The Alpha
1243 Words
Remi had spent nine years imagining what it would feel like to see Will Carter again.
She had imagined anger.
Indifference.
Maybe even satisfaction when he realized the girl he had pushed away had become everything she promised she would.
She had not imagined this.
Three Alphas stood across the hospital parking lot.
Will. Trey. Elijah.
The Carter brothers.
The boys who had once made Bayou Falls feel like a place she didn’t belong.
Now they were something else entirely.
Powerful.
Dangerous.
And apparently impossible to ignore.
Will’s eyes stayed locked on Remi.
He was an Alpha.
Actually—
All three of them were.
Rae slowly lowered her sunglasses.
“Well,” she murmured. “That’s inconvenient.”
Del glanced between the brothers.
“Which part?”
“The part where all three of them look like they walked out of a supernatural romance novel.”
Remi sighed.
“Please don’t.”
“I’m just making an observation.”
“You’ve been making observations since we crossed the city limits.”
“And I’ve been right every time.”
Del snorted.
Remi ignored them.
She couldn’t ignore Will.
His gaze hadn’t moved.
Not once.
She finally crossed her arms.
“What?”
Will’s expression barely changed.
“You’re back.”
Remi raised an eyebrow.
“Brilliant observation.”
Trey’s mouth twitched.
“Still sarcastic.”
“Still annoying.”
“Good to know some things haven’t changed.”
Elijah remained silent.
His eyes moved over Rae and Del before returning to Remi.
Remi noticed.
So did Rae.
Rae leaned toward her.
“Are they always this dramatic?”
“Yes.”
Trey heard her.
“We’re standing right here.”
Rae smiled sweetly.
“I know.”
Del covered a laugh.
Will’s eyes narrowed slightly.
“You’re working at the hospital.”
Remi nodded.
“Trauma surgeon.”
“I heard.”
“Congratulations.”
The word came out colder than she intended.
Will’s jaw tightened.
“I meant it.”
“Sure.”
His eyes hardened.
“Remi.”
She hated the way he said her name.
Like nine years hadn’t passed.
Like she was seventeen again.
Like one word from him could drag every old memory back to the surface.
She refused to let it.
“So,” she said, gesturing toward the three brothers, “I hear congratulations are in order for the new leadership.”
Trey smiled.
“Not exactly new.”
“Three Alphas ruling one pack,” Rae said. “That’s unusual.”
Elijah finally spoke.
“We make it work.”
Rae studied him.
“Do you?”
Elijah frowned.
Rae’s smile widened.
“Because from what I’ve seen, your security system doesn’t.”
Silence.
Trey blinked.
Will’s expression changed.
Elijah’s eyes narrowed.
“What did you say?”
Rae pulled out her phone.
“I said your security system is terrible.”
Remi closed her eyes.
“Rae.”
“What?”
“You just met them.”
“I’ve known their security system for twelve minutes.”
Trey laughed.
“She’s serious.”
“Very.”
Rae tapped her screen.
“I hacked into your perimeter cameras, internal communications, access-control system, and hospital-to-pack emergency relay.”
Elijah took one step forward.
“You did what?”
Rae shrugged.
“Relax. I didn’t change anything.”
She paused.
“Much.”
Elijah’s stare sharpened.
“How did you get in?”
Rae smiled.
“That’s the fun part.”
Del shook her head.
“Rae.”
“What? They need better security.”
Elijah pulled out his phone.
“You’re lying.”
Rae’s eyebrows rose.
“Am I?”
He looked down at the screen.
Nothing.
He tapped it again.
Nothing.
Then suddenly—
“I’m a Barbie girl, in the Barbie world—”
The song exploded from his phone.
Trey doubled over laughing.
Del covered her mouth.
Remi stared at Rae.
Rae looked completely innocent.
Elijah’s expression became murderous.
“Did you just—”
“Life in plastic, it’s fantastic—”
“Turn it off.”
Rae shrugged.
“I don’t have access to your phone.”
The music continued.
Elijah glared at his screen.
Rae smiled.
“Apparently your phone has excellent taste.”
Trey was practically choking.
“I can’t breathe.”
“Help me,” Elijah growled.
“I’m busy.”
“Will.”
Will looked at his brother.
Then at Rae.
Then back at Elijah.
For the first time, the corner of Will’s mouth lifted.
“She got you.”
Elijah stared at him.
“You think this is funny?”
“A little.”
The music continued.
“You can brush my hair, undress me everywhere—”
“Make it stop!”
Rae finally tapped her phone.
The music stopped.
Silence returned.
Elijah slowly lowered his phone.
“I don’t like you.”
Rae smiled.
“You will.”
Trey looked at Rae.
“Oh, I definitely like her.”
Rae turned toward him.
“That’s unfortunate.”
Trey grinned.
“I have a feeling we’re going to get along.”
“That’s even more unfortunate.”
Del laughed.
Then Elijah looked at her.
Something changed.
It was subtle.
A flicker.
A pause.
His expression softened for half a second before the usual intensity returned.
Del noticed.
And suddenly she wasn’t laughing anymore.
Something about his stare made her heart beat faster.
She looked away.
Elijah did the same.
Remi noticed.
Of course she noticed.
Apparently she wasn’t the only one having a strange reaction to the Carter brothers.
She looked back at Will.
His eyes were still on her.
The teasing disappeared from his face.
For one long moment, neither of them spoke.
The noise of the hospital seemed to fade around them.
Remi’s pulse jumped.
She hated it.
She hated that nine years had done absolutely nothing to erase whatever this was.
Will took a slow step closer.
“Welcome home.”
Remi’s chest tightened.
Home.
She had spent nine years trying not to think of this place that way.
She forced a smile.
“I didn’t come home.”
Will stopped.
“I came for a job.”
His eyes held hers.
“What’s the difference?”
Remi swallowed.
“Everything.”
The word landed between them.
Trey’s smile disappeared.
Even Rae and Del went quiet.
Because they could all feel it.
Something unfinished.
Something neither Remi nor Will was willing to name.
Will finally nodded.
“Then I guess we’ll see how long you plan on staying.”
Remi lifted her chin.
“Long enough to do my job.”
“And after?”
She smiled without warmth.
“After, Alpha Carter?”
Will’s eyes darkened.
“After?”
Remi stepped around him.
“That’s none of your business.”
She walked toward the hospital entrance.
Del followed.
Rae paused beside Trey.
She looked him up and down.
“By the way.”
Trey raised an eyebrow.
“Yeah?”
“Upgrade your firewall.”
She walked away.
Trey laughed.
Elijah watched Del disappear through the doors.
Will watched Remi.
And for the first time in nine years, the three Carter brothers stood together and realized the same thing.
The women who had just walked back into their lives weren’t the girls they remembered.
They were something more.
Something powerful.
Something none of them understood yet.
And somewhere beneath the surface of the Bayou—
something ancient had begun to wake.
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