Turner Read online

  Turner

  White Wolf Ridge

  C.M. Steele

  C.M. Steele Press

  Copyright © 2021 by C.M. Steele

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Epilogue

  Untitled

  Expcerpt From Wolfe’s Den:

  About the Author

  1

  Turner

  She cries out my name over and over, demanding I make her mine. I’m just about to bite down on her neck….

  Ring, ring, ring.

  A roar rips through my chest. I close my eyes and try to go back to sleep, but my phone continues to go off. I grumble, seeing the sun shining through my living room windows. I pick up the phone and see it’s already after eight.

  I shoot her a text, telling her I’ll call in twenty. I’m going to be late, but it’s my fucking company. It’s not like anyone can fire me. I hop in the shower and wash up before putting on a nice clean suit. I’m down my stairs and making a single serving of coffee for my travel mug.

  When I’m finally in my Tahoe, I give my assistant a call back to go over shit and get my head on straight before I make it to the resort.

  “Hello, Alpha. Did you get a nice sleep?” she asks with some hope in her voice.

  “Yes. I did, as it happens, but it seems my to-do list is twice as long today,” I grumble, voice laced with sleep.

  “Sometimes that’s the way it goes. At least you got some sleep so you can just power right through it.” I keep her around for these little pep talks.

  “What’s the point of being in charge when I’m the one doing all the work?”

  “Maybe you should learn to delegate. I’m pretty sure that’s what bosses do.” Yep. Really love her pep talks.

  “Keep that snark to yourself, Daphne.” She won’t.

  “I will when you start working smarter. As it is, I’m about to birth these pups soon, so you’re going to need to find a replacement,” she happily reminds me.

  “Ugh. Now why do you have to go and do that? I haven’t had my coffee yet, and you’re talking about leaving me again. It’s not like I have anyone else in mind.” It’s shitty when you have the perfect assistant and can’t find a temporary replacement for her because there isn’t anyone capable of taking her place.

  “Sorry, but you introduced me to your cousin, and look at where we ended up.” I remember exactly how they met. They saw each other when Elijah came over to visit the hotel. When he was younger, he left the pack to go to college and at the same time, Daphne joined our pack with her parents. They were in a different pack, but she wasn’t finding a mate, so her parents felt the urge to move elsewhere and they ended up with us. It didn’t take long before he gave up his job because I refused to give her up as my assistant. Now they’re both working my nerves with this baby nonsense.

  “You know I don’t like all this baby talk,” I remind her. I manage to steal a sip from my travel mug. It’s refreshing. A nice cup of black coffee with a teaspoon of sugar is all I need to get started most days.

  “That’s because you don’t have a mate. If you did, you’d be up her ass, begging to breed her.” I snarl, thinking about my dream woman. She’s been on my mind for so long that I believe she has to be real.

  I hate that she’s right. The girl is always right, so I play my trump card. “It’s different. I can work while my mate has our babies when that day finally comes. Your mate is busy working as we speak.”

  “Whatever. How far out are you?” she huffs. I grin, knowing I won.

  “Five minutes.” I’m on Bluff Road that leads straight up to the resort’s main entrance.

  “Good. I’ll have someone bring up your breakfast since I’m sure you forgot to eat anything, and then we can go over your agenda for the day.”

  “Fine. Tell them I want extra bacon this morning,” I grumble as my stomach does. I’m hungrier than hell. Must be because I didn’t eat much at work and passed out last night.

  “I will.” She hangs up on me, knowing that she’s got shit to do. I can always count on her. Three years, and she hasn’t let me down yet. I’ve never met a more organized person. I pull up to my parking spot, turn off the engine, and pop on out, remembering to take my phone with me.

  Daphne’s there on the stairs, waiting for me. “Good morning, Mr. Turner.” When we’re in public or if there is at least a chance of being overheard, she calls me “Mr. Turner.” Most of the pack just calls me Turner, but my full name is Josiah Ethan Turner.

  “Good morning, Daphne.” I smile and slightly bow my head to greet her.

  That’s when I overhear a human employee mutter to another employee, “I wonder if that baby is his.” What the fuck? I know Daphne’s keen sense of hearing didn’t miss that comment either. What humans don’t understand is that as shifters, we mate for life, so they don’t understand how a male could be close to a female without trying to fuck her.

  I growl, but Daphne puts her hand on my chest. “Calm down. Your eyes.” They must be glowing. I really need to get my wolf at bay. We rush over to the elevator bank, pressing the button to my private elevator.

  “Inside, now,” I growl as it opens. She taps her card, the doors close, and we immediately take off. Once we reach my floor, we quickly walk past the receptionist, Nancy, who constantly smiles and then greets us with a good morning. I grunt hello and then we rush into my office. She hasn’t been overly flirtatious with me like some of the women I’ve met, but she’s too sweet, like someone itching to be noticed. There’s nowhere more up than the position she has other than Daphne’s, and unless my assistant quits, that won’t happen.

  “He’s fired.”

  “I’ll have it taken care of. Are you sure you’re okay?” Her brows knit as she looks at me.

  “I’m fine,” I grunt, hating the pity and worry that I’m getting. I’m the Alpha of the pack. There isn’t anything I can’t handle, even though my wolf is going full-blown erratic.

  “You’re anything but fine. You’re a mess. Are you too stressed? I’m only teasing about running out on you. I’ve been training Nancy to handle little things just in case she has to fill in. No one will be as good as me, but hey, we all can’t be amazing.”

  “I suppose you do have a point.”

  There’s a knock at the door, interrupting our conversation. “That must be your breakfast, Nancy wouldn’t let anyone get past the front desk.” She walks over and opens the door. The sous chef, Mariano, brings my breakfast tray in. “Here you are, Alpha.”

  “Are you well?” he asks. He’s a shifter as well, so he senses the anger rolling off me.

  “I am. I just need a moment. Please have a good day.” He nods to both of us and departs quickly, hoping to flee my growing ire.

  “Take a seat and relax, Daphne. I swear I’m okay. I’m not even sure why I got so bent out of shape.”

  “Yeah. I could see my mate being that angry, but not you.” She makes another great point. My cousin would rip the valet’s head off for such a comment.

  “Maybe I should have stayed home today.” I blow out harshly, running my fingers through my growing hair. I could use a cut, but I don’t have time for it. I take a bite of my bacon and moan. “So let’s go over everything while
I eat. I promise to pay attention.” One thing I learned about my assistant is that she hates repeating herself, especially because someone wasn’t paying attention the first time.

  I can’t let this go on; the matter will be dealt with before we go any further. “Hold that thought. Before you get started, I have to make this call.” I pick up the receiver on my desk and call the head of Human Resources, Rachael. “Hello, Rachael. I need you to fire that blond fuck that does valet.”

  “What? Why?”

  “Let’s just say that he made some disparaging remarks about my assistant and me that he thought we wouldn’t hear,” I say, clenching my teeth at the end, seething with overwhelming contempt.

  “Done. I’ll have security take care of it right now. Also, I need to discuss the new hiring list requirements and potential candidates with you. Are we still on for that meeting?” Meeting? Shit.

  I look to my assistant and cover the receiver and whisper, “Meeting with HR today?”

  She nods. “Yes, two pm.”

  “Yes. We’re still good,” I inform Rachael as if I hadn’t forgotten about it.

  “I don’t know what you’re going to do without her,” she remarks.

  “Tell me about it. Do you know how to be an assistant?” I question. She’s a great HR manager, even if she’s human.

  “Nope. Bye.” The line clicks. No one likes working for me, but my assistant tolerates me. I put down the receiver and snatch another slice of bacon off my plate. Maybe my mood’s off because I’m hangry.

  “You better take it easy. We’re not immune to heart issues.”

  “You’ve got a point, although the old chief was like ninety, though.” That’s the reason we got stuck with Chief Anderson. Our old chief decided to go up and die on us from a heart attack.

  “You have a point there, but we live a lot longer than humans.”

  “Well, can we get started?”

  She rolls her eyes at me, then starts going over my day.

  We spend the next hour going over the plans, making subtle changes, and then I dump my tray off with housekeeping before starting my day outside my office. I do a lot of inspections of the individual cabins personally. I don’t have time to inspect them all in one day unless it’s the off season, which is only about two months, but so far every single one of them has passed the inspection.

  I come back to my office only to have my cell go off, and it’s my father.

  “Max has been arrested for attacking another guy.” There’s more that he wishes to say, but I sense it’s not a public conversation.

  “Who would be stupid enough to arrest him?”

  “The chief, of course,” he snarls.

  We both hate that prick, and so does much of the town. His incompetence, laziness, and all-around asshole persona makes him a terrible sheriff. “I have to go down there. I swear I could kill that motherfucker.”

  “If you don’t get rid of that guy soon, he’s going to get himself killed.”

  “I know. He should have never been hired in the first place.”

  “Tell me about it. I didn’t have a say in that shit, or I would have picked one of our own.”

  By the time I get off the phone with him, I’m furious. I drop my head, shaking it slowly. This is not what I needed to hear today. Fucking stupid-ass kids. I hang up the phone and call Daphne to come into my office. “What’s going on?” she asks as she enters and closes the door. I go over the conversation with my father.

  “This doesn’t help your agitated mood.”

  “No, it sure doesn’t, but I have to go, so take it easy and send me anything you need done. We open in a few days, and you’re already close to bursting.”

  “Thanks, Turner.”

  I run out of my office, past my receptionist and to the elevators. It takes only a minute to get down to the lobby, but I’m anxious and pissed off. I’m barely in my truck when my father calls again.

  “What’s going on?”

  “I got your brother out. Meet me at the house, please.”

  “Okay. I’m on my way now,” I snarl, ending the call and speeding off toward my parents’ home. I need details about what happened and why he was arrested in the first place. Chief Anderson’s pressing my buttons. He doesn’t know that he’s crossing a dangerous line, but he’ll learn the hard way.

  As soon as I arrive, my sister’s sitting on the sofa with my brother, and my parents are on the loveseat while my mother holds my father’s hand.

  “Would anyone care to elaborate for me?” I demand.

  Aria sighs and then starts to speak. “Timmy came up to me and was harassing me as usual, then this guy I don’t know approached and told Timmy to back off and that I was his, so he kissed me, and then knucklehead over here overreacted and clocked the guy just as the chief walked by.”

  “Who’s the bastard that kissed you?”

  “He’s a shifter from the Wolfe Creek pack.”

  “Son of a bitch.”

  “It was just on the cheek. Max is being ridiculous. All of you are being ridiculous. It was nothing but someone protecting me from that damn grabby human asshole.”

  “I’ll deal with Timmy later, but I want to talk to the Wolfe Creek pack leader. I need a word with their people.” I send a text to my Beta, Mark. Set up a meeting with the Wolfe Creek Alpha for the day after tomorrow. I look up at my family, feeling their nervousness swimming around the room. “I’m not going to let this go.”

  “Come on. It’s stupid,” Aria argues.

  “Stupid?” I question, and she cowers, sensing my anger as the Alpha. I feel bad immediately because she’s my little sister and she’s young, but I will not have my will overruled. Sitting next to her, I say, “I just want to talk. I don’t want them coming after us.” She nods in acceptance.

  Leaning over, I punch my brother lightly in the shoulder. “Now how did you get out?”

  “I’m the mayor. Who’s going to argue with no one pressing any charges? Although that asshole chief wasn’t too happy about it.”

  “He can go fuck himself. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to get home and get some fucking sleep.”

  I should let this go. In my head I know it’s not worth a war, but I can’t stop the words from coming out of my mouth. As the Alpha, I have to show strength when another pack starts shit with us.

  Are they trying to fuck up my multi-billion-dollar business? Wolfe Creek isn’t the only vacation resort in the area. Mine runs like a well-oiled machine, and I refuse to let anyone throw a wrench into my perfectly operated business. Unlike their pack, we have a lot of humans running around in all capacities. Some regrettably so, like the chief, so we’ve learned over the years to tame our inner wolf unless it’s a full moon, but that doesn’t mean I won’t do everything to protect my family.

  I say my goodbyes because I’m tired as hell and make my way home. As soon as I’m in the house, I hurry up to my bathroom to shower. Washing my weary bones, I close my eyes and think of my nightly visitor, my temptress, my doom and glory. Each image is vivid, wild, intense, and stars just one delectable creature.

  In my most recent dream of her, she’s in a police uniform with her hands on her hips. I don't know if she's really a cop, or if it’s Halloween. I think about the time of year and do the math. Halloween's eleven months, two weeks away. There's no way I can wait that long. My heart pounds in my chest as I think about her beauty. Long black hair in a ponytail in the middle of her head, smooth and not a hair out of place, at least not until I get ahold of her.

  The sound of my phone ringing stops my fantasies of this mysterious woman. I left the fucker in my truck. “Damn it.” I wrap a towel around my waist and dash out to my truck. I’m not worried about being seen because I live off a very remote road, but just in case, I make sure to cover up. When I pull the phone out, I see the missed call from Mark. I call him back as I hustle back into the house.

  “What’s going on?” I snarl into the phone.

  “I’ve heard from thei
r pack leader. They want to meet tomorrow.” That’s good, but not going to work for me.

  “I’m busy. It will have to wait for the day after.” I’m not going to let them push me around. I’m the one with an ax to grind.

  “Sure thing. I’ll set it up.”

  “Good. Goodnight. I have to be at the main resort at six tomorrow.”

  Once I slip on a pair of boxers, I dig in the fridge for a snack because I won’t be able to sleep with my stomach growling. I really need to make sure I eat more than once a day. I’m six two, two-twenty, and I need more to keep my muscles strong and in peak condition. I eat a bowl of cereal. It’s not what I need, but at least it’s something. While I do that, I shoot a text to my father to let him know it’s on with the other pack.

  Like I expected, my phone rings. “Hey, Dad.”

  “So you’re set to meet with them?”

  “I am. I want shit straightened out. I don’t want trouble for no damn reason, and I’m sure they’ll understand our actions, although a bit much, were done to protect our own.”

  “Just be careful, my son. I don’t trust them. They have a lot of tension going on between them, and I’d hate for them to attack you.”

  “I don’t think they want a fight.” I’m not sure of that, but I have to go.

  “Fine. Trust your gut.”

  “My gut is telling me to get there as soon as possible to deal with this.”

  “Sorry, I’m a father. I worry because I love you, son. You’ve taken over the pack so well that no one even noticed the transition of power.”

  “Thanks, but I suppose they knew you were grooming me for a long time and that your training had gone off without a hitch. How are you handling not being the Alpha anymore?”

  “I’m great. As much as I loved it, I love the freedom of just worrying about my family. I’m still the mayor, which means I play a part in leadership, but I get to pass the burden of keeping the pack in line to you.”