Phew! We made it, Curious One! We got through each of the five books in the Wolf Night’s collection! I’m not sure I’ve ever read so many books in a row filled with shifting alpha male personas, but it was worth the experience. I have to say, my own curiosity has been fully satiated for now. Regarding the shifter world of alpha males, that is…. The fifth and final book in the collection is called Digging the Wolf by Steffanie Holmes. At first glance, it is kind of dry and boring and grasping at some sort of storyline to drive the reader until the end. However, I ended up reading it a second time before talking to you about it and it made up for some of my first impressions! Let’s “dig” in! 😉
Digging Up Secrets in Digging the Wolf
There was a lot of emotional baggage within Digging the Wolf.
Luke was still reeling from the death of his father. When his father was a child, he watched his entire family die by the hands of the villagers of Crookshollow. Luke was struggling with his father’s death so bad because it had only ever always been the two of them. There was never anyone else in the picture. His cancer spread faster after Luke delivered the news of the archaeologists digging around their family cave in Crookshollow. This made Luke feel responsible for weakening his father emotionally to the point of the cancer taking over and killing him faster.
This caused Luke to go on the mission of destroying the cave paintings. He wanted to give his father peace of mind, even in death. And knowing that they would never be able to be discovered would give him that. He almost succeeded. Anna caught him though and he had to improvise with the hope of coming back later. Luke also always thought that he was the last member of the Lowe bloodline. That is, until he met Caleb.
Is the Red-Backed Wolf A Lowe?
Caleb also thought that he was the last member of the Lowe bloodline. His mother was pregnant with him, shopping in the village when she found out about the massacre of the family. She packed a bag and fled the village that very night, Caleb still in her belly. She met, fell in love and married an alpha from a pack in Scotland which is where Caleb was born.
Caleb was never truly a part of the pack though because he wasn’t their blood. He was tainted, if you will, and was mistreated by his father and half-brothers. Never fully accepted. His mother, bless her, made sure that Caleb knew who his father was and where he came from. So, when he heard about the excavation of the cave he knew was from the Lowe family, he went to Crookshollow to claim the land and his heritage; with the mission of finding his mate and starting his own pack.
However, when he first met Anna, she was in a psychic shop trying to find information about werewolves. He could smell that she was already mated, but he planned to make a bid, fight for her, and claim her as his own. All because he knew she would be a strong mate and she would make great “pups”. Caleb “attacked” her in the clearing in the forest which sprouted Luke’s typical alpha male response and set the seed of doubt that Caleb was really from the Lowe bloodline. Alas, after what seemed like forever, Luke got over his mistrust and trusted in Anna’s trust in Caleb and was able to save her life because of it.
Too Much Eye-Rolling in Digging the Wolf
I have to say, I rolled my eyes SO many times at Luke’s reaction to Caleb. He was constantly doubting his claim, yet he would leave him alone with all the humans in the blink of an eye. Luke went so far as to believe that Caleb was the powerful black wolf that was attacking and killing everyone, even when he knew for a fact that when Caleb shifted, he wasn’t a black wolf.
I don’t know, Curious One. Tell me if I’m wrong, but wouldn’t – after a few interactions at least – you be able to really tell if someone was that evil when you were a shifter, and they were a shifter AND they were family? Isn’t there usually some sort of magical connection that makes you recognize familial blood?
Like I said…I don’t know…but…you would think, even through Luke’s grief, he would recognize Caleb for who he really is. Just saying.
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Mated, But Thinking of Someone Else
Anna had responsibility thrown onto her from the day her father died until she married Luke. When her father died, her mother shut down (I have more to say on this!!). It seemed there was just no longer anything that gave her that spark of something to live for. Not even Anna, her own daughter. So, Anna took it upon herself to move back in with her mother and take care of her, the bills, the funeral, everything. She even gave up her spot at Cambridge (I think?) to take care of her mom.
Anna’s boyfriend of many years also died in a freak climbing accident a couple years after the death of her father (this took place a handful of months prior to the events of Digging the Wolf.
Due to the boyfriend’s death, her mother went ever farther down the comatose depression spiral and Anna was even more obligated to stay is Smallville Crookshollow. To top it off, she was set to go on a trip to Italy to excavate pottery when she was convinced to give up her spot to a girl who missed the deadline because she got hit by a bus!
Can There Be Life After Death in Digging the Wolf?
The death of her boyfriend was so fresh in Anna’s life that whenever she would think romantic thoughts of Luke, she would immediately be thrown into a well of guilt because of the common feeling “how can I think of someone or be happy when he is dead?” It was a big part of Anna growing and coming to terms with the life she was living vs. the life she wanted.
Add to all of that the annoying and deceitful reporter who claimed Anna was a daredevil and happy to keep living her dangerous life, even after the death of her boyfriend because of safety disregard. Like I said earlier. Eye-roll!!!
Anna has serious bad luck and she’s incredibly strong for keeping on, keeping on – especially after everything.
This is my frustration about this whole scenario…
You Never Know What You Will Do In A Situation Until It Happens To You
Personally, I struggle with understanding her mother. If you’re alone, no children, no pets, no close family, no one to cling to, I can understand the ease with falling into a comatose depression that keeps you from doing anything but lying in bed, wishing you were dead. Kind of. But when you have a child or a pet? I just can’t wrap my head around it.
When you decided to be the owner of your pet, you chose to take that responsibility until they pass on. The same with children. The moment you get pregnant or get someone pregnant, you have chosen whether to keep your child or not. That means you have taken responsibility for that child for their entire life. And when your husband or wife dies, you have no excuses to go into a comatose depression.
Now, I’m NOT saying that you aren’t allowed to grieve and be depressed. Death takes its toll of everyone in different ways and I’m not judging her mother for going comatose. But, as a parent, you have the responsibility of caring for your child and that includes making sure they have your support in reaching their goals. Whether you agree with those goals or not.
Have You Given Up A Dream Because of Someone Else?
Anna was desperate to get out of Crookshollow and she worked her a** off her entire education to get accepted in a top-tier school for her undergraduate degree. And then, because her father died and her mother was comatose with grief, she stayed in Crookshollow and went to the local university. She even moved back in with her mother to be there as much as she could.
Her mother should have sucked it up and said “No Anna. I’ll be okay. We will talk every day and you will do amazing things. You deserve to live the life you choose.” And then she could have broken down and gone through her grieving process.
I don’t know. Maybe I’m wrong about that too. I don’t have children, so I could never claim to know what to do in that situation. I’ve never had to live it. But I would hope that I would be able to convince my child who worked for 5+ years to get a scholarship into the program of their dreams in a top-tier school to go for their dream, even after the death of their father.
Clearly, every interaction with her mother made me upset. To put it bluntly, you cannot claim to love something that you no longer nurture, for years after a traumatic incident.
Ummmm…What Happened to the Key?
Where was her key?! I’m not sure why I’m so stuck on this, but seriously. Where was her key? If she moved back in with her mother, would she not have a key to the house? So, why did the neighbor have to give Anna a key to get into the house when her mother was out with the unknown friend? I’m super stuck on this and I can’t get it out of my head.
I feel, even after reading it twice, that I missed that Anna had moved back out and just didn’t keep a key to her mom’s place.
Anyways…
Digging the Wolf is Driven by Emotional Drama
What I’m getting at here is that Digging the Wolf seems to be completely fueled by the emotional drama of each character. Even the best friend, Derek, who “coincidentally” turned out to be the black wolf with mysterious magical powers from the Peyton bloodline (the Lowe’s oldest enemy, unknown to them) was driven by emotional family drama.
Derek’s family was cast out by the village because their grandfather was too radical for their small town. This caused them to move to Ireland where his uncles became drunks at the local pub, fully disgracing their name and bloodline. Derek took it upon himself to be the one who brings back the Peyton name to its rightful glory.
Oh, he was also going to force upon Anna the mating thing – until she fought back, pissing him off, which was the catalyst to Luke and Caleb working together to save her.
Man, so much drama. And I just now realized, after writing it all out, that it’s all family centered drama! Luke and his father, Anna and her father/boyfriend, Caleb and his stepfather/mother/half brothers and Derek and his entire paternal line!
Just wow.
Digging the Wolf Redeemed Itself the Second Time Around…Kind Of
Like I said before. Digging the Wolf was able to redeem itself the second time around, but not fully. There is still too much I was personally annoyed by and things that weren’t really answered or given legitimate enough reasons as to why they were the way they were. For me.
And the ending was so sudden! They take down the big bad wolf, get engaged and then the epilogue shows them rushing back to Crookshollow after their honeymoon is cut short because Anna got a full ride to get her graduate degree. And she’s pregnant. Boom. Just like that!
With all that said, I still think that Steffanie Holmes did well. She did keep me intrigued enough to finish the book and if I were to suggest it, I would go more towards the younger end of young adult. Like, late teens to early twenties or those who enjoy those sorts of drama driven books.
Is Steffanie Holmes Still Writing?
Her website is clean and clear, but she hasn’t been active on twitter since April 2019 and the only links I could find for her Facebook are to a private group for other followers. So…take that however you will, but I hope she’s still out there writing! It looks to me like she takes the darker and more unique routes for her characters when finding love. I’m all for different, dark and unique!
I found out that she writes dark fantasy under another name, so maybe I should check those out before giving her up as an author on my list. She’s accomplished and driven and I’m always willing to keep final judgement until I experiment with a few series!
You never know, do you, Curious One? You never know.
…it’s time for another book…
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