“Darwin, can you hear me?” She opens his eyelids, shining the tiny torch she uses for close lab work into his eyes. She feels herself breathing again when she sees his pupils are responsive; but, he’s still white as a sheet.
“Sofie,” the weakness in his voice breaks her heart, and she has to stop herself from hugging the older man close to her. She knows that his dignity wouldn’t appreciate it.
“Oh, thank God!” She waves the medic over, and that’s when she notices that the strange sound she had been hearing was Darwin grinding his teeth. “Darwin, what happened? What’s going on?” She looks him over, wondering if he’s hurt, as if she’s expecting to see a pool of blood around him, but there’s nothing.
The medic gently nudges her out of the way, taking over the ministrations to Darwin. A small crowd has formed around the old man, some like Sofie and Finn looking down at him in fear, fear of losing him, and some who seem to just be enjoying the excitement.
“He wants to tell you something.” The medic catches Sofie’s attention. “You’ll have to get in close, he’s very weak.”
She bends down, her ear to Darwin’s mouth. “Sofie…”
“I’m here, boss. It’s me.” She bites back the tears that come to her eyes at hearing the feebleness of his voice and his labored breathing.
“In the woods…saw something…big, black and angry…so angry.” Darwin’s words come in short gasps, and Sofie tries to tell him to save his strength, but he ignores her. “It was a wolf.” The final word he says with certainty, and it’s the only one that the people around them hear. A murmur goes around, and Sofie hears the phrase, Kill the wolf. “It…saw me…looked at me…Its eyes…they were…golden.”
Sofie gasps as she gets to grips with what Darwin is telling her. He saw a were—although they weren’t supposed to be in the canyon now. Not only that, but it wasn’t just any were; it was Gus. She would know that description anywhere, he was the darkest of the wolves; she knew that much from the time she’d been spending with Ashton. What the hell was he doing there?
“It’s alright, boss. You’re okay now.” Sofie tries to soothe him with her words, but he grabs hold of her wrist in a vice-like grip.
“Listen. Listen,” Darwin urges her until she closes her mouth. “It’s dangerous…ran towards me…I ran…but it was fast…too fast.” Darwin looks at Sofie, like he’s trying to communicate something to her before he lies back, his energy spent.
“Darwin! Darwin!” She grabs hold of his shoulders, shaking him.
The medic checks his pulse. “He’s alright, he’s in shock. We need to get him to a hospital. He’s going to be fine.” The young doctor looks at her kindly, like he sees how much Darwin means to her—something that she hadn’t quite grasped until she thought he was being taken away from her. She steps back to let him take Darwin away for treatment.
Two of the guards are checking their pistols and murmuring to each other away from the group. They look desperate to head into the woods and test out their aim.
“What are you two doing?” Sofie walks over to them, putting on her best—I’m the boss here—voice.
“We’re going to look for the wolf that scared your friend over there half to death. You got a problem with that?” The taller guard looks at her, unimpressed.
“Yeah, I do. Wolves don’t attack unless they’re provoked. You’re not going to do anything to that animal.” Her voice is strong and more certain than she feels.
“Didn’t you hear what the guy said? The wolf attacked him. Who are you, anyway? The animal preservation crew?” The short guard chuckles to his friend.
“No, I’m the person that just got you both kicked off of this site.” Sofie folds her arms and plants her feet, looking particularly badass.
“She means it, too.” Finn stands next to her, giving the guards some friendly advice. “This is not a lady whom you want to cross. This is her being nice!”
“Well, lady, whoever you are. If you’re kicking us out, then I guess we’ll just be on our way.” The tall guard turns his back to them, heading towards the wood again, the shorter one trailing him, clearly unsure over what’s going on.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Sofie calls over to them, wishing she didn’t sound so shrill.
“Well, ma’am, we’re just two concerned citizens looking for a wild animal. What’re you going to do? Fire us? Oh, you did that already.” His voice is dripping sarcasm, a tone Sofie didn’t think this Elmer Fudd look-a-like would be familiar with.
“Just what we need, a couple of wannabe heroes. Dumb and Dumber are going to get themselves, or worse, one of us, killed. I bet they don’t even know which end to point away from them.” Finn gestures towards their pistols but, in true Finn style, he doesn’t bother to lower his voice.
The two men don’t seem to take too kindly at hearing his barbed comment, and they stop in their tracks, turn around, and start advancing towards Finn and Sofie.
“What did you say four-eyes? Something you wanna share with the group?” The tall man puffs his chest out like Sofie has seen gorillas do in the wild before they launch themselves at each other.
“Seriously, could today get any worse?” Sofie looks up to the heavens as she asks the question, but she doesn’t need to wait for a sign. It sends her a clear message, almost instantly.
CHAPTER SIX
“Anyone want to enlighten me as to what the hell is going on here?” Luke’s voice booms out from behind them, and Sofie and Finn, as a unit, turn towards him.
“Thanks a bunch.” Sofie breathes under her mouth sarcastically to the heavens as she watches one of the men who she least wants to see, approach.
“I hear Darwin was attacked?” Luke looks at them both. Sofie knows he’s only pretending to be concerned, but he’s very good at it. He almost has her fooled. That’s until he turns his laser-like attention on to her. “Sofie, are you alright?” He takes hold of her hands and looks into her eyes as if they have a connection.
Sofie has to stop herself from pulling away from him and from shuddering at his touch. She smiles tightly and tries to extricate herself by gesturing behind her. “I’m fine. Thanks for your concern, sir. We were just having a few issues with a couple of the security guards.”
The men stand behind her shame-faced and shifting their weight from one foot to the other, looking like school kids that have been caught with their hands in the cookie jar.
Luke waves the two men forward. It’s an imperious wave of his hand; something that wouldn’t look out of place on an emperor or a pharaoh. It fit his arrogance perfectly. “Would you like to explain what it is that the two of you were planning on doing with those?” He nods towards the guns still in their hands; guns that are more for show than for use.
“When the old guy said it was a wolf that attacked him, we thought we should do our duty, as security for the site, and take the freakin’ wolf out.” The tall guy talks like he’s played way too much Call of Duty and the lines between reality and fantasy seem to have blurred.
“Right.” Luke doesn’t even bother to hide his amusement at the guard’s response. He raises his voice, making sure that all the people nearby can hear him. “While I don’t agree with your methods, I can’t help but be impressed by your bravery.” As he says the words, the two men flush with pride. Sofie catches Finn’s eye, and she only just manages to avoid an eye roll. “We are all aware of the threat that lurks in the woods.” Luke turns, opening his arms expansively, including everyone on the site.
Sofie watches as people move towards him. She notices that he has a way about him that makes people believe what he has to say—until you get to know him.
“We at Shale put animal rights at the top of our list of Very Important Things. We came to Beaumont to try to protect its good people and, after what’s happened here today and the attack on one of our most valued employees, we have to take things more seriously.” He looks around him, making sure that he has everyone’s attention before he reels
them in. “I see the safety of my employees as my highest responsibility. So, I have employed some professionals to help us with our little wolf situation. Everyone, meet our new line of defense, Warner and Cash, the best hunters in the country.”
“Sounds like a bad reality show,” Finn mutters under his breath to Sofie and, even in this most tense of situations, she has to try not to laugh.
Luke continues, oblivious. “We have the approval of the federal government to go after these animals if they are a threat to us. I think we can all agree after the attack today, that the wolves need to be culled from this area.”
Sofie hears the word cull as if it were an echo in her own mind. She has to stop this; she has to make sure that things don’t get that far. “You can’t do that!” she exclaims before she can herself. She realizes her mistake instantly, as Luke turns to her, fury painted all over his face.
“Would you rather the team be picked off one by one by our furry friends, Ms. Braun? Is that what you would prefer?” Luke’s voice is ice cold, and his stare would freeze anyone.
“They won’t hurt anyone. Darwin didn’t even say that the wolf attacked; it just ran after him.” She can hear the mutters of disapproval from the people around her as she says the words, but that doesn’t stop her. I’ve never felt the need to follow the herd, why start now? she thinks.
“And you know this how, Ms. Braun? I understood that your specialty was geology, not lupine behavior.” There’s a low chuckle from the crowd, as Luke’s words hit their mark. “Besides, I think that Darwin would disagree with your assessment of the situation. Now either you want what’s best for Shale, or you don’t.” Luke says the words gently but the threat in his eyes is clear. If she goes against him on this, then she’s going to find herself in very hot water.
It’s not lost on her that Luke keeps stripping her of her title. She’s worked hard for the title of Doctor that he’s refusing to call her. She knows it’s another of his little power plays, and he’s alarmingly good at it, taking away someone else’s control. She wonders how the hell he hasn’t driven his wife to jump out of a window, yet.
“Stand down, Sofe.” Finn’s whispered plea reaches her through the fog of outrage and fear that’s clouding her judgment. She knows that he’s right, that the smart play isn’t to challenge Luke in this context, with so many people around. It will only make him angry and more likely to do something drastic. If there’s one thing that he didn’t appreciate, it was having his authority undermined. In his little world he was king, and he didn’t take well to acts of treason.
Sofie closes her mouth and breaks eye contact with Luke. The only things she has to say won’t go down well, so she keeps her thoughts to herself. Luke nods in satisfaction, as he takes her silence as compliance.
“Now that we’re all in agreement,” he says and smiles sarcastically at Sofie, “Warner and Cash will be leading a hunting party tomorrow. This time tomorrow we should have a dead wolf on our hands!”
Sofie can’t quite believe what she’s hearing. Not just Luke’s prediction, but the answering whoop and holler that goes up among the men and women of the crowd. She looks at the faces of these people and sees the blood-lust and excitement there. It’s as if Luke has tapped into their most basic, primal instinct. He has persuaded them that it is kill or be killed, and it’s clear which side they came down on.
“This is getting a little freaky,” Finn whispers under his breath to Sofie, typically understating the situation.
“You can say that again.” Sofie watches Warner and Cash. The two men are looking around them distastefully. It’s clear that they think the locals are beneath them. From the scars on Warner’s face and the necklace of what looks like ivory that Cash wears so proudly, these guys really are professionals. Luke poses for a photograph with the two men, who both hold their rifles as if they were babies. Without thinking too much about what she’s doing, Sofie approaches them and says, “Dr. Braun, I’m the site manager here.” She sticks her hand out and the hesitation between the two hunters isn’t lost on her. It’s clear they’re not used to having a woman in charge. “Don’t worry, I don’t bite.” She smiles sweetly at them, as she shakes their hands firmly.
“Sofie, it really is so good to see you.” Luke takes the hand that she offers him and uses it to pull her into a kiss on the cheek. “And I’m glad you finally saw sense over this wolf incident. You have such a kind heart. Of course it’s hard for you to think of us killing anything; but, I know how much Darwin means to you. I’m sure his attack affected you.”
“Thought we were going to have one of those vegetarian tree-huggers to deal with!” Cash’s voice is as rough as you would expect from looking at him, and Warner laughs in agreement. Sofie notes his grip on his rifle.
“Nope, I’m a carnivore down to the ground gentlemen. I’m just not overly fond of wiping out a whole group of animals when they haven’t done anything to deserve it.” Sofie narrows her brown eyes at the men and tries to ignore the way that they keep looking her up and down, making her feel like she was wearing something much more revealing than a pair of shorts.
“Nothing to deserve it? What about that dead body your guys found? The man that had been attacked by a wolf…you think he deserved that?” Warner’s righteous indignation is a little rich coming from a man who makes his living off of moments like these.
Sofie would like nothing better than to explain to these meat-heads exactly why the body found in the woods specifically did deserve the justice that was meted out to him. She wonders if they’d be so quick to defend him if they knew that the poor defenseless man they’re using as a pin-up boy liked to hurt little girls. However, she can’t tell them that. They haven’t identified the victim and they probably never will, not with the limited identifiers they had for him. It’s yet another secret that she has to keep to herself, no matter how much she wants to throw it in their faces.
Instead, she ignores Warner’s fury and turns her attention to Cash. “That necklace, it’s very…unique.”
“Pure, beautiful African elephant ivory.” He strokes the creamy material lovingly.
“From pure, beautiful African elephants that you’ve killed, presumably. Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t poaching illegal now?” Sofie tilts her head, as she challenges the men.
“Now, now, Sofie,” Luke interjects, putting himself between her and the poachers, who seem to be about to tell her exactly what they think of her. “Let’s not jump to any conclusions.” He leads her away from the men and continues, “Besides, as I’ve just arrived, I think it would be useful for you to give me your first site report.” He looks at her expectantly, his eyes eager under his perfectly styled hair.
It’s nearly the end of the day and Sofie hasn’t prepared herself to present to Luke. Besides, she still has her money issue to deal with. However, she is nothing if not professional, she would do what was asked of her. “Well, if you give me a few minutes, I’ll gather some of my notes, and we can talk in the office.”
“No, no, dear Sofie. Not here, not now, somewhere a little more private would be preferable. We don’t want it getting back to dear old Darwin that we’re meeting without him, especially when he’s already suffering from his little incident in the woods. We wouldn’t anything to aggravate that heart condition of his.” Luke looks at her pointedly.
“I didn’t realize that you knew about that.” Sofie weighs her words carefully, knowing that he’s trying to emotionally blackmail her, but not seeing any way out of it.
“I make it my business to know anything and everything to do with my company, Sofie. I thought you would have figured that out by now.” He smiles at her in that way that makes her stomach roll, silently reminding her of all the information he has on her and how he wouldn’t think twice to use it for his own benefit.
“Of course, how stupid of me,” she says, but she can’t keep the acid out of her voice; however, Luke barely seems to notice. He’s staring into her eyes as if they were pools that
he wants to fall into.
“Good, well, I’ll see you at The Star Hotel, say 8 o’clock? It’s a little way out of town, but it’s the only half-decent hotel around. Beaumont is charming but rather small. However, all that will change once we start drilling. Then, there’ll be so much money flowing out of this place.” Luke has to stop himself from rubbing his hands together gleefully.
“And when the oil dries up, what then?” Sofie locks eyes with him, willing him to admit how little he really cares about Beaumont and how his only concern is what he can get out of it.
“Don’t be so negative, Sofie! This is a great time for Shale, we should be celebrating, not worrying about what happens two, three, four years from now. I’ll see you tonight, my little worrier.” He squeezes Sofie shoulder and starts to walk away, stopping as if he’s just remembered something. “Oh and you may want to change into something a little more…formal. I’ve taken the liberty of booking us a table for dinner.” He smiles at her, but it’s a smile that doesn’t reach his eyes and it gives Sofie an involuntary shiver.
The last place that she wants to be tonight is in a hotel with Luke, but if she wants to keep her job then she has to continue playing the game. She looks at her watch, she only has a couple of hours before she’s supposed to be at the hotel, and she has to pay someone a visit before that.
She finds Finn among the crowd. “Finn, can you cover for me? I need to go and do something, and before you ask, no it can’t wait.”
He sees the desperation in her eyes. “Sure, but aren’t you coming to the hospital to see Darwin?”
Sofie instantly feels the guilt wash over her. How did I let that thought slip my mind? What sort of a friend am I? However, she knows that Darwin is in safe hands; he’s in the best place for him now. “I would love to, but I can’t. I have to meet with Luke.” She doesn’t enter into details despite Finn’s eyebrows shooting up like rockets.
Thunder (Alpha Love - a Paranormal Werewolf Shifter Romance Book 3) Page 7
