Channing: Big Cat Shifters Looking for Fated Mates (Big Cats Book 5) Read online

  Big Cats series

  Book 5

  Channing

  By Crystal Dawn

  Cover by Cynthia Lucas

  Editing by Eagle Editing

  2018 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.

  Big Cats

  Book 1

  Sebastian

  Sebastian is moving his pride headquarters to what he hopes will be a permanent home. Seven groups of big cats will be forming an alliance for mutual defense and to aid in the growth of all their groups. The last thing he needs right now is a mate. Too bad the goddess does things her own way.

  Andi is busy building her flower shop into a prosperous business in a town the size of a shoe box. She gave up on men, who has the time for them anyway? If only a certain arrogant alpha would get the message. Things get even worse when she's attacked repeatedly by mercenaries looking for a potential white wolf mate to sell to a customer. Will her life ever settle down?

  Big Cats series

  Book 2

  Titus

  Titus supposed he should feel honored that Sebastian had put him in charge of the private school for their children. He didn’t. It was one headache after another with the interviews being the worst until Beth came in. His tiger roared in approval, she was his.

  Beth had a bad history with males. If she didn’t, the sexy tiger might appeal to her. She was tired of supernaturals trying to mate her because of her bloodline. This would be just another one, so she intended to steer clear of him.

  Big Cats

  Book 3

  Ciaro

  Life was all about change and since he’d met Mairi, his opinion about mating had changed. He was ready for her whether she was ready or not.

  So Ciaro was handsome and could be charming when he wanted to be. That meant almost nothing to her. She didn’t want a mate and he couldn’t have her.

  Two beautiful people with a fate in common. One fought it while the other was ready to embrace it. Those things always turned out good, right?

  Big Cats series

  Book 4

  Azrael

  He’d entered this feline nation thing, or whatever they planned to call it, for one reason. Azrael wanted to save his kind. There was no way he was looking for a mate, but if he found the right female leopard or maybe any female cat, he might settle down. The old human female was just not his type.

  Maddie Hawkins was not happy with her cousin Ariel. She’d agreed to help the leopard shifters for Ariel, but Azrael just pissed her off. Sure he looked like a fallen angel like his name hinted, but he was an asshole, plain and simple.

  Do opposites attract? It looks like it when you see the sparks fly between these two very different people.

  Big Cats series

  Book 5

  Channing

  Viv was confused now that she had met Channing. Greg was trying to charm her, but it already wasn’t working and now she’d been hit in the heart by Channing the cheetah leader. It was too soon and her mother had recently mated. There was enough excitement. Besides, Channing didn’t seem to care for her.

  The woman drove him nuts. He had worked hard to organize his people and mating would have to wait. She didn’t look like the kind that could handle that. He’d just keep her at a distance until he was ready. Whenever that would be.

  An emotionally wounded woman and a man that put his people first. How the hell was that going to work out?

  Prologue

  He stood much too close as his eyes glowed with the presence of his beast. The male was an animal, his body sleek and chiseled. His scent hit her nose and it was all male. It was spicy, like an evergreen forest, clean, and rousing. She stepped back but he moved forward. This was turning into a crazy dance.

  “Look, I’m only here to help you by building your coalition house, nothing more.” Her eyes were drawn to his full sexy lips as she waited for a reply. She had agreed to help Ariel. Damn, it wasn’t like she didn’t owe her cousin a hell of a lot.

  “Stay away from that wolf. You’re mine. I’m just not ready to claim you yet.” Channing demanded. She knew he meant Greg. That wolf wasn’t anyone she cared about, hell he’d abducted her, but Channing had no right to insist she stay away from him.

  “What the hell? You have no rights and no claims.” She insisted.

  So fast she didn’t see him move, he had her in his arms. His full heated lips dropped to hers and she was on fire. There was no other way to describe it. He pulled away and in a second he was gone. What the hell was she going to do? Her crew was about to come back from lunch so she joined them. The work must go on.

  She sat up in bed instantly awake and barely able to breathe. Was this just a fanciful dream or a premonition of things to come? It wouldn’t be long and she’d know.

  Chapter 1

  The Move

  The meeting had been interesting. As far as females went other than the mates, there had only been Vivian, daughter of Maddie, a mate. His eyes had locked on her and he’d been hit with lightning. It was too bad the time wasn’t right. She would have to wait on the backburner for now.

  His PA, Samuel, would be the one working with her the most. He was here and for now he’d been stuck in this three bedroom apartment. A house that suited him might be available soon only five miles out. Apparently Maddie had it and had been waiting for interest in it before it would be worked on. Now that he’d expressed an interest, Viv had put a team on it. He hoped they would work fast.

  Since he was handsome, rich, and drew females like flies, Viv would wait for him. It was just the way things were. Right now he had to get things going for his people. The lynx had planned to join them as one group, but the numbers of both his people and theirs had exploded. There were just so many more of both than they had expected. Most of the newly discovered ones were half breeds. Not that it mattered. Instead, they would be separate since a lynx had stepped forward to take the head position. Thank the goddess. He had his hands full as it was.

  No, truthfully, he was relieved. Both groups were quite different and while blending could be done, being separate was so much better. The lynx planned to wait for two months maybe, but a few would come early to check things out. Many of his people were in high level management, but he had several companies and investments in the billions. Not something he wanted everyone to know. He didn’t really want anyone to know.

  Sebastian had already told him once he was settled in, he would get to work with Moe handling the business that allowed them their privacy fences and anonymity. Each group would provide some service for the federation as a whole. As far as work went, it was something he could easily handle. The lions had done more than their share. Tigers were in charge of the school and associated matters. Panthers handled security for the group. Leopards, since they were all so pretty, handled advertising.

  The cougars were running the medical clinic. He wasn’t sure what the jaguars or lynx
would do, but he would bet Sebastian would find something for them to do. Lynx were fast. They ran messenger services and things that required speed. Jaguars were sneaky and wonderful investigators. It would all work out and they would all contribute somehow.

  This was tough to build a federation and from what he saw, everyone was working hard. He’d noticed the mates were doing a lot too. His was human, and while he knew the others had been too, that was no guarantee she would change. What he thought best was what he would do. She would wait and they would see. It was possible he’d not mate her at all.

  Tomorrow, he would watch as she started on his coalition house. Watching her work would help him decide his course of action. Samuel would run most of his business empire for him while he did the work of helping his people move. Samuel was his brother, the youngest one. Others in his family might or might not come. Cheetahs were slow to make personal decisions. He was different and that was why he was successful and most of them were not.

  Oh, most did alright since many were in management. Many managed his companies and didn’t even realize it. He wasn’t stupid, letting others know how wealthy he was would be a mistake. They thought he ran several companies for the owners, not that he owned them himself. Being a millionaire among them, no big deal. Being a multi billionaire would bring on expectations and resentment.

  He sat at his computer starting some of the work the move would require. The emails were overwhelming but he got on them anyway. It seemed expectations were there even though none of them thought he had the resources to deal with them. Crazy cheetahs. Many were out of work due to recent cutbacks. He’d been assured there was work here but not necessarily the kind his people usually did.

  Now he sent an email to Viv. She was assigned to help him so he’d let her. He sent her the names of the first ten people that needed jobs and homes. Let’s see how she handled that. Chuckling, he moved on to the next problem.

  An hour later he got an email from her. There were jobs for half the list, but housing for only three of those. Not bad for an hour. He sent the information to the first three. The housing wasn’t family houses but these would all eventually live in the coalition house. All three accepted. They would be there in two to three days. Now he sent her the information and asked her to get more housing.

  As far as he was concerned, his day for working on his people’s move was done. It was time to work on his personal business. Pulling out a business card, it was for Roger, a wolf. There was also Mairi one of the mates who found housing, both rentals and ones to buy for people. He’d give Roger the first shot. He dialed his number.

  “Hello, this is Roger.” Clearly this was his personal number.

  “This is Channing. I’m the cheetah leader and looking for property including a place for a business.”

  “I’m sure you’re aware there’s not much left. I’ll put together some options and send them to you. I assume you want residences too?” Roger asked.

  “Yes, I want a little bit of everything.”

  “Does that mean you would accept land?”

  “If it is a good deal and close enough.”

  “I’ll get on it right away. Thank you for calling me.”

  “Ariel and her crowd look out for you.”

  Roger chucked. “I know. I mated one of them.”

  “I’ll be looking for your email.”

  They said goodbye. He figured it would be a while but the email came in an hour. Land to build on was his best option to see his people settled. That would only work for those that had money. Some were coming because they’d hit rock bottom and anything was better than where they were at. Since it was late, he showered and went to bed. He couldn’t wait until the morning when he’d see the coalition house get started.

  His alarm went off and it was screeching. Normally he didn’t set it, but so much was different right now. He needed to get back into a new routine. Breakfast, that’s what he needed now. Sara’s was said to be good so he would try it. Once he was dressed, he headed there. There was enough time to eat before he got to the construction site.

  When he got there, Sara’s was packed but Roger and his mate, or so he assumed, were at a large table alone. He headed there to talk to him. “Why don’t you join us?”

  “Thank you. I don’t mind if I do.”

  “This is my mate, Suki.”

  “Nice to meet you.”

  “Did you get the list?” Roger asked.

  A waitress brought their food and took his order. “I got the list. The land looks best, but a couple of the houses and one building are a possibility.”

  “I can show them to you anytime.” Roger offered.

  “If you want to take your mate home, once I eat I’ll be at my coalition’s building site.”

  “Suki drove separately. She knows I run into people all the time.”

  “Okay. Once I finish eating, we can go.”

  The two of them sat with him and told him about the local area. They’d both had lived here a long time. All the food was good and the conversation interesting and informative.

  “Who is building the coalition house?” Suki asked.

  “Viv is in charge.”

  “She must have stepped in to help Ariel out. There’s so much construction going on.”

  “Viv is new?” He asked a bit concerned.

  “Not at all. She just doesn’t normally work for Ariel anymore. Viv does Maddie’s and her own projects.” Suki explained

  “How long has she been in construction?”

  “I’m not sure. You’ll have to ask her.” Suki replied.

  It seemed the information had dried up. He was done eating now anyway. “Why don’t we go ahead and look at the properties now?”

  “Great. I’ll follow you wherever you want to leave your SUV and then you can ride along with me.” Roger said. He turned to give his mate a hot kiss then she left. “I’m ready.” He put a tip on the table and Channing added to it. “Sara will love you.”

  “She waits on tables herself?” He asked.

  “I think she would sometimes anyway, but she can’t keep good help. Her place is open so many hours.” Roger admitted.

  “I can see how that may be an even bigger problem with all the new people coming in.” Now he began to think about a restaurant. And why not?

  Roger followed him to the construction site. When they arrived, he stopped to watch little Mairi who looked like a kid from the back yelling at the workers. Viv stood next to her with a clipboard grinning and marking off items. It was hard to pull himself away but he did.

  Once he got in the SUV with Roger, they took off. “What was Mairi doing there? I didn’t realize she was working the site too.”

  “I don’t think she is. She is an expert on foundations. Her crew and Viv’s are probably working together to get it done as quickly as possible. Ariel likes to hire a particular company to do it, but they’re two months behind.” Roger explained.

  “How do you know so much about it?”

  “I tried to get a foundation poured for a buyer. Ariel agreed to convince Mairi to do it. Mairi hates doing that. Those girls will do just about anything for Ariel.”

  “Because she’s the white wolf?”

  “No, because she’s family and they love her.” Roger explained. Now they pulled into a field. “There’s not much to say about this place except what’s on the paper. It’s a hundred acres of farmland you can build on. There are rules.”

  “Why are they selling it?”

  “Parents died. No one wants to farm in the family. They just want the money. The price just dropped and they might entertain an offer. It was priced sky high originally. Kids live in California and New York. They forgot this ain’t there. They just want out.”

  “I want to put in an offer, but I want to look at all the places first.”

  “Good idea. Things aren’t lasting long. Land is sticking around the longest because everyone wants houses.” Roger informed. “They need places to live r
ight now. There just aren’t enough places. Let’s go to the next place.”

  They drove to the other part of town. This place was near the school. Not the best place for a shifter to be. It was right at the center of things. Still, many cats were desperate. If none of his wanted it, one of the other kinds would jump on it.

  This house needed a lot of work. “What’s your opinion on it?”

  “You’ll have a hard time finding a crew unless you’ve got connections. If someone doesn’t take it soon, it may get too bad to save.”

  “How’s the price?”

  “You’re basically buying the lot. Prices have jumped so much.”

  “Okay, let’s go to the next spot.”

  Roger seemed happy enough to take him everywhere. This place was on the edge of town. “This isn’t a house.”

  “No, but it could be. Once it was a workshop or a garage. It’s huge and could also be a business. This place has changed hands a few times. It’s in bankruptcy so the price is right but you have to deal with the bureaucracy. The place can be anything you want it to be.”

  “A house?”

  “Easily. It has utilities among other things. Let’s go inside.”

  Inside it had only the basics but he saw a bathroom, a kitchen area, and light fixtures. His thought was it would make a business, even possibly a restaurant which the area needed right now. The price was good, but dealing with whoever was about to take a loss, not so much. Roger would do that and earn his pay.