Free Torrent (Alpha Love - a Paranormal Werewolf Shifter Romance Book 4) by Olivia Stephens

the self-righteous speeches that shitheel Calambor is giving, that we’re dangerous and we should be put down!” Rudy kicks at the dust at his feet, anger bubbling up inside of him.
    Sofie feels Ashton tense next to her, but his voice is calm as he looks back to Teresa, nodding for the older woman to continue. “Tell it like it is, T. We all need to hear this.” Sofie steals a look at Ash, wondering why he’s so adamant for the pack to hear just how bad things have gotten outside. It’s not any good for morale, which is already depressingly low. If anything, it’ll just make them all angrier, more likely to act out and do something rash.
    The same thoughts seem to have crossed Teresa’s mind as she furrows her brow, before continuing, knowing the damage that her words are going to do to the weres around her. “Rudy’s right. People are talking about the ‘Lycan abomination’, how we’re a threat to decent people, how we’re sub-human.” Teresa shakes her head, like she doesn’t even want to give their accusers the satisfaction of her repeating their words. “Some buildings have been spray-painted. Some have been covered in pigs’ blood…” She trails off, looking down at her feet, sighing deeply as Ashton’s eyes bore into her, forcing her not to hold anything back. “Ash’s store...”
    As Teresa falters, Rudy picks up the mantel, full of indignation and bitterness. “They’ve raided it, Ash. Your place – they’ve broken all the windows, stolen whatever they could carry. There were still people wandering around inside with baseball bats when we got there. I wanted to show them how good a bat was against us, but T wouldn’t let me.” Rudy shoots an angry look at the older were, clearly not ready to let that go yet.
    “And she was right, Ru.” Ashton’s voice is deep and his words come out slowly, like he’s trying to use just the power of his voice to calm the young were down. “It wouldn’t have solved anything and would just have made things a whole lot worse.”
    But Rudy doesn’t want to hear it, he’s too full of anger. “They graffitied all over your walls, Ash! ‘Wolf Scum’, ‘Mongrel’, ‘Half Breed’!” Sofie wants to reach out to touch the kid when she sees the angry tears in his eyes.
    She waits for Ashton to react, but he holds himself together, he just nods. “Not all that imaginative.” He is eerily calm.
    Rudy looks at him in shock. “Those bastards have done that to your store and all you care about is how creative they’re being with their insults?”
    “Rudy!” Gus’s warning is a growl, reminding Rudy of who he’s talking to.
    Ashton raises his hand, calming down his second in command. “What do you want me to do, Ru? Do you want me to get angry, maybe go and beat some of those ignorant, racist shit-heads up? Then what happens? We’ve proved their point, that we’re violent, that we’re stronger than they are, that we’re a threat. Then what happens?” Ashton’s voice is reasonable but Sofie can hear the edge to it. “It didn’t take a genius to figure out that once they’d identified us from the news report that we’d be up against this kind of stuff. People try to destroy what they don’t understand; it gives them a sense of power. But it’s not real.” His voice calms as he sees how affected the young Lycan is by what he’s seen in Beaumont. “It’s just a store, Ru. It’s just stuff. I couldn’t give a shit what they do to it as long as it keeps them away from the pack.”
    “What about my bar?” Lindsey’s voice rings out, breathless. It sits in sharp contrast to Ashton’s calm demeanour. Hector stands behind her, looking like he already knows what the answer is going to be. Both Teresa and Ru remain uncharacteristically silent, looking down at their dusty boots.
    “What? You’re both mute now?” Lindsey’s fists are balled and planted firmly on her hips. Her eyes are blazing as she looks between the two scouts.
    Sofie