Thunder (Alpha Love - a Paranormal Werewolf Shifter Romance Book 3) (19 page)

“What about the clerk? Hadn’t he seen it all?” Sofie tries to keep the panic from her voice, really hoping that he’s not about to tell her that they had to get rid of the old man to make sure he didn’t talk.

“My father had known what had happened to my mom as soon as she’d died. He’d felt her go, and he came for us. He held it together; I didn’t even see him cry. I don’t know if he ever did.” Ashton looks like he can’t believe how heartless his father had been, but Sofie knows better. If Ashton’s father was anything like his son, he was just trying to put a brave face on in public, to make a show of strength. He would mourn in private.

Ashton continues telling his story. “I don’t know what he said to the cops, but whatever it was it worked. I guess it wasn’t really a stretch. Who was going to believe that a kid had changed into a wolf and killed those two men? Everyone figured that whatever the men had been running from had finally caught up with them. No one was going to cry over two murderous bastards.” Ashton spits out the words. “The clerk was a kind man. He didn’t have any family; he was all alone. People avoided him—thought he was a little weird. He didn’t have anyone to tell about me. But he still took me aside before my father took me away from that place for good. He told me that my secret was safe with him. And I knew that I could trust him.” Ashton shrugs, as if it were that simple.

“I’m so sorry that happened to you. I’m sorry that’s how you lost your mother. I know how much you loved her, how much she loved you.” Sofie’s voice is quiet, and she’s not just thinking about Ashton’s mother, she’s thinking about her own who couldn’t even hold a candle to the lioness that was Ashton’s mom.

“So, now you know my sad story. You know what can happen if I lose control, if the wolf is stronger than me. It’s important that you realize how bad things can get, so that you can decide.” His blue eyes are clear, but Sofie can see the vulnerability in them.

“So I can decide what?” She frowns, not understanding where this is going.

“Decide if you can live with that. I’ve lost control once around you; I can’t promise that it won’t happen again. It’s so hard to keep a lid on my emotions when I’m with you and that makes me dangerous. I can’t force you to stay, to stay with me.” Ashton hangs his head a little, as he waits for her decision.

An image of Sofie’s dream flashes across her head, of him chasing her through the woods, of her being afraid of him, but she pushes the thought away. “I’m not going anywhere,” she assures him. “And if you lose control again, then we’ll deal with it, together.” She seals her promise with a kiss, hoping that the next time—if there is a next time—the wolf overtakes him, then she’ll know what to do and will be able to help save him from himself.

The sound of knocking, more like hammering really, filters through Sofie’s dreams, waking her. She bolts upright, as she hears the tone of the person at the door. She’s alone in the bed; Ashton must have moved her when she fell asleep.

“Gus is gone!” Lindsey barrels into the kitchen, the panic in her voice enough to make Sofie leap out of bed.

She finds Lindsey, breathing heavily, worry written all over her face and Ashton looking at her in confusion. “What do you mean gone? Take a breath, Lindsey, what’s going on?” he says.

Lindsey gathers herself together, closing her eyes to get some clarity on what she’s there to say. Sofie looks out of the window. It’s dawn, but the sky is red instead of the yellow and pink of sunrise.

“Gus is trying to get some of the others to go into the woods, to follow the poachers!” Lindsey bursts out. “He said that the only way to keep them at bay is to track their movements. He wants to make sure they don’t go anywhere near the sacred ground.”

Ashton’s expression darkens. “He’s disobeyed a direct pack order for the second time.” He’s angry at his second-in-command, but anger won’t help them now. He knows that he needs a plan. “Who has followed him?”

“I don’t know for sure, not many. All I know is that he’s managed to get Lola on his side. You know she’s always been sweet on him. It wasn’t much of a stretch to get her to do what he asked.” Lindsey looks at Ashton meaningfully and then peers round to see Sofie. “Sorry for barging in but…” She shrugs. There’s nothing more important than pack business; they all know that.

“Lola’s our best tracker. If she’s looking for the poachers, she’ll find them.” Ashton’s voice is grim.

“If they see the wolves, they’ll kill them. They’ve been told to shoot on sight,” says Sofie. The thought of it turns Sofie’s blood cold.

“Why would he disobey me?” Ashton’s disappointment in his friend is palpable for them all. Lindsey looks down at her feet, an instant admission that she knows more than she’s saying. It’s not lost on Ashton. “Tell me, Linds.”

She only waits a few seconds, figuring he has to hear it. “He thinks you’ve been…compromised. That you’re not as concerned with the pack as you should be, that you have other…priorities.” Lindsey doesn’t have to look at Sofie for them to know she’s what they’re talking about.

“It’s not Gus’s business what my priorities are. I live and breathe this pack!” Ashton is shaking with rage at his dedication to his pack being called into question. “We need to get over there. Now.” Ashton disappears out of the kitchen to put some clothes on.

Lindsey takes Sofie’s hand and says, “I’m glad things between the two of you have worked themselves out.” Then, she smiles reassuringly.

Sofie’s grateful for the support, but they both know that not everything is worked out. “Gus is accusing Ash of being compromised because of me—because I’m not were. Because he doesn’t trust me.”

Lindsey shakes her head. “Gus is a fanatic. He’s always been more about Lycan rights than anyone else in the pack. Most of us accept that we’re both human and wolf, that we’re not just one thing. You’re just a good excuse for him to go rogue on Ashton.”

“What’s going to happen?” Sofie lowers her voice, as she looks in the direction that Ashton’s disappeared off to.

“Ashton’s going to remind everyone exactly why he’s the Alpha.” The firm set to Lindsey’s jaw tells Sofie that—whatever is coming—it’s not going to be good for Gus.

***

Ashton is grimly silent on the journey over to the quarry. He drives at breakneck speed; but, by the time they arrive, the diggers are already at work, and there’s a small crowd gathered.

“Looks like we arrived a little late to the party,” Lindsey says distastefully, her eyes zeroing in on Luke who is doing his favorite thing—holding court with the camera crew.

Sofie feel Ashton tense up next to her, and she puts a warning hand over his. However, he clearly has no intention of playing nice this morning. Gus’s betrayal has angered him too much for that. He jumps out of the car, Sofie and Lindsey hurrying behind him. The poachers are getting their equipment ready, laughing and joking together, looking for all the world like they’re having the time of their life. Warner catches Sofie’s eye and winks cheekily, as he waves his shotgun at her in greeting.

She knows that he’s toying with her. They know that she doesn’t agree with what they’re doing, and they’re more than happy to rub the fact that she’s been overruled in her face.

Ashton wastes no time heading straight to Luke. He squares up to him, and his tallness and broadness makes Luke look like an adolescent boy next to him. “You mind telling me what the hell you think you’re doing, friend?” Ashton’s voice is low but full of strength, and Sofie wonders if she just imagined Luke shying away from the force of his presence.

“
Friend
now, is it?” Luke twists the unfamiliar word in his mouth. “Before you do anything stupid,
friend
, I should probably remind you that right now you’re on live television.” Luke nods to the various cameras that are wending their way around the site. “You wouldn’t want to do anything to draw attention to yourself, would you? Not a guy that’s so protective of his privacy as you are.” Luke gives him a knowing look and tries to turn away, but Ashton catches hold of his arm.

“Leave this place. This is the one and only warning you’re going to get. If you send your hunters into those woods, you’ll have to live with the consequences, whatever they may be.” Ashton’s expression is set firm in stone. He stares Luke down, unflinching. It’s obvious that what he’s saying isn’t an empty threat.

A spasm of nervousness passes over Luke’s face, his eyes twitching. However, he recovers quickly, plastering the arrogant, entitled expression back on. “You’re not in any position to threaten me, Wyoming. I could buy and sell you and your little friends a hundred times over, just like I did with Sofie.” Luke’s eyes drag over Sofie’s back, as she talks to Darwin, out of earshot. “Besides, why are you so concerned about these wolves? Friends of yours, are they? I guess that would explain the smell.” Luke fans at his nose, looking at Ashton as if he were something unpalatable.

Ashton takes a step toward Luke, ready to use him as a punching bag, despite the press around but a strong hand on his arm stops him. “Ash, back off. He’s not worth it.” Lindsey’s grip on his shoulder is like a vice. She’s strong, but he’s stronger. He could shake her off if he wanted to, but he knows that she’s right, and he allows her to pull him a step back.

“That’s it, barfly, rein him in. If he so much as sets foot on this site again, I’ll have him arrested.” Luke spins on his heel, walking off in the opposite direction towards his hunters without looking back.

“One day, that guy is going to get what’s coming to him, and I want to be the one to give it to him.” Ashton stares daggers into Luke’s retreating back. If looks could kill, Luke would be about six feet under.

“You will, but now is not that day. Come on.” Lindsey pulls him back over to the pick-up truck. “Let Sofie do her thing and see where she gets to.”

Sofie is on the other side of the site, desperately trying to persuade a still-shaky Darwin to help her. “We have to stop the poachers from going after the wolves. You and I both know that what Luke’s doing isn’t right.”

Darwin looks at her sadly, passing a shaky hand over his eyes. “He doesn’t want to know. It’s out of our hands, Sofie.”

“I know you don’t believe that. You’re the one who always said I should fight for what I believe in. I know that you don’t agree with these poachers hunting down the wolves.” She looks at him—desperately hoping that despite everything that’s happened over the past few days he’s still the Darwin that she remembers.

He looks around him, like he’s concerned about being overheard. “It’s my fault. This is my fault.” He looks so guilt-ridden that Sofie has to resist the urge to give him a hug. “Lying in that hospital bed, I had a lot of time to think and look back at what happened. I think perhaps that I was wrong.”

Sofie frowns, not understanding. “Wrong about what? It wasn’t a wolf that you saw?” She looks around, panicking a little as she sees that the hunters are getting ready. They don’t have a lot of time until everyone moves out into the woods.

“No, I know what I saw.” Darwin is definite about that. “But I don’t think that it wanted to hurt me. The more I think thought about it, it almost seemed like the wolf was trying to tell me something, to communicate in some way. I know that sounds crazy…”

“No, it doesn’t sound crazy at all.” Sofie squeezes his hand, encouraging him on.

“When I was doped up on whatever they gave me to calm me down, I had these dreams. But they felt so real, as if they were happening, not just images from my subconscious.” Darwin hesitates to carry on, looking like he’s afraid Sofie is going to think the old coot has finally lost it; but, she nods for him to continue. “I see the wolf’s eyes in my dream, and they look almost…human. I can’t explain it but I know that we shouldn’t be doing this, that it’s wrong. But it’s all my fault.”

“Darwin, what are you talking about? You didn’t do this. You were frightened, that’s all. You didn’t tell Luke to go out there and start rounding up the wolves like cattle.” Sofie, looks earnestly at Darwin, trying to make him understand that he has no reason to feel guilty. “We have to talk to Luke, to try to persuade him that he can’t do this.”

She’s about to start leading the older man over to their boss, when Darwin plants his feet and shakes his head sadly. “I can’t cross Luke, especially not in such a public way.” As he says the words, he looks a little afraid.

“Why? What do you mean?” Sofie holds her breath, knowing that she’s not going to like the answer.

Darwin sighs deeply, resigning himself to share whatever it is that he’s been trying to cover up. “Luke is a dangerous man to have as an enemy. He knows more about all of us than you can possibly imagine. He has details about my divorce...”

Sofie loses her temper; there’s only so much wallowing she can take when there are lives at risk. “Darwin, are you seriously telling me that a few unsavory details of your divorce are as important as the culling of an entire pack of animals for profit?”

“It’s not like that, Sofie.” He seems to be of two minds over whether to explain what he’s so afraid of or not, but her expression tells him that he’s not getting away with anything other than the truth. “Luke likes to have his people in his pocket. It means he doesn’t have to compete with other companies for employees, and he doesn’t have to worry about pesky things like unlawful dismissal or sexual harassment.” He looks pointedly at Sofie, making clear that he knows exactly what Luke’s intentions with her have been.

Sofie finds herself blushing, hating that Luke’s pursuit of her has become such a well-documented fact; but, she forces herself to concentrate on the issue at hand. “What does this have to do with anything?”

“If I publically stand up to Luke about this, I risk losing everything, not just my job. If it meant throwing my career away, that’s something that I could deal with, but I can’t lose my family.” Darwin looks down at the floor, overcome with emotion.

“Lose your family? What do you mean? Luke doesn’t have that kind of power.” As Sofie says the words, she knows how untrue they are. She thinks,
Money gets you all the power that you need, and Luke is one of the richest men this side of the Atlantic.

“I had a job offer, a professorship in DC, something that I always wanted. But before I even had a chance to really think about it, Luke called me into his office and told me that he had all sorts of information on me and my divorce and that I should remember that in case I forgot my responsibilities to Shale. He never mentioned my job offer, but it was clear that’s what it was all about. I didn’t question how he knew about it, just figured it’s a small industry and Luke has a lot of friends in high places.” Darwin shrugs, but his expression tells Sofie that he wishes he hadn’t been so trusting. “Then, as the site visits weren’t going so well, he started increasing the pressure. Shale isn’t doing so well; it hasn’t been for a while. I guess Luke is worried about his money tree. He told me that we better find a viable oil and gas site soon—or else.”

“How did he expect you to do that? We can’t magic up a goldmine of oil!” Sofie barks out a laugh, yet again amazed at Luke’s unbelievable arrogance.

“He doesn’t care about how you get what he wants, just that you get it. That’s why this site is so important to him. The amount of oil underneath these rocks is enough to save Shale and keep Luke in his private jets for a very long time. There’s no way he’s going to give it up.” Darwin’s shoulders sag, and he avoids Sofie’s gaze, knowing what he’s going to find there.

“What does Luke have on you, D? What is it that’s got you so on edge?” Sofie looks past Darwin, towards the pick-up truck where Lindsey and Ashton are watching her intently. She wonders if their wolf super-hearing means that they’re listening in as well. She hopes for Darwin’s sake that they’re not.

Darwin hesitates briefly; but, he knows that there’s no point in holding anything back—not now. “He doesn’t have anything on me, but that doesn’t mean he’s not capable of making something up. He’s threatened to frame me for adultery. He knows that if it came out in the divorce proceedings that I was being unfaithful that I would lose everything; not just possessions or money, but my daughters would never forgive me. They already think that my family comes after my work. You know we’re not as close as I would have liked.” Sofie nods, remembering all the conversations she and Darwin had about his daughters. “If they thought that I was capable of hurting their mother that way, that would be it. They would never want to see me again.” Darwin takes in a shaky breath. “I can’t leave Shale or Luke will deliver on his threat. I can’t come up against him about anything because Luke will deliver on his threat. There’s no situation here where I’m not fucked.”