Turner (White Wolf Ridge 1)

“Shit. Act cool. She’s the receptionist for Turner.”

“Oh, yeah. I recognize her.”

“Hey, Nancy,” I greet her on the porch. Fuck, I should have put on a coat.

“I brought some papers that need to be signed for Mr. Turner,” she says, holding her large purse.

“He’s out with the guys. Poker night,” Aria says. “You can drop them off. I’m sorry you came all this way.”

“No. That’s okay. Can I use the little girls’ room, though? The cold air hit me, and now I have to go.”

“Sure.” We let her in, and she goes straight to the bathroom like she’s been here before. If I didn’t know better, I’d be jealous.

“Has she been here before?”

“Not that I’m aware of, but maybe she pulled the same thing with him before.”

“I bet,” I scoff. I can’t believe Turner never noticed her interest. Then again, he’s a guy—a dense shifter who wouldn’t know that she was being more than sweet.

Still, I try to keep my cool because she can’t take my man from me. I just want her ass out of my house. She comes out a minute later, and then that’s when I see a different look in her eyes. It’s not sweet, nice, or even envious. She’s on drugs. Did she do a line or something like that?

“Are you okay, Nancy?”

“I’m fine.”

“So the papers?” I ask.

“I’ll just wait to give them to the boss.”

“You can leave them with me.”

“No, I can’t, because you forgot them in the first place. You’ll probably be too busy gagging on his cock to remember to do your job. At least Daphne could control herself around the boss. You seduced him, and that’s why he gave you the spot. He’s just like every other man.”

“Excuse me?”

“Don’t act all innocent. I had a camera put in there to watch Daphne and him to see if she was having an affair, but they never did anything. You, on the other hand, were a dirty little whore with my man. I thought he would notice me, and then I just assumed he was gay, but then you came in and let him fuck you. I suppose he has a thing for Latinas.”

“My brother loves Maria. What they do is their business, and you’re going to regret everything you’ve said here.” Aria moves to get in front of me, but that’s when Nancy pulls a gun. Shit. I don’t have my service revolver anymore.

“I’ll kill you both before I let you steal my life.” The shot goes off before I know what happens, but Aria’s mid-shift, then she’s hit with a bullet. I scream out.

“Bitch, you see I’m serious.”

“You don’t have to do this.”

“Too late.” I don’t know who says that, whether it’s me or her, but I don’t think…I just react. The shot goes off, but all I see is my mate in my head.

10

Turner

“Where is Merrick?” I ask Mark as we get to my SUV. It’s faster, and I can reach anyone from it.

“He’s parked outside Anderson’s residence. They’re waiting for you to move on the situation.”

“Let’s go, then.”

“Aren’t you going to say bye to your mate?”

I love you. Be strong, my queen.

I love you, too. Stay powerful, my warrior.

“Done. Now let’s go. We don’t have much time to waste.”

“That’s a pretty cool thing.” He shakes his head and smiles.

“It is, but we don’t have much time. I want him to be caught off guard. How many weapons does he have in his house?”

“An arsenal.”

“Damn it. Fine.” We’re only about fifteen minutes from his residence. It’s pissing me off that he played this game. What’s his goal? Thinking about my plan, I say, “I want to talk.”

“We can open a line and call him. What are you thinking?”

“Maybe the bastard is just curious. Maybe he doesn’t mean any harm and witnessed all the sudden marriages and babies. Maybe Hunter was right to keep humans out of the area as much as possible. We’ve welcomed them into our midst, and now we’re at risk of exposure.”

“Yes, but as you say that, you’ve mated with a human,” he reminds me.

“I know, but apparently it’s only the Alphas that are mating with humans. I’m not saying we get rid of them or anything. I’m just saying we need to be a fuckload more careful.” I can’t lose Maria. Never. I’ll do whatever I have to, even if it means closing the resort, keeping the shifters to one side of the town. Something has to give.

“Well, that’s the problem. No one expects to be spied on in their home,” he says. He has a point. Whether or not we live next door to them, if they spy on us, they’ll learn more than we want them to know about us. I’m shaking with rage just thinking about Anderson stalking Daphne and Elijah, but I’ll pay the bastard back.