by Various Authors
Rating: ⭐2.5/5⭐
Omegas, beware.
If these alphas catch your scent, they’ll show you no mercy.
You won’t find soft or sweet in this collection of dark and gritty omegaverse romances. The alphas in these stories give it hard and rough, just the way you crave.
Are you scared of the dark? Because it’s going to claim you. Whether you like it or not.
The Claimed by the Dark Anthology contains ten omegaverse stories by some of your favorite authors:
- Jo Brenner
- Miranda May
- SC Morrison
- Rachel Callahan
- Mona Black
- Leann Ryans
- Kitt Lynn
- Sierra Cassidy
- Stephanie Swann
- Cassie Lein & Bre Rose
- Honor St. Jean
These omegaverse stories are dark and spicy. Please check the content notes before each story.
For a LIMITED TIME this anthology is free to download. I don’t know how much longer it’ll be available, so if you’re interested, I’d encourage you to go get your copy or if the link’s already dead, DM me on IG and I’ll see if I can get you a copy.
Table of Contents
- A Murderous Omega by Honor St. James
- I Hope They Serve Dick in Hell by Jo Brenner
- A Knotty Choice by Leann Ryans
- High Stakes Heat by Sierra Cassidy
- Rogue Alphas by SC Morrison
- Travis and the Sun Beams by Mona Black
- Hers to Take by Stephanie Swann
- Theirs by Miranda May
- Falling to Pieces by Rachel Callahan
- A Good Mate by Kitt Lynn
- Entangled Beta by Cassie Lein & Bre Rose
Before we begin, a small disclaimer: all these stories are VERY sexual and VERY explicit. The heat level is just a reflection of how much I vibed—or didn’t vibe—with how each author tackled them. It’s completely subjective. 🔥 represent a full point, and 🌶️ a half point.
I’ll be reviewing and updating as I read.
Reviews
A Murderous Omega by Honor St. James
Read: March 26th, 2024.
Rating: 3.5 ⭐
Heat level: 🔥🔥🔥🔥
I’ve spent my life hunting and murdering, leaving my gruesome kills as warnings to alphas who’d abuse omegas.
Until two alphas turn the tables on me. They stalk me, kidnap me, then use my omega instincts against me until I melt for them, my mind screaming in horror as my body gives into their touch.
Every time I escape, they catch me, punish me, and draw me into their web of pain and pleasure. When I discover I crave the hunt as much as my independence, I have to decide which matters most—our love or my freedom.
Well, this anthology certainly opened things with a bang.
What type of con—as in “consensual”—is it when body and instincts say yes but head says no? It’s more towards dub-con than non-con I’d say? I don’t know.
Emile and Conor, the alphas, were kinda unhinged, but so was our completely badass omega, Lark, so things worked out LOL
This one was told in multiple POVs and our male characters were 100% obsessed with their leading lady. It was satisfying to see them put in the work and wear her down until she was ready to face and overcome the trauma and PTSD that had set her on her murderous path, and finally accept their affection. It was cute and hot. I enjoyed it.
I Hope They Serve Dick in Hell by Jo Brenner
Read: March 26th, 2024.
Rating: 2.5⭐
Heat level: 🔥🔥🔥
For the past seven years, I’ve been locked up in Hell, the maximum-security prison for deviant omegas. The guards have tortured us, forced heats on us, raped us… all in the name of re-educating us. I refuse to spend the rest of my life here, but to escape, I’ll need the help from someone on the inside…
…And who better to offer that help than the three new alpha guards who smell disturbingly like sex and home and only have eyes for me? I strike a deal with them: They get my body and complete submission for one night, and I get the hell out of here. The plan’s foolproof… as long as I ignore the way my body, heart and soul crave to be claimed by them…
These alphas are my only chance at freedom. But will they also be my downfall?
This one was kinda “meh”. It was told from Emma’s, the omega, POV. Dialogue was a bit cringe at times, giving “tell” instead of “show” vibes.
The story felt rushed and very surface level in a “don’t think to hard about it” way, but having three alphas—Liam, Owen and Alec—at least made for some good spicy scenes.
A Knotty Choice by Leann Ryans
Read: March 26th to 27th, 2024.
Rating: 3⭐
Heat level: 🔥🔥🔥
Finding your boyfriend in bed with a beta is a hell of a blow to your self-esteem. What’s an omega to do but flirt with the next alpha who comes along?
Turned out that alpha was looking for a waitress to work an upcoming party, and offering a ton of money to do it. As in, I could pay my rent and still have some left.
I couldn’t say no to that!
I guess for that amount I should have realized I’d be on the menu as well. I had to make a Knotty Choice, but I didn’t regret it.
This third story was told in dual POV, by our waitress omega, Sharon, and greek mafia carpenter (?), Alexandros.
Personally, I like my omegaverse to be of the reverse harem variety, but it didn’t take points away for that. What I found sort of cringe about A Knotty Choice was how very manipulative and unremorseful about it Alex was. At least, the alphas from the first story, A Murderous Omega, ultimately felt guilty when their overzealousness ended up hurting their omega.
Alex had no such feelings. He came off as very misogynistic, in a way that was more unsexy and red flag-y, than anything else.
It had one scene I found particularly hot, and was overall a LOT less bloody and murder-y than the previous couple of stories.
High Stakes Heat by Sierra Cassidy
Read: March 27th to 28th, 2024.
Rating: 2⭐
Heat level: 🔥🔥🌶️
Isabella Cafaro’s family played a dangerous game and lost. Crossing Bianca Gallo is a death sentence, but Enzo Bonetti has a better idea in mind to punish the last Cafaro standing: a primal hunt.
Hunting down Isabella and giving ownership of the pretty omega to the last alpha in possession of her when the timer goes off siuts Enzo’s plan perfectly.
The omega with fire in her eyes will be his at any cost.
Right off the bat, this one didn’t start on the right foot. From the very first chapter, the writing was awful. It was pretty much all dialogue which made it feel so, so dry. Where were the descriptors? Where was the emotion?? Where was the personality??? There was un overwhelming lack of details.
Then, halfway through the hunt was over and done with, and we seemingly tumbled into pointless filler that accomplished nothing except to make me feel like this story was overstaying its welcome. There’s something to be said about knowing when to end a story, and for this one, the hunt should have been it. Instead, it dragged along for a bunch more chapters, only to then end in a very abrupt, frankly awful way.
For a story told in dual POV, I could not tell you for the life of me how either Izzy or Enzo even looked, that’s how little descriptions there were. The whole time it felt like the dialogue was talking at me, instead of being the bridge of communication between the characters. It was used too much for the purpose of exposition.
Also, the sequence of events felt very brusque and stuttery in the way things took place. It was like we were constantly jumping from one thing to the next with little to no explanation or connecting thread. It was, truly, a dreadful reading experience all around.
Rogue Alphas by SC Morrison
Read: March 28th to 29th, 2024.
Rating: 4⭐
Heat level: 🔥🔥🔥🌶️
On the knife’s edge of becoming a gold pack omega—an outcast—Katja was on the run from a fate worse than death.
Dragged from her life on the streets by a pack of criminals, she knew her luck had gone from bad to worse.
They’re feral alphas, monsters who won’t hesitate to use her for their own ends.
But she was no stranger to nightmares. Cornered like a cat, and out of options, this dead end could be her last chance at freedom.
Found a winner!
The alphas in this one were A LOT less red flag-y and psycho than in previous stories. Bastian, Magnus, Aiden, Devin and Theo had some darkness and rough edges to them, but they were considerably much less misogynistic and violent towards Katja, the lone female character and omega.
The story was great. There was actual plot to be found and the whole point of it wasn’t to just set things up in preparations for the smut like with most of the previous stories—perhaps because it is meant to be a prequel.
Loved Bastian and the twins—Devin and Aiden—and even if the other two alphas didn’t have much of a role as of yet, I can kinda see where they’ll fit in in a larger story. And Katja also seems like a complex character, with a rough back story, much like the guys, that’ll get more interesting as she gets better developed.
The names got mixed up a couple of times: Bastian became Bastion and Aiden, Adrian, but other than that, the writing was very solid.
A significantly more chill story with much nicer, much more considerate guys. And an exciting first peek at a tale that looks like it’ll be a lot of fun.
Travis and the Sunbeams by Mona Black
Read: March 29th, 2024.
Rating: 3⭐
Heat level: 🔥🔥
I am a fucking a-hole.
I know it. I own it. I deserve every bad thing that’s ever happened to me. I fucked up—my family, my life—and found myself on the streets, running away.
Hiding from everyone.
Hiding from myself.
Until Avery and Liam find me and take me into their home. The two sunbeams shining a light through my life.
And now everything seems different, only that’s an illusion. It’s too late for second chances, right? Too late for me.
I’m a violent alpha, a beast, and there’s no place for me in society.
In a pack.
In a family.
I should make for the hills, find a whole, and disappear.
But then why does the thought of them keep dragging me back?
Eh, this one was fine.
The least dark, bloody and violent by far.
It was all about Travis’ trauma and baggage born of his father psychological and physical abuse. Relying more on the emotional aspects of everything than anything else. This story was all about the feels.
Honestly, it wasn’t bad by any means, but it did feel a little like the odd one out. Also, if you were to take out the pack talk, it could have been a run of the mill menage.
Hers to Take by Stephanie Swann
Read: March 29th to 30th, 2024.
Rating: 1⭐
Heat level: 🔥
When Elle’s heat striked, she wanders into the forest to escape her relentless pursuer.
Stumbling upon a cabin in the woods, she is welcomed inside by two gorgeous alphas. As they take care of her, her stalker returns, demanding they hand her over.
When they refuse, she is thrust into a precrious situation.
I’m not typically a hater, but oh, my god, does this story need to burn in the pit of the worst things ever written. It was pretty much a collage of sex scenes with nothing of worth in between them.
There’s no other way to describe it except to say that I absolutely hated it with a burning passion.
The writing was absolutely awful. It was all exposition, and full of bad continuity (like, the events didn’t match up with the timeline presented). The dialogue was cringe and things kept coming out of nowhere. For example, at one point Elle, the FMC was on a bed, only to be sitting in a chair in the next paragraph. Or she was wearing a nightgown to run through the woods? In a place where it’s supposed to snow enough so that people can get snowed it? Or Theo, one of the alphas, switched from wearing sweats to jeans in the same scene? Or take Emmett, the other alpha, disappearing in the middle of the snowstorm, no mention of where he’d gone, only to suddenly show back up the next morning. Nothing made sense. Also, the miniscule crumbs of plot there where, were frankly terrible. This felt like a bottom of the barrel idea.
Then, I got told impotence and infertility are apparently the same thing. THEY’RE NOT THE SAME FUCKING THING!! I’VE JUST READ A BUNCH SEX SCENES BACK TO BACK OF THIS SUPPOSEDLY IMPOTENT MAN HAVING SEXUAL INTERCOURSE WITH THE FEMALE CHARACTER! HOW THE FUCK DID HE MANAGE THAT IF HE WAS SUPPOSED TO BE IMPOTENT?! OH, MY GOOOOOOOOD!!!!! ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME????!!!!
And to top everything off, after this story had long overstayed its welcome, then the mood went to shit. We went from this not-really-impotent guy crying about his infertility and inability to sire children, to everyone delighting in torture and murder and Elle gleefully making “snow” angels in spilt blood.
It sucked. I hated every second of it. Someone please find me some brain bleach so I can forget I ever wasted my time on this.
Theirs by Miranda May
Read: March 31st, 2024.
Rating: 2⭐
Heat level: 🔥🔥
In a world where omegas are nothing more than property, all we can do is survive.
With the threat of being sold at every turn, Cian and I try our best not to rock the boat. Working at Knotty Secrets isn’t the worst place we can end up. All we have to do is make it until we’re too old to perform. Then, we’ll finally be free—or at least as free as any omega can be.
When the owner comes to tell us that we’ve been sold, we have no idea what we’re walking into. Pack Donovan isn’t like any other I’ve ever met, but I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad. All we can do is hunker down and hope for the best.
After all, we’re theirs now.
This was the story where I realised this whole time the margins haven’t been justified. How the fuck did I not notice sooner? Even with this blog that no one reads I take care to make sure the margins are justified so things look clean and well put together.
This was the first, and only story, that featured a male omega and a beta being a member of the pack, so points for originality there. Also, there wasn’t too much smut, and as for the blood and violence, this one was middle of the range.
But, last year, my lone DNF of everything I read was a book by Miranda May, because I simply could not with her writing style, and this story confirmed that Knot My Reality wasn’t a one off. Everything was told instead of shown, particularly using dialogue (which just made the whole thing worse), and to me, that just comes down to bad writing. There was no subtlety, no finesse, everything was heavy-handed in the way all the plot points were, routinely and more than once, verbalized by the characters. And then we ended in a super abrupt ending.
Falling to Pieces by Rachel Callahan
Read: March 31st to April 1st, 2024.
Rating: 5⭐
Heat level: 🔥🔥🔥🔥
They want us to believe that omegas are revered, that they’re cherished, but I’ve seen the darkest dephts of this world and I won’t fall for their lies again.
Our fates are concealed until the moment we turn nineteen, and when the change hits, it reveals whether we’ll rule, be forgotten or be trapped in a gilded cage. For most, being one of the rare omegas is a dream come true, but being tossed between foster homes for most of my life taught me that not all is what it seems.
There’s a bright spot amidst the bleakness this world offers—Theo. I know he’ll keep me safe, even if that means harboring me from those who’ll seek to cage me. But can I escape the danger lurking around my own home, or will the darkness threaten to break me to pieces?
I fucking LOVED this one to pieces! It was so fluffy and cute! I can’t.
No, but like, for real. What was this fluff fest even doing here? I mean, it did have it dark plot point, but it was just so adorable and sweet!
I loved Maddy, I loved Theo and they were the cutest together. As a prequel, it was a marvelous introduction to their story. I’m already invested and so intrigued to know what will happen to them now. Will there be more scent matches? How will the addition of new people into their pack of two affect their relationship? Will the looming threat of this so called Consortium taking Madison away actually come to pass? Will her alphas then have to rescue her when the evil powers that be try to pawn her off on other people? I’m getting dystopian vibes, and my anticipation is already bubbling LOL
In any case, I really loved Rachel’s writing style, so if nothing else, at least this anthology introduced me to a new author. I’m excited to dive into her other works.
A Good Mate by Kitt Lynn
Read: April 1st, 2024.
Rating: 3⭐
Heat level: 🔥🌶️
I’ve been on the run for a little over a year now.
Chased. Hunted. Abused.
They say it’s impossible for an omega to live with an alpha by her side, but I’m determined to try. I just have to get through my heat, then I can cut this asshole’s throat and be on my way.
I liked the dystopian vibes of the world setting described. The way Dion, the alpha, manipulated and gaslit Ava, the omega? Not so much. Also I was SO creeped out by how he kept bringing up her age and how young she was. It felt uncomfortably predatory and not in a “animal instincts” kind of way, but in a disgusting old-man-attracted-to-minors way.
Honestly, I wish she’d killed him.
Entangled Beta by Cassie Lein & Bre Rose
Read: April 1st to 2nd, 2024.
Rating: 2.5⭐
Heat level: 🔥🔥
It took one moment to ignite something inside of me. Something dark and demented. It’s going to change the trajectory of my life. Whether that’s good or bad… I guess we’ll find out.
I want vengeance for my BFF. On my journey, I meet a stranger who wants his own vengeance. He and my alpha have something in common… more like someone. And it’s not me.
What happens when another moment changes everything?
This time I’m pretty sure it’s ruining everything. Ruining me.
After all, I’m only a beta and now I’m in a tangled web. One filled with horrors and lies.
When the dust settles, who will be left standing?
First of all, ew. But more on that in a bit.
I don’t think this was the right type of story to submit for an anthology. Reading this felt like cracking a random book open in the middle and picking up the story from that point. I had no fucking idea what the hell was going on or who all the people being mentioned (and there was no shortage of them) even were. I was super lost and confused, and it that did not make for a smooth or pleasant reading experiance.
And then, came the cannibalism, which as I’ve said, ew. Disgusting.
What should I read next?
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