Downpour (Alpha Love - A Paranormal Werewolf Shifter Romance Book 1) (4 page)

“Can I use your cell? I just want to let my friends know I’m okay.” Sofie has to raise her voice to be heard over the hammering rain.

“No service in the canyon.” The response is short and to the point, and she wonders if she’s imagining that he sounds a little angry. She shuts her mouth, figuring that silence is sometimes the best recourse.

They continue walking for a few more minutes until the woods clears and they’re on a trail, or more like a muddy pool in this weather. There’s a pickup truck that’s just visible under a heap of branches and leaves. Sofie’s rescuer walks over to it purposefully, lifting the heavy branches off of the car as if they weigh nothing. Why he would go to the trouble of camouflaging his own car?
Perhaps he is an illegal poacher,
she thinks fleetingly.

“Are you going to stare at it or get in?” he asks, as he throws her pack into the back. She winces, wondering if any of her fragile equipment has been broken by his sheer brute force. Then, she remembers the Geiger counter that she’d kicked to pieces out in the woods and tells herself to chill out.

Wordlessly, she slides into the passenger seat, grateful for the blast of heat that hits her as he turns the key in the ignition. As they rumble along the trail, she sneaks a peek at the man filling the driver’s seat next to her. He really is as gorgeous as she had first thought. His dark blonde hair is wet from the rain, and his plain white tee is plastered against his body, outlining the contours of his muscles. He turns his head, looking straight at her, catching her staring at him. She drops her eyes, knowing that she’s been caught.

“What are those for?” she asks, her eyes settling on a pair of binoculars in the open glove compartment.
The poacher hypothesis is starting to look like a winner.

“Birdwatching,” he replies without missing a beat. He looks straight ahead, as he pulls out of the trail and onto the road, but Sofie’s sure she can see a smile creep onto his lips.

“Birdwatching, right. I should have guessed. You do look like your typical ethnologist after all.” Sofie rolls her eyes as she stares out of the window, wondering if this rain is going to stop before they have to cover their next site the following day.

Sitting quietly, Sofie thinks,
All signs point towards the fact that this guy is a poacher, but there’s something about him that doesn’t quite fit with that idea. He has a hungry look, but not the hardness that I associate with guys who are killing animals for sport. It doesn’t seem honorable enough for him. But then, I really doesn’t know him well enough to make that call.

“So what are you and your...friends doing here in Beaumont? You don’t look like the typical rock climber groupies that pass through here from time to time. And I’m sure that gear that you’re wearing looks pretty hi-tech when it’s not caked in mud.” There’s definitely a twitch of a smile at the corner of his mouth when he says this, and it makes Sofie glance down at her clothes.

I must look like the creature from the swamp
, she thinks. She’d never liked being on the back foot, and this was no different. If anything, it was worse. She felt like the unpopular kid at school, who is being tormented by the star quarterback.
But this isn’t school, Sofie
, she reminds herself.
Besides, what do I care what he thinks I look like?
However, she knows the hollowness of that statement.
Of course, I care. If he wasn’t so goddam perfect looking, then it would make things a whole lot easier.

She puffs out her cheeks, feigning nonchalance at his comment on her appearance. “Just scientists, here to do some research, that’s all.” She bites her lip, wishing that she’d managed to come up with a better excuse; but, after everything that he’s seen, there’s not much that he would buy.

“What kind of research?” The beautiful man looks at her suspiciously out of the corner of his eye—
never a good sign
.

“Nothing important.” Sofie keeps her gaze trained on the rain pelting down outside, wondering how much trouble she is going to be in with Darwin when she gets back to the motel. “So, there are wolves in Spring Canyon?” she asks, wanting to slice through the tension that has settled over the car after her evasive response.

“Some,” he answers flatly, squashing any further comment.

However, Sofie was never someone who would back down when she wanted an answer about something. It was one of the things that made her such a great geologist. “Well, if there
are
wolves in the canyon, then what were you doing out there? No gun, no protection.” She turns to look at him, trying to analyze his reaction to her words.

“I don’t like guns.” He shrugs his big shoulders, like that’s the whole answer.

“So, if a wolf attacked you, you wouldn’t defend yourself?” Sofie asks, wondering if this guy is all talk.

“No wolf would attack me. That I can guarantee.” He smiles a knowing smile that makes her want to slap the smirk off of his face.

That line probably works on the local girls, but I’m not buying it
, she thinks
.
“Wow, it must be nice to think so much of yourself, especially going up against such an amazing creature.” Sofie snorts dismissively, grateful that although this guy was drop dead gorgeous, he was also kind of an asshole and probably a major player.

“You think wolves are amazing?” he asks, as if he hadn’t heard her sarcasm.

“Well, I’m no expert, but they’ve managed to survive despite all of man’s best efforts to get rid of them. So yeah, I think they’re pretty amazing. There’s something inherently impressive about them, beautiful even.” Sofie stops abruptly, wondering why she had decided to actually answer his question. She sneaks a look at her rescuer, and he’s staring at her like he’s seen her for the first time. “What?” she asks, squirming under the intensity of his gaze and silently hoping that she doesn’t have something on her face.

“Nothing.” He shakes himself, as if to get rid of whatever thought was in his head. “You’re just not what I expected, running girl.”

“Sofie. My name’s Sofie Braun, not running girl, not little lady, just Sofie.” She speaks quickly, knowing that she’s doing the defensive thing that used to drive Tyler crazy. She had never been a fan of his terms of endearment; but, although she didn’t want to admit it to herself, she didn’t feel that way about the way this mystery man spoke to her.

“Nice to meet you, Sofie Braun.” He ducks his head, smiling at her as they drive past the bar, the first building on the outskirts of town. “Dutch?”

“Half.” Her reply is short and cuts off any ideas that he may have had of asking any more questions along those lines. “And you are, birdwatcher?” she asks, teasing him and unable to keep her lips from twitching into a smile.

“Ashton.”

And there it is again, that deep voice that makes my knees wobble
, she thinks.

“Well, thanks Ashton...” Sofie pauses waiting for him to fill in his last name, but he remains silent. “I guess I owe you one. I don’t know how long I would have been out there before I found my way out.” Sofie feels the adrenaline of the afternoon leave her body. The possibilities of what could have happened to her, out in the middle of nowhere without anyone knowing where she was, suddenly hits her.

“You don’t have to thank me. Besides, you would have been alright. You told me you know how to take care of yourself, remember.” He smiles that devastating smile of his, and Sofie feels the impact of it right down to the tips of her toes.

She blushes as she remembers how defensive she had been with him that morning on the plateau. It’s the barrier that she puts up whenever it seems like anyone’s getting too close. Tyler had called her his ‘Ice Maiden’. He’d found it funny, but Sofie not so much. It had always seemed like more of a criticism than a term of endearment.

“Well, I guess I’m more used to looking after myself in the big bad city. I felt a little like red riding hood out in that woods,” she admits, wondering why she was letting Ashton see how vulnerable she was feeling.

“Hey, you’re fine,” he says

Ashton hooks his finger under her chin and turns her head so that she’s looking at him. The intensity in his eyes makes her feel all manner of things, feelings that she knows could run away with her at any opportunity.
This guy is dangerous
, she warns herself.

“Sure, thanks,” she responds, moving her chin out of his reach and returning to look out of the window. She’s embarrassed that she’s let him see how scared she was and how weak she felt. Staring out of the window, she misses the frustrated look that he gives her, like he doesn’t know whether he wants to shake her or do something else with her altogether.

“Looks like it’s a full house.” Ashton pulls into the motel and blue and red lights bounce off the body work of his pick-up. There are three police cars, which in this town probably classifies as an international incident.

Sofie sees Darwin in deep conversation with one of the officers, and the look of worry on his face makes her throw open the door and rush out of the truck before it’s even stopped. Ashton shouts something from behind her, but she doesn’t pay any attention. She had already slipped back in professional mode. In her mind, she had a job to do and she didn’t do it right. Now, it’s time to face the consequences.

“Darwin! I’m here. I’m fine.” Sofie stands, facing the men with her arms out as if to show them that she really is alright.

As if he can’t stop himself, the older man rushes towards her taking her in a vice-like embrace. Sofie is rigid at first. He’s always treated her like his favorite student, and she knew he was fond of her, but the concern that he had obviously felt for her, thinking that she was missing left a lump in her throat.

“Jeez, Sofe, I know you’re a drama queen, but this is ridiculous.” Finn pops up behind Darwin, grabbing hold of her hand, as the older man releases her and just squeezes it. He doesn’t need to say how scared he was for her; she already knows.

“What the hell happened?” Darwin clears his throat to get out any residual emotion and levels his best disapproving glare at his protégé.

“Yeah, where have you been? We tried to reach you on the comms, but it was just radio silence. All this nature but no friggin’ cell towers!” Finn throws his hands in the air to show his frustration, a feeling that’s clearly not shared by the local cops.

“I lost my way.” Sofie shrugs, wishing that she didn’t have such a big audience. “The compass was going crazy, and then—with the rain everything just looked the same.” She looks down at her boots caked in mud, ready to be berated by Darwin.

“How did you get here? We were about to send the search party out, but the brave 5-0 wanted to wait until it got light. Some stupid fairy tale about wolves.” Finn waves at the cops dismissively. They glower at him, and Sofie tries to send him a message just with her eyes to keep his mouth shut.

“Where are the samples?” Darwin asks. Of course, once he confirmed that she was okay, the next most important thing is the samples.

“They’re umm...” Sofie turns around to go back to Ashton’s truck; but, there’s no need, the big man is already standing behind her. “Jesus Christ, you really need to stop doing that.” She shakes her head, wondering how the guy moves so silently, like his feet don’t even touch the floor.

“Guessing this is what you’re looking for.” He holds up the backpack, like it doesn’t weigh anything. Sofie gratefully takes hold of it, wondering why she feels like her face is probably turning an unattractive shade of beetroot.

“Thanks.” Her voice is barely audible, and she looks over at Finn—whose eyes seem like they’re about to burst out of their sockets. “Ashton found me and brought me back.” Sofie tells the shortest version of the story possible, not wanting to enter into any more details.

“Sofie, I’m glad you’re alright. Officers, you’re not needed. Thank you for your time.” Darwin waves them away, like a man that is used to having his orders followed. “I have to go call Shale. I’d reported you missing, and the PR guys were running around like headless chickens worried about tomorrow’s papers.” Darwin shakes his head ruefully and shuffles off in the direction of the hotel muttering something about ‘nitwits.’