An Alpha's Thunder (Water Bear Shifters 3) by Sloane Meyers Read Free Book Online

Caroline. The address had been in San Diego, so the letter should have only taken a day to arrive. Either he’d had the wrong address, and she would never see it, or she had chosen to ignore him. That was that. Either way, he had hit a dead end in his efforts to find Caroline.
    Maybe it was for the better. The transfer request paperwork had been submitted for the panda shifters to make the move to Kodiak, Alaska. Ace’s contact in the upper ranks of the Coast Guard wouldn’t make any definite promises, but he said he was fairly sure he could pull some strings and make sure that Ace’s crew was awarded the transfer. Certainly, this was an awful time to start a new relationship.
    But despite the awful timing, and the fact that Caroline had given no indication that she was interested in Lance, he couldn’t get her off his mind. What’s worse, his bear was constantly pining for her, making him moody and restless. Lance should have been enjoying his night off from work, relaxing and catching up on sleep. Instead, he was tossing and turning and counting down the hours until morning arrived.
    A flash of lightning illuminated Lance’s bedroom, followed moments later by another loud clap of thunder. Lance sighed, and decided to get out of bed. He was tired of sitting here and moping. He would go for a run and enjoy the fury of the storm. He loved these out-of-control storms, and he hardly ever had the chance to leisurely enjoy them. Usually, he was taking them in from the open door of a helicopter as his crew attempted to save people stranded out at sea.
    Lance laced up his running shoes and headed out the door. He didn’t bother to take his car. He wanted to run on the beach, but it was only two miles to the beach. He would run that distance, then run on the beach until he was tired enough to turn around. The wind blew fiercely as Lance made his way through several residential streets, heading for the ocean. He did his best to run in a straight line, but the strong gales made it difficult. Within a minute of leaving his condo, the rain had drenched Lance from head to toe. His t-shirt and gym shorts clung to his body, and his tennis shoes squished with each pounding step.
    Lance didn’t mind. The restless rain soothed his soul. It gave him comfort to know that something besides his own heart was chaotic and out of control. When he got to the wet, sandy beach, he bent down to take off his shoes and socks. They were only getting in the way, and sand was going to make trying to run in them even worse. Newly barefoot, Lance continued his run, sprinting parallel to the frenzied ocean. Waves rose and fell violently, illuminated every few minutes by bright streaks of lightning. Thunderclaps continued to echo across the water, and Lance couldn’t help but smile every time he heard them.
    The storm had caused the June temperatures to drop, and Lance had goose bumps on his arm. He didn’t notice the cold, though. He was too busy watching the whitecaps rising and falling next to him, and listening to the whistling wind and booming thunder. Lance breathed in deeply, letting the damp, salty air fill his lungs. If the crew did move to Alaska, Lance was going to miss this place. He knew he would find new outdoor spots to love around Kodiak, but these San Diego beaches would always have a special place in his heart.
    Another flash of lightning lit up the scenery in front of Lance, and he did a double take. He couldn’t be sure, but it looked like there was a person several hundred yards ahead of him on the beach, standing about knee deep in the churning ocean.
    “What the heck?” Lance huffed out, speeding up his pace and straining to see through the darkness. He couldn’t see that far ahead without the help of the lightning, though. He silently willed the sky to light itself up again, but it felt like an eternity passed before it did. By that time, Lance had gotten close enough to the figure to see that it definitely wasn’t a figment