Which Mercy Thompson Books Should I Read Before Starting Alpha And Omega
Love the Mercyverse but starting 'Alpha and Omega.' Should I read 'Moon Called' and 'Blood Bound' first to get the crucial world-building references and cameos? Hearing mixed opinions.
2026-08-02 09:35:07
137
Follow8
Share
FreyaKing
Bookworm
Pharmacist
ABO Personality Quiz
Take a quick quiz to find out whether you‘re Alpha, Beta, or Omega.
Scent
Personality
Ideal Love Pattern
Secret Desire
Your Dark Side
Start Test
4 Answers
DanWhite
Detail Spotter
Teacher
My two cents: read the 'Alpha and Omega' novella first, right now. It's a complete story. If you love it, then go back and binge the Mercy books from the start before continuing with the 'Cry Wolf' novel.
The novella works as a perfect, isolated introduction to Charles and Anna. If their dynamic and the darker, more psychological pack politics hook you, you'll be motivated to get the fuller world picture from Mercy's side.
This is how I did it, and I loved having Anna's voice in my head first. Going back to Mercy's snarky, stubborn perspective afterward was a fun contrast. It made the world feel bigger, like I was discovering another corner of it. Either starting point is valid, but the novella is a great low-commitment test.
2026-08-04 10:38:12
4
EmilyFord
Plot Explainer
Receptionist
The beauty of a well-built universe is that every entry point offers a valid perspective. Mercy offers the outsider's view, looking into the werewolf world. Anna offers the insider's view, trapped within its most brutal hierarchy. Charles offers the view from the top, burdened by its rules.
You can start from the outside and work your way in (Mercy, then Anna, then Charles's deeper POV). Or you can start from the heart of the beast and work your way out (A&O, then Mercy). Both are compelling narrative journeys. One is not superior. It's about whether you want to discover the maze from the entrance or be dropped into its center and discover the walls later.
2026-08-05 11:40:17
11
JazzBird
Contributor
Consultant
I think the fear of 'doing it wrong' paralyzes new readers. The community can be intense about perfect order. Ignore us. Pick up the book whose back-cover blurb excites you the most.
Is it 'Moon Called,' with the mechanic and the runaway werewolf? Or is it 'Cry Wolf,' with the Omega and the Marrok's son? Go with your gut. The fact that you're asking means you care about the experience, which means you'll enjoy it no matter what. The connections will click into place as you read more. Trust the author to guide you, even if you start in a different spot than she intended.
2026-08-08 09:32:51
4
HenryKit
Careful Explainer
Doctor
Consider the emotional tone. Mercy's story, while dealing with serious themes, often has more humor and everyday life moments. Alpha and Omega is emotionally denser, darker, and more psychologically intense from page one.
If you need a lighter entry into a fantasy world, Mercy is your gateway. If you're ready to dive into heavy themes of abuse, recovery, and predatory power structures wrapped in a fantasy package, start with A&O. It's not that one is better; they're different emotional journeys. Choose the one that matches your current capacity for angst versus adventure.
2026-08-08 18:54:36
7
View All Answers
Scan code to download App
Related Books
My Brute Alpha (The Alpha and His Omega #1)
Angela Shyna
9.5
54.5K
"Be careful not to miscarry, you worked so hard to mate with me for this child, you better take care of yourself now!" The Alpha's cold angry voice spreads a shiver down Rene's spine.
Born as a recessive omega and a slave, Rene's life has been full of misery and humiliation, what happens when he is forced to become a sex slave to the cold hearted Barbarian, Lyrien, a powerful dominant Alpha whose name strikes terror even to other Alphas?
Lyrien is a savage beast, who hunts and kills for pleasure, he greatly despises the sex slave sent by his enemy to serve him.
Rene is an innocent omega who is caught between the power struggles between Clans and Alphas. In a world ruled by the strong will Rene manage to survive or will he be crushed by his brute master whose cruelty leaves his spirit hanging on a thread?
This is an omegaverse MM Dark romance, containing dark themes, such as abuse, torture, male pregnancy, proceed with caution.
"I slam into him and he screams. A hoarse, broken, beautiful noise bursts out of him as I drive in all at once, a harsh, staking claim. He’s gripping me so tight I can barely breathe. He’s fire. He’s home. He writhes, his hands clawing at the sheets. I force myself to be still, to wait and let him stretch, to let his body take me. I’m buried so deep I feel like I’m touching his soul."
Kieran Arnulf is an Alpha with a target on his back. Inheriting a pack broken by his father’s cruelty, he's determined to rule with mercy rather than fear. But to the vipers on his council, mercy looks a lot like weakness. When a massive, tattooed warrior from the enemy Redmaw pack surrenders at his gates, Kieran makes a controversial choice. He allows the wolf to come inside.
Alexei Basov is dangerous, insolent, and far too attractive for Kieran’s peace of mind. He claims to be a defector with vital intel on an impending war, but he looks at Kieran like a meal he’s dying to devour. He’s a brawler who solves problems with violence, a stark contrast to Kieran’s polished diplomacy.
As assassins strike from the shadows and political tension reaches a breaking point, Kieran is forced to rely on the one man he shouldn’t trust. Alexei appoints himself Kieran’s shadow, protector, and personal tormentor.
But the tension simmering between them is more than just political. Behind closed doors, the power dynamics shift. Kieran discovers that the only place he can truly let go of control is in the arms of the savage wolf who wants to claim him.
"He drags me from wall to table to wall again, like he can’t decide which surface deserves this. Wood bites my spine, the table squeals. His hands are everywhere, rough, greedy, feral. He palms my throat, my jaw, my hips. He fists a hand in my hair and angles my mouth. The kiss is vicious. He grinds me open with it. 'Kneel,' he says. The command is a shove under the skin. My legs fold. It’s humiliating how fast I go and how much I love myself for it."
He owns my mouth. My body. My fucking soul. But I never said he could have my heart.
Eli’s been chained before and it damn near killed him. So when he’s caught running through Blackthorn pack lands by Ronan Vale, the savage Alpha of Blackthorn, he's horrified when the brute marks and claims him.
But Ronan doesn’t just bite. He binds. With ropes, with rules, with a voice that makes Eli's knees go weak and a touch that turns resistance into hunger.
The bond between them is feral. And Eli hates how much he wants it, how much he wants Ronan, even when he has him spread out and shaking, marked and owned, begging to be filled so he’ll stop feeling empty.
Eli swore no one would ever own him again. Then came the Alpha whose bond feels like a brand and a promise all at once.
He hates how much he wants it. Ronan’s voice. Ronan’s hands. Ronan’s brutal, worshipful need.
This isn’t love, it’s obsession. And Eli is afraid that he's starting to like it.
Power. Obsession. Pleasure. Pain.
Behind every Alpha lies a dangerous hunger—and these men don’t ask for permission. They take what they want.
Sinful Alphas is a scorching collection of interconnected dark romance stories featuring dangerously possessive Alphas, forbidden desires, obsessive love, and heroines who find themselves caught between temptation and destruction. From ruthless pack kings and morally gray billionaires to primal mates, secret arrangements, revenge seductions, and enemies who crave each other far too much, every story explores the intoxicating line between dominance and surrender.
These aren’t sweet love stories.
These are tales of obsession so consuming it burns. Passion so addictive it destroys. Desire so sinful it feels dangerous to crave.
Inside this collection, you’ll find:
* Possessive Alpha males
* Enemies-to-lovers tension
* Forced proximity
* Forbidden attraction
* Mates, secrets, betrayal, and obsession
* Explicit spice, emotional chaos, and addictive twists
Some loves save you.
Others ruin you beautifully.
Enter at your own risk.
Alpha Ryan is cursed with a dark hunger that no ritual can cure. For years, witches have kept the savage magic inside him under control until the impossible happens.
Zara, the last surviving Eserai, is betrayed by her family and sold to the Alpha whose bloodline destroyed her kind. Her blood is the only thing powerful enough to keep Ryan sane, making her his most valuable possession.
Zara vows to fight him every step of the way, but the cold and ruthless Alpha is not the monster she expected. As desire and obsession grow between them, Ryan becomes fiercely protective, while Zara struggles against the dangerous bond pulling her closer to the enemy she swore to hate.
But in a world where her blood is priceless and betrayal lurks everywhere, falling for Alpha Ryan may cost Zara far more than her freedom.
As a little girl, Olivia was convinced that supernatural creatures were real. After all, she had met a werewolf in her own backyard. Unfortunately, no one believed her. She lost all of her friends at school for being the weird girl, and her parents were convinced that she was insane. A decade of research and searching went by until she finally found him again. Her mate. The Alpha. When her family hears that she is talking about the existence of supernatural creatures again, they decide that enough is enough. Since going to doctors and therapists didn't work, they decided to send her away to the only place that could help her, and protect their other daughter from Olivia's instability and hallucinations. An asylum. Alpha Gabriel is livid and wants his mate back. When he finds out the love of his life was taken away, he prepares his army to do anything that it would take to get her back. Little does he know that the enemy to his kind runs the facility, feeding off of the patients and keeping them locked up for eternity.
I'm just here for the werewolf politics and the fae machinations. The order I read them in was completely scrambled, and I still followed the politics. It's not that subtle.
The chronological order is king for understanding the overarching plot, especially the massive events in 'Burn Bright' and 'Wild Sign'. Those books have huge crossovers. If you read Mercy's books straight through, you'll hit 'Silence Fallen' and be like, 'Wait, what happened in Montana that everyone's freaking out about?' because that event is detailed in 'Dead Heat'.
Reading them intertwined means you get the cause and effect in real time. It’s a bit more legwork to track, but it turns two good series into one epic saga. The political machinations of the Marrok make so much more sense when you see all the moving parts from every angle.
A lot of people ask this when they finish the Mercy books and want more. The link is the Marrok's pack in Montana. Mercy's stepdad is Bran, the Marrok, and her half-brother is Charles, the lead in Alpha and Omega. So family ties are the big connective tissue. Events in Washington state with Mercy affect Bran's decisions in Montana, and vice versa. The fae conflict that Mercy deals with becomes a continental problem that Charles and Anna can't ignore. I'd recommend reading Mercy first, then Alpha and Omega, because Mercy's series establishes the world. But you could jump into Alpha and Omega after 'Moon Called' if you want a deeper look at the ruling pack. They're two sides of the same coin—one is about an outsider navigating werewolf politics, the other is about insiders maintaining the structure.