Never Die

by N. L. Hoffmann

  Luke glanced from me to Lance. “If she were smart, she would have never come back in the first place.”

  Frowning now, Lance accepted his beer from the bartender. “Now that’s not something you should say when welcoming back an old friend.”

  Shrugging, Luke stood up, digging out some money from his pocket. He set it on the bar and looked at me. “It was nice to see you again, Riley.”

  Watching him leave, I heard Lance clear his throat. “He’s always got something stuck up his ass. The guy never has a good day,” Lance said before taking a swig of his beer.

  I turned back around, taking mine into my hands. I glanced at him sideways before letting the cool liquid hit my throat. Something was up between them, but it wasn’t my problem. I was here for other reasons, and a fight between brothers was not one of them.

  “So, what have you been up to, Lance?” I asked, deciding to fish for some information.

  Lance smiled, sipping his beer. “Just the usual. Business has been good. Got married, had a little girl, and still up to no good.”

  Laughing, I set the beer down. Might as well get comfortable with him. If I continued to be stiff, he wasn’t going to open up to me. “I guess it is the usual, then.”

  He shrugged. “The wife took off, but I have my little girl still. We’ve been going through a tough time since her mother left. Not sure where she went, but the woman has her own money to survive on.”

  “Wow, that’s terrible. I feel bad for you both. Did you marry someone local?”

  Shaking his head, he spun his beer bottle around, contemplating on what to tell me. Deciding something, he looked over at me. “No, I met her in New York a few years ago. Decided to bring her home to Mama. Things were going fine until she met some businessman from California. Apparently, they’d been talking online for a while. Then the trips started.”

  He was either really good at coming up with stories, or Mary had left some parts out. She never told me there was another man in the picture, or that she’d left Lance. Making a mental note to call her later, I placed a hand on Lance’s shoulder. “Well, maybe it was for the best. There’s someone for everyone.” I gave him a sympathetic smile.

  Lance turned his stool toward me. “Would that be you, Riley?”

  At a loss for words, I hurried to take another drink. Didn’t see that one coming. “We never did get along in school.”

  He placed a warm hand on my thigh, lowering his lashes. “We’re grown now. Times are different. You’re still gorgeous, though. Always been smart.”

  I knew I was blushing then. He always knew how to say the right things. Too bad he was a criminal. Once again, the thought doused the fire that roared to life inside me. “You’ve always been good with words, Lance.”

  Removing his hand, Lance grinned. “I mean them.”

  I was about to say something else, but a large man came up behind Lance, his expression serious. Lance looked over his shoulder, waiting to see what he wanted. The man leaned over, whispering something. It was then that Lance’s whole demeanor changed. He became serious, flirtation pushed aside, and his body language stiffened.

  “Riley, this is my boy, Carl Humphrey.”

  Carl nodded once before looking back to Lance. “What do you want me to do, Boss?”

  Lance stood up, dropping some cash on the bar. “Well, we’ll have to pick this up another time, Riley.” He leaned over, placing a kiss on my cheek before turning on his heel to leave.

  Shit. He was leaving, and I wasn’t out in my car. Deciding to risk it, I dropped a few bills on the bar and followed them out. They were already pulling out of the parking lot by the time I got to my car.

  Moving fast, I climbed in and put it in gear. I stayed a little bit behind them so I didn’t cause any alarm. They went a few miles down the paved road, and then took a dirt one to the left, leaving me in a cloud of dust. Pursing my lips, I followed behind, trying to keep an eye on their tail lights. It wasn’t long before they pulled off to a private driveway that led to a patch of trees.

  Turning off my lights, I pulled to the side of the road and got out. I was about to do something dangerous. My nerves were all over the place. I didn’t regularly chase after criminals, so I didn’t usually worry so much. But Lance was unpredictable—always had been. That recklessness could mean a bullet in my head.

  Chapter Four

  Maybe I should have put on bug spray. The ticks were going to be terrible out here, and so were the mosquitos. I would be paying for it later. I pulled my camera out of its bag as I got closer to the area where people were talking. There was a fire blazing in the middle of a clearing in the woods. People were surrounding the fire, half of them men and the rest women. They were all laughing and drinking, as if they didn’t have a care in the world.

  Lance made it to the middle of the group, hands on his hips as he looked at everyone. “I hear there’s a problem!”

  Everyone grew quiet, expressions somewhat fearful of what the problem could be. When no one said anything, he grinned broadly. “The problem is, I’m not here having fun with the rest of y’all!”

  Cheering erupted, echoing into the woods. I took a few pictures with the camera. There wasn’t anything important, but the faces of the rest of the group could matter later. I recognized a couple of people, and a lot of the girls who were all over the men. The men looked like bikers, wearing their leathers. One man slapped a girl’s ass, earning a squeal of excitement from her. She was drunk, that I could see from the way she was walking and her crazy hair.

  “Let’s get this party started!” Lance grabbed a girl around the waist, her blonde hair cascading down her back as he brought her right up against him. His mouth took hers in a heated kiss, causing her to groan like a girl in a porno.

  Next thing I knew, everyone was together, clothes getting thrown off in every direction. My mouth fell open in shock, until I realized that I needed pictures. These would be gross to look at later, but it was good to have as evidence for Mary.

  Lance had his girl on her knees, breasts hanging freely near the ground as she arched her back so he could get better access to her bare ass. He was naked now, too, his cock hard and ready. Then he thrust himself into her, yelling out at the same time. They were like animals, not even caring that they were nude in front of each other. It was a big orgy in the woods. Was Mary ever involved in such things? Imagining it only made me want to vomit.

  They all started to howl, pulling out of their women and then going to their own hands and knees. Confused, I took a few pictures, wondering what the hell was happening now. Was it some kind of dance? A ritual?

  Their bodies began to contort, bones snapping and bending in strange directions. The sound was sickening to me, causing my beer to make its way back up in response. What happened next had me wanting to scream and run in another direction. They were sprouting hair all over their bodies, until they finally took the form of wolves. They were fucking wolves.

  How was that possible?

  I snapped a few pictures, unsure how I was able to keep calm through all of this. This was not a calm situation. Anyone else would be running, but I had to have this evidence. It was unbelievable. Maybe something had been in my beer. Did the bartender drug me?

  Some of the wolves suddenly turned in my direction, as if they sensed my presence among them. Fear ripping at me, I took off in the direction of my car. I wasn’t being quiet—twigs snapped beneath my feet and groundcover rustled as I moved. It was seconds later that I heard rushing behind me, as the wolves were hot on my heels.

  Tripping over a branch, I fell to my knees, smashing my camera in the process. I hurried to my feet, only to feel something sharp latch itself onto my leg. I cried out in pain, jerking until the wolf let go. I was only a couple of feet away from my car, but the wolf was still in pursuit. I grabbed my gun, firing off a few rounds in its direction. There was a yelp and then a whimper after I somehow managed to wound one of them.

  Climbing into the car, I whipped
it into a U-turn, taking off down the road. When I looked in the rearview mirror, I could see glowing eyes watching me drive away. Werewolves. They were fucking werewolves.

  *

  The wound was deep, but wasn’t bleeding anymore, strangely enough. The wolf nearly took a chunk out of my calf. I shook my head as I cleaned the site so it wouldn’t get infected. It sizzled, surprising me as the steam rose up. That wasn’t supposed to happen. A burning sensation shot through my entire leg, making me fall back onto the bed as I clutched the blankets with white knuckles.

  I was in more trouble than I thought. There was no way in hell that I could fight them on my own now. How was I supposed to get Lance’s daughter when his whole crew could turn into wolves? But my job wasn’t to get his daughter. How the hell did I get myself into such a situation? When did I become a rescuer? I didn’t agree to do anything other than collect evidence of infidelity.

  Pressing my fingers to my eyes, I wanted to cry. But I needed to get calm before I made any decisions. The daughter could be in danger here, too. Maybe even Annie, my alleged sister. This whole town could be in trouble. Or maybe they were all wolves. My mind was moving a million miles a second. This was not calming myself down.

  Sitting up, I grabbed a wrap from my bag, having come prepared for any chances of becoming hurt. My wound looked vicious and probably should have been looked at by a doctor, but I wasn’t about to leave town suddenly to get to the nearest hospital. That cop was probably out there, waiting like he had been before.

  Groaning when my phone started to ring, I hobbled over to the dresser to get it. Alex was calling. There was no choice but to answer it. “Hello?”

  “You didn’t call, so I got worried.”

  I smiled as I sat down, whimpering when the movement hurt me. “I went to the bar, lost track of time.”

  “You okay? You sound off.”

  Alex knew me too well. It was hard to lie to him, but it was for his safety. Not even a Marine could be safe from wolves. “Yeah, I think I drank too much. I’m about to hit the bed.”

  “Well, make sure you call me tomorrow. I want to know what’s happening down there.”

  After hanging up, I hobbled over to the door, making sure it was locked. Hurting myself will make my job that much harder. I should have been more careful, but I’d been so eager to see where Lance was going, I didn’t think about my safety.

  I’d just turned around to head back to my bed to watch TV when there was a knock at the door. My heart started pounding, and I became nervous all over again. Was it Lance? Maybe it was the wolf I shot. I took a step back, deciding that it was probably best not to answer. Only the knocking became harder and more insistent the longer I waited.

  “Riley, open the door.”

  Recognizing the voice as Luke’s, I took a step forward, about to let him in. Then I stopped. Even though the relationship between him and his brother appeared tense, it didn’t exactly mean that he wasn’t there to kill me. I fell into something that I wasn’t supposed to see, and that meant certain death for me.

  “Open the door, Riley.”

  “You need a warrant!” I called back, grabbing for my gun that I’d placed on the dresser.

  “Don’t even think about using that gun on me. You’re in deep enough trouble as it is.”

  How did he even know I had a gun? I glanced down at it before placing it on the dresser. Maybe we could act like rational adults. Yeah, right, but what choice did I have?

  Unlocking the door, I pulled it open a little bit to check out Luke. There was no one else with him, so that was a plus. He seemed pissed, though. His grouchy expression from earlier was now roughly ten times worse. The man knew I did something terrible, and he was probably ready to arrest me.

  Defeated, I let go of the door, walking toward the beds and crossing my arms over my chest. Luke came in, locking the door behind him. This time he was out of his uniform, hair a little damp. The man looked even sexier in jeans. I allowed myself a moment to look him over from head to toe, admiring every firm curve.

  He hardly seemed fazed by my obvious behavior. His blue eyes focused on me hard before traveling down to where my leg was wrapped. Then he swore. Furiously. He ran a hand through his hair and then swung out with a fist, smashing it into the wall. I yelped in surprise, not expecting him to flip out.

  “What were you doing in those woods, Riley? You shot someone.”

  “I shot an animal.”

  “No, you shot a person,” he argued.

  Placing my hands on my hips, I glared. “I’m pretty sure it was wolves that were chasing me!”

  Luke took a step forward, coming closer and closer until he was looking down at me. Our faces were only inches from each other. It was the closest I’d ever been to him. It was tempting to touch him, but I kept my hands where they were. I wasn’t going to give in. What was there to give into, anyway? He obviously had anger issues. The man probably hadn’t even thought twice about me, and definitely not in the same way I thought about him.

  How did I think about him? That he was one nice piece of meat that I wanted to have my way with all night long. Holy shit, I had problems. The Thatchers were bad news, and there was no way in hell I would get involved with one. Still, looking at them wasn’t all that bad, was it?

  “Are you all right? You seem a little flushed,” Luke said, his angry expression changing into one of concern.

  Feeling my face warm up from embarrassment, I took a step back and looked away. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

  Luke followed me, reaching out to grab my arm. “You’re hurt. Did you cut yourself out in the woods?”

  I was about to say yes, but he was already pushing me down onto the bed and unwrapping the gauze. Then he started swearing again, jumping to his feet from the crouched position he had taken. “Fuck! Are you fucking kidding me? This is so fucking bad.”

  He just kept repeating the word ‘fuck’ for several minutes, pacing in the room as he pulled on his hair. “You were bitten.”

  “Animal bite, no big deal. I’ll just get a rabies shot.” I shrugged, wrapping the wound again.

  Suddenly he was in front of me, blue eyes serious. “This isn’t just an ordinary bite.”

  Knowing what he meant, I said, “What, is it a special breed of wolf?”

  Squinting at me, he frowned. “You know more than you’re saying.”

  I poked him in the chest. “So do you.”

  Bursting out into a fit of laughter, he spun around on his heel to begin his pacing again. “You’ve changed from the quiet Riley we all knew. You have a bit of an attitude now.”

  Annoyed, I hopped to my feet, wincing from the pain. “You Thatcher boys don’t scare me.”

  “Well, little girl, you have a lot more to worry about now than you did an hour ago. You’ve gotten yourself into a fine mess. Not sure if you’ll be able to get out of it, either.” Luke glanced at the gun on the dresser. “Why do you carry a gun, anyway?”

  Becoming defensive, I looked him dead in the eyes. “It’s my right as a citizen.”

  “Why were you out in those woods?”

  This time I didn’t have an answer. Why didn’t I have one? My mouth fell open as I had no reply for him. “I don’t have to tell you why I was out there.”

  Luke studied me for a minute. “I don’t think they knew who you were.”

  “Then why are you bothering me?” I ran my fingers over the cool steel of my gun, glancing up at him.

  He squinted. “I’m an officer of the law, Riley. It’s probably best for you to step away from that gun.”

  “Aw, I won’t shoot you,” I promised, winking.

  “You’re the only person here that would follow Lance. I say that because no one else in this town is dumb enough to do it. You just coming back here, it was obvious.” He shrugged, motioning for me to sit down again. “Lance may not know that you were the one out there, but he will soon.”

  “Why, are you going to tell him?” I asked, refusing to take a seat.


  Luke came over, attempting to push me back, but I grabbed onto one of his arms, forcing him off balance. Next thing I knew, he was laying right on top of me. “Well, this is awkward.” I said, staring up at him.

  He looked away, struggling to get back to his feet.

  “Is it just me, or is someone happy to see me?” I asked.

  Horrified, Luke got to his feet, backing up until his heels hit the dresser. “You don’t have a filter on that mouth, do you?”

  “I know of one way to shut me up, Luke,” I purred as I made an attempt to look sexy on the bed. I probably looked like shit, though, considering my fall out in the woods. Whatever had gotten into me, it was making him nervous as hell. He didn’t know how to respond to me at that moment. He looked like a shy little boy.

  Without warning, Luke was moving in my direction. He pushed me back onto the bed and then laid himself over my body, his hot mouth taking mine. At first I didn’t respond, because I wasn’t expecting anything like that from him. But then my lips softened beneath his, opening enough for him to dive his tongue in. I moaned, wrapping my arms around his neck as he settled himself in between my legs.

  My brain kept screaming that he was a Thatcher. It was a horrified, what the fuck are you doing kind of scream, but it became drowned out when Luke groaned, grinding headily into me. I wanted him inside of me so bad that I dug my fingers into his neck, urging him to move on to whatever the hell we were doing, but suddenly, he pulled away, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand as he stood up. His eyes were wild, hands clenched at his side as he tried to regain control.

  “This isn’t you, Riley. You don’t want me. What is happening to you now is making you this way.”

  Confused, I sat up, half tempted to tackle him down to the floor. He would resist at first, but I knew that giving in was inevitable. The man wanted me just as much as I wanted him. Maybe I just needed to have sex with him once to get it out of my system. My body was suddenly in overdrive, desire overwhelming me. Since when did a man refuse sex? This wasn’t normal. Maybe he had a girlfriend, which would explain his refusal.