The Pull
1231 Words
For several seconds, nobody moved.
Five attackers lay unconscious across the edge of the road.
The morning was strangely quiet now.
Del looked from the unconscious men to Rae.
“So…” she said, “good news.”
Remi raised an eyebrow.
“There’s good news?”
“Yep.”
Del pointed toward the attackers.
“We didn’t kill anybody.”
Rae nodded.
“That’s usually considered a positive.”
Del grinned.
“And since we used tranquilizers, we can still bring them in for questioning.”
Trey looked at her.
“You sound way too happy about that.”
“I’m practical.”
She glanced at the unconscious men.
“If you’d used something deadly, we’d have no one to interrogate.”
Rae shrugged.
“Exactly.”
Elijah walked toward the nearest attacker.
He crouched beside him and examined the man’s weapon.
His expression hardened.
“These aren’t amateurs.”
Will looked at him.
“What do you mean?”
Elijah picked up one of the discarded rifles.
“Military-grade equipment. Custom rounds. Suppressors.”
He turned the weapon over in his hands.
“Highly skilled.”
His voice was quiet.
“Whoever sent them knew what they were doing.”
Will’s expression darkened.
“And they knew we would be here.”
“Which means someone has been watching us,” Trey said.
Remi looked around the woods.
A cold feeling settled in her stomach.
“Why?”
Nobody answered.
Rae was staring at one of the attackers.
The man lay only a few feet from where Remi had been standing.
Rae slowly walked toward him.
“Rae?”
She didn’t answer.
She crouched beside the unconscious man.
Something about him was bothering her.
She reached out.
Her fingers touched his wrist.
The world disappeared.
⸻
The Vision
Darkness.
Five men gathered around a table.
A map of Bayou Falls spread across it.
Photographs were scattered everywhere.
Will Carter.
Trey Carter.
Elijah Carter.
Rae.
Del.
Remi.
A voice spoke from the darkness.
“Take one of the Alphas.”
Another voice answered.
“Which one?”
“Doesn’t matter.”
A photograph of Will was lifted.
“Any one of them.”
The scene shifted.
The five men loading weapons.
Special ammunition.
Wolfsbane.
A voice spoke again.
“The women aren’t the objective.”
Another voice answered.
“Then why are they there?”
“They’re always with them.”
The vision shifted again.
The attackers watching the Carter brothers.
Following them.
Tracking them.
Waiting for the right moment.
Then—
the gunfire.
The bullets.
The Alphas falling.
The attackers moving in.
And one final sentence—
“Take the Alpha alive if possible. Dead if necessary.”
The vision shattered.
⸻
Rae gasped.
She ripped her hand away from the attacker.
Trey immediately grabbed her shoulders.
“Rae.”
She looked at him.
Her breathing was uneven.
“You’re okay.”
She stared at him.
Then at Will.
Then Elijah.
“They weren’t after us.”
Remi frowned.
“What?”
Rae shook her head.
“They weren’t after me.”
She looked at Del.
“Or you.”
Then she looked directly at Remi.
“Or you.”
Remi’s stomach tightened.
“Then who?”
Rae’s eyes moved to the three brothers.
“They were after one of the Alphas.”
Silence.
Will’s expression hardened.
“Which one?”
Rae shook her head.
“I don’t know.”
Elijah looked at the unconscious men.
“They didn’t care which one.”
Rae nodded.
“They just needed one of you.”
Trey crouched beside her.
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
“You’re sure?”
“I saw it.”
Rae’s voice was quiet.
“They had photographs of all three of you.”
Will looked toward his brothers.
“Someone wants one of us dead.”
Elijah corrected him.
“Or captured.”
Trey’s jaw tightened.
“Either way, that’s a problem.”
Del looked around.
“Whoever these people are, they’re not random.”
“No,” Elijah said.
He looked at the custom ammunition.
“They came prepared.”
Remi hugged her arms around herself.
“So this attack wasn’t because of us?”
Rae shook her head.
“No.”
Remi released a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding.
But something still felt wrong.
She looked at Will.
He was staring at her.
Again.
That same strange intensity.
Only this time, it was different.
Will took a step toward her.
Remi’s heart immediately skipped.
She hated that it still did that.
After everything.
After nine years.
He still had that effect on her.
Will stopped directly in front of her.
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
His eyes moved over her.
Checking.
Searching.
Almost as though he needed to make certain every part of her was untouched.
Remi swallowed.
“I’m fine.”
Will nodded.
But he didn’t move away.
Something inside him was pulling him toward her.
He didn’t understand it.
His wolf wanted closer.
Wanted her scent.
Wanted to touch her.
Wanted to make certain she was safe.
Will reached for her arm.
His fingers barely brushed her skin.
Heat shot through him.
His breathing caught.
Remi felt it too.
A strange warmth traveled through her body.
Her pulse jumped.
For one second, the world seemed to narrow until there was nothing but Will.
His hand.
His eyes.
His scent.
The unbearable pull between them.
Remi quickly stepped back.
She shook her head.
It was nothing.
Just old attraction.
Old memories.
Old feelings she had never completely buried.
That was all.
It couldn’t be anything else.
Will stared at her.
He felt the same pull.
Stronger this time.
Almost painful.
His wolf surged beneath his skin.
Closer.
Will clenched his jaw.
No.
Something was happening.
Something he couldn’t explain.
Remi looked away.
“Don’t.”
Will’s voice was rough.
“Don’t what?”
“Look at me like that.”
His eyes narrowed.
“Like what?”
“Like…”
She stopped.
She didn’t know how to explain it.
Like he still wanted her.
Like she still wanted him.
Like nine years hadn’t happened.
She shook her head.
“Never mind.”
Will watched her walk away.
His chest felt strangely tight.
He had spent nine years convincing himself that distance would make the mate bond easier to ignore.
But now that Remi was standing in front of him again—
it was getting harder.
Much harder.
Trey watched his brother.
Then looked at Rae.
Rae was watching him too.
Their eyes met.
Something unspoken passed between them.
Trey’s wolf stirred.
Again.
Rae quickly looked away.
Del noticed.
She smiled faintly.
“Oh, this is going to get interesting.”
Elijah glanced at her.
“What?”
Del shook her head.
“Nothing.”
She looked at the five unconscious attackers.
Then at the three Carter brothers.
Then at Remi.
“Absolutely nothing.”
But deep down, Del knew something had changed.
The attack wasn’t random.
Rae’s visions weren’t random.
And whatever was happening between the three women and the Carter brothers was becoming impossible to ignore.
Remi looked back at Will.
He was still watching her.
Her heart beat faster.
She told herself it was old attraction.
Nothing more.
She had no idea how wrong she was.
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