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8
THEO
“Sup, nerds?” I greet as I walk into the IT hub the next afternoon. I’m really settling into this new gig as the liaison- it isn’t half as boring as I expected now that I’ve made it my mission to bed Brooke Eastwick.
Speaking of Brooke, she doesn’t even glance up at me when I walk in. I make my rounds to the other desks, asking the geeks if they have anything to report back to Gray, and by the time I get back to hers she still doesn’t acknowledge me.
What gives? I apologized for yesterday. You’d think a self-proclaimed ‘nice girl’ would be a little more gracious.
Instead, it seems she’s giving me the cold shoulder today. She doesn’t say anything when I drag a chair over to her desk, sink down into it. Doesn’t respond when I greet her with a “hey kid”. Doesn’t flinch when I kick my boots up on the edge of the
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Alpha Theo 9
BROOKE I head outside five minutes early to wait for Theo, and he’s ten minutes late. Figures. The afternoon sun is beating down and beads of sweat are rolling down my back by the time he pulls up in Gray’s Jeep, honking the horn as if he doesn’t see me waiting here. Why did I agree to catch a ride with him again? I sling my backpack over a shoulder and shove my hands in my pockets, trudging around to the passenger side. When I pull open the door, I hear the familiar tune of Boulevard of Broken Dreams and I can’t help but crack a smile, throwing my backpack on the floor, sliding into the seat, and closing it behind me. Theo doesn’t even give me time to fasten my seatbelt before he hits the gas, spinning the wheels on the dirt and peeling out toward the road. “Will you slow down?!” I gasp, clutching at the seatbelt and shoving it down over my lap and into the buckle. “O
Alpha Theo 10
THEO Dad’s acting strange. More chipper than usual. He asks for my help manning the grill, talks my ear off about the happenings with the pack while he flips the steaks. I can’t remember the last time he was this friendly with me, but it has me on edge. Maybe he’s finally coming around, has accepted me for who I am and is gonna let me lead the pack. A guy can dream, can’t he? I don’t know what else would explain his odd behavior. Fuck, I’m so ready to be alpha. To finally be in control, be the one calling the shots. I bet I’ll be good at it. I’ve never been great at anything- other than women of course- but I was literally born to be alpha. If he’s ready to step down, I’m ready to take on the job. I can’t fucking wait. I help him carry in the steaks and get the table set while Quinn and Brooke wander downstairs, chatting and giggling. “Brooke!” Dad booms, waving the grill tongs at her. “How’s it going?”
Alpha Theo 11
BROOKE I’m still reeling from Monday night. Dinner at the Jacobsen’s was such an ugly scene, one that keeps resurfacing and replaying in my mind. I knew Theo had it rough at home, that he left for a reason, but what I witnessed at dinner far surpassed what I’d imagined. I’ve never seen family members yell at each other like that, throw plates, cut each other down with their words. It was scary. It was like a movie; one I wish I’d never watched. That look in his eyes when I ran into him in the hallway is still haunting me. Theo, always so cocky, arrogant, confident, looked… broken. His freakout at the dinner table definitely wasn’t okay, but his dad shouldn’t have said what he did about Theo’s mom, either. It was so heartbreakingly cruel. He said it just to hurt him, and from the look in his eyes, it worked. I still remember when his mom died. I was seven or eight, so he must’ve been about twel
Alpha Theo 12
THEOI lay on the horn as I roll up to the complex in Gray’s Jeep, waving a hand out the window at a very irritated looking Brooke waiting by the gate.“Let’s go!” I shout, hitting the horn a few more times. “Denver or bust!”She’s standing at the gate, arms folded, glaring at me. If looks could kill, it’d be my funeral.“What are you doing here?” Brooke demands, stooping to pick her duffel and backpack up off of the ground. She slings one over each shoulder, trudging toward the Jeep.“Gray had some pack business come up, so you get me as an escort instead,” I say, waggling my eyebrows. “Now hop in, kid, we’ve got a lot of miles to cover!”Brooke heaves an exasperated sigh, stomping around to the passenger side. She throws her bags into the backseat before sliding in beside me, buckling her seatbelt immediately.
Alpha Theo 13
BROOKE Denver’s IT setup is amazing. I was like a kid in a candy store all afternoon, taking everything in as Rico, the head of their security team, gave us a tour of the hive and walked us through their security processes. Denver’s system makes the six-pack look like we live in the dark ages- while we have squad members running patrols each night, they’ve got cameras everywhere, giving them twice the coverage with half the manpower. I got to meet with their IT specialists, too, to tell them all about the tracing program I’ve been working on. If executed correctly, we’ll be able to track all known shadow pack affiliates by their cell phones, transactions, and even their online activity. The Denver IT specialists were all really impressed and excited about the program, which made me feel like a frickin’ superhero. We agreed to share all of our intel going forward, link our systems up. I told them I’d deliver my
Alpha Theo 14
THEO It’s dusk by the time we roll back into the six-pack territory, the sky darkening as I pull up to the gate of the squad complex to drop Brooke off. “Need help with your bags or anything?” I ask as I throw the Jeep in park. “Nah, I’m good,” she sighs as she drags her bare feet off of the dashboard, slipping them into her sneakers on the floor below and unbuckling her seatbelt. I don’t know why I even asked, like I’m trying to be a gentleman or some shit. Brooke hops out of the Jeep, opens the back door to haul her bags out. I turn over my shoulder to watch her as she slings her backpack over one shoulder, duffel over the other. “Coming out tonight?” “Not sure,” she breathes, holding onto the back door of the Jeep. “Gotta see what my friends are up to.” If I know anything about the squad, it’s that the newbies never miss a night out. “In that case, I’ll see you there,”
Alpha Theo 15
BROOKE I stare at the back of Theo’s black jacket as he makes the rounds in the hub on Monday afternoon. It’s his first time back in a week, so it takes him a while to gather everyone’s report. He’s listening attentively, jotting down notes while my eyes practically burn a hole in his leather jacket. He stops at Diego’s desk first, then Carly’s. Then criss-crosses his way to the back of the room. I’m the only one in the last row, so after he finishes with Justin, I know I’m next. I stare at my computer monitor; pretend I’m working as Theo heads for the conference table behind me. I cringe inwardly at the scraping sound of chair legs across the floor as Theo drags one over to my desk. “Hey, kid.” His voice is low, velvety smooth and enticing. “Hi.” My own voice comes out like a squeak. Theo sinks down into the chair, starts shrugging off his jacket. I watch out of the corner of my eye as
Alpha Theo 16
BROOKE “I brought options,” Fallon breathes, pushing into my room in the squad barracks with a dress bag slung over her shoulder. I spin around to look at her from my spot in front of the mirror, my vision fuzzy- she walked in right as I was putting in my contact lenses and I’ve only got one in. The other is perched on the tip of my index finger. I wink my contact-less eye closed. “Let’s see em’!” Fallon chuckles, kicking the door closed behind her and shaking her head. “Why don’t you get your other contact in first.” I turn back to face the mirror while my sister strides over to the bed, setting down the dress bag and unzipping it. I pop my other contact lens into my eye, blinking a few times before twirling back around. “Glad you went for the contacts on your own so I didn’t have to talk you into it,” Fallon mumbles, pulling dresses from the bag one by one and setting them out on the bed.
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