Five Minutes
1609 Words
The gunfire stopped.
For three seconds, nobody moved.
The silence that followed was almost worse.
Will remained crouched in front of Remi, his body positioned between her and the tree line.
Trey had Rae behind him.
Elijah stood protectively in front of Del.
All three Carter brothers were ready to shift.
Ready to attack.
Then Rae lifted her hand.
“Don’t.”
Will’s eyes snapped toward her.
“What?”
“Don’t move.”
Trey frowned.
“You want us to just sit here?”
“Yes.”
Elijah looked toward the trees.
“Why?”
Rae closed her eyes.
Her breathing slowed.
Then she pointed toward the surrounding woods.
“Because we’re surrounded.”
The three brothers went still.
“How many?” Will asked.
“Five.”
Trey’s eyes narrowed.
“I can smell four.”
“There’s a fifth one farther back.”
Elijah looked toward the trees.
“She’s right.”
Trey stared at Rae.
Something about her was different.
He couldn’t explain it.
Her heartbeat had changed.
Her scent seemed different somehow.
And her eyes—
For one brief second, they looked almost… distant.
Like she was seeing something none of them could.
Rae suddenly looked directly at him.
“Two east.”
Trey’s eyes widened.
“How did you—”
“One behind us.”
She turned.
“Two moving toward the road.”
Elijah looked at Will.
“She’s right.”
Will’s jaw tightened.
“We take them.”
“No.”
Will’s head snapped toward Rae.
“Excuse me?”
Rae pointed at him.
“Stand down.”
Silence.
Trey’s eyebrows shot up.
Elijah actually looked amused.
Will looked anything but amused.
“You just ordered three Alphas to stand down.”
“Yes.”
Rae crossed her arms.
“And you’re going to listen.”
Trey’s mouth twitched.
Will noticed.
His irritation increased.
His brothers were standing there looking entirely too entertained by Rae.
And Elijah hadn’t stopped staring at Del either.
Will looked toward Remi.
Then back at his brothers.
Why were they already so comfortable with these women?
They had known them for barely a week.
Yet Trey was smiling at Rae.
Elijah kept finding reasons to stand close to Del.
And now Rae was ordering them around like they had been taking commands from her for years.
Will didn’t like it.
Not one bit.
“What exactly is your plan?” he asked.
Rae smiled.
“We wait.”
Trey glanced at her.
“For what?”
“Five minutes.”
Elijah raised an eyebrow.
“Five minutes?”
“Yep.”
Will stepped forward.
“They’re armed.”
“With wolfsbane bullets.”
“Exactly.”
“Which is why you’re not charging them.”
Will’s eyes flashed.
“We can handle five men.”
Rae shook her head.
“Not when you don’t know where all five are.”
Will opened his mouth.
Rae cut him off.
“And before you say you’re an Alpha, I already know.”
Trey laughed.
Will glared at him.
“What’s funny?”
Trey shrugged.
“Nothing.”
But he was definitely smiling.
Will looked back at Rae.
“How do you know where they are?”
Rae hesitated.
Her eyes flickered.
“I saw them.”
Trey immediately noticed.
There it was again.
That strange look.
Like Rae was listening to something no one else could hear.
He stepped closer.
“What do you mean, you saw them?”
Rae looked at him.
“When you touched me…”
Her voice trailed off.
Trey’s expression changed.
“You had another vision.”
Rae nodded.
“I think so.”
Remi immediately moved closer.
“Rae?”
“I’m okay.”
Del looked at her carefully.
“You’re not acting okay.”
“I’m fine.”
But Trey wasn’t convinced.
Something had happened when he touched her.
Something supernatural.
He didn’t know what.
Yet his wolf had reacted too.
The moment his hand touched Rae, something inside him had pulled hard.
A strange instinct.
A need to protect.
He had never felt anything like it.
And he definitely didn’t understand why.
Will noticed Trey staring at Rae.
His irritation deepened.
“Can we focus?”
Rae looked at him.
“Exactly.”
She pulled a small controller from the pocket of her running jacket.
“Which is why you need to stop trying to play hero.”
Will stared at the device.
“What is that?”
“My backup.”
Del smiled.
“Oh, this is going to be fun.”
Remi looked at her.
“What did you bring?”
Rae pressed a button.
“A drone.”
Will blinked.
“A drone?”
“Yes.”
Trey looked at her.
“You’re carrying a drone while running?”
“Not carrying.”
She pointed upward.
“It’s already in the air.”
Everyone looked up.
Nothing.
Then a faint buzzing sound drifted through the trees.
Trey looked back at Rae.
“You planned this?”
“No.”
She smiled.
“I plan for everything.”
Del laughed.
“I never thought that would come in handy to save our asses.”
Rae nodded.
“See? This is why we don’t throw anything away.”
Will shook his head.
“This is ridiculous.”
Rae gave him a look.
“Your security system is ridiculous.”
Trey laughed.
Will shot him a warning look.
Trey immediately stopped.
Mostly.
Rae checked the controller.
“Three minutes.”
Will folded his arms.
“And what exactly happens in three minutes?”
Rae’s smile became almost mischievous.
“My drone puts them to sleep.”
Elijah looked intrigued.
“How?”
“Heavy tranquilizers.”
Trey stared at her.
“You’re kidding.”
“Nope.”
“How heavy?”
Rae glanced at him.
“Heavy enough to knock out a full-grown wolf.”
Trey slowly smiled.
“You’re dangerous.”
Rae shrugged.
“I’ve been told.”
Something about that smile hit Trey harder than it should have.
His wolf stirred.
Her.
Trey frowned internally.
What the hell was happening to him?
He looked at Rae again.
For the first time, he noticed something he couldn’t explain.
There was power around her.
Not physical strength.
Something else.
Something old.
Something waiting.
Rae suddenly looked at him.
“What?”
Trey blinked.
“Nothing.”
“You’re staring.”
“I’m thinking.”
“Try doing it quietly.”
Trey laughed.
Will groaned.
“Can you two flirt later?”
Both Trey and Rae turned toward him.
“We’re not flirting,” Trey said.
Rae nodded.
“Definitely not.”
Del whispered to Remi.
“They’re flirting.”
Remi whispered back.
“Absolutely.”
Will heard both.
His jaw tightened.
He wasn’t sure what irritated him more—
that his brothers seemed completely comfortable around Remi’s friends…
or that Remi was laughing with them.
He looked at Remi.
She caught him staring.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“Then stop looking at me.”
“I wasn’t.”
“You were.”
Will looked away.
Trey smirked.
Will immediately glared at him.
“Don’t.”
Trey held up his hands.
“I didn’t say anything.”
“You were about to.”
“Probably.”
Another branch snapped in the woods.
Everyone went silent.
Rae’s expression changed.
“They’re moving.”
Will immediately reached for his weapon.
Rae grabbed his arm.
“Stand down.”
Will looked at her hand.
Then at her.
“You really like giving orders.”
“Someone has to.”
He almost argued.
Then Rae’s eyes went distant again.
Trey noticed.
“Rae?”
She looked toward the trees.
“Two minutes.”
Will slowly lowered his weapon.
“Fine.”
Trey raised an eyebrow.
“Wow.”
Will glared.
“Don’t push it.”
The drone buzzed overhead.
Rae watched the controller.
“Thirty seconds.”
The men in the woods began moving.
Will could smell them now.
Five.
Armed.
Closing in.
Every instinct screamed at him to attack.
But Rae didn’t move.
She simply watched the screen.
“Ten seconds.”
Remi stood beside Will.
Her shoulder brushed his.
His wolf reacted instantly.
Mate.
Will clenched his jaw.
Not now.
“Five.”
Rae smiled.
“Four.”
The drone descended.
“Three.”
Trey looked toward the trees.
“Two.”
Rae pressed the button.
“One.”
Thwip.
A dart disappeared into the woods.
A body dropped.
Thwip.
Another.
Thwip.
A third.
Then a fourth.
The fifth attacker suddenly stepped from behind a tree, rifle raised.
Remi saw him.
“Will!”
Will moved.
But Rae was faster.
She redirected the drone.
Thwip.
The dart struck the man’s neck.
He stumbled.
The rifle fell from his hands.
Then he collapsed.
Silence.
Five attackers.
Five unconscious bodies.
Del slowly lowered her shoulders.
“Well.”
She looked at Rae.
“I officially love your drone.”
Rae grinned.
“I told you.”
Remi looked at the unconscious men.
Then at Rae.
“How did you know?”
Rae’s smile disappeared.
“I didn’t.”
Trey stepped closer.
“You saw it.”
Rae nodded.
“When you touched me.”
Trey stared at her.
His wolf stirred again.
Something was happening.
Something he didn’t understand.
Will looked at Trey.
Then at Rae.
Then at Remi.
And for the first time, a cold realization settled over him.
The three women hadn’t simply returned to Bayou Falls.
Something had followed them home.
Or perhaps—
something had been waiting for them.
And whatever it was…
it had just announced itself.
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