Wolf's Cross Book

Darien is half human, half wolf. He is a mix breed werewolf capable of morphing into either being at will. As a child he witnessed his whole family, his clan of Wolfbreeds burned to death when a band of Polish Teutonic Knights called the Wolfjagers specifically armed for hunting his kind, herded and locked his people into a church and lit a match to mass murder them all. From that day on he vowed to ignore his human half and to slaughter as many people as he could. His wolf persona is angry, cruel, and vicious; he becomes a relentless killing machine.

Josef is a novice monk in training, new to arrive to the Wolfjager Order. Putting the horrors of his past behind him, memories of the Plague that took his family and wife away from him, he chooses a life of solitude to extinguish his pain. Josef is unaware of what the Order hunts, until one day their band is attacked in the forest by a fierce predator who slashes and kills many of their men. Josef himself is critically wounded and is rushed to a nearby German village with the other injured knights to seek urgent medical attention.

Maria is a servant at the German fortress who aids the plight of the Teutonic Knights. She is given the task of caring for Josef, to heal his wounds and calm his fevered mind. As the two begin to acquaint, Josef doubts his monastic vows and is smitten with the raven-haired beauty tending to his soul and injuries. But Maria has a deep secret that even she is unaware of that prevents her heart from opening to Josef's love. Given a silver cross as an infant by her father to always protect her from harm, she soon discovers that without that cross around her neck, she too becomes a creature unbound and can walk the forest on all fours to prey on the living as a fur-covered Wolfbreed.

This creative mix of werewolf horror and paranormal romance is quite clever showing the author's talent for ingenuity to pen a werewolf novel with an unusual twist. Set in Poland in the mid 14th century, Swann's historical tale conjures up atmosphere of both horror and romance that is quite engaging. Well-developed characters, an alternative time period not overly used in fiction, and a plot quite different than the average wolf stories out there, Wolf's Cross was an entertaining read that I really enjoyed and can highly recommend.