Turner (White Wolf Ridge 1)

Waking up in a cold sweat with beads of perspiration dripping down my face and back, soaking my sheets, I toss the covers off, wondering when I actually pulled them on. Hopping off the bed, I pace back and forth, hating and loving the nightly dreams. Who can she be, and why am I dreaming of her? Is she my mate? She must be, but why the premonitions? I don't have them for anything else; I would have known some dumb young pup was going to make a move on my sister and that Max would try to kill him. Instead, I'm left to get the information afterward.

"What the hell is happening to me?" It's not like I can ask anyone. I don't have friends close enough who have experienced anything like this. Even my pack members, Beta included, would think I was nuts to be having these dreams, passionate, vivid fantasies filled with hot, sweaty sex and multiple orgasms.

Thrusting my hands into my short, dark brown hair, I tug on the wet strands, hoping to pull myself out of this endless torture.

I need a run. I step out into the icy night air in just my boxers, shucking them off, and dash through the trees, shifting as soon as the forest gives me cover. The shift is seamless; years of transforming has created nothing more than a blur as if it's just your imagination that I was anything other than a wolf when my white paws land on the freshly fallen blanket of snow. I close my eyes and breathe in the cold, loving the smell washing off the trees. Nothing but fresh pine as winter arrives early. The hooting of a nearby owl reminds me of my mission to shake off enough energy to fall asleep.

Beautiful, I'll find you and once I do, there will be nothing to stop me from making my dreams a reality. I howl and sprint, racing through an open pass and then back into a thick forest up the side of the mountain. It's perfect for this week, I think. The snow's ready for skiing, or at least it will be in two days or so. I feel it under my paws and itch to get on my board. It's one hell of a benefit of being a winter creature. I live for these days. I hope my mate will feel the same way.

I run for miles, ending up on the other side of the ridge, looking over to the town that holds my empire. Will I have a mate to continue that future? That thought brings me back to the vision in my dreams. The whole purpose was to shake her from my mind so that I can get a peaceful sleep. I run harder and faster, racing back to the house until I'm practically panting. I finally make it to my porch and pick up my boxers with my teeth before nudging the door open with my nose.

I smell the air, making sure I'm alone, and then I shift. No one should be in my home, but you can never be too sure with hikers who get lost and seek shelter. It's happened only once, and thankfully I'd been out working and came home in my human form to a couple on my porch, cuddling up on the blanket on my bench. I gave them something warm to drink, let them sit by the fire, and then drove them back into town. Since then, I've been a little more careful, installing security. It doesn't go off when I’m coming and going because it has both my human and wolf form saved, but it does for everyone else.

2

Maria

I wake up from a cold sweat, my body tingling in ways that are hard for me to explain. It’s as if I’m being devoured by ecstasy and freed by pleasure. Every morning I wake up the same way: flushed, sweaty, feeling exhausted and craving more of him and those eyes. I feel like I’ve seen eyes like that before, but I haven’t. Many of the men in this town have similar eyes. Bright, determined, shining with something different, but they aren’t his—my nightly dream lover.

I whip the covers off me and swing my feet onto the cold floor of my bedroom, feeling stupid. Eyes. Seriously, I’m losing it. I think this town is getting to me. Everything is too damn mysterious and cliquey.

The Wolfe family seem to rule everything, and even the sheriff, Erik Smith, follows their lead. It's not that I don't like the Wolfes, but they give me a supernatural feeling that makes me think I've gone completely insane. There's no way that things like that exist, but I feel like I've stepped into some film with a bunch of large, handsome men with a lot of secrets and a love of growling. I think the wilderness has gotten to most of them. Maybe that’s what happens when you end up where people live around the woods like the animals.