HOPE POVBeing behind the wheel of my van was like coming home to an old friend. I knew her idiosyncrasies and I loved them. The engine responded to me and the familiar hum lulled me. My mind began to wander. So much has happened in the past few months. It was hard to remember that, just a few months ago, I was working as a mechanic. Since then, I found out about werewolves, had several adventures, found my mate, had a few bad encounters and have changed as a person. I feel like I am a completely new person, but the old Hope was still inside me.I put on the blinker and slowed down. My map said that there was a campsite up to the left. I had headed northwest to try to avoid Nicco’s Pack, and my map said I was hundreds of miles from them. I should be safe enough to spend a night or two here while I tried to get my head on straight and to come up with a plan.I found the road in the dim light and drove the rough terrain that winded through towering pine trees. It opened up t
HOPEI jerked myself awake with a gasp. I was having a nightmare, the same one I had at least three nights a week. In my dream I was reliving the first time my stepdad had sold me to one of his friends in exchange for drug money. The man hadn’t been gentle, and he liked it that I fought and screamed as he thrust himself into me over and over, tearing me and making me bleed. It was traumatic and I usually woke myself up screaming the way I screamed when it had first happened to me four years ago.I lay still, breathing in and out, repeating my mantra to myself. “I am strong. I am safe.” I opened my eyes and focused on the ceiling of the 1999 Toy0ta van that I currently called home. It wasn’t much but she was fully paid for, cheaper than an apartment and had the advantage of being able to easily move if my past got too close to me.This was the week that the mechanic shop I worked for was offering half off oil changes, and we were booked solid. I couldn’t afford to show up exha
Chapter 2NICCO“You ready to go, Alpha?” Vinnie asked me. I stared at the spot where the girl disappeared. I wanted to go after her. No one ignored me, especially not women. Most women threw themselves at me.I frowned, remembering her awkward lies about the big dog and her boyfriend. I must have scared her, somehow. I know I’m a scary guy, but women usually didn’t run away from me. And there was the little matter of her being my mate. My wolf, Lupo, was going crazy. As soon as I got out of the car I could smell her. She smelled like violets and sunshine and oranges, all at once. Lupo began screaming that she was our mate as soon as we caught her scent.Problem was, I couldn’t sense her wolf and that meant one thing. She was human. And there was no way that my mate could possibly be a human. This was a huge mistake. I realized Vinnie was talking to me and I nodded, sliding back into the car. Vinnie turned over the engine and it sounded a lot better. He carefully ste
NICCOI waited in the car for about a half hour. This was how it usually went when we were dealing with humans. The boys went in, cleared the home and then roughed up the guy for a little bit. I would join them later. Today I was waiting for the missus.I saw her pull into the driveway and I got out, pocketing my cellphone in my hip pocket. She watched me cross the street, warily. I gave her a wide smile, trying not to look threatening. From the way she widened her eyes, I probably wasn’t successful.“Amy?” I asked, pleasantly. She nodded and then looked nervously at the house. I could hear a muffled scream coming from inside. “What’s going on?” she asked, clutching her purse and backing up. I continued up to her and took her elbow, using my other hand to gesture in front of me. “Let’s go inside, shall we?” I tugged gently on her arm, but she wasn’t having it. She stayed put. “Tell me what’s going on.” Her voice was flat. I sighed. “We’re having a little conversation
NICCO “What now, Alpha?” Vinnie asked. He was watching me closely and I was pretty sure that he knew something was up. I wasn’t acting normally. My wolf was driving me crazy, and I was having a hard time thinking. “Can you get me more information on her?” I asked Vinnie. He wasn’t that great with computers but some of the guys that worked for me were. Vinnie nodded. “Sure. Give me a minute.” He selected someone from his contacts and spoke for a few minutes. He got a text and checked it, confirming something and then disconnected. “Joey is working on getting more information, but he was able to access DMV records and found a license for a twenty-year-old woman named Hope Smith. Photograph matches our girl. He did a run on the address listed and pulled up a vacant lot in Provo, Utah. No phone number listed. Joey didn’t find a lot of background information on her initially so he’s going to do a deep dive. He did say that she has a minivan registered in her name.” We b
NICCOI checked my watch impatiently. Hope struck me as the type of girl that was early to everything and I hoped she was. I valued promptness. I didn’t even know why I was doing this. My wolf was thrilled but the businessman and Alpha in me knew that this was a really bad idea. I was mated to a human and the sooner I rejected the mate bond the better it would be for my business and for my Pack. I had heard stories of other Alphas being mated with humans and their Pack embracing the change. Most of the time it worked out, the human Luna a meek head of the Pack. Usually in those cases, the Beta’s wife was the one with the real power. That wasn’t going to work for me. My Pack was also part of my business, and I needed a partner that would be ruthless and know the games of the profession. I sighed. This was a really bad idea. I should have just walked away.Her black van pulled up, five minutes early and she slid out of the driver’s seat. I could see that her hair was wet a
HOPEVinnie pulled up to the restaurant and I gave an involuntary gasp. The restaurant had set up a red carpet of sorts with thousands of fairy lights strung up and lighting the way to the entrance. It was a busy night, and the walkway was crowded with couples in varying degrees of fancy dress.Vinnie opened my door and Nicco walked around the car. He put his hand on the middle of my back where the dress dipped lower, and the feel of his palm on my skin did strange things to my body, sending heat straight to my core. I involuntarily shuddered as a vision of Nicco kissing me came to my mind. I looked over at Nicco hoping he didn’t notice my reaction. He had a slight smirk on his face as he led me to the entrance.The maître d' greeted Nicco by name and led us to the back of the restaurant in a little secluded alcove. Nicco waved the host away and held my chair. “Thank you,” I murmured, looking around at the opulence. The restaurant was decorated in the typical Parisian style,
NICCOI watched Hope try to lick the chocolate off from her face and I could feel myself stiffen in my pants. She was so sexy. My wolf was right below the surface, yelling at me to take her and mark her right there in the middle of the restaurant. I handed her a napkin and she scrubbed at her face, her cheeks red with embarrassment. For some reason, this endeared her to me even more and I felt my smile widen. My watch dinged and I looked down. Vinnie had just pulled up. I stood up and helped Hope up. She was a little wobbly and I looked at her with concern. She really didn’t hold her alcohol well. It was not safe to take her back to her van. “Thank you for dinner,” she said primly. “It was very good.”“It was my pleasure,” I said. And it was. She was fun to be around, sexy as hell and smart. I enjoyed dinner. She stumbled a little and I put my hand around her waist, supporting her. She moaned a little and my wolf went crazy. She can feel the mate bond, Lupo screamed
HOPE POVBeing behind the wheel of my van was like coming home to an old friend. I knew her idiosyncrasies and I loved them. The engine responded to me and the familiar hum lulled me. My mind began to wander. So much has happened in the past few months. It was hard to remember that, just a few months ago, I was working as a mechanic. Since then, I found out about werewolves, had several adventures, found my mate, had a few bad encounters and have changed as a person. I feel like I am a completely new person, but the old Hope was still inside me.I put on the blinker and slowed down. My map said that there was a campsite up to the left. I had headed northwest to try to avoid Nicco’s Pack, and my map said I was hundreds of miles from them. I should be safe enough to spend a night or two here while I tried to get my head on straight and to come up with a plan.I found the road in the dim light and drove the rough terrain that winded through towering pine trees. It opened up t
NICCOI started by gathering all of the residents of Moon Tower. I wanted answers and Lupo was pissed. We lost our Beta and I wanted justice. Not as bad as Charlie did, though.The wolves began arriving, most of them confused, especially when we ushered everyone into the basement. It was dank and dark, but it was the only place that was large enough for what I wanted to do.“They’re all here, Alpha,” Caleb said, checking the last wolf off the list. I walked to the far end of the room, my pack members nervously shuffling out of my way. Charlie was already standing in the front of the room, his arms folded across his chest and glaring at everyone. “This meeting is to be kept secret,” I shouted in my Alpha voice. I could see everyone’s neck bowing to my authority, exposing their vulnerable necks to me and showing submission. I hated giving Alpha commands. It reminded me, and everyone else, of my father’s realm where Alpha commands were given multiple times a day. They should o
NICCOI raced over to Vinnie’s apartment. Despite his Beta status, he chose to live in an apartment building that I owned and used to provide living accommodations to members of our pack who worked at my companies. He had at least taken one of the top floor apartments, using the excuse that the view was amazing. It was.I didn’t wait for the elevator and, instead, took the stairs two at a time. It helped Lupo work off some of the nervous energy and gave me an outlet for mine. We made it to the top in record time and I gently knocked at the door.There were no police, no crime scene tape and no techs dusting for fingerprints. We handle things in house. There would be no outside involvement. And when I found out who did this, there would be no trial, no jury. Only swift justice.Charlie opened the door, his face white and his jaw set. He stepped aside and I slipped in, closing the door behind me. Until we knew what we were dealing with, I didn’t want to let anyone else know w
NICCOI frowned at my watch. Hope was late and that wasn’t like her. I was glad she wasn’t early as usual, though. I didn’t want her running into Lucia. What a hateful brat. My phone chirped and I grabbed for it, a smile playing on my lips. It was probably Hope, begging for forgiveness because she got caught up in some sort of shopping expedition with her new friends.“Alpha?” It was Charlie and his voice sounded strained.“Yes.” I could feel my stomach tightening in a knot. Charlie rarely sounded this way. Nothing bothered this wolf. He and I grew up together and the wolf was cold.“It’s dad. He was killed.”Lupo reared up inside me and it took all of my self control to push him back down. I knew why he felt this way. He had immediately felt for our bond with Vinnie, the tether that held him to me, and we couldn’t find it. It was broken and the only way it could be broken was either by banishment or by death. I had lost my Beta.I threw some money on the table blindly,
Chapter 70HOPENicco irritated me beyond belief sometimes. After all his lectures to me about lying, he goes and does it to me. Our mate bond must be getting stronger because I could tell he was lying. I was so angry, I was growling under my breath. When I caught myself, I giggled a little bit. I was picking up on Nicco’s habits.I had a good morning showing Mario and Gia around and getting them settled into their own apartments. Nicco had been kind enough to get them apartments at one of the many buildings that he owned. They were small, but they each had their own, which was usually unheard of. “This is amazing,” Mario gushed, coming back in from the little balcony. His apartment consisted of a tiny kitchen, a small living area and a bedroom with the balcony. “I have never had this much space before.”Gina’s apartment was almost the same, though I had picked out one that had a larger bathroom and more closet. Girls have to stick together and there are just some things t
NICCOMila’s attitude shifted and her face got dark. “You’re never around anymore,” she complained.“What did you do?” I asked, suddenly tired. I always felt guilty about Mila. The attack that killed her parents had taken place right after I became Alpha. I had been warned that it was coming, and I was too arrogant to listen to anyone. We had found Mila in the rubble, her limbs mangled and her little body limp. It had taken the talents of multiple healers and doctors to get her to where she was. “I just wanted to get your attention,” she said, the tears starting. I forced my emotions to harden. She was manipulating me, and I knew it but my guilt made it easy for her to do so.“Who?” I asked. Mila shrugged. “I don’t know. It came in an encrypted message.”“And you thought it would be a good idea?” I asked, dumbfounded. Mila was never one to consider the consequences.“They only borrowed the money. It was always put back,” Mila said, pushing out her lower lip. “I should k
NICCOHope and I stayed up the rest of the flight, trying to figure out what the signature meant. She was the one who finally did. She had gone to the bathroom and had come back, her eyes tired. Before she sat down she stopped with a start and softly chuckled, staring at the paper.“We’ve been making this harder than we needed to,” she said.I looked at her in confusion. “Yeah? If you have figured it out, I’d like to know. It’s driving me crazy.” I was irritable. She grinned and took the pen from my hand, writing over the top of the random letters and numbers that we had been working on, transforming them into one word. BITE.“I’d guess the hacker is a wolf,” Hope said mildly. I looked at the word, my vision clouded. I knew who went by that name and I couldn’t believe it. Hope picked up on my fury.“Do you know who this is?” she asked.“No,” I lied. I didn’t need her to know until it was over. I was going to confront this wolf and find out everything. I would get my ans
Chapter 67HOPE POVI woke up with a start, not sure of what had awakened me. I was laying in the only private bed in the back of the plane with Nicco. I listened carefully and his breathing was still even. Whatever woke me up didn’t wake him.The only noises I could hear were the normal noises of the plane. There was no turbulence. So what had awakened me?I carefully rolled on to my back, trying not to waken Nicco. There was a moment when his breathing changed so I lay still until it went back to normal. Then I slipped out of the bed.I used the bathroom in the dark, not wanting to waken him. Something was still nagging at me. It was like I had forgotten something very important and my brain was trying to remind me.I sighed. I wasn’t going to go back to sleep anytime soon. I slipped out of the bedroom in the back and into the main part of the aircraft. Vinnie opened one eye and looked at me, going immediately back to sleep. Mario and Gina didn’t move.I reached up into
Chapter 66HOPE POV“I don’t care what he said,” I said, impatiently. “I am sick and tired of staying inside. The beach is out there calling my name.” I tried to get past Mario who was blocking the door to the hotel with his body. He looked terrified of me but I knew he was more afraid of Nicco, so he was doing what he could do to keep me in the room. I didn’t blame him, but it still made me mad.“Luna, we could watch a movie,” he suggested. I shrugged, sighed and acted like I was going to go back to the sitting area. He visibly relaxed and I took that opportunity to dart around him and dash into the hallway. “Sucker,” I heard Gina tease Mario behind me. I took off running for the elevator, giggling as Mario ran behind me, trying to reason with me. “Please, Luna Hope. Alpha is going to kill me,” he begged.“Tell him I forced you,” I suggested. I turned just in time to see him roll his eyes. “Just for that, I’m not coming back with you,” I said, jumping into the open eleva