Home of the Alpha Showdown, and one-stop shop for urban fantasy, paranormal romance and fantasy news and reviews.
Things are advancing in the Alpha Showdown 2013. We’ve hit the second tier of the event. Winners will start battling winners. Expect the stakes to be raised and the smack talk to increase.
These alphas dominated their earlier competitors without lifting a finger. The Beast Lord Curran trounced Holden and son of Satan Reyes had no trouble conquering the vampire Trehan. How will these formidable men deal with an equal opponent?
Read the pitches, then make the call. Who should advance to the next round in the Alpha Showdown? The poll at the end of this post will be open for two days. Remember, alphas don’t share titles. Your votes decide who advances in the Alpha Showdown 2013.
New for 2013! Every (non-spam) comment on an Alpha Showdown post will enter you to win books featuring the final four alphas. So make sure to join the discussion and cheer on your favorite alphas.
CurranYou know him from: The Kate Daniels series by Ilona Andrews
First appeared in: Magic Bites (VBC review)
Supernatural status: Beast Lord (shifter)
Championed by: Christen from Goldilox and the Three Weres | @Goldilox3Weres
Reyes who? Curran is THE BEAST LORD for heaven’s sake! The king of the shapeshifters! The leader of the Pack! A giant freaking lion! Kitty kitty! Oh wait…forget that last one.
Reyes…..king alpha? Better than all the rest? I don’t think so. He’s not even in corporeal form half the time! Curran would bite off Reyes’ head and spit it out faster than Reyes could pull out that cute little scythe of his. Reyes as the winner of the Alpha Showdown? That’s sweet guys, but quit humoring the poor little hell spawn.
Curran is THE alphaiest Alpha out there. He drips authority (and sexiness…and charm…) all over the place. He commands the respect and adoration of the entire Pack and even though he rules with an iron fist, he still manages to be fair, logical, and compassionate. He is a force to be reckoned with, from the roar to the claws to the battle-tested fighting ability – Curran’s the Lord for a reason.
He’s also an Alpha when it comes to romance. I mean, how can you not vote for the man who brought Kate Daniels to her knees? The man who looked in the face of her snarky ‘kitty kitty’ and demanded she cook him dinner in the buff! Who else can make you dream about killing a dinosaur together and then having sex in the dirt? Who else can you lovingly describe as a psychopathic control freak? Who else demands you call him, “Lord” with all seriousness? Who else will glue your ass to your chair and you will still love him? There. Is. No. Other.
Reyes Schmeyes. Son of Satan? Sure, you’re a little powerful, but THE ALPHA? I think not, Hell Boy. So, we’re in agreement then? Just go ahead and vote for Curran so he can take his rightful place as alpha of this showdown. If you don’t, he will know. And since he is kind of a major badass…you might be in trouble. RAWR.
Reyes FarrowYou know him from: The Charley Davidson Series by Darynda Jones
First appearance is: First Grave on the Right (VBC review)
Supernatural Status: The Son of Satan
Championed by: Jo from Vampire Book Club | @Jo_VBC
I see a lot of vampires, some weres and even a dragon in this year’s Alpha Showdown… but only one son of Satan. That’s right, VBC readers, make way for the one, the only Reyes Farrows.
Born from the heat of supernova, he grew to be the General of Hell, leading thousands of soldiers in countless wars… and he gave it all up for a girl. That’s right, Rey’aziel (he’s name literally means the Beautiful One!) said a big FU to his dad and became Hell’s public enemy No. 1 to spend a mortal lifetime with Charley. He didn’t just turn his back on Hell though, he decided to stand directly in the path of what his father wants most, fighting on the front line to keep Heaven and Earth safe.
Inhumanly fast, bordering on indestructible and with an immeasurable IQ, he can take just about anything on. He can fight in his corporeal and incorporeal forms AT THE SAME TIME (yep, he can be in two places at once). When corporeal he’ll use that lethal body to take you out, but when incorporeal he’ll severe your spine without so much as a mark. He’s literally badass enough to scare the dead.
But it isn’t just all about the fighting, oh no. He can be compassionate and kind, he loves with his whole heart and would die in a heartbeat for those he holds close. He’s always willing to make himself look like the bad guy (or in some cases to actually be the bad guy) in order to protect someone else. His Alpha energy may intimidate people on an instinctual level, but for those who truly know him, he inspires unwavering loyalty.
Oh and he does all this looking like tattooed sex on legs, rendering most women speechless when he walks in a room.
Ultimate Alpha = Reyes Farrows. ‘Nough said.
This poll will be open for 48 hours. Alpha with the most votes will advance.
To be fair, I haven’t read about Reyes… but I gotta love Curran. He’s badass and sexy and realistic (complete with irritating parts, because real guys come with them), and I’m old enough that, even though they can be fun in the abstract, I find NO TATTOOS to be sexy. 🙂
I just love that two of my very favourite fictional male heroes do have such an awsome response in fighting for alpha position. I love all the comments too.
It such a tough decision but this time my vote goes to Reyes.
Nah. Reyas can’t be an alpha! He is too much a loner!
Curran please!!!
I haven’t actually read Reyes, but Curran is freaking epic. He would trump over anyone else any day!
This one was really tough! But Ilona Andrews has provided a bribe, so I voted for Curran.
Darynda has also offered a bribe – a short in Reyes’ POV.
Curran is the ultimate alpha! And it has nothing to do with beig sexy, any scumbag can do sexy.
Here is why Curran is THE ALPHA:
– He takes responsibility
– He created something big and valuable for many people – the pack, where shifters cooperate inspite of their differences and where the weaker parties are protected from abuse done by the stronger parties – by the pack law and Currans iron fist
– He is the first and the last line of defence for 1500 of people, and somehow managed to retain a sense of humor
– He has real authority, and does not have to prove anything to anyone, yet he never walks away from any challenge
– He is able to acknowledge that someone can be smarter than the great himself
– And yes – he reads real, with all the alpha male infuriating bits and pieces
Extremely well put. What’s not to like?
Curran is the definite winner as the alpha. He’s fierce, loyal, protective, and able to use his mind for the political savvy to keep his people safe. He rules over a horde of people on the edge of becoming rampaging killers without morals and manages to keep them safe. He is willing to sacrifice himself to achieve that. How can you possibly not see him as the Alpha?
It has to be Curran 🙂
Not only is he fit and sexy, but he has taken on responsibilities above and beyond.
Curran 🙂
Curran, with out a doubt.
Is there any doubt? Curran is my choice.
Curran all the way! He is the ultimate alpha. He killed a werebear when he was only 15 and took over the pack and has gotten stronger and stronger over the years. The shapeshifters flock to him. He is the ultimate ruler.
Curran, only Curran
Curran! Absolutely no question. And I totally agree with what UFFan said so well.
I just refreshed the page a few times and every single time there was like 10 more votes for Reyes. Over and over. And over. That smells of cheating. It only takes 2 seconds for the page to reload. I don’t like it. What’s the point of wining if you have to cheat?
Reyes has jumped HUNDREDS of votes in about 5 minutes. Obvious cheating is obvious, but I guess that’s the only way he could possibly win and those particular cheating fans know that.
Actually, we have firm anti-gaming rules in place. It’s not unusual at all to see big jumps like that during the Alpha Showdown (Ryodan and Christian had similar ones in earlier rounds, and Curran had a jump like that yesterday.) Typically big jumps are due to links being shared on big fan sites, the author’s blog or Facebook and the like.
I promise, I’m keeping an eye on everything on the back-end to keep it all legit.
Curran all the way! He doesn’t pose as an Alpha. He IS the Alpha, not just because he has the strength, but because he works his a$$ off doing everything in the job description as alpha. It’s not the pose, it’s the performance at the job which marks the difference for me!
How in the heck is Curren not winning?
I would not call people cheaters the better man is winning! I didn’t see anyone calling Curren fan cheaters yesterday when he was winning!
Yes. No one is cheating. Just loyal fans showing some love!
I love how close this one is! …and I encourage both sides to check out the others’ books, because both series have such strong followings for a reason. 😀
I total agree this is fun to watch! I will check out the other book with all the fan I can see why this is a close one!
Definitely Curran. The Alpha.
Isn’t this what these competitions are for? To get us all talking about these awesome series? It’s amazing to see the fans coming out in droves.
Absolutely! That’s my favorite part about the Alpha Showdown each year: Seeing everyone find new books, authors and characters to love.
You come to support your favorites, but discover new books to love in the process.
Ok first off i haven’t read the Darynda Jones books but they are on my list to read now as i always like to read about a woman who can kick ass. However I doubt Reyes Is more Alpha then Curran, come on Curran is The Godslayer to name one of his nicknames, like was said before over 1500 shifters look to him for leadership and in spite of that he hasn’t let the power go to his head, he even has a sence of humor though it is strange he is after all a cat and cats are strange. He will fight for what he believes in and do whatever he can for the wellbeing of his people, how much more Alpha can you get? Now shall we talk about Kate? Shes no pushover yet in spite of that Curran managed to win her lock stock and barrel not the easiest thing to do inspite of his hotness. Curran is the ultimate Alpha he doesn’t need to become one he is it, it is part of him on a primal level, i could go on for a while but i wont, Curran is the one true Alpha.
Curran wins hands down — but if you were counting KATE among the Alphas, well … another story.
(And where is the contest for best BETA? Andrea needs some recognition as well…)
This was a tough one. As of now, I haven’t seen much of Reyes’ alpha-ness. Yes, he’s hot and I LOVE him as a character but considering the category, Curran is a natural choice for Alpha. Plus I know a lot more about Curran than I do about Reyes *shrug* Love them both to bits, but you just can’t beat Curran for Alpha, no matter WHO your father is 😉
Errmagerd! This is so freakin’ close XD
While Ive never read about Reyes, I still can’t believe he could be hotter or more badass than Curran.
Curran, Curran, Curan!
Curran. He was practically comatose for days, woke up, scared the crap out of a werewolf within the first 3 minutes, drank some soup, then proceeded to cow all of the alpha shifters. So Curran.
Curran roars ….HE ROARS!
Beat that Hellboy.
Curran all the way!!!
Curran!!!!
I’ve read thousands of books (seriously), and the Kate Daniels series is one of my favorites. A large part of that is the relationship between Kate and Curran. Kate without Curran would still be a good story, but Kate with Curran brings the series to a new level of awesome!
Reyes is a bad-a**. Curran is THE Aplha.
Curran is a First. He lost everything and then built the Atlanta pack into a cohesive, post-shift unit unit so strong that Roland himself sensed their threat and tried to eliminate them (and #FAILed). Curran is both respected and feared. He’s just, which is is a feat for someone who can be a tad arrogant.
He’s hot, nearly fearless, driven to protect, and has a wicked sense of humour. He also creates metal free-art form that begs for a sound track. What’s not to love and acknowledge?
I love Curran!!
This is a tough one because I live then both. However, Reyes used Charley as bait to get to his step father which led Charley to be tortured. So while I love them both, Curran is the ultimate Alpha, he would not use Kate or anyone from his pack for that matter to get to anyone. He woul put himself in danger first, such as the ultimate alpha should. So it this showdown I gotta go with Curran.
Love Curran! He’s the best.
I love them both, but I chose CURRAN.
Curran, no doubt!
Curran is the only option for me.
Oh boy, tough call as I have been reading each of these series. But as far as who the ALPHA is? That has to go to Curran. Being Alpha implies that you have followers. Reyes doesn’t. Curran is Alpha of even the Alphas. You just can’t get any more Alpha than that.
Curran can beat Reyes anytime! He’s a god killer for pete’s sake.
Curran is #1 Alpha.
Reyes is hundreds and hundreds years old, ok he’s powerfull.
Curran killed one of his family’s murderer at age 12 , killed a were-kodiak gone loup at age 15. He became Alpha at age 15. Imagine what Curran would be like at Reyes’s age…
Curran is the ultimate Alpha.
Curran must win. Happiness will ensue. That is all.
Definitely Curran
Curran, definitely Curran. I don’t know Reyes, but I’ve never read any character that screams Alpha more than Curran (and I have read a LOT!)
Wow, so close! I still prefer Curran over Reyes for the show down. I typically like vampires over shape-shifters, but Curran has intellectually as well as “emotionally”.
Curran is definitely a very good example when defining “Alpha”!
I’m a Curran girl, but I have to say, what a wonderfull final round it would have been …
Wow, what awesome guys those two men are !!!!!
alpha = leader of a pack
Reyes is powerful but not a leader
Curran is powerful and a leader
therefore Curran is Alpha
(sorry, stuck in math mode, heeheehee …)