Page 20 of Alpha Theo

I’ve always been that way when it comes to music. There’s a song that can apply to every season of life, every feeling. I could close my eyes and be content to listen to music for hours.

When the song ends, Theo’s just watching me, that gorgeous smile on his lips. I can’t help but return it. It strikes me as odd- like we’re friends or something, and I quickly look away, my cheeks heating in a blush.

He must find it weird, too, because we’re both silent for the rest of the drive.

I stare out the window as we pull into the town of Summervale, feeling a little pang of homesickness as we wind the streets to the packhouse. Even though I love living and working at the complex, it doesn’t feel quite like home yet. I’m not sure if it ever will.

Theo whips the Jeep into the driveway of the packhouse, slamming it in park. I gasp a little as my body jerks against my seatbelt, then reach down to unfasten it. I can’t get out of the Jeep fast enough, snatching my backpack off of the floor and slinging it over my shoulder again.

Theo doesn’t look back at me or say anything, just starts trudging up the front walk. I jog a little to catch up with him, then try to keep up with his long strides. He seems a little off for some reason, like it unnerves him to be back here.

When he pulls open the front door, I follow him inside and look around, expecting to see some familiar faces. Instead, it’s a ghost town- nobody’s around.

“Quinn’s probably upstairs in her room,” Theo suggests, moving beside me to close the door.

“Right,” I nod. “I’ll just… go on up, then.”

I give him an awkward wave, spinning around and heading for the stairs.

I’ve been in the Summervale packhouse countless times- not only for full moon runs, but also to hang with Quinn. It’s the biggest house in town by a longshot, with space to house the pack’s alpha, beta, their families, and any visitors. Our beta’s family doesn’t live in the packhouse, though- for some reason he broke tradition and lives on my parents’ street. And with so few people actually living here, it makes the packhouse feel even larger.

I jog up the stairs, my backpack bouncing until I reach the landing and turn right to head for Quinn’s room. The door’s cracked open and I give it a little knock before pushing it open further, peering inside.

I’m immediately met with Quinn’s eyes, her expression going from startled to ecstatic. She’s laying on her stomach on her bed, laptop open in front of her.

“Brooke?!” she exclaims, immediately rolling off of the bed and scrambling to her feet. “What are you doing here?!”

Her face lights up in a wide smile as I cross the room to her, reaching out to wrap her in a hug. “Surprise!”

Quinn squeezes me tightly before letting go, taking a step back and still beaming. Quinn is gorgeous- she’s got the same hazel eyes, brown hair, and good looks as her brother, but the resemblance stops there. Quinn’s also brilliant, kind, and good at everything she tries her hand at- from schoolwork, to sports, to coding. It’d be annoying if she wasn’t so darn likeable.

I slip my backpack off of my shoulder, pushing my glasses up the bridge of my nose. “I was hoping you could help me with something I’ve been stuck on, code for a new program.”

Quinn’s face lights up again. “Totally! Let’s see it!”

I chuckle at her enthusiasm, unzipping my backpack and pulling my laptop out. I set it on the edge of the bed, pulling up the program. As soon as I do, Quinn flops down on her belly on the bed again, pulling my laptop toward her.

“Is this for the squad?” she asks, skimming the lines of code.

“Yeah,” I breathe. “I should’ve had it done by now, but it’s not coming together for some reason.”

I go on to explain what the program is and how it’s supposed to work while Quinn listens and studies what I’ve got, making little fixes here and there. I sink down onto a chair, watching and chatting with her.

After about half an hour, someone calls her name from downstairs and she runs down to see what they want. I grab for my laptop, skimming through what she changed while I wait. Unsurprisingly, she’s caught several errors that I previously missed. Like I said, she’s annoyingly good at everything.

I’m so engrossed that I don’t even hear her come back in, startling a little when she speaks.

“I told my dad to set a place for you for dinner,” she says, grabbing for my laptop. I relinquish it to her easily and she flops back on the bed with it.

“Oh, um, I don’t know if we’re staying for dinner,” I mumble, combing through the ends of my hair with my fingers.

Quinn arches a brow. “We?”

Dang, her skeptical expression is awfully similar to her brother’s.

“I rode in with Theo,” I say, trying to sound nonchalant. “He’s been working with the IT unit and said he was coming back, and I wanted to pick your brain about my code, and…”

“Wait, what?” Quinn cuts me off, sitting up. “Mybrother? With theIT unit?”

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