More like 3.5 really. 
 As I was reading Alpha, this song's lyrics came to mind: 
 I would march across the desert to defeat my enemy 
 And I would lie here in the trenches with your picture next to me 
 And when I told you it's forever, then it's how its gonna be 
 Don't, won't let him just take the place of me (No..) 
 Does he really know you like I know you, all the little things? 
 Does he really love you, like I love you, how can he compete? 
 If he makes me fight for you, die for you, would he do the same? 
 This is turning into way more than a game.. 
 Now it feels like soldiers in a war and none of us are backing down 
 And I will show you victory is mine before we leave this battleground 
 Cause he don't wanna leave, and I don't wanna go 
 And I know just how this battle goes 
 He don't wanna leave and I don't wanna fight this kind of war 
 You know he's not the man you think he is; he's hiding all his flaws 
 So tell me what's the point of fighting? 
 Because we'll all end up with scars 
 But girl if that's what I must go through, then I'm not prepared to lose Cause I've already bled so much for you (No..) 
 "War" -- Jay Sean 
 The lyrics to "Lights Off" and "Stuck in the Middle" work for the so-called love triangle too. 
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 All the hope I had for this series materialized in this book, with Faythe finally standing on her own as a strong female leader. However, the "love triangle" is what downgraded this final installment of the Shifters series to a 3.5 rather than a 5. Let me get something straight first: it isn't even a love triangle -- it's a triangle of selfishness, cheating, and shame. After reading Book 5, Shift, I thought I would give up on the series altogether. There's the low of sleeping with another man while the man you profess to love and can't live without is missing and presumed dead...seriously, tell me how on earth that makes sense. Then there was the REAL new low of Faythe kissing Jace and then less than 5 minutes later, having sex with Marc in the shower...that is, the shower she took to wash off the signs of her "indiscretion" with Jace (her words, not mine). 
 After a rocky initial start in the first book, which was basically an inferior copy of Kelley Armstrong's Bitten, the series kept improving. The romance, however, just kept getting worse. Even with Faythe's ultimate choice, (view spoiler)[her realization that she "couldn't live without" Marc was abrupt and kind of ridiculous. Here is a man who has been thoroughly emasculated by Faythe...it wasn't that he took her back after she walked out on him before their marriage, her constant rejection of him (while remaining perfectly happy to use him as her convenient lover), or any of that. All of the issues brought up by Faythe's betrayal were essentially swept under the rug: 1. she cheated on him 2. she didn't own up to it and 3. she continued cheating on him with Jace every time his back was turned. Please, I don't buy that she was sooooo lonely from not being touched by Marc that she is justified in getting together with Jace in every way short of actually sleeping with him again. At the end, when Faythe gave her speech about never sleeping with or wanting anyone else, I almost choked on the hypocrisy. (hide spoiler)] 
 Overall, I understand that the fast-paced plot took away time to sort out some of the emotional complexities that are consequences of cheating, but I think Vincent could have done Faythe, Marc, and Jace all more justice with regard to their emotional maturity and willingness to take responsibility for their own choices--especially Jace. He got called out once in the book, for sleeping with his friend's long-term girlfriend while said friend was missing/hurt/presumed dead. I don't really care how in love he is, that's reprehensible. Jace telling Faythe that they haven't really done anything wrong other than keep it from Marc was the moment when I realized why, no matter how hard I tried to like him too, I couldn't. AT ALL. 
 Jace's character essentially embodied the kind of thinking where "if she loves me and I love her, we are justified in anything we do, no matter who else we hurt." Case in point: he spends most of this book immaturely needling Marc, even though Marc is 100% the wronged party. Sure, it might be his emerging alpha instincts, but for goodness' sake, I fail to understand how he can be a sympathetic character. 
 Anyway, I've read Vincent's new series and like her work very much, so I'm just relieved she doesn't seem like an author to make a habit of writing about cheating and then using a "miracle fix" so her characters can remain together.