Read Online Thunder (Alpha Love - a Paranormal Werewolf Shifter Romance Book 3) by Olivia Stephens - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Olivia Stephens
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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 card 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.
She unlocks the drawer in her desk where she’s been keeping the rock she took from the canyon, the same kind of rock that she had sent to Jennie to analyze before she was fired. Ashton has refused to tell her where this rock comes from, why it’s so unique, and why it seems to throw all of their equipment out of whack. He had said that the rocks had properties , just like everything else in the woods and in the canyon. But what are those properties? What is he trying to hide? she thinks.
Sofie feels a stab of guilt as she gathers the materials she needs for her test. She knows that she should wait, let Ashton tell her in his own time what it is that she’s found. But her scientific brain won’t let it rest. She has to know the answers. Geology has always been her passion, and this unique rock could be one of the biggest geological finds in history. There is no way she can’t try to find out more about it. It would be like asking a fish not to swim.
“What have you got there?” Sofie jumps as Darwin comes up behind her, peering over her shoulder.
She should have heard him; he wasn’t exactly a stealthy guy, but she was lost in her own thoughts. It doesn’t prevent Sofie from realizing that this is the first time Darwin has addressed her directly without being forced into a conversation with her.
“You’re setting up for an acid test. Need some assistance?” Darwin keeps his eyes on the dark
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 card 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.
She unlocks the drawer in her desk where she’s been keeping the rock she took from the canyon, the same kind of rock that she had sent to Jennie to analyze before she was fired. Ashton has refused to tell her where this rock comes from, why it’s so unique, and why it seems to throw all of their equipment out of whack. He had said that the rocks had properties , just like everything else in the woods and in the canyon. But what are those properties? What is he trying to hide? she thinks.
Sofie feels a stab of guilt as she gathers the materials she needs for her test. She knows that she should wait, let Ashton tell her in his own time what it is that she’s found. But her scientific brain won’t let it rest. She has to know the answers. Geology has always been her passion, and this unique rock could be one of the biggest geological finds in history. There is no way she can’t try to find out more about it. It would be like asking a fish not to swim.
“What have you got there?” Sofie jumps as Darwin comes up behind her, peering over her shoulder.
She should have heard him; he wasn’t exactly a stealthy guy, but she was lost in her own thoughts. It doesn’t prevent Sofie from realizing that this is the first time Darwin has addressed her directly without being forced into a conversation with her.
“You’re setting up for an acid test. Need some assistance?” Darwin keeps his eyes on the dark
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