events in Frostbitten

b. Morgan's father and brother view being a werewolf as an affliction.

Chapter 5:

a. Elena reports her discovery.

b. Dales, Jaggerman, and Kent show up, so someone from the night shift is covering the station.

c. Elena explains how she knows what something smells like. The officers buy it.

d. A local named Mac provides some answers.

Chapter 6:

a. Elena explains why the Pack is responsible for policing mutts and why she scours the Internet for cases that might be caused by a man-eating mutt.

b. Clay explains to Morgan why they want him to get lost for awhile.

c. Elena talks about werewolves and privacy issues.

d. Elena owns only one piece of thong underpants. She says why.

Chapter 7:

a. Westwood's high school is described.

b. The twins have never heard a critical word from Clay, just disapproving ones.

c. Clay is a cultural anthropologist, not a forensic one, but he's done cross-reading and studying.

d. Because Officer Kent is not, so far as we know, from the southeastern part of the USA, it's likely he means 'Ms.' and not 'Mrs.' by 'Miz'. when he addresses Nurse Morrison.

e. Chief Dales' predecessor was Chief Lyons. According to Ms. Morrison, he wasn't thorough, unlike Jess.

f. Kent makes a comment about drifters.

Chapter 8:

a. Elena and Clay usually Skype with the twins, but the Internet service where they are is slow.

b. The twins chatter about the game they played with Jeremy and a call with a promise from 'Uncle Nick.'

c. Elena is good at feeling guilty.

d. We find out what's a close to Clay 'being nice' as Elena could hope for.

e. All three discuss man-eater mutts and serial killers.

f. Clay isn't sure if it's deer or turkey hunting season.

g. Clay explains the symbols on the trees. Noah has learned that Clay being an anthropologist isn't just a joke. There's some banter about that.

Chapter 9:

a. Elena mentions a change they've made as part of her transition to Alpha.

b. All three change to wolves.

c. Elena and Clay make another discovery.

Chapter 10:

a. Meanwhile, Morgan made a discovery that's bigger than Elena and Clay first thought.

b. The discovery is described.

c. Elena talks a little about Necromancers and why Jaime doesn't use blood.

d. Read Haunted (#5) and No Humans Involved (#7) if you want to get to know Jaime Vargas. She also appears in Broken, Living With the Dead, Thirteen (#13) and, as mentioned above, Amityville Horrible..

e. Elana also gives some information about ritual sacrifice.

f. There are several persons waiting at the police station, including a Latino couple. The wife wants something Officer Jaggerman is trying to persuade her she doesn't want.

Chapter 11:

a. Elena is the werewolf delegate to the interracial council [for supernatural races].

b. Elena and Morgan have an exchange about paranoid survivalists in America.

Chapter 12:

a. Elena continues her horror movie comparison from chapter 4.

b. Ms. Armstrong is correct to spell it 'blond heroine'. Yes, 'blond' is the masculine and 'blonde' the feminine form -- as nouns. The adjective form is 'blond' for all sexes/genders. Blond(e) is French. Considering that my junior high French teacher told my class that if you had 500 women and one man in a crowd, we'd have to use the masculine form for some word I've long forgotten, is that surprising?

c. Elena remembers a time she blamed Clay for her lack of empathy.

d. The Paige Elena mentions is Paige Winterbourne, her witch friend, whom she met in Stolen. Paige went on to be the heroine of novels 3 and 4, Dime Store Magic and Industrial Magic. Her Subterranean Press novella is Counterfeit Magic.

e. Elena remembers how Kate sprained her ankle at the Bear Valley playground.

The third 'Morgan' chapter appears here.

a. Clay and Morgan talk about what happened in Alaska and the Pack.

b. Clay says Elena has found two suitable wolves in five years.

The fourth 'Morgan' chapter appears after chapter 13

a. Morgan thinks about a note shoved under his motel room door.

b. Morgan isn't a fighter.

Chapter 14:

a. Elena and Clay talk about why he hates small towns, small cities, big ones, etc.

b. Clay's ploy to question locals works.

The fifth 'Morgan' chapter appears here. Morgan has a chat with an unwilling local teen.

Chapter 15:

a. Clay points out to Elena that if Reese and Noah don't have school, they sleep until noon. He claims it takes a bullhorn to wake them up.

b. Elena remarks to the readers that one reaches a point where everyone under 30 is a kid. (Ha! I'm 61 and persons in their 80s and 90s think I'm a kid.)

Chapter 16:

a. Elena says what the first commandment would be for Alphas if they had commandments.

b. Coven records aren't as good as werewolf ones (Elena has been in charge of the Pack's dossiers for 20 years), but she tracks only a few dozen werewolves, not hundreds of witches.

Chapter 17:

a. Elena assures the readers that she and Clay have never had the caveman syndrome.

b. Something happens that makes Elena think she might be getting better at 'this Alpha thing'.

c. Officer Jaggerman makes it clear why he was passed over for Chief.

Chapter 18:

a. The mixture of smells where Elena and Clay are remind Elena of Paige's teas, which she makes for healing, protection, and sleeping.

b. Elena tells us the only way to get Clay to take pain medication.

c. When Elena remembers a guy who captured and hunted supernaturals, she may be referring to Stolen.

Chapter 19: The 'Hope' that Logan mentions along with Karl is Hope Adams, an Expisco half-demon, daughter of Lucifer (not Satan). She's the heroine of the two books I recommended for learning about Karl. ( )

Nice to revisit Elena and Clay. Fast read of a novella with interesting twists. Hope she does more in this world. ( )