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

by Olivia Stephens

  “It’s not crazy, Sofe. That’s not what I meant. You trust me, right? You know I wouldn’t say anything to you just to make you feel better. And you know how right my…vibes usually are?” It was clear that Lindsey is leading up to something; something that she hadn’t planned on sharing until Sofie’s call.

  “Sure, I trust you, and your…vibes are a thing of legend, Linds!” Sofie smiles, as she thinks about the stories that Hector has told her of the things that Lindsey has accurately predicted. He had grumbled that if only she had the power of sight when it came to the winning lottery numbers.

  That’s when Lindsey had punched him on the arm, much to Ashton’s amusement, and explained to Sofie that it isn’t quite that simple. She doesn’t get the whole picture when a vision or a feeling comes to her. It’s just bits and pieces that she has to figure out to make the whole story. It’s an art—not a science—and there have been times when she’s understood the meaning of things too late. Lindsey had exchanged a look with Ashton as she said this, and both had suddenly turned quiet and serious. It was one of the many times when Sofie was around them that she felt like she had missed something.

  “Right, so you know that I don’t have the full picture. But just believe me when I say that you two are made for each other. I can’t say more than that, because that’s all I know right now.” Lindsey’s voice is calm and so certain that it’s hard not to be persuaded by her.

  “Well, that sounds pretty good to me, Linds.” Sofie smiles at the thought. She suddenly gets an image of her and Ashton in the woods together, but they’re not on their own. There’s a small hand in hers, a little boy standing between her and Ashton, a little boy with cornflower blue eyes. Just as quickly as the picture came to her, it disappears.

  “Sofe, you still with me?” Lindsey’s voice on the end of the line wakes Sofie up out of her daydream, or whatever that was.

  “Yeah, sorry. It’s this headache; it’s hard to concentrate on anything. I think I’m just going to have a hot bath and go to bed.” Sofie massages her temples, as the ache spreads along her forehead.

  “A migraine, again?” Lindsey sounds concerned, worried even.

  “Yeah, it comes and goes. You know how it is.” Sofie tries to wave away Lindsey’s worry; it was just a headache after all.

  “How often does it come and go?” Lindsey’s insistence makes it clear she’s not going to let this rest.

  “Oh, you know, now and again. But it’s not that surprising, considering everything that’s going on!” says Sofie, making light of it, despite the fact that the ache is starting to make her feel like her head is about to split open like a melon.

  “I guess,” Lindsey responds uncertainly, clearly not convinced. “What about at night? Have you been having any dreams?”

  Sofie opens her mouth to tell her about the nightmare she’d had the night before, then she closes it again. It was just a symptom of her own insecurity about being the odd one out amongst the pack, being the one that wasn’t like the others. She didn’t need a dream interpreter to tell her that.

  “Nothing that I can remember. Honestly, Linds, I’m fine. You worry more than Finn does!” Sofie laughs down the phone.

  “Yeah, well someone needs to worry about you, seeing as you don’t seem to take care of yourself. How is my new favorite drinking buddy, anyway? Tell him to come down to the bar. I’ve got a shot with his name on it!” Then, Sofie hears some background noise as the first patrons rock up to the bar.

  “I’ll let him know. Thanks, Linds,” she says, pushing herself off the bed and thinking how good a bath sounds.

  “No worries. Anything else, you know where to find me.” With that, Lindsey hangs up, and Sofie’s left battling with the faucet in the bath. It won’t even turn, like it’s been rusted shut.

  “Guess a shower it is then,” she sighs, as she strips off, turning the temperature up as hot as she can stand it. She grabs the bottle of Advil from the side of the basin. She’d only bought it a day or so ago, and it was already virtually empty. She’d lost count of how many of those pills she’d been popping to keep the headache at bay. She swallows a couple down and looks at herself in the steamy mirror.

  Despite everything that has happened recently, she looks the same. She feels like there should be some kind of visible difference in her, now that her world has been opened up and she knows about the existence of werewolves. She has seen men transform into beasts. Not only that, but she’s fallen for one of them, and fallen hard. She’s been propositioned by her boss and been promoted. She’s running a drilling site that’s going to destroy the werewolves’ home, and there doesn’t seem to be anything that she can do about it. She expects all of this and more to be written on her face. However, it’s the same dark, almond eyes that stare back at her and the same caramel-colored hair that falls around her shoulders, framing her angular features and her high cheekbones. She looks the same as she did a couple of weeks ago—although she feels almost like a completely different person.

  She slips into the shower, already feeling better once the hot water starts pounding on her, like it’s forcing the tension out of her body, drip-by-drip. She stands underneath the shower, letting it beat down on her, letting it take away all her worries and concerns, even if it’s just for the few minutes she’s in there for.

  That’s when she hears a noise that makes her breath catch in her throat. It’s a creak. It sounds like it’s coming from her bedroom. She keeps listening out, but doesn’t hear anything else. She puts it down to paranoia, the message that Brett had given has her so spooked she’s imagining dangers where there are none.

  “Room for one more?” Sofie nearly jumps out of her skin at the voice in her bathroom. She spins around, almost losing her footing on the slick tub, and sees Ashton, leaning against the wash basin, an amused expression on his face as he takes in her surprise.

  She realizes she must look fairly ridiculous, dripping wet, eyes wide as saucers and in danger of slipping on the tub and breaking her neck. “Jesus, Ashton, sneak up much?”

  “Well, if you hadn’t left your door unlocked, I wouldn’t have been able to sneak up on you. You should be more careful. Haven’t you heard there are wolves around?” Ashton smiles sexily at her and looks at her hungrily. It’s at this point that Sofie remembers she’s completely naked.

  She feels her cheeks flush. She knows it’s strange, really, that she should be so aware of her nakedness with a man that she’s slept with too many times to count. But there was something about being the only one that was naked that made her feel a little vulnerable.

  “Yes, I had heard, but I didn’t think they knew how to open doors,” Sofie retorts sarcastically.

  “Oh, there are a whole lot of things that they know how to do.” Ashton looks at her meaningfully, and she feels a blush spreading across her face all over again. “So, is there room for one more?”

  “Sure, but I’m almost done in here,” Sofie shrugs, pretending that she’s missed his meaning.

  “Oh, really? I think you’re still a little dirty.” Ashton lifts of his t-shirt in one smooth movement, his muscles rippling. He unbuttons his jeans, letting them fall to the floor, leaving him naked and so damn hot. Sofie feels like she’s overheating.

  His body really is perfect; it’s like someone took all the best parts of a man and put them together, she thinks. By all rights, he shouldn’t be real and yet he is, here in front of her, stepping into the shower, his eyes never leaving hers, the connection between them stronger than any other force.

  Ashton pulls her to him, his fingers sliding over her wet skin as he caresses her face, her shoulders, her back, her ass. She kisses his chest, feeling the hardness of his pecs under her lips. He pulls her face up to meet his, crushing his lips against hers as they kiss.

  The water rains down over them, making their bodies wet and slippery so they glide against each other. Their skin is soft, so soft to the touch. They kiss deeply, desperately. Sofie’s body is already responding t
o Ashton and the hardness against her stomach telling her that he’s as ready as she is.

  She starts kissing his jawline, feeling the bristles of his stubble, rubbing her skin. It’s the thin line between pleasure and pain that she so desperately needs and yearns for. She moves her lips down his neck, sucking, licking, and biting. She runs her fingers over his chest, rubbing his nipples so that they go hard under her touch. Her pussy does somersaults as she thinks about making all of him hard.

  But there’s something she wants to know, something she wants to hear from him. She looks up, and he wipes the wet hair away from her face. “Why did you come here?”

  He looks quizzically at her. “Do you wish that I hadn’t?”

  She shakes her head without even having to think about it. “That’s not what I said.” She stares at him, waiting for a response, the water cascading over them.

  “I needed to see you.” Ashton reaches down and brings her face close to his, kissing her like a drowning man desperate for air, clinging on to the only thing that will keep him alive.

  “Why?” Sofie says against his mouth.

  “Jesus, running girl. Do you ever not ask questions?” Ashton looks up at the ceiling in mock despair.

  “Do you ever not avoid answering them?” Sofie stands her ground, not backing down, no matter how much she wants to just be with him and be one with him.

  Ashton looks at the firm set of her jaw and traces a line along it—from her ear, down her jawline, down her neck, down her collar-bone until he reaches the tops of her breasts. His touch is feather-soft as he strokes her puckered nipples, and she shivers underneath him. Her pussy is already creaming for him, ready for him to take her however he wants to. However, she wants an answer, no matter how much self-control it takes to stop her from jumping him in the meantime.

  “Why did I come here?” Ashton asks the question slowly, lazily, in that sexy way that is all his own. “I came here because I hate that you left when we were fighting. Because I needed to see you. Because I needed to be with you. I needed this,” he kisses her soft mouth, “and this,” he squeezes her nipples between thumb and forefinger, making her gasp, and this,” his hand moves down, cupping her pussy, feeling the heat coming from her. “I needed you. I couldn’t stay away.”

  That’s all she gives him time to say before she closes his mouth in a kiss, desperate for him and so turned on she can’t even think straight. Although he didn’t quite say the words she wants to hear, it’s close enough. She can’t ask any more from him, not when she’s only willing to give so much in return.

  They kiss as if their lives depended on it. They can’t get enough of each other, not even close. His arms snake around her waist, pulling her even tighter to him. She reaches between them and pumps his shaft in her hands and is rewarded by the groan that Ashton lets out as she squeezes his hard cock.

  Ashton backs her against the cold, tile wall, trapping her with his body. She couldn’t have escaped even if she had wanted to. However, escape is the furthest thing from her mind. The only place she wants to be is exactly where she is, so close to Ashton that their bodies merge into one.

  She wraps one leg around his hips, giving him access to her, and she guides his cock inside of her. “I need this, too,” she says in a whisper, but knowing that he hears her.

  He lifts her chin, so that they’re looking at each other. Their eyes locke as he enters her, their bodies merging together. Sofie gets that feeling of completeness, of absolute contentment that only comes to her when she’s with Ashton, when they’re together like this.

  As he moves his hips, thrusting into her, the only sounds are their moans of pleasure and the rushing of the water around them. He buries his head in her neck, sucking and scenting her, like an animal would during mating. There’s that word again, she thinks briefly before pushing it out of her mind. She doesn’t want to question what this is or what it means; all she wants is to feel it, to feel him.

  Ashton holds onto her, squeezing her lean body as she rides him. He closes her gasping mouth in a kiss, greedy for her, wanting all of her at once. Their eyes lock, and they both know that there’s no more waiting. Ashton lifts her up so both legs wrap around his waist, pulling him in even deeper to her. She cries out as she reaches her shuddering end. She convulses around him as he plunges inside of her one last time, spurting his satisfaction.

  Gently, so gently, he sets her feet back onto the floor, and she’s surprised she manages to stay upright after the orgasm that has just wrecked her body.

  “I’m glad you couldn’t stay away,” Sofie says quietly into his ear, as everything comes back into focus.

  Ashton pulls his head back so that he can look at her, and the smile that plays on his lips is so innocent and so purely happy that she wishes she could bottle it and give it back to him for those moments when he feels like he has the weight of the world on his shoulders. It’s as if their argument that morning hadn’t happened, or perhaps it is more like their feelings for each other go beyond any disagreement they could ever have. They soap each other down in the shower, laughing and joking, acting like a normal new couple, the kind of people that make other couples sick with jealousy. It’s in these moments together that nothing feels like it could come between them.

  But that’s just what they are: moments. They’re times when they’re isolated from the rest of the world. When it’s just the two of them everything is so much simpler. But it’s not real; it’s not real life, and they both know that. However, neither of them will say it out loud, as if admitting it would break the spell.

  “Cut me a break, would you?” Ashton asks, as he pulls on his t-shirt, his wet hair all sexily mussed. “Lock your door, that way I won’t have to be worrying about you all night.” He looks at her until she nods solemnly.

  “Why, good sir, I didn’t know you cared.” Sofie uses her best Southern belle voice as she manages a curtsey despite only wearing a towel and a smile.

  Ashton’s smile in response doesn’t reach his eyes, and he stares at her for a beat too long. “Didn’t you?” He doesn’t wait for her reply before slipping out, closing the door softly behind him.

  Sofie feels a pang as Ashton leaves, but she knows he has to go. He’s still training one of the younger wolves to turn when he wants to instead of when the moon tells him to. The night is his time; his time to run in the woods and let the animal inside of him out. It’s something that she can’t share with him and that hurts her more than she would have thought possible.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  She barely sleeps all night. What little time she manages to doze is haunted by dreams of wolves and blood and blackness. When Sofie arrives to site the next morning, she feels like she’s on autopilot.

  The charmingly small nature of Beaumont wore thin that morning when Sofie realized that there was only one bank in the whole town. A bank that closes on Wednesdays, all day. Today is Wednesday. She hammers on the door but the lights stay off and the CLOSED sign remains. She leans her forehead against the cool glass of the door, trying to think clearly; but, panic has already set in. She stuffs her card into the ATM machine, punching in her code incorrectly twice before gaining access to her account. She breathes a sigh of relief as she presses the maximum she can take out, $400.

  She waits, tapping her foot impatiently, thinking to herself how she can get her hands on the rest of the money before the bank opens tomorrow. Perhaps the collectors would give her one more day, just this once, if she explains. Perhaps they’d be reasonable. However, she also knows how remote that possibility is. She knows what they’re like. They’ve always made it very clear what happens if they don’t get their money, and she had never wanted to experience it firsthand.

  She waits, her hand ready to grab the dollar bills as soon as the machine’s mouth spurts them out, but nothing happens. After a few agonizing moments the words on the screen appear, spelling disaster.

  ACCOUNT INACCESSIBLE. TRANSACTION UNAVAILABLE.

  It spits her car
d back out at her in disgust. Desperate, she tries again, with the same result. A third time ensures that the odious machine swallows her card.

  Pulling into the makeshift parking lot on site at the canyon, Sofie feels numb. She knows how much trouble she’s in, and she knows that, right now, she doesn’t have any more ideas. The words spelled out in green LEDs keep repeating in her head. Inaccessible and unavailable—those are also two adjectives that could easily be used to describe her. Come to think of it, those were two words that Tyler had actually called her.

  She pauses for a moment, gripping the steering wheel and looking herself in the eyes through the rear view mirror. “It’s going to be alright, Braun. You can do this. You’ll find a way. You always do. Just pull it together. Hold on.” As she says the words she feels a little more stable. She has to get through the day, and she has to find a way to get what she needs before the Collector appears. But first, she has work to do.

  “Finally, she graces us with her presence,” Finn announces to the crew assembled around a pile of boxes.

  Sofie ignores his sarcasm, not quite ready to tackle it after the morning she’s already had. “Guessing the equipment has arrived.” She looks over the boxes, zeroing on the two that she has been waiting for. Without a word, she picks them up, enjoying the burning in her arms as she lifts them and walks towards the office.

  “Sofe, they’re heavy. Why don’t you let one of the guys take them for you?” Finn’s voice sounds to her like it’s coming from the bottom of a well, like he’s far away.

  “S’okay, I’ve got it.” She doesn’t even turn; she just carries on walking purposefully towards the office unit where she knows she’s going to come face-to-face with Darwin.

  She nods a good morning rather than going for her standard overly-bright greeting that hasn’t gotten her anywhere in the past few days. She can’t deal with going head-to-head with her former mentor, not today. She unpacks and sets up the equipment she’d ordered, while Darwin tries to pretend that he’s not interested in what she’s doing.