Wounded Wolf

By Catherine Carson

Joe Forrest’s successful application finds her flying out from Head Office to the Caribbean Island of St Marcos to be the PA to the Managing Director of Wolf Cruise Line part of Wolf Holdings.
Still feeling the effects of betrayal, Grey Wolf is angry to find his new PA is not the expected male but an argumentative, redheaded woman and determines to send her back to Head Office as soon as possible.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Mar 13, 2015
• ISBN: 9781326214296

Book preview

Wounded Wolf

Wounded Wolf

By Catherine Carson

Content Copyright © Catherine Carson 2015

ISBN 978-1-326-73481-7 Paperback

ISBN 978-1-326-21429-6 eBook

Profile of the author

Born in Scotland I now live with my husband in the North West of England.  We have three children who, between them have given us six wonderful grandchildren.

I studied commercial subjects at school and college and spent most of my working life in the offices of various companies, starting as a junior in a local garage typing invoices for car repairs.   I left Scotland and crossed the border to England to marry the man I met whilst on a holiday with my extended family and eventually became a secretary with a beer bottling company leaving six years later when the first of our three children came on the scene. 

Returning to the workforce when our children were young adults I finally untied the apron strings to join the offices of a large wholesale book supplier and embraced the advancement in technology since I had first learned to type on a manual typewriter and take notes in shorthand.

During the years I became something of a letter writer as friends and family lived in many parts of the country and indeed the world.  Often friends and family would tell me…..‘You could write a book’ to which I always replied…..‘But would anyone read it’. 

When my granddaughter asked if I would write a book especially for her I confided in my good friend Lisa Schmidt and she told me to go for it.  That book became the first of many stories which had been lurking in my imagination for a good number of years.

Once started I found the stories simply kept coming and often an overheard conversation or a glimpse from the passenger seat of the car would trigger a likely scenario which my imagination would then elaborate and weave into a story.

My hope is that my writing brings a little pleasure into the life of my readers and allows them to leave the mundane world behind for a few hours as they meet the characters I adore creating.

www.facebook.com/catherinecarsonbooks.uk

www.catherinerenacarson.jimdo.com

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Dedication

To my long suffering husband who lets me write provided I don’t talk about it.

All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names.  They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author and all the incidents are pure invention.

Other Books by this Author

The Mouse in the Library

Family Ties

Overall Construction          

Wounded Wolf

Coffee and Cakes

Memories Rekindled

Wholesale Love

Hope’s Conflict

Estates of the Heart

Sibling Rivalry

Fighting for Custody

White Knight Black Knight

Through the Garden Gate…

Love Lost and Found

Alphabet Bachelors

A Dreamer’s Tale

A Precious Jewel

Footbridge of Solace

Girl Meets Boy

Demolition of the Heart

When Life Gives You Lemons

Return to the Past

Pretence & Reality

Opening a Can of Worms

Fields of Contention

A Heart Encased In Steel

~~~~~~

Tapestry of Love-Bk 1

Twins Exchanged-Bk 2

Highland Feud Bk-3

~~~~~~~

Soil, Seed & Betrayal-Bk 1

Desert Prince, Exiled Princess-Bk 2

Body Language-Bk 3

~~~~~~

An Open Book-Bk 1

Afraid to Love-Bk 2

A Second Chance-Bk 1

Taming the Playboy-Bk 2

~~~~~~

Estranged Husband & Father-Bk 1

Identical Mistake-Bk 2

~~~~~~

Sigh of the Claymore-Bk 1

Beyond Claymore-Bk 2

~~~~~~

Sneaking Into His Heart-Bk 1

Scent of the Heather-Bk 2

Other Books by this Author

The Mouse in the Library

Family Ties

Overall Construction          

Wounded Wolf

Coffee and Cakes

Memories Rekindled

Wholesale Love

Hope’s Conflict

Estates of the Heart

Sibling Rivalry

Fighting for Custody

White Knight Black Knight

Through the Garden Gate…

Love Lost and Found

Alphabet Bachelors

A Dreamer’s Tale

A Precious Jewel

Footbridge of Solace

Girl Meets Boy

Demolition of the Heart

When Life Gives You Lemons

Return to the Past

Pretence & Reality

Opening a Can of Worms

Fields of Contention

A Heart Encased In Steel

~~~~~~

Tapestry of Love-Bk 1

Twins Exchanged-Bk 2

Highland Feud Bk-3

~~~~~~~

Soil, Seed & Betrayal-Bk 1

Desert Prince, Exiled Princess-Bk 2

Body Language-Bk 3

~~~~~~

An Open Book-Bk 1

Afraid to Love-Bk 2

A Second Chance-Bk 1

Taming the Playboy-Bk 2

~~~~~~

Estranged Husband & Father-Bk 1

Identical Mistake-Bk 2

~~~~~~

Sigh of the Claymore-Bk 1

Beyond Claymore-Bk 2

~~~~~~

Sneaking Into His Heart-Bk 1

Scent of the Heather-Bk 2

Chapter 1

Leaving Manchester airport on such a dismal Sunday morning could not dampen Joe’s spirits and when the plane hurtled along the runway she could imagine the pilot pulling back on his controls as the nose of the aircraft lifted, for a split second seeming to hang in the air before the roaring engines took them higher and higher climbing into the low lying clouds. 

Pressing back into her first class seat she watched as the dark rain clouds gave way to white and when the plane levelled the skies were blue and the clouds beneath turned into a thick fluffy cotton wool carpet.

‘Welcome abroad flight 728 to the island of St Marcos ladies and gentlemen. I am pleased to inform you that the weather at our destination is thirty degrees.  Thank you for flying with us today; we ask you to listen carefully to the cabin staff as they go through the safety procedures.  We hope you enjoy your flight and thank you once more for choosing to fly with us.’  When his announcement ended the indicator showed that seat belts could now be undone.

Joe had bought the latest best seller from the book shop in the airport thinking it would help pass the long ten hour plus flight, but for the time being it lay unopened on the drop down tray in front of her.  The flight attendants served breakfast on china crockery reminding her that she was travelling first class and made a pleasant change from the plastic trays which were synonymous with aircraft meals. 

The in-flight entertainment screen in front of her offered various games, television shows and a current movie with complimentary headphones which could be plugged into the console on the arm of her seat, but Joe closed her eyes remembering the events leading to her being a passenger on her way to the Caribbean.

Crowding round the notice board showing the latest job offers within the company Joe read the requirements for the post and thought ‘nothing ventured nothing gained’ and went back to her desk to write an application letter to hand in to Human Resources. 

Wolf Holdings was a family run consortium with varied interests including cruise liners which were based in the Caribbean. 

The CEO was David Wolf who controlled everything from his office on the top floor of the Wolf Building.  His sons were responsible for each branch of the company.  William the eldest ran Wolf Construction with projects throughout Europe and Edward was responsible for Wolf Financial Advisers renowned in the world of high finance for their ability to advise their clients how to attain a high return for their investments.

Grey the youngest of the sons was responsible for the smooth running of the tight schedules needed to keep the fleet of cruise and freight ships belonging to the Wolf Shipping Line fully equipped and manned at all times.  The position advertised was to join Grey as his PA on the Caribbean Island of St Marcos.

When Joe entered the waiting area on the top floor she was surprised she was the only female applicant but sat down to wait to be called into the inner sanctum of the CEO’s office. 

Recognising a couple of the young men she nodded to them.  ‘Didn’t expect to see you here Joe I would have thought with your build you were more suited to the post in the Fitness Room for  Personal Trainer than Personal Assistant.’

The condescending tone of Frank Swift brought a muffled laugh from the other candidates and after looking each one in the eye Joe picked up a magazine and with an air of nonchalance she was not feeling she replied.

‘I should imagine I would not have reached this stage if my qualifications did not meet the exacting requirements for the post.’  Opening the magazine she bent her head to read the article muttering under her breath ‘you arrogant twit’.

One by one her colleagues were called into the office and as they came out she tried to read their expressions but they gave nothing away except for Frank Swift, who, being the last gave her a sneering smile as he held the door for her and as she passed whispered.

‘You’ve no chance.’  Trying not to let him get to her Joe straightened her shoulders and entered the room.

Sitting behind the large desk David Wolf was flanked by his two sons William and Edward all three stared at the statuesque young woman who had entered the office and as one reached for the file lying unopened on the