1-Homecoming
1127 Words
The first thing Remington Hayes noticed about Bayou Falls was that it still smelled the same.
Wet earth.
Cypress trees.
Muddy water.
And something else she couldn’t quite name.
Home.
She hated that the word still existed inside her.
Nine years.
Nine years since she’d driven away from this place with tears burning her eyes and a promise never to come back unless she had a damn good reason.
Apparently, a trauma surgeon position qualified.
Remi tightened her hands around the steering wheel as the welcome sign appeared through the windshield.
WELCOME TO BAYOU FALLS
Home of the Bayou Pack.
Her stomach twisted.
“Don’t.”
Rae’s voice came from the passenger seat.
Remi glanced sideways. “Don’t what?”
“Look at that sign like you’re considering turning around.”
From the back seat, Delaney laughed softly.
“She’s been considering it since we crossed the state line.”
“I have not.”
Rae raised an eyebrow.
“You absolutely have.”
Remi sighed. “I am a highly trained trauma surgeon. I don’t run from things.”
“Except emotional trauma,” Rae said.
“That’s different.”
“How?”
“Because emotional trauma doesn’t require stitches.”
Del laughed.
“God, I missed this.”
Remi couldn’t help smiling.
That was the reason she’d agreed to come back.
Not the pack.
Not the town.
Not the memories.
Her girls.
Rae and Delaney had been beside her through everything. They’d watched her build a life from the pieces she’d carried away from Bayou Falls.
And now they were coming home with her.
Even if Remi wasn’t sure what home meant anymore.
She turned onto the familiar road leading toward town.
The trees seemed taller than she remembered.
The roads narrower.
The houses older.
Everything looked both familiar and completely different.
Her childhood had existed here.
So had the worst years of it.
Being the only human girl in a powerful werewolf pack wasn’t easy.
Remi had learned that early.
She’d learned how quickly conversations stopped when she entered a room.
How people looked at her differently.
How whispers followed her through school.
Human.
Weak.
She’ll never be one of us.
And then there had been Will.
William Carter.
The future Alpha.
The boy who had made her feel like she was both invisible and the only person in the room.
He had been arrogant.
Infuriating.
Protective when she least wanted him to be.
And impossible to forget.
Remi pushed the memory away.
She’d spent nine years doing that.
She wasn’t going to start again now.
“Hospital’s five minutes away,” Del said, checking the map on her phone.
“Good.”
Rae looked at her.
“You’re nervous.”
“No.”
“Your left hand is squeezing the steering wheel hard enough to break it.”
Remi glanced down.
Her knuckles were white.
She loosened her grip.
“I’m not nervous about the hospital.”
“The pack?”
Remi said nothing.
Rae nodded.
“Thought so.”
The three women fell quiet.
Then Del reached forward and squeezed Remi’s shoulder.
“You don’t owe them anything.”
Remi swallowed.
“I know.”
“You don’t have to see anyone you don’t want to see.”
“I know.”
“And if anyone gives you trouble because you’re human—”
“Rae will hack them?”
“Absolutely.”
Rae smiled.
“Finally, someone appreciates me.”
Remi laughed.
For the first time since crossing the town line, the knot in her chest loosened.
Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad.
Maybe she could work her shifts, save lives, spend time with her friends, and leave the past exactly where it belonged.
Behind her.
Then they reached the center of town.
Remi’s smile disappeared.
The old Carter property sat beyond the trees.
She could barely see the house from the road, but she didn’t need to.
She remembered every inch of it.
The training grounds.
The porch.
The massive oak where she’d spent countless afternoons pretending she wasn’t watching a certain dark-haired boy train with his brothers.
Will.
Trey.
Elijah.
Three brothers.
Three future Alphas.
Three wolves who had once made it painfully clear that she didn’t belong.
Remi looked away.
“Keep driving.”
Rae didn’t ask why.
The hospital was smaller than the Chicago trauma center where Remi had spent the last several years, but it was modern enough and busy enough to keep her occupied.
Exactly what she wanted.
A fresh start.
No pack politics.
No childhood memories.
No Will Carter.
She stepped out of the car and looked toward the hospital entrance.
“This is it,” Del said.
Remi took a breath.
“New life.”
Rae came around the car and hooked her arm through Remi’s.
“New life.”
Del joined them.
“New life.”
Remi smiled.
“Okay. Let’s do this.”
They walked toward the entrance together.
Remi had barely made it halfway across the parking lot when she stopped.
Her entire body went still.
A strange sensation moved through her.
Heat.
A pull.
Something deep inside her chest tightened so suddenly she almost lost her breath.
“Remi?”
She turned.
Across the parking lot stood three men.
Three very familiar men.
Her heart slammed against her ribs.
Trey Carter.
Elijah Carter.
And—
Will.
He was older.
Broader.
Harder.
The boy she’d remembered had become a man who looked like he belonged at the head of a pack.
His dark hair was shorter. His jaw was sharper. His expression was colder.
But his eyes—
Those hadn’t changed.
They found hers instantly.
The world seemed to disappear.
Conversation faded.
Cars stopped moving.
Even the noise of the hospital seemed to vanish.
Will stared at her.
Not like he recognized her.
Like he’d been searching for her.
Remi’s pulse thundered.
Rae whispered beside her.
“Well…”
Del’s eyes widened.
“That’s him.”
Remi couldn’t breathe.
Will took one slow step forward.
His expression changed.
Shock.
Then something darker.
Something fierce.
Something that made Remi’s entire body react before her mind could understand why.
Will stopped.
His eyes locked on hers.
And for the first time in nine years, Remington Hayes wondered if coming home had been the biggest mistake of her life.
Because William Carter wasn’t looking at her like an old friend.
He wasn’t looking at her like the human girl he’d once pushed away.
He was looking at her like she’d just walked back into his life carrying something he had spent nine years trying to forget.
And somewhere deep inside her, something answered.
Remi didn’t know what it was.
Not yet.
But she was about to find out.
Homecoming had only just begun.
- Writer
- chap_listContents
- likeADD