Adrian

By Crystal Dawn

He’d worked at claiming her, but she’d not given in yet. He planned to win this battle between them, but it would take everything he had to do it.
Max intended to keep things between them strictly friends with benefits. Sure, Adrian was gorgeous, capable and any female would be lucky to have him. But she just wasn’t ready to settle down and might never be.
Who would win this struggle between them and if she won, would she be alright with watching another claim him?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Crystal Dawn
• Release date: Nov 27, 2020
• ISBN: 9781005681289

Crystal Dawn

When she’s not out hunting rogue vampires and werewolves, you can find Crystal Dawn out exploring the galaxy. She can do it all without ever leaving her computer. She kicks ass, takes names, and puts it all down for the enjoyment of her readers. At least that’s what I think she told me. Writing came as a natural outlet for her overly creative mind. She has always told stories and even written some but publishing books didn't start until 2012 with The Rebirth, was the first of the Planet Amazon books. Crystal has also been lucky to have some wonderful beta readers who keep her on track and help inspire her.Secretly, she crushes on all her sexy heroes because all her stories end happily. That is one of the things that makes writing such a joy. Knowing that it makes her reader's day a little brighter. Not that she doesn't read sad books sometimes. While still in school, she read Where the Red Fern Grows and cried like a baby. It was a wonderful book and sometimes a bit of sadness has to be put in books because that's part of life. While she reads all kinds of books at some time or another, PNR and SFR, which she writes is what she reads the most for pleasure.When she started writing, she decided on going Indie after the first two books because an author has more control. She believes Indie will compete well and continues to grow. The need to give pleasure to her readers keeps her going and she sees a long career ahead. Growing up mostly in the NW Arkansas area, it has given her a good place to set some stories and many of her characters come from there or nearby SW Missouri.The start of her stories is the easy part. Finishing them is a little harder when all the stories are in there trying to get out. She loves reading, chocolate, fine sweet wine, and traveling among a large list of pursuits. Her favorite people, after her family and close friends, are her readers who she says are some of the most wonderful people in this galaxy and the next.

Book preview

NW North Dakota Pack Series

Book 1

Adrian

By Crystal Dawn

Cover by Eagle Eye Covers

Editing by Eagle Editing

@ 2020 Copyright by Crystal Dawn

This book is a work of fiction. All contents, including

names, places,

and events are the product of the author’s imagination

or used in a

fictitious manner. Any resemblance to persons, living or

deceased,

businesses, locations, or events are completely

coincidental.

None of this work may be used, reproduced, exchanged

or

transmitted by anyone but the person the book was

purchased for.

Any reproductions of this book in any part or any form

must be

done

with the express written permission of the author or not

at all.

Thank you for respecting the work of this author.

Dedicated to those who research cancer. May they find a

cure.

This is the book that starts Adrian’s story…

Wild White Wolves series

Max

Book 2

Max is the second book in the Wild White Wolves standalone series. Max is part of and in charge of a military unit hunting those who abuse supernatural creatures. She's rough and tough, but even she wants to cry at what she sees being done to the beings in the facility they raid.

His name is Adrian, or at least he thinks it is. He's in bad shape when Max's team finds him, but she makes him want to fight to survive. Now he's looking to build a future with her, but she'll fight him every step of the way.

Adrian

He’d worked at claiming her, but she’d not given in yet. He planned to win this battle between them, but it would take everything he had to do it.

Max intended to keep things between them strictly friends with benefits. Sure, Adrian was gorgeous, capable and any female would be lucky to have him. But she just wasn’t ready to settle down and might never be.

Who would win this struggle between them and if she won, would she be alright with watching another claim him?

PPrologue

The fight was onon, and it was like something was shaking me. My stomach was doing flip flops and my head hurt like a son of a bitch. Eventually, they’d either make friends or one would come out on top. I was to the point where I didn’t give a shit who won as long as it was over, and my life could resume.

It was the big cat DNA they’d added in their fucking experiments that was driving me nuts. My body had recovered, I was in the best shape of my life. My senses were better than ever with the cat abilities somehow magnifying my own wolf senses.

Max, just the thought of her made my heart beat harder. I needed to stop thinking about her right now, but it distracted me from my pain. Our relationship hadn’t changed a bit in two months. It would change soon since I was about to be put on her team. I wasn’t sure what she’d think of it, but probably not much.

Damon had decided the teams needed two more people. One needed to be a tech expert which was not me. The other needed to know about these assholes we were going after. I knew more than anyone ever wanted to. That was my ticket to the spot I wanted on Max’s team.

Right now, everyone was getting a month off before the new teams were organized. I was going back to North Dakota to check out my pack and Max had agreed to go with me. While I liked to believe she couldn’t stand the thought of being away from me for so long, it was probably the free vacation that lured her in.

Jaycee, the pretty tech head that would probably be assigned to the team with us, was coming too. It didn’t bother me to escort two lovely females home. I was sure Jaycee would draw plenty of male interest and be kept busy while I saw to Max.

Chapter 1

Going Home

Are we there yet? Max asked. She wasn’t asking constantly, but often enough to be annoying. My mate, not officially mind you, was annoyed because she wanted me driving faster. It seemed this question wasn’t just for kids.

No, we have two more hours before we hit my pack lands. They are isolated with no nearby towns. I explained.

Jaycee was the easiest to be around because she was on her computer the whole time. I suggested Max do the same, but she wasn’t supernatural and said she got car sick when she did things like that. That was her story, and she was sticking to it. Honestly, I didn’t know much about her. Certainly not as much as I wanted to.

Max kept her secrets while doing her best to discover all mine. It was unusual for a human to be in on a team like hers, much less in charge of it. She had Damon McDougal’s full support which was also rare. He only backed the best and the brightest.

I’d noticed in the weeks of being around her and her team that she had something special. Maybe it was a super intelligence that saw what others missed, but I suspected it was a psychic ability. Yeah, laugh at me why don’t you. If you were around herher, you might say the same.

It was like how she’d found me. I heard her team discussing it one day. She and I were dancing while they were at our table.

She just went straight to him. Drury, the massive bear shifter, admitted.

I wouldn’t have seen him. He looked like a pile of rags left behind. Kramer added.

She’s got the gift. Raoul suggested.

Don’t talk like that. She’ll be pissed. Jaycee pointed out.

Even she can’t hear that good. Moore declared. No, but I could.

I didn’t know exactly which gift they were discussing, but it was a good one that had saved her team’s asses many times. Who was I to talk? It had sure as hell saved me too. Now I was coming into my own as far as all the improvements those assholes had given me. A bit of patience and I believed I would be all they’d hoped I would. The ultimate weapon, and now I’d be used against them. That thought made me smile.

Finally, we drove through the gate of my pack lands and up to my pack house. I had a bunkhouse too for all the single males. It was a damn nice bunkhouse because my pack was wealthy, and everyone benefited. We were paid for our oil rightsrights, and we ran beef on our spread. The pack also had a small dude ranch where people came from all over. The dude ranch was right next to our tribal casino.

Wolves were here with the other Native Americans and a former alpha was smart enough to claim the same rights as they had. It wasn’t a huge casino, just big enough for the tourists and what those locals who enjoyed gambling. My pack had no trouble finding jobs in the businesses we owned. The pack also went into partnership with pack members if they had a good business plan and contributed something of value to the deal.

I was pack alpha, but it wasn’t all about me. Taking care of my pack was my job. My talent was organizing and finding the right people to do the jobs that made us successful. When we started the casino about thirty years ago, none of our people knew how to run it. We brought in the best and they helped train our own.

The old guy was there for twenty years until he retired. He works there part time now as a greeter. Not the kind stores have. Our greeters check ID and are there if the metal detectors go off. The old boy had caught a suspicious person more than once that turned out to be dangerous.

It’s things like that the right person can handle. My job is to make the big decisions and set up a business plan. The people I choose to manage things, they follow the plan and deal with the day to day decisions. I told Max once that I wasn’t anal, and it was true.

As soon as I pulled up to the door, Max and Jaycee wake up. At least I didn’t have to wake them. We’re here now. I couldn’t help myself. Max shot me an irritated look. I didn’t care, she’d irritated me with her questioning if we were there yet.

Are you going to escort us in or just stand there looking irritated? She asked.

Of course, I’ll take you in, Ladies. I held out a hand for each and they moved with me up the stairs to the door that we couldn’t all enter at the same time. After you. I motioned for them to precede me.

I wondered what I was about to find. I sighed in relief when my second, Todd,. gGreeted us. Where have you been, Alpha? Todd asked.

Being gone for over six months was unusual even for me. But I noticed his eyes quickly moved to the two ladies with me in great appreciation. I was taken to a lab. Can’t you smell the change?

I thought maybe you mated a cat. Todd supposed.

You could call it that in a way.

We had a takeover attempt and an attack by the clueless gang. Todd smirked.

Will they never learn?

Someone told them you hadn’t come back. They thought to slide right in. They didn’t know the legal battle they’d have to control anything.

That crew will never learn. How are the others?

Everything else is going as usual. All reports are on your desk. You going to introduce me to these two lovely ladies? He looked hopeful.

This is Max. The mine was unspoken but heard. And this is Jaycee. Be nice to her. That was my way of letting him know the girl was available."

I’m always nice. Todd grinned like a loon. Glad to meet you lovely ladies.

Nice to meet you, too. Max said and Jaycee nodded." Jaycee wasn’t much of a talker. It was impossible to say if she would talk more once we got to know her or not. She was a damn good tech headhead, and they needed her in that capacity more than any other.

Why don’t you show the ladies to their rooms, and I’ll start catching up on things in my office and you can meet me there? I asked.

Sure. Todd replied and motioned the women to follow him.

Todd was my second and incredibly good at it. While he couldn’t beat me in a fight, he could beat most others. If he chose to be an alpha, he could probably beat one out in a smaller pack, but he had no desire to be top dog as it were. Being well paid and taken care of in my pack suited him perfectly. I left often on trips, so he got to be in charge for a while often enough to suit him.

Everything was set up here to run smoothly with only an occasional bump. Any trouble more often was more than he wanted. That could change down the road, but for now things were good for everyone that mattered. Entering my office, I saw a king size pile of paperwork on my desk. This was the scourge of having the top position.

Not that the other positions didn’t have some paperwork too. It was just that other tasks could be set aside and given to others to perform but many of these forms needed his my personal approval and signature. That meant instead of another doing them when there were many, they just piled up relentlessly. He I began to read then approve or deny them. There was little done before Todd made it to his my office and interrupted.

Now that you’re here are you staying? Todd asked hopefully.

For about ten days before I have to go. Let me tell you about what happened to me. Now he I started at the beginning when he I was taken from his my hotel.

How did they know about you? Todd asked.

I think they had males hiding in the bar looking for alphas alone and unarmed. That’s the only way I can think they found me. They must have followed me back to the hotel and waited until I fell asleep. It’s my belief they put gas into the room under the door until I was under then they got me out the back door. Once they had me out, they tied me up and took me away.

Were there others?

Yes, many others of various kinds and all alphas. Some died while I was there, and I almost did. Max saved me. She took me to an army base with a damn good hospital.

A beautiful female got into a facility like that and rescued you? Yeah, he was having a hard time believing it.

Yes, a beautiful human female. Adrian confirmed.

You understand this is hard to believe. She looks fragile even if she was one of our kind, but a human? Damn man, I don’t see how she could.

"You will. She likes to fight