Never Die

by N. L. Hoffmann

  Chasing after him, I grabbed his arm so he was forced to look at me. “Hold on a second. You have no right to treat me that way.”

  Luke bared his teeth at me. “Go find Lance.”

  My head reeled back like I had just been slapped in the face. “I don’t want Lance.”

  “That’s not what I heard. I heard you and him got cozy at the whorehouse. Says a lot about you.” He jerked his arm away from me and started walking again.

  “Did you just call me a whore?” I shrieked.

  “Riley, I don’t have time for this.”

  Clenching my fists at my side, I stomped after him, to only be frozen in place seconds later when I saw the dead body, everything shredded but the face. It was my mother.

  Luke spun around, his mouth dropping open when he realized I hadn’t left like he told me to. He grabbed my shoulders, pulling me into him so he could offer me support. Only, it was pointless. I felt nothing. I lost my love for the woman many years ago when she abandoned her duties as a parent. Still, it was a hard thing to look at. She was barely intact, and there was blood everywhere.

  Pushing away from Luke, I turned around to head to my car. He had a job to do. I had to get away from the scene before I threw up. Even though I was a private investigator, I didn’t ever see dead bodies. Every once in a while I helped the police on cases, but I never had to appear at a crime scene. Everything always happened after the fact.

  When I climbed into the car, I glanced up to find Luke watching me. I couldn’t read the expression on his face, but it didn’t matter to me anymore. He’d made it clear that he didn’t want me there. Why did I bother to push it?

  Making a U-turn, I took off down the dirt road. Was it a coincidence that my mother had been murdered? She risked her life every day, so why did it happen now? Lance had to know. It was the only explanation. Fear trickled down my spine, thinking of what could happen next. Annie could be at risk, and it would be my fault.

  Chapter Eight

  The bar was busy again. A little more packed than the night before, but what else did you expect on a Friday night? It was hot outside, so everyone was coming in covered in a sheen of sweat. It was almost disgusting, since a lot of them were in serious need of deodorant. It was why I chose the spot that I did. The chair I selected was under a ceiling fan, and kept most of the smell at bay.

  Nodding to the bartender, I told him I wanted a beer. Seconds later he handed me one and took off to help some other people that came in. It was then that I spotted a group on the opposite side of the bar. Luke was hanging all over a woman who was kissing on his neck. He grinned over at one of his boys like men did when they thought they were cool. When he turned his gaze to look around the bar, he met mine. Instantly, his face turned stony and he looked away.

  Jerk. I turned away from him to drink my beer. Hopefully, coming to the bar wasn’t pointless. I was hoping to find Lance so I could get some answers from him. He opened up to me before, so why not again?

  After about ten minutes I finished my beer, so I waved at the bartender for another one. Just as I was about to take another sip, someone poked me on both sides of my ribs. I yelped, nearly spilling it everywhere. Moving fast, I spun around ready to slap someone, but once again was stopped by Lance’s hand.

  He started laughing and slapping one leg with his other hand. “Chill, girl. It’s just me.”

  “I almost hurt you, Lance. You have to stop sneaking up on me.” My heart was pounding hard in my chest.

  Grinning, he shoved his hands into his pockets. “I came to see if you were here. I’m having a party at my place, and thought you would like to hang out.”

  Warning bells went off in my head. This was a chance for me to check out his house, and maybe see if his daughter had been staying there. It was a dangerous move, though. I would be placing myself in a very vulnerable position. He was a criminal, after all.

  Slowly, I nodded. “Sure, sounds like fun.”

  “Hell, that’s great. You can follow me out to my house.” He grabbed my hand with his and started leading me out of the bar.

  I glanced over my shoulder at Luke, who was watching us leave together. What I was doing made everything look worse than it really was. Turning away, I followed Lance out the door. He opened my car door for me before walking backwards to his big truck. Flashing me his irresistible grin, he turned to climb inside. Within seconds we were out on the main road, for at least five miles. The further out I got, the more nervous I became.

  After about another mile we turned down another paved road where I saw a fire off in the distance, in a field behind a house. There were a ton of cars parked out front, and the house was completely lit up. It had to be Lance’s house. When we turned into the drive, my assumption was confirmed.

  I never inserted myself into investigations before, but coming back home made it impossible not to. Taking a deep breath as I parked out in the open for an easy escape, I wondered how far I was willing to go. Mary had yet to return my phone call, which made me both nervous and suspicious.

  Climbing out of the car, I grinned at Lance as he headed in my direction. “Come on, Riley. It’s time to let loose!” He grabbed for my hand again, swinging it as he happily started toward his large house.

  The house was large, but not outrageously so. It was a ranch home, surrounded by a white pasture fence. Had I not known about Lance, I would have figured there was some happy, farming family living in it. As we entered the house, someone handed us beers. Lance started taking me from room to room. First was his living room, where the loveseat and sofa were filled with people. There was a large brick fireplace off to the left of the sofa, where pictures sat on the hearth. His TV was huge, and it was playing an action movie. Not that you could hear anything, because everyone was so loud.

  “Let me show you the rest of my home,” Lance said, taking me to the dining room, where there was even more people. They surrounded a large oak table that was covered in playing cards and beer bottles. Everyone cheered at the sight of Lance, and he waved.

  From there we went to the kitchen, but only hung around for a second. People were mixing drinks and dumping a load of liquor into a garbage can. He then took me to another room that housed a pool table and some other game tables. The man made a lot of money, that was for sure. All of it illegally, and he didn’t care who knew it.

  We started up some stairs, where it was dark. Obviously, no one else was allowed up there because no one was coming down, and I couldn’t hear any other voices. I started to feel my palm sweat in his as I became nervous. He glanced down at me and smiled. “Don’t worry, darling. I won’t do anything to you.”

  Not completely believing him, I nodded, taking in his ass as he went up the steps. Something was wrong with me. I was going upstairs alone with a dangerous criminal, and I was checking out his ass. I shook my head at myself and then looked into the first room that I saw. It was decorated all in pink. It looked like no one had been in it for a while, though. The room was kind of stuffy, and everything was put away nicely. When I gave him a questioning look, he stepped inside the room.

  “She’s staying with some family until I can sort out the problems with me and her mom. No one is taking my daughter from me, especially not to California, where that other man is.” His face became hard as he spoke about Mary.

  Feeling the change in mood, I placed a hand on his arm. “I’m sure it will all work out in the end.”

  Lance smiled. “You always seem to say the right thing, Riley. I think I’m beginning to really like you. I don’t know why we didn’t hook up sooner.”

  Hook up sooner. Those words made me realize that he was expecting something more from me. I laughed nervously, turning to leave the room and head down the stairs. But then he took my hand, spinning me around so I was facing him. “We still have more to see up here.”

  “I think we should go down to the rest of the party,” I told him as I looked over my shoulder, hoping someone would come save me.

 
Shaking his head, he pushed open another door that revealed a large bed with dark blue bedding. It was a big bedroom, with a window that nearly filled an entire wall. The view looked over the property from behind the house, so we could see the bonfire outside, where a lot of people were partying.

  “This is my room. The best room in the house. After a long day, I look forward to sleeping in this bed. Sometimes, I open the window to let the breeze come into the house. It can be really soothing when you need it.” He let go of my hand so he could stand at the window. “I can smell the wolf on you, Riley.”

  My heart stopped at his words. I didn’t know what to say, and I was too frozen to move or try to make my escape. When he turned around, his eyes were glowing in the dark, watching me carefully. I went to back out of the room, but he was suddenly in front of me, his nose to my neck. “I like her. I didn’t smell it on you when you first got here. I must have been too drunk to notice.”

  The pounding of my heart was thudding in my ears as he kept pushing me back toward the wall. His hands wrapped around my waist, sliding up to the sides of my breasts. I felt my wolf coming forward the more he touched me. She wanted him, making me uncomfortable, but also needy at the same time. It was hard to fight her instincts, and my human ones. The animal in me was a lot stronger than I thought she would be. Yet, I didn’t know it could be like that. I had no one to tell me.

  “I haven’t met a female wolf before. We don’t turn anyone into werewolves. The ones that are here in Luna Hill come from all over, looking for an alpha.” He nipped my ear, sending shivers through my body. “I’m the alpha. I command the wolves here. Every day, there’s a new one. Did you come to seek me as your alpha, Riley?”

  My eyes closed as his mouth moved down the side of my neck and one hand glided over a breast. “Do you want me as your alpha?”

  “I’m not looking for an alpha,” I breathed, barely able to focus on his words.

  “Strange how you’re a wolf. You smell fresh, as if it just happened.” He breathed in deeply. “Yes, recently.”

  Bringing my hands up to his chest, I pushed him off of me. “It was recently, but I didn’t come here looking for an alpha, or whatever that is.”

  Surprised, he played with my hair, watching as it fell over my breast. “So new, you know nothing about our kind, do you?”

  The way he said it had me shifting uncomfortably. “I don’t know a lot, no.”

  “You don’t know that our kind can claim a mate, and it’s for life?” he asked, coming back to me again. He rolled his hips into me, causing my knees to go week with base desire.

  “I don’t need a man.”

  “So, you just want to fuck?” he asked, hot breath on my ear.

  When I didn’t say anything, he clutched my shirt, ripping it down the middle. His eyes flared with desire as he stared at my breasts, nipples revealing themselves through my lacey bra.

  “But what if I want so much more?”

  I tried to deflect, but his eyes caught mine. My body was frozen in place, and I couldn’t get myself to move. It was like he had a spell on me, and I was his to do whatever he wanted with. “I should go, Lance.”

  His mouth covered mine and I instantly responded, but my hands were still pressing on his chest, trying to push him away. Talk about mixed signals; I was even confusing myself. Everything we were doing was so wrong, but part of me felt like it was so right.

  “Say you want me, Riley,” he growled, lacing his fingers through my hair and pulling back so my face met his.

  I felt the heat from his body leave mine in an instant. I looked around, and then discovered that he was now across the room, on the floor, with someone standing over him. When I focused my vision in the dark a little better, I realized it was Luke. His face was a mask of rage, and his hands had turned into claws, as if he was in a partial change to wolf form. “Stay away from her,” he snarled.

  Lance was on his feet in a second, shoving his brother back with force. “What does it matter to you, Luke? She’s no concern of yours.”

  “You’re using your alpha powers on her. I can smell it in the air.”

  Alpha powers? Confused, I attempted to close my shirt, but failed. There was no saving it now. How would I explain that to Annie? Shaking the thoughts from my head, I focused on the two men about to throw down in Lance’s room. It smelled heavily like testosterone in the air. Instinct was telling me to run because this wasn’t my fight. But then the sensible, private investigator in me said to stay in case Luke needed help. He was here for me, so it was only right that I made sure he got out safely. Though, I didn’t know how much I could really do.

  “I’m not using them. Her wolf wants me—I can sense it. If you would use your fucking senses, you would be able to tell that,” Lance jerked his hands, and claws appeared, just like Luke’s.

  Shaking his head, Luke walked circles around his brother. “She’s new, and you want to take advantage of her without explaining what’s happening. That’s wrong.”

  “Riley comes from a long line of whores. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”

  I charged toward Lance, but Luke pushed me back until I fell to the floor. Lance apparently had many faces. Who knew if the story he told me about his marriage was even true. He probably told the same thing to everyone so they would feel sorry for him. He manipulated people until they did what he wanted. The man was good at hiding his true self.

  “She’s not like the rest of them.” Luke said, backing toward me, his hands moving backwards so he could guide me out of the room. “Just leave her alone.”

  Lance snarled, spit flying from his mouth as he took a step forward. “This doesn’t end here, brother. You still owe me a debt.”

  “A debt that has no end in sight.”

  When Lance grinned he exposed larger teeth. They looked sharp and deadly. I clutched my shirt closed, barely able to cover my breasts. Luke turned to grab my arm. We hurried down the stairs toward the front door while everyone stared after us, wondering what happened. Lance stood at the top of the steps, laughing at our retreat. “Watch your back, Riley! You won’t be turning me down again.”

  Everyone howled after us, and then laughter followed. Luke opened my car door, pushing me inside. “Follow me.”

  Nodding, I turned on the car and waited for him to pull out. I didn’t understand what just happened. Lance seemed to be okay, but suddenly he changed into an animal. From the sounds of what he was telling me, he wanted complete control of me. Something I wasn’t going to let happen, regardless of the cost. Sadly, the evening’s events painted a large target on my back. Now, Annie was probably in danger because of it.

  Luke was leaving the driveway in a hurry, so I hit the gas to follow him. I didn’t know where we were going, but hopefully it was far enough away from Lance. There was probably no real place to hide, since he knew where everything—and everyone—was in town. He would have to, considering it was his territory and Pack.

  We shot down the road heading straight into town, pulling into the motel’s parking lot. There were a few more cars there than when I left, which was surprising, considering it was such a small town. It didn’t call to many visitors.

  Parking the car, I hurried out to meet Luke at my room’s door. He was holding his gun now, hanging down by his side. Glowing eyes met mine once I came up to him. It was sort of freaky to be able to see without lights outside. Motioning me to let him in, I slipped the key into the slot and waited for the light to turn green. The TV was blaring, and all the lights were on inside. Annie was nowhere to be found, which had me wondering where she could possibly be. We would have to discuss a curfew if she was going to come stay with me.

  Luke found the remote and switched off the TV. “Do you have a habit of leaving the TV and lights on?”

  Reading his expression I could tell he wasn’t in a good mood while saying it. I watched as he looked around the room, finding that both of the beds were unmade. When he raised a questioning eyebrow, I explained, �
�Annie is going to come with me.”

  “Oh. When you leave Luna Hill?” he asked, disappointment flickering across his features.

  Nodding, I closed the door behind me, wondering what we were doing. He was a hard man to read, and I had been in complicated relationships. I tried to avoid them at all costs. Then again, I was jumping ahead of myself and assuming that we had something together. What happened between us was just a one-time thing, in the heat of the moment. I was good at over-reading things, so our thing was probably one of them.

  “You have to leave now. Tonight,” he finally said, grabbing my bag off the dresser and throwing everything he could find of mine into it. “It’s too dangerous here. You have Annie now, so there is nothing keeping you here.”

  I watched as he raced across the room, collecting things. Yeah, so I wasn’t what you would call organized. My things tend to rest wherever I found a place for them. That’s why I had someone come to my apartment at least once a week to clean it for me. Unfortunately, the maid service at the motel sucked. They hadn’t come once so far to check on me.

  “I can’t leave,” I said, snatching the bag from him.

  He held onto it, but after a few hard tugs, he released his grip. “Why the hell not? Do you have some sort of death wish?”

  The man was getting angry again, and it was kind of hot. His eyes shined despite the low light in the room. I could smell him all the way from where I was standing. It was probably all thanks to this new werewolf problem I had. Taking a deep breath, I committed it to memory. Awkwardly, that move also made my hormones come to life, insisting that I jump his bones, despite the tenseness in the room.

  His nostrils flared as if he could sense it, fire blazing to life in his gaze as he took one step toward me. Body tense, he clenched his fists, making himself stop before one of us did something. “You have to go because I don’t know if I can stop Lance from making you his.”

  “Doesn’t that have to be my choice, too?” I asked, placing hands on my hips.

  Shaking his head, Luke went into the bathroom, grabbing my things. He just didn’t give up. “Not when you’re an alpha. Werewolves know who their true mates are. You can’t deny that connection, but as an alpha, he can force the connection, and mate with whomever he wants. If he commands your wolf, you’ll have no choice but to obey.”