Slightly weird, since the entire book, except for half a chapter at the beginning and ditto at the end, is a flashback. This is Charlene's story - and wow, has she made changes. Gabby, Bethi and Michelle encountered slightly weird people who turned out to be werewolves - Charlene encountered a bunch of total ferals, with...one, maybe two capable of interacting with the human world. She pushed and pulled them into a totally new way of life, in not all that long. Her power is a little vague, and she likes it that way - doesn't want to tell anyone, not even Thomas, exactly what she can do (and what she finds she can do, once they're Mated). I can see why, though after how many years? you'd think she'd have relaxed a bit. And maybe she has, I don't remember all the details of the encounters with her from the first three books. Specifically, I don't remember what exactly she's seeing/sensing in the fugue state she gets into when Michelle touches her (that's in the current-time frame, not in the flashback, of course). I don't really want to reread the first three (six) books, until I've read the ones I haven't read before - this is a very deep and tangled story. The twist of having two series, one from the women's point of view and then the same story from the men's point of view, is neat, complicated, and occasionally very funny. I haven't read the match to this book yet (I'm reading the woman's story first) - it will be interesting to see what Thomas was thinking, though I'm not sure how the author is going to depict the feral POV. Worth reading, though not a favorite in the series(es). ( )