Death of an alpha

I just have had the thought a few times that it would really throw an interesting new slant on the whole series if Lucas Hunter was killed/died. Now that Sasha has a baby she will not die if he dies but will live for her child and of course the new arc could be the successor - Kit perhaps?? This is set to become a long running series and to avoid complacancy/boredom Nalini will have to do something major in the next couple of books to throw her readers off balance??

I'm sorry, I love Lucas and don't want to lose him but I want to be shocked out of my familiarity with Nalini's writing more.

Whoa, slow down.
Why can`t it be Hawke to die.
I am so terrible, but still like Lucas better. Sorry, Hawke.

Just because I haven't read KOS yet......so he can't die until I've read it!!! lol Either alpha would be acceptable but their mates have to have something else to live for because one cannot live without the other........so Sienna will have to have a baby too!!

I don't really know where I stand on this. I agree that there need to be deaths on the "good side" to make the series, i don't know, more realistic. I mean, you can't have a war going on and miraculously not lose any sentinels/lieutenants. Somebody's got to die. However, Nalini Singh would have to do it very carefully - killing for the sake of just making the plot exciting feels like a rip-off...

I'm more of a Lucas-fan than a Hawke-fan, so I'd be on the "kill Hawke" team. *Feels guilty*

I agree but i think that if she is going to kill people on the good side it should be secondary characters who either already have an HEA that was not a book, or are secondary characters that we attached to but dont have their HEA's yet.
I think maybe she could kill off Riaz, or some of the main older characters that we have learned about like cian or his keelie. But then i also think that the good side really has lost a lot of people already, granted not any main charaters such as some of the characters parents, or siblings have been killed.
But it think also that nalini loves hers characters so much that she wouldnt kill them if they are one of the characters that has gotten their own book!!??

I didn't mean killing for the sake of making the series exciting but that in the environment they are in at the moment and with the alpha's targeted it seems it might happen and also a lot of beautiful love stories involve death of one of the couples - it almost makes the love infinite instead of the length of the couple's relationship. A quote I heard recently is that 'grief is the price we pay for love'. It is that quote which made me consider what would happen if an alpha were to die. I think it HAS to be an alpha or someone very senior BECAUSE I think Nalini loves them and will want them all to have a HEA, all the best books I have ever read have 'thrown' me with the writer's bravery and I would be even more respectful of Nalini if she were brave enough to challenge us as readers.

Haha. I'm in a foul mood, so let's just kill them all.

Patricia wrote:Haha. I'm in a foul mood, so let's just kill them all.

LOL Patricia, you are so funny!! Really, Hawke or Lucas?????

I'm wondering myself. I don't see Nalini killing one of them, but the truth is, if she doesn't sacrifice one of the beloved characters (as long as it's not Judd..), the books won't be as appealing anymore. For starters, because it IS war. And with war comes loss.
The scenarios are horrible, because we (mostly) love the characters.. But the possibilities. Woa.

I don't know, I didn't like Lucas that much, but right now I'm not liking Hawke either. However Lucas has a baby now and his pack is not as strong as the SD's.

The question'd be what you want to happen. If Lucas dies, well DR would have huge problems. Sascha might die from grief or just keep herself alive for the baby. Baby wouldn't have a father and therefor the other Changelngs could be overprotective... Blah, blah.
If Hawke dies, SD would mourn, too, but there are more lieutnants and they have been quite powerfull for a long time. They are more stable. BUT Sienna might .. well, she might go all X-Psy.

So, let's just kill Vaughn. One step at a time, right?

(Why am I being so evil today? xD)

Nalini once answered on the question if Vasic would get his own book, that it depends on if he survives the first arc. Ok, with KoS the first arc is finished, but I'm still anxious that Nalini could kill him.

I think she might kill Anthony or Nikita and most definitely some Arrows.
For the Changelings...if one alpha has to die, I vote for Hawke. Lucas is a daddy now, and I'm against dying daddies.

She best not kill Vasic, Aden, Judd, Kaleb, Dorian or Vaughn in the next lot of books.

I don't actually see her killing off any characters after having read KoS

I LOVE Lucas but he seems to obvious choice as Nalini has been introducing us to Kit as the next Alpha in line for a while now. It wouldn't be such a shock for him to become the next Alpha. Sascha has the baby to love and she has yet to understand her own potentially incredible powers and it might just take Lucas's death and the devastating emotions that will incur for her to truly understand them - also it might make for a Sascha/Nikita bonding session that will make N seems less of an ice cold bitch. Sascha could be the first female Alpha - I would like that as ALL the women in these books play second fiddle to a man!!! Lucas's death would also cross the emotive boundary between psy and the changelings unlike any other???

I know this is a little bit off-topic but this question was crossing my mind several times: could two alphas mate each other? Would it be like with Mercy and Riley or would it just not happen because both would be to dedicated to their packs that a mating bond would never stand a chance to kick in? I need to ask Nalini at the next Q&A. What do you think?

I can actually visualize the death of Nate...it is not something that I want, but I can see it...he is getting a bit too old and his refelxes are a just that hair slower compared to the others, which could mean everything in the thick of it.

Hmm I could see Nalini killing off either Lucas or Nate in the future

So bloodthirsty. First, I've got to chime in that I adore Hawke so there can be no killing Hawke (or Sienna, for that matter since she makes him happy). But I can understand how if one major character dies it would change the tenor of the series.

I think Kit would be a wonderful alpha at least 10 years down the line (he's been coddled and hasn't faced the leadership issue in his teens as did Lucas and Hawke). Unless Luc dies early, he can still lead for a good 20 years or so (at time of KoS, Luc's age would be 35) if he remains strong and healthy. Maybe as someone else has mentioned, Kit is alpha material for a neighboring cat group - a mid-sized one that's allied with DR...

Serena wrote:
I know this is a little bit off-topic but this question was crossing my mind several times: could two alphas mate each other? Would it be like with Mercy and Riley or would it just not happen because both would be to dedicated to their packs that a mating bond would never stand a chance to kick in? I need to ask Nalini at the next Q&A. What do you think?

I am thinking because of the 'net' situation their packs would have to merge also and that would mean back to one alpha so one would have to 'submit' to the other for this to happen so that sort of cancels out that theory. So..........I don't think so - the whole basis of an alpha is that he is 'top dog' and by his/her very nature she couldn't be subservient.

Mmmmm, Nate - interesting but is he a central enough character for his death to have a profound effect on DR????

Lol, we are all awful, killing off all these poor defenseless changelings.

I can definitely see some SnowDancer lieutenants kicking the bucket. Readers know them enough to care but they are unknown enough that readers won't go into convulsions if they died. Jem or Kenji dying would be dramatic. Maybe Riaz.

As for characters who've had books... I would not cry if Indigo were killed. She annoys me. I'd feel sorry for Drew, though...

But when it comes to alphas dying I am still in camp "Kill Hawke If You Have To Kill Anyone" despite the fact that the series would end due to Sienna blowing up or something.

Mmmmm, Nate - interesting but is he a central enough character for his death to have a profound effect on DR????

I think he might be. Also, Tammy would be devastated. She's so integral to the pack that I think his death would affect DR trough her the most.

I agree that Kit could become an alpha of another pack. I'm secretly hopeful the the youngsters who are friends in the two packs will form their own pack lead by KIt.

tabitha wrote:I agree that Kit could become an alpha of another pack. I'm secretly hopeful the the youngsters who are friends in the two packs will form their own pack lead by KIt.

Hi Tabitha, do you mean a wolf/leopard pack - of established inter-changelings??? Interesting...although I like the dynamics of the character traits of each species and if this started being diluted I think the whole basis of the central story would change so much - I'm not sure I could deal with it. Food for thought though.............

Yes, a wolf/leopard pack is exactly what I mean, after all the packs are already mixed race as they have psy and human members.
Riley & Mercy have paired up and the two packs are able to work as one.
It would make sense and explain why so many strong young characters have been introduced (Kit and Tai's age group) if this were to happen in the future.

I don't think two Alphas could mate. Just look at how the two nets (SD and DR) won't .. merge. I don't see how it'd work.. Probably there would be a way, if Nalini wanted it, but till now.. Don't think so. :/

She won't kill Lucas, I guess. Neither will she kill anyone else she has already written about. Just don't see it happening.

What a blood-thirsty bunch you are! I have to say that I absolutely don't want Nalini to kill off an alpha! I used to read the Scarpetta novels but stopped after Cornwell started killing her husband and lovers...though somebody told me later on that they weren't dead at all and reapeared in later books.
Let's not be kidding, reading Romance novels is kind of an escape from real life (at least for me), so I want to feel good when I finish a book. Therefore the most I could live with would be Nalini killing maybe one of the other major (or secondary) characters like Nikita or one of the arrows.
I mean just imagine if Drew was dead (as he could well be seeing as he was shot through the heart twice? or was he gut shot the second time?) or Katya came pretty close to dying, too, so Nalini could have gone that road, but where would that have lelft Dev? and us?