Coming Home: Naitok Valley, #1

By Carson Mackenzie

Brodie Klein came across an announcement for a police chief position in a small town in Alaska and applied without thought. Stellar references and an outstanding performance record with the Atlanta police department landed him the job after the second interview.

 

Leaving the precinct where he had worked from the time he had stepped on to the force would be bittersweet. However, he needed a change. The time had come for Brodie to put the hurt and loss of his wife behind him. Not only for himself, but for his daughter. He hoped Naitok Valley would be their saving grace.

 

Aurora Rusell knew all about patience. Being the youngest and only female in her family—at least her immediate family—it took an abundance to train dogs and put up with her brothers. Mostly though, the patience part helped with her wait for a mate.

 

Thanks to Rory's grandfather—known to the rest of the pack as Alpha—her wait for a mate would soon end. Well, at least after he accepted the existence of shifters.

 

Rory wondered how she would explain to her newfound mate that he was part of a world only read about in books—then again, it wasn't like he had a choice—he or his daughter.

• Language: English
• Publisher: CM Books LLC
• Release date: May 7, 2024
• ISBN: 9781952184529

Carson Mackenzie

Carson Mackenzie enjoys writing romance with a real feel inside the stories. She writes with the belief not every man is a jerk and not every woman needs saving. Carson lives in the South with her son, a Great Dane and two adopted shelter dogs that keep the household in line. Books have always been a part of her life. There is nothing better to her than curling up and relaxing with a good story and losing herself in someone else’s world for a few hours. Writing stories and growing as an author with each book is her goal. She wants to reach the level where a reader knows when they see her name on a cover, they can trust in the fact there will be a good story as they flip through the pages. Carson’s journey into writing has only been for a few years. As she’s finally starting to settle in, she can’t believe she waited so long to start.

Book preview

Synopsis

––––––––

Brodie Klein came across an announcement for a police chief position in a small town in Alaska and applied without thought. Stellar references and an outstanding performance record with the Atlanta police department landed him the job after the second interview.

Leaving the precinct where he had worked from the time he had stepped on to the force would be bittersweet. However, he needed a change. The time had come for Brodie to put the hurt and loss of his wife behind him. Not only for himself, but for his daughter. He hoped Naitok Valley would be their saving grace.

Aurora Rusell knew all about patience. Being the youngest and only female in her family—at least her immediate family—it took an abundance to train dogs and put up with her brothers. Mostly though, the patience part helped with her wait for a mate.

Thanks to Rory’s grandfather—known to the rest of the pack as Alpha—her wait for a mate would soon end. Well, at least after he accepted the existence of shifters.

Rory wondered how she would explain to her newfound mate that he was part of a world only read about in books—then again, it wasn’t like he had a choice—he or his daughter.

Table of Contents

Synopsis

Prologue

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Epilogue

Acknowledgements

About the Author

Books by Carson

Prologue

––––––––

––––––––

Brodie

––––––––

With a fresh cup of coffee in hand, I pulled a chair out from the kitchen table and sat. Tired from pulling a double the day before, the coffee would hopefully sustain me long enough to get through the scheduled interview. Afterward, I would stretch out on the couch and catch a couple more hours of sleep before Haley came through the front door.

I lifted the top, opening my laptop and when the screen came alive, I went to my email account and stopped on the one with the link I needed. Once I clicked on it, it took me to the site where the zoom interview would take place. When the session started, I would hit the Join button.

It was my second interview for the position of chief of the Naitok Valley police department. The mayor conducted the first one alone, but the second interview would be with her and the Naitok Valley council members.

On the one hand, I wanted the position, but on the other, it would be bittersweet leaving the precinct I had worked at since I stepped out of the police academy. However, something pulled me to apply when I had come across the job listing for the position. I’d never been to Alaska. Hell, I have been nowhere that wasn’t on the east coast.

I glanced at the clock on the wall, then back to the screen. It was time. Once I clicked the Join button, the session opened and five people appeared on the screen.

Good morning, Lieutenant Klein.

Good morning, Mayor. I shifted my eyes over the other four included in the call. Gentlemen, I said in acknowledgment, and received four Lieutenant responses in return.

The five sat at a table with the town’s seal painted on the wall behind them. The mayor, the only female in the group, sat in the middle with two men on each side of her. Men, who compared to the petite size of the mayor, were huge in build. At least from the waist up view I had of them.

Let me introduce the councilmen joining in today. Lane Whitman is on my far left and he is also our fire chief. Between him and I is Nayko Pope, head of Howling Construction. On my right is Boyd Samson. Boyd runs the Catamount Ski Lodge. Sid Frost is at the end, and he is the owner of the Grizzly’s Den, the bar and grill in town. After the mayor made the introductions, she jumped right into the reason for the second interview.

Lieutenant Klein, your resume was impressive enough for the first interview. I don’t need to tell you that your record is stellar and after speaking with a few of the people listed as references, along with speaking to your superiors, reinforced everything about you. To be honest, after discussing your qualifications with the council, we feel you’re overqualified for our small... the mayor paused and then her head and the councilmen’s heads turned to the right. Whatever had distracted them was out of the reach of my screen’s viewing.

Excuse us, Lieutenant. We will be right back, the mayor said without even glancing back at the screen. I noticed the mayor’s lips continued to move, but it seemed the sound was muted.  

I picked my coffee up and started drinking while keeping my eyes on the screen. My lips twitched when the mayor rolled her eyes, which made me curious to who entered the room. Then my curiosity piqued even more when the man introduced as Nayko Pope glanced back toward the screen and smiled right before the screen went dark.

As I sat there drinking coffee, I wondered how rude it would be to disconnect from the call. I had a feeling they would not offer me the job, anyway. The mayor said they thought I was overqualified. Not to mention the feeling my gut was experiencing. I learned early in my career to listen to it. It was screaming something was off with the mayor and councilmen.

I sat the coffee cup down, ran a hand across the back of my neck, and then moved both hands to the sides of my head and used my fingers to rub my temples that suddenly throbbed. A slight buzzing went off in my head and had me adding more pressure with my fingers. As quickly as the weird sound started, it stopped and the discomfort in my temples was gone.

I need to ease up on the coffee, disconnect from this call, and get some sleep, I mumbled, then reached out to toward the key on my laptop to end the call, but before I touched it, the screen came to life.

We apologize for the interruption, Lieutenant Klein. It seems something couldn’t wait until we were finished here. Even if it is of the utmost importance, it doesn’t excuse being rude. As the mayor spoke, her eyes cut to the side, and I thought I heard a snort from someone off camera, but I couldn’t miss the twitching of lips from the councilmen. Now back to what I was saying before the interruption. We think you are overqualified for our small town. However, we hope you will consider accepting the position. We feel you will be an excellent fit in our community.

Less than two minutes before, I had been ready to disconnect the call and chalk up applying for the job as a rash decision made from the unsettledness I had been experiencing since becoming a widower. Imagine the surprise when I heard myself accept the job without pause.

The mayor and the councilmen smiled as they welcomed me aboard. Within seconds, my phone dinged with the email that contained the paperwork to be filled out to make my