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recognized her as the woman who’d nearly gotten him caught in an altercation with Alpha werewolf Luka Craige . And while he already couldn’t allow the woman to live, just for having seen him standing over Craige’s Beta, now he was doubly inspired to burn a hole in her chest. All of which made the fact the local authorities already seemed to believe her dead that much better.
    “Terrible, isn’t it?” his middle-aged waitress asked with a sad shake of her head as she returned with his order. “I don’t know what this world’s coming to. Doing something like that to someone.”
    Char lowered the paper for a beat and offered the woman an understanding smile. “Getting to where it’s not even safe outside,” he said. “Could I get a warmer for the coffee, too?” He waited patiently as she obligingly refilled his coffee then stepped toward her next table before spreading the paper out in order to read and eat simultaneously.
    Unsurprisingly, the article was short and close-mouthed on the details found at the actual crime scene. They described the body as “burned beyond recognition” and, apparently, they were basing their theory of the body’s identity on the woman’s interrupted 9-1-1 call and the tossed purse found at the scene. It really was perfect.
    His eyes returned to the line with the information he’d been looking for and he smirked. ‘Twenty-nine year old Joella Harp’ had landed herself at the top of his to-do list and, unfortunately for her, he really didn’t have time to draw out the game. Not with a bitter werewolf on his trail. If you’re lucky, Ms. Harp, the wolves have already eaten you.
    ****
    “Can’t I at least run home to get into something more comfortable?” Joella said, obviously unhappy with Luka’s previous answers.
    Luka grit his teeth in his effort to keep his voice level. “No,” he ground out. “For the last time, Ella, you can’t go back into that town until Char is dead. End of discussion.”
    “Uh-uh,” Joella said. “You can’t ‘end of discussion’ me, Luka. I’m not asking to be allowed to go to my job or stay in town. I just want clothes . Clean clothes. That’s not an outrageous request!”
    “Alpha said no, human,” Vanna interrupted from her perch on a nearby rock.
    “You’re wasting your time, Vanna,” Morgan put in without looking toward her sister. “Humans don’t understand ‘compliance’.”
    Joella’s lips pursed, but Luka ignored her reaction as he turned a glare on the twins. “You should be getting ready. We leave soon for the hunt.”
    The girls both pushed to their feet and Vanna asked, “Alpha, if she really wants to take her life into her hands, why are we wasting our time with her?”
    “Because I said to,” Luka snapped, his irritation slipping through. Neither asked any further questions before scampering off, leaving Luka as alone with Joella as he was going to get.
    “So is that it?” Joella asked, her voice lowered slightly. “I’m a waste of your time?”
    “That depends,” Luka said, stepping into her personal space again. “Are you going to throw your life away as soon as I turn my back? Do you want to die?”
    Her mouth opened immediately, but she swallowed her response and slowly closed it again. One of her small, feminine hands landed on his chest, and his palms itched. This woman confused the hell out of his instincts. He’d never been so distracted.
    “No,” she said. “I don’t want to die, Luka. I just want some clean underwear and to get out of these work clothes. Maybe grab a sweater.”
    Knowing exactly how she’d respond, he suggested, “You could always just ditch these things.” He tugged, oh-so-lightly, on the sleeve of her blouse for emphasis.
    Joella sucked in a breath and swatted his hand away. “Absolutely not!”
    Forcing his expression to remain neutral, Luka said, “Then you’ll have to tell me where to find your stuff. I’ll bring you something when I return.”
    Her face