Downpour (Alpha Love - A Paranormal Werewolf Shifter Romance Book 1) Read Free

I’m detecting, Ms. Braun?” Finn asks, as he starts the car, clearly enjoying Sofie’s discomfort.
     
    “How can I be jealous of someone I’ve never even met?” Sofie studiously ignores the guy in question as they reverse towards him. However, she can’t help but notice how he made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up.
     
    “Well, maybe it’s not him specifically—despite his overwhelming hotness,” says Finn, as he fans himself like he’s just had a hot flush. “How long has it been?”
     
    “How long has what been?” Sofie absently twirls the ends of her hair around her fingers, trying to ignore the question.
     
    “Since you’ve had anyone in your bed other than yourself and, no, a vibrator doesn’t count. They have to be breathing,” he says, swinging a hard left and throwing Sofie against the door as he parks in the motel lot.
     
    “You’re never driving again.” She points her finger at him and gets out of the car, refusing to answer the question.
     
    Silence falls between them as they go through the gear in the trunk, checking off the items one-by-one. Sofie knows Finn well enough to know that he doesn’t give up easily. The guy is like a dog with a bone. That’s partly what makes him such a technical whizz; he doesn’t stop until he’s found what he’s looking for.
     
    “Is it since Tyler?” he asks, out of the blue. “Which makes it, what? 6 months? Honey, that’s more than a dry spell, that’s a drought.”
     
    “Yes, it’s been a while!” Sofie bursts out, waving one of her rock chisels at him. “But I’m fine.”
     
    “Yeah, you sure seem fine. No crazy, sexually-frustrated lady waving her phallic chisel at me, at all! Uh-uh!” Finn holds his hands up as if to say that he’s admitting defeat.
     
    “Finnbarr,” she says. She always uses his full name when she’s talking down to him. “Finnbarr, not everything is about sex.” She puffs out her cheeks, places her hands on hips, and stares hard at him. “Now, can we get on with this? I’m starving, and Darwin’s probably worried that we’ve killed each other on the way over here.”
     
    “Sure thing, Braun. You’re the boss.”
     
    Finn delves deeper into the trunk, flicking switches on some of the gear, checking so that it’s all ready to go for the morning. They work in companionable silence until the job is done, and it’s only then that Finn lets her in on what conclusions he’s drawn in that gigantic brain of his. “Are you okay about Luke coming here?” He doesn’t look at Sofie as he asks the question. He can be sensitive sometimes—when he needs to be.
     
    “Yeah, of course.” Sofie pats him gently on the shoulder to reassure him. “I guess it was inevitable, he was never going to be happy just reading the reports.”
     
    “Right. He probably wants to make sure that the trust fund keeps on paying out.” Finn lays a gentle hand on her arm before they walk through the sliding motel doors. “You know that’s not the only reason he’s threatening to come.” Finn’s eyes behind the trendy glasses are soft; he’s worried about her.
     
    “Shale Corporation is his business, Finn. He can do whatever he wants.” Sofie shrugs and heads inside, not wanting to go any further down that road.
     
    “That’s what I’m afraid of,” Finn says under his breath, as he follows his friend inside.
     

CHAPTER TWO
     
    The town is dead silent. Why shouldn’t it be? After all, the sun’s barely even up. This was Sofie’s favorite time of day. She’d always been more of a lark than a night owl and, recently, it had been getting harder and harder to lie in bed alone. She plugs her earphones in and runs out onto the street, following the road that they’d driven in on the day before. There was a trail that she’d caught sight of through the bushes from the car, and she wanted to check it out.
     
    Although, for many people, running is a great way to meditate, to be one with your