What happened in Stray by Rachel Vincent - Recaptains

The basics

Title: Stray

Author: Rachel Vincent

Series: Shifters #1

- Stray (2007)
- Rogue (2008)
- Pride (2009)
- Prey (2009)
- Shift (2010)
- Alpha (2010)

Add it: Goodreads

Goodreads Summary:

There are only eight breeding female werecats left...

And I'm one of them.

I look like an all-American grad student. But I am a werecat, a shape-shifter, and I live in two worlds.

Despite reservations from my family and my Pride, I escaped the pressure to continue my species and carved out a normal life for myself. Until the night a Stray attacked.

I'd been warned about Strays — werecats without a Pride, constantly on the lookout for someone like me: attractive, female, and fertile. I fought him off, but then learned two of my fellow tabbies had disappeared.

This brush with danger was all my Pride needed to summon me back... for my own protection. Yeah, right. But I'm no meek kitty. I'll take on whatever — and whoever — I have to in order to find my friends. Watch out, Strays — 'cause I got claws, and I'm not afraid to use them..

Read a full summary of Stray by Rachel Vincent below. If you can’t remember what happened in Stray and you need a refresher, then you’re in the right place.

What happened in Stray?

• Faythe is a werecat, and the only daughter of the Pride’s leader. She’s at college when she runs into a stray, which is weirdly persistant and doesn’t leave immediately. She kicks its butt and it runs off.
• Marc, Faythe’s ex boyfriend and Pride member, shows up. He tells her Sara, another werecat, is missing. Faythe figures the stray had something to do with it and it seems the stray was trying to take her to wherever Sara is.
• Faythe and Marc leave together to head back to the Pride. Faythe has been studying at college and pretending to be human since she left Marc. She’s now dating a guy called Andrew.
• When Marc and Faythe make it back to the farm, Faythe is immediately greeted by Jace. She then has to go and talk to her parents, who she is trying to defy because she wants to go back to school. She refuses to give them the description of the stray who attacked her.
• The cats all go for a run and Faythe injures Marc. He doesn’t tell Faythe’s parents about this though.
• Faythe speaks to Andrew briefly and he talks about coming to visit. He’s also got a really bad cold at the moment.
• The pride finds out that Abby, Faythe’s cousin, in missing.
• Faythe almost attacks a human which is not good. Marc is pissed.
• Faythe and her dad chat about Andrew. He doesn’t approve of the relationship, especially if Faythe wants to marry Andrew. Which is something she has never mentioned btw.
• Faythe and Jace keep having sexy run ins but it’s unclear if Faythe is actually into him.
• The Pride finds Sara’s body. Faythe freaks out and partially Shifts, which isn’t a thing that has happened before. At least, no one has heard of it. She is now even more determined to find Abby.
• Faythe and Marc sleep together. Faythe has a bit of a crisis, and goes off to clear her head. Unfortunately for her and everyone else in the Pride, Faythe is captured and imprisoned by Miguel.
• Faythe’s cousin Abby is in the cage next to Faythe’s. She saw what happened to Sara, and is understandably traumatised. The bad guys have also been abusing Abby.
• It seems as though Miguel and his cronies (one of which is Faythe’s outcast brother, Ryan) are planning on selling female werecats to some folks in South America. Ugh.
• Faythe comes up with a plan to break out. She winds up a guy and then rips his throat out when he enters her cage. Miguel is away trying to capture another tabby at this point, but Ryan is upstairs.
• Faythe tricks Ryan and locks him up. She uses his phone to tell everyone she’s okay, and where she is. Faythe’s father sends people over to her.
• Faythe and the werecats clear up the house and come up with a plan. Faythe will disguise herself as Miguel’s next target, and the others will ambush Miguel.
• The werecats head off. The plan goes badly from the start. Miguel and his one guy kill one of the Pride werecats, and Faythe hears him die. She rushes out to see what’s going on and gets captured.
• Miguel tries to make away with Faythe but she attacks him, leaving him unfocused and vulnerable to the others. The guys kill Miguel and make him suffer.
• Once it’s all wrapped up, Faythe agrees with her father that she’ll work for the Pride for a bit to see how she likes it. She goes back to college to grab her stuff and her boyfriend is nowhere to be seen. Sus.

That was our recap of what happened in Stray by Rachel Vincent. Check out our recap list for more plot summaries, and if you can’t find what you need you can request a recap here!