Torrent (Alpha Love - a Paranormal Werewolf Shifter Romance Book 4) (20 page)

“That’s a neat little whistle there, Luke.” Darwin blinks at him, looking completely natural and at ease, as if he weren’t in the middle of a war zone.

Luke looks at him as if he’s lost his mind. “Get out of my way, old man.” Luke dismisses him, his attention fixed on Sofie, not interested in anything else.

“See, that’s always been your problem, Luke. Ever since you were a boy.” Darwin shakes his head as he lectures a flabbergasted, as if he can’t believe that he’s really being given a stern talking to as if this madness weren’t going on around him. “You never took into account the whole story, only the parts that interested you.” Darwin looks at Luke as if he knows a secret that Luke would kill to get his hands on.

He plays his cards exactly right, piquing Luke’s interest enough to make him question what he believes he knows. “What are you saying? What part of the story am I missing here, Darwin? Because from what I can see, I’ve pretty much got everything covered.”

Darwin smiles at him as you would at a chronically stupid student. “That’s my point, Luke. Your own blinkered, narrow-mindedness. That’s always what’s going to get you in the end. Well, that or your greed.” With that, Darwin wraps things up, not wanting to waste ant further breath on his irredeemable pupil.

“You’re wrong Luke, about that little whistle. You said it was the perfect weapon because the enemy couldn’t even touch it. But that’s where you’re wrong. It’s not the enemy that can’t touch it, it’s just those of us that happen to be werewolves. And you have far more enemies than just the ones that happen to travel on four legs, Luke.” With that, Darwin reaches out delicately, his fingers closing over the wolf caller, yanking it out of Luke’s loose grip without a struggle. He takes a couple of steps back, until he comes to stand by one of the giant drilling rigs.

“Don’t do it, old man. You’ll regret it! Remember everything that I have on you! If you do this, you’ll never see your kids again, you’ll lose everything!” Luke stretches his arms out, the sheen of perspiration on his forehead shining in the sun. His jacket has come off during the commotion, his shirt is dirtied and his tie is askew. Right now, he looks a world away from the aspiring governor. With his wild eyes and crazy expression, he looks like someone that belongs in a mental institution.

“You can’t threaten me anymore, Luke. Not me or anyone else. So what will you do now?” Darwin looks at him, not with anger, but with pity as he leans over the driller and drops the whistle through the hole that one of Luke’s own machines has made. The wolf caller falls through the hole and down, down, down, deep under ground, drowning in the oil that Luke was so desperate to get his hands on.

Luke stands completely still, like he can’t believe what’s just happened. He looks between Darwin and the hole created by the driller where his one weapon against the wolves has disappeared. He virtually throws himself after the caller, pushing Darwin out of the way as he stares down the black hole, leading to nowhere.

“I knew that there was something I could do.” Darwin smiles impishly at her, looking like a young man again, all trace of the worry that had made him old before his time, gone.

With the wolf caller destroyed the weres begin to shift again, pushing the human supremacists back.
Block them in
. Sofie’s mind is filled with Ashton’s voice as he lets his will be known amongst the pack. As she hears the words she sees that the packs being led by Lindsey are doing the same, advancing on the human supremacists from behind.

The wolves snarl and snap at their heels, not inflicting any damage, but making it clear exactly who is in charge now. The cries of ‘Wolf Scum’ have died down in favor of ‘Don’t hurt me!’, ‘I’m sorry’, ‘I didn’t mean anything by it.’

Let them go
.
I can’t stand the sight of them anymore.
Ashton’s voice booms out across the weres’ minds, invading all of their thoughts. It is a voice that demands to be obeyed, but there is no other option. Sofie can’t imagine how anyone would be able to resist his will. Gus hasn’t reached that part of the werewolf training, but he will soon. The Alpha mind imposes its will on the pack. Ashton isn’t the leader just because they choose to follow him, he is the leader because they cannot help but follow him.

The supremacists are blocked on two flanks by wolves and on one by angry Howlers, telling them exactly what they think of them. The wolves, as one, move in, funnelling the ‘Humans First’ brigade out into the only remaining side. They’re left with one option, to run away.

As they swarm around them, Luke stands his ground, yelling after them. “You bunch of cowards! What are you running from? You want to let the monsters win? Is that it?” But the men and women that had followed him as if he were the second coming, don’t even hear him as they barge past him, too intent on their own fear and their own desperate need to escape.

“Forget it! I don’t need you! I don’t need any of you.” Luke shouts after them, waving them off dismissively. He looks like he’s half-cut, his shirt hanging out of his dirty chinos, his hair dishevelled from the number of times he’s raked his fingers through it. His eyes are wide and wild, giving him that wild look that makes him seem far more savage than the Lycans that he calls creatures, monsters.

As the last of the human supremacists disappear into the distance the weres start to change back to their human form. The danger has passed. The Howlers take some steps towards them, handing out their own shirts and pants, anything that will help the Lycans cover themselves and keep their dignity in front of the still-rolling cameras.

Sofie smiles as a woman gives her a sweatshirt that reaches almost to her knees. It’s the first time she’s turned and the first time she’s had to deal with the nakedness that comes with the territory of being a Lycan. She had expected to feel embarrassment or shame at being naked in front of so many people. But it had seemed like the most natural thing in the world. She felt proud rather than ashamed of her body, especially when she had seen the look that Ashton had given her, before she shimmied into the borrowed sweatshirt. It was a look full of promise, a look that she expected him to follow up on as soon as they were alone.

“Slut.” Sofie stops dead at the word, her blood running cold. She didn’t even have to turn around to know that the voice belonged to Luke. “Dirty, filthy wolf whore. I don’t know what I ever saw in you.”

Sofie resist the urge to turn around and send him flying with a flick of her hand. She knows that she could do it, but she knows that it wouldn’t solve anything. She would always resort to words before violence. “Get out of here, Luke. Leave this place. It’s over. You’re done.” She doesn’t even give him the satisfaction of turning around to look at him. She knows that it’ll make him even madder but she’s past caring about what Luke does or doesn’t want. It’s not her problem anymore.

“Don’t worry, I’ll leave. I can’t stand to be near you. You make me sick!” He virtually spits the words out. “But I’ll be back. This is just one tiny battle, enjoy your little victory, it will be your last. When I come back it’ll be even stronger. I’ll destroy you and every other pack in the country, in the world!” He rants at Sofie’s back, taking a step forward to grab onto her arm to turn her around. He thinks about punishing her for showing him her back and he smiles sadistically at the thought of it.

But before he gets a chance to reach out to her, cameras are shoved in his face, and he’s drowning in a hail of questions, blinking into the harsh artificial lights.

“Mr. Calambor, what can you tell us about the alleged unlawful practices taking place at Shale?”

“Mr. Calambor, what’s your reaction to your employees’ allegations against you of hacking and invasion of privacy?”

“Mr. Calambor, can we get a comment on the accusations of sexual harassment and bribery that have come to light?”

“Mr. Calambor what’s your reaction to the environmental disaster that Shale has allegedly caused in the Spring Canyon ecosystem?”

Luke looks around him as if he doesn’t even know where to begin. Sofie finally turns, taking in his confusion and it’s almost enough to make her feel sorry for him. The feeling doesn’t last.

“No comment! No comment! I have no idea what you’re talking about! No comment!” He tries to fight his way out of the press, but they’re like vultures and they’ve smelled blood, they’re not going to make it easy for him to get away without answering any of their questions.

Finn appears at Sofie’s side, giving her a gentle nudge in her ribs, watching Luke’s breakdown with a smile.

“Guessing you got the word out, then?” Sofie nods towards the crowd of reporters around Luke.

“Have I ever let you down?” Finn shrugs as if it were no big deal.

“No, I don’t think you ever have.” She drapes her arm around his shoulder, surveying the effects of his work. “With everything you’ve gotten together on Luke, he shouldn’t be able to bother anyone again for a very long time.”

“Yeah, nice job, Finn.” Ashton’s voice comes from beside her as he pads towards them, silently. “I don’t know what you did or how you did it. All I know is that it worked. You helped to protect the pack. I’ll always owe you for that, whatever you need.” Ashton reaches out to shake his hand and Finn flushes with pride. Despite having an ego the size of Canada, Finn wasn’t immune to genuine praise. Deep down, he was really just the geeky kid, wanting someone to see the good in him.

Ashton snakes his arm around Sofie’s waist, pulling her tightly to him. He doesn’t need to say anything, he communicates his message to her, just with his eyes; how scared he was he would lose her, how proud he is of her, how much he loves her. She relaxes against him, thankful for his strong arms, his solid presence. His eyes go to the necklace that she wears around her neck.

“I guess miracles do happen.” Ashton says the words to himself.

Sofie squints at him, the pieces falling into place. “You, you put the necklace back onto me. You’re the reason I woke up. You saved my life.” Sofie looks in wonder at Ashton, at the man that refused to give up on her, even when it had seemed as if all was lost.

“Is it about to get all R-rated up in here? Because if so then I’m going to bounce.” Finn looks at the two lovebirds like they might be lepers.

Luke catches sight of Sofie in Ashton’s arms and he and Finn joking and smiling together and his face turns an alarming shade of purple.

“You! You! This is all your fault! You filthy slut! I will ruin you! You’ll never work again, I’ll make sure everyone knows what a little two-faced bitch you are.” Luke points his finger at her accusatorily and the cameras swing towards her, looking for the object of his rage.

“I’ll be right back.” Ashton moves off, heading straight through the circle of reporters who automatically take a step back to accommodate him. His presence demands that kind of attention. He stands in front of Luke, blocking Sofie from his view. “Didn’t your mother ever teach you how to speak to a lady?” He shakes his head, chiding Luke like a naughty school-boy. “You don’t talk to her, you don’t look at her, you don’t even talk about her. You don’t deserve to even breathe the same air as her.” Ashton’s face is close to Luke’s the anger vibrating off of him.

“Don’t try to threaten me, Knuckle-dragger!” He shouts the insult so that everyone nearby hears him and then lowers his voice to Ashton. “You can’t hurt me, not with all these people around.” Luke smiles, looking like the cat that got the cream.

“I don’t plan on even touching you, you worthless sack of shit. But if you so much as think about trying to get to Sofie, you will regret it, I promise you that.” Ashton turns on his heel, walking away from Luke, managing to control his rage enough to keep himself in check.

“That’s it, run away, wolf scum! Run back to your little wolf cunt whore!” Luke jeers at Ashton, baiting him.

Sofie holds her breath as Ashton stops, his fists clenching, his eyes burning golden and she shakes her head at him.
Don’t do it. Don’t do it.
He’s not worth it.
It won’t solve anything.

Ashton locks eyes with her and smiles dangerously and that’s when she knows that he’s going to do exactly what he wants.
No, it won’t. But it’ll make me feel a whole lot better
. He turns around and closes the distance between him and Luke in a couple of bounds. He pulls his arm back and punches Luke squarely in the jaw. There’s a sickening crunch and Luke hits the floor gasping and nursing his face.

“Wow, that really did feel as good as I thought it would, much obliged.” Ashton nods mockingly at Luke, sprawled on the dirt before he walks back towards Sofie and the rest of the pack, smiling wolfishly.

“He broke my jaw! He broke my jaw! You’re all my witnesses, you all saw him!” Luke looks around at the reporters for corroboration, for support.

But the reporters aren’t listening to him anymore, instead they’re surging around Ashton who has been forced to stop dead in his tracks as they encircle him, pointing microphones and cameras into his face.

“What’s your connection to Mr. Calambor?”

“Do you see yourself as the Everyman standing up to the facelessness of corporate America?”

“Would you call yourself a defender of the people?”

The look of shock on Ashton’s face is enough to make Sofie burst out laughing. But it’s not hard to figure out why the press have gravitated towards him, he’s the handsome knight standing up to the villain of the piece. By the time they’re done with Ashton, the tide of public opinion will have completely shifted in favor of the Lycans. The press will emphasize the nobility of these mythical creatures and their bravery in the face of overwhelming odds. Everyone loves an underdog after all.

Sofie leaves Ashton to charm the socks off the reporters without even trying. She rejoins the rest of the pack who still look at her as if she had just been deposited by a spaceship.

Gus appears by her side, his expression carefully bland. “Well, that was one way to spend a Thursday.”

Sofie looks at him in shock, her eyes wide. “Gus, did you just make a joke?”

He shrugs, his expression still neutral. “What can I say? I’m a funny guy.” The combination of the look on his face and his monotonous tone is hilarious.

Sofie laughs out loud, doubling over in hysterics as Gus watches her, an amused light creeping into his eyes. It takes her a few minutes to regain her composure, wiping laughter tears from her cheeks. “Gus, I think this is going to be the start of a beautiful friendship. You got anymore jokes up your sleeve?”

He doesn’t say anything, his focus back on Ashton and the reporters, but she knows that she doesn’t imagine the slight upward tilt of his mouth as he fights to keep his smile purely internal.

“Have you ever heard the one about the pack of hungry werewolves?” Gus nods to one of the members of the other packs. The Lycans that Lindsey had gathered together are mingling with Ashton’s pack, warily at first, but slowly there are laughs and congratulations being exchanged.

“No, how does it go?” Sofie crosses her arms, waiting for the rest.

“It doesn’t.” Gus shakes his head. “There’s nothing funny about hungry werewolves. So I suggest we get all our brothers and sisters back to Ashton’s and get them fed before we have another fight on our hands.”

Sofie nods in agreement, looking out over the assembled Lycans. “Let’s get to it.”

Gus holds out his hand to stop her before she goes. “You did good today, kid.” He doesn’t look at her as he says the words, but the gruff emotion in his voice tells her everything she needs to know.

“Likewise, Gus.” She claps him on the shoulder before heading down towards the packs to lead the way home.

She doesn’t see the way that Gus looks after her as she leaves or the way his blank expression turns warm. “A white wolf,” Gus says to himself, shaking his head in amazement, “who would’ve thought it?”

She is truly exceptional, something that Gus had already suspected even before she had become Lycan, something that Ashton seemed to have known right from the start. Gus knows that she’ll have questions, more questions than he could probably answer about her power. But he wants to be there to help her.

He locks eyes with Ashton who he realizes is watching him with a question in his eyes. Gus nods in acknowledgement and starts to make his way down the path towards the gathering pack. As Ashton’s mate, Sofie will need protection, more so than any other member of the pack. He had planned to ask Ashton for the responsibility before the Pack Master had even asked the question with his eyes. Sofie had proved herself over and over again, he would be honored to serve her.