The story opens with Wolf as a twelve year old boy called Ze'ev, or Z for short, being taken from his home by the queen's thaumaturge to join her bonkers army of wolf-man hybrids and then goes through his training in the army.
I really liked this installment of the short stories. It was very violent because it details the way Wolf became the Alpha of his pack, but because he's my secret boyfriend (so secret he doesn't even know it) it was interesting to see where he came from and a snippet of his life from before the army. It bodes well for our future as a couple, I think.
To get all the references in this story it would probably be best to read it after Scarlet.