Downpour (Alpha Love - A Paranormal Werewolf Shifter Romance Book 1) (19 page)

“It isn’t your fault,” Ashton lifts her chin with the lightest of touches, so that their eyes meet.

“That’s a little hard to believe when I’m the reason they know about the oil; that’s sort of what my job entails.” Sofie sighs heavily, rubbing her eyes.

“You are a scientist, you find information, what they choose to do with that information is down to them. You’re not the one putting the drill in the ground. You didn’t do this.” Ashton looks at her seriously, hoping to see that he’s getting through to her.

“Why do I feel like you have this ability to know exactly what it is that I’m thinking? Is that another wolf thing?” Sofie laughs a little, but her smile fades when she sees the expression on Ashton’s face. “It is, isn’t it?”

Ashton smiles a little sheepishly. “We’re intuitive, some more than others. Lindsey’s in a league of her own on that front.”

“Hold up, hold up.” Sofie takes a step back to make sure she’s not missing anything. “Lindsey is a werewolf?”

Ashton looks at her curiously. “Yeah, thought you would have figured that out by now. What she calls ‘her thing’, how she’s able to read people, how she seems to know exactly the right thing to say, that’s part of her power.” Ashton shrugs like it’s no big deal.

“Okay,” Sofie takes a deep breath, putting some order into her thoughts. “This is a lot to deal with all at once.”

“I think I might have mentioned that,” Ashton jokes, running his fingers through her silky hair.

She suddenly gets a thought. “So does that mean that all your friends know what’s going on in my mind?” The thought horrifies her, and she already feels herself blushing.

“It doesn’t really work like that.” Ashton keeps stroking her hair, like he’s trying to calm her. “They might get a sense of something about you, but the connection is on a whole different level between...umm...mates.” Ashton says the last word so quietly that Sofie wonders if she’s heard him correctly.

“Mates?” Sofie squeaks out the word, wondering how long you have to hold your breath before you pass out.

Ashton looks at her without any hint of nerves, like he’s completely confident of what he’s about to say, and he has reason to be. “We’re connected, you and I.” He strokes her cheek, looking at her like she was something to be valued beyond measure. “You felt it—from the first moment—and so did I.”

Sofie nods without having to even think twice about it. “What does that mean? Being mates?”

Ashton gets a cagey look about him, and Sofie knows before he even opens his mouth that he’s not about to tell her the whole truth. “It means that there are some things that are easier for me to see, to sense about you, than for other people and vice versa.”

“Isn’t that sort of an invasion of privacy?” Sofie frowns, as she cringes inwardly over what Ashton has sensed in terms of her feelings for him.

“Think of it more as a way to share more, to share everything you feel.” Ashton holds her tighter to him, like he’s trying to do exactly that, feel everything about her, within her.

“So what are you saying? That we, you and me, we’re mates?” Sofie looks up into Ashton’s baby blues so that she doesn’t miss anything.

“Chief, sorry to interrupt,” Hector appears out of nowhere, as Sofie is beginning to expect and looks sheepishly at them both.

“What’s up, Hec?” Ashton looks over his shoulder at his friend.
Saved by the bell
, Sofie thinks.

“Gus is getting a little antsy, wanted me to check if everything was...under control. But it looks like you’ve got things pretty well wrapped up.” Hector turns as if to go, clearly feeling more than uncomfortable.

“Hold on, Hector. Let me go talk to him. He’s going to be turning himself all inside out if I don’t.” Ashton and Hector share a look, and they both crack a smile at the same time like they’ve shared a private joke. They probably have. “This won’t take long.” He kisses Sofie softly on the tip of her nose and pads silently away.

Hector and Sofie stand, staring a little awkwardly at each other. “So...how’re things?” Hector casts around for something to say.

“Well, an hour ago I thought that werewolves were something out of horror movies and now I discover that they’re real. So, you know, just processing stuff.” Sofie gives him an impish grin, nodding towards the whisky bottle on the table. “Feel free.”

“Only if you join me, I don’t drink alone.” Hector pours out a glass for her and lifts the bottle, offering a toast.

“What are we drinking to?” Sofie laughs at Hector’s serious expression; she can see what Lindsey sees in him. He has less of the brooding gorgeousness than some of the other men that she’d seen at the party that night, but he seems a lot more like a regular guy, someone that could be a friend.

“How about to new adventures?” Hector looks at her, seemingly for approval.

“And new friends.” Sofie raises her glass, and they both smile and drink.

“Hey, no flirting. No batting of those big browns, baby girl.” Lindsey appears out of the darkness and simultaneously manages to stick her tongue out at Sofie and smile flirtatiously at Hector.

“You know I only have eyes for one girl.” Hector grabs her round the waist and drops her in a
Gone with the Wind
-style kiss.

Sofie shakes her head at how crazy they clearly are about each other. She wonders if she and Ashton will ever be like that, able to be open and leave each other in no doubt over how they feel. It’s all so intense between them, and the surprises just keep coming.

“So, I take it that Ashton has spilled the beans about us all?” Lindsey looks at Sofie like she already knows the answer to the question. “Kind of a lot to take in, I’m guessing.”

“More than a lot.” Sofie nods in agreement, taking another sip of whisky and enjoying the heat as it makes its way down her body. “Isn’t the party over? I thought everyone had gone.”

“Didn’t Ash tell you what this whole party was about?” Lindsey looks between Hector and Sofie.

“I got the feeling that there were a few things he left out, said it was all kind of a long story.” Sofie shrugs.

“He’ll tell you the rest of it. When it’s time, he’ll tell you all of it.” Lindsey squeezes Sofie’s shoulder in reassurance.

“You’ll have to excuse Linds, sometimes she goes all ‘I can see the future’ on us.” Hector laughs and ducks just as Lindsey swipes at his head.

“It’s not the future, you doofus. It’s just what is.” Lindsey grabs the bottle of whisky away from him and takes a glug herself.

“So...the party?” Sofie prompts, wondering if this is how all her conversations are going to end from now on, with more questions than answers.

“Right, so we have one of these whenever a new wolf changes for the first time. It’s kind of a big deal and sometimes things can get messy so the more the merrier.” Lindsey smiles playfully.

“Messy? What do you mean,
messy
?” Sofie hopes that she doesn’t mean the kind of messy that involves blood and entrails; but, from the expression on Lindsey’s face, she’s starting to wonder if that’s exactly what she means.

Lindsey looks like she would like to backpedal out of there as quickly as is humanly or wolfishly possible. But she closes up like a clam at the question. “You hungry? You must be hungry. I’m going to go see what barbecue we’ve got left. Then, we need to figure out what to tell your friends back at the motel, don’t want them to think you’ve been eaten by wolves.” Lindsey jokes awkwardly and moves towards the door at lightning speed.

“That’s it.” Sofie feels like a light bulb has just gone off in her head.

“Sofie, she was just joking about the whole being eaten by wolves thing. We only hunt animals and most of the time we’re chips and dip kind of people.” Hector gives Sofie a concerned look, like she might be about to start screaming.

“No, not that.” Sofie waves her hand dismissively. “That’s the only thing that’ll stop the drilling.” She gets up and starts walking around the room, letting her thoughts take shape.

“Umm...am I missing something?” Hector looks between the two women.

“No more than usual,” Lindsey replies facetiously, before concentrating on Sofie. She stands in front of her to stop her walking around. “You mind standing still for a second to tell us what’s going on in that turbocharged brain of yours?”

Sofie pauses from constructing the plan in her mind, a plan that seems like it might just work. “Wolves are protected by the federal government, right?” Hector and Lindsey nod along with her in agreement. “But there haven’t been any official sightings of wolves in this part of the country, not until we got here and started surveying the Spring Canyon.” Sofie looks at her audience to make sure that they’re following along with her. “I told Shale that I’d heard what sounded like howls in the woods the day that I got lost. They have to follow that up.” Sofie waits for her news to sink in.

“So what are you saying?” Hector seems to be a few steps behind.

“I’m saying that Shale is bringing an ecologist down to check out my theory, see if it’s possible that there are wolves living here. If they find any sign of them, then all drilling plans have to stop until they can investigate further.” Sofie can’t help but smile to herself at the thought.

“I like the way this girl’s mind works!” Lindsey smiles from ear to ear and virtually crushes Sofie to her in an excited embrace.

“But, if people start looking for wolves, poking around here, it’s only going to be a matter of time before they find something, something real.” Hector looks serious for the first time since Sofie’s met him.

“It’s the best chance that we have right now.” Ashton’s voice is commanding, as he walks into the room. “We’ll have to be careful, not making it too obvious, just enough to make them suspect that there really are wolves here.”

“The pack is going to take a lot of convincing.” Gus moves out from behind Ashton, looking out at the group. “It won’t be easy to persuade them that the best way to save us is to show ourselves to the world.” He sounds so skeptical that it’s hard for Sofie not to take it personally.

“It’s not about showing yourselves to the world. All it’ll take is a couple of well-placed sightings to give the ecologists enough to go on, that’s all.” Sofie looks straight at him, refusing to flinch away from his unimpressed stare.

“And what if this is exactly what Shale want us to do, Ashton? Have you considered that? She works for them. What makes you think she isn’t doing what they want right now?” Gus ignores Sofie, looking straight at Ashton, challenging him.

“Don’t look at him when you’re talking about me.” Sofie steps up, walking towards Gus and hoping that no one can see how much her hands are shaking. “If you have an accusation to make, then make it.” She crosses her arms, staring him down, refusing to be intimidated by him.

“Sofie.” Ashton’s voice is a warning, but she ignores it. She figures that making a werewolf mad probably isn’t the smartest thing that she’s ever done, but she knows that if she doesn’t prove herself to Gus, he’s never going to stop acting like she’s the enemy. They stare each other down. In the silence of the room, you could hear a pin drop as everyone seemed to be waiting for something to happen.

“You are not one of us. You shouldn’t be here, and you sure as hell shouldn’t be the one giving advice on how we deal with our problems. You’re not pack.” Gus raises his finger to her, jabbing it in her direction. She can see that he’s buzzing with anger.

“No, I’m not. And I’m not pretending to be. But that doesn’t automatically make me the bad guy. I am trying to help, to help you and your family and your friends. That is what I’m trying to do. And unless you have any other bright ideas over how to save your canyon from becoming the country’s biggest drilling site, I suggest that you let me get on with it.” She’s proud that she manages to keep the quivering out of her voice, and she pushes her heels into the ground, telling herself that she can’t take a step back, can’t show any weakness. It was one of the basic tenets of any predator, that they respect the strong and won’t hesitate to turn their back on the weak. She just hopes that the same is true for werewolves.