Most Alpha (Werewolf Romance)

by Tee Bryant

  “Now, you decide if you want to meet me at the house later tonight. If not, I will be back sometime to pick you up. You know, whenever I remember you young'uns.” Nick laughed to himself as if he had just told a very clever joke. When no one laughed with him, he showed himself back to the truck. The pledges watched in disbelief as Nick drove away.

  “So,” Derrick finally said, breaking the silence.

  “So?” Carter said.

  “Man, what are we going to do?” Scott said in a borderline panic.

  “Anybody know where in the world we are at?” Clinton asked.

  “We can't be too far,” Carter thought aloud. “We have to be within walking distance, or he wouldn't have left us here.”

  “Dude,” Scott said, “we were driving for, like, thirty minutes. There is no way we'll be able to walk back. It's way too dark out here! What if we get lost? And then when Nick comes back to find us, he won't know where we are. And then what?”

  “He made a lot of turns,” Carter pointed out. “He probably drove around town and through some neighborhoods. Honestly, guys, we're probably not that far from campus. This town isn’t but so big.”

  “Yeah, right,” Derrick scoffed. “You two can sit and debate how far we are, and I will try to get comfortable. Nick will most likely be back in the morning. I would rather wait it out than take my chances with getting lost.” With that, Derrick plopped himself into a sitting position on the ground.

  “Is there any way we can get these things off?” Clinton asked, jangling his cuffs.

  “Nope,” Derrick said. “We're stuck man. Just get comfortable.”

  “Shut up,” Carter said, rolling his eyes. “Stop being such a little baby. We're going home tonight. I am not sleeping out here.”

  “Yes you are,” said Scott.

  “The hell I am,” Carter shot back, then directed himself at Derrick. “Get up. Now.”

  “He's right, man,” Clinton said to Carter. “We're stuck in the middle of nowhere. We might as well crash here.” His attempt at diplomacy was met with Carter's furious stare.

  “You know they're not going to leave us out here for too long, anyway,” Derrick reasoned.

  “Dealing with that punk ass Nicholas, I don't see why they wouldn't leave us out here until we got enough sense to get up and head back!” Carter fumed. “Now, come on! Everyone get up!” At some point during the argument, Clinton and Scott had gotten semi-comfortable on the ground, and Carter was forced into a squat.

  “Man,” Clinton begged.

  “You know what? Screw you guys,” Carter said. “We're probably only five minutes from campus, and they're in the house right now, drinking it up and having a good laugh. I'm not having that.” He made an attempt to get up and run, but was forced back down by the weight and strength of the other pledges.

  “Aahh!” he yelled. “Come on now!” He looked at their defeated faces. “Clinton, you know you don't want to sleep out here like these idiots. Let's get out of here.”

  “Man, I'm telling you that this is pointless,” Clinton said.

  “Just get up,” Carter replied. Clinton unwillingly hoisted himself up. Carter looked at Scott, who was already settling in. “Come on, Scott. You know you don't want to sleep out here.”

  “Shut up. I'm trying to sleep,” Scott snapped. Carter glared at him and then at Derrick, who had somehow managed to arrange his body in a fetal position.

  “You know what? Screw you,” Carter finally said. “Let's go, Clinton, even if we have to drag these clowns.”

  Carter and Clinton braced themselves, and then started to run, dragging a screaming Scott and Derrick with them. They gained about twenty yards before giving up and falling back to the ground.

  “What the hell?” Carter said, out of breath. “Come on! Get up!” His demands were met with silence.

  “I'm sorry, man,” Clinton said after a minute. He looked at the ground around him, moved away some sticks, and laid down. Defeated, Carter flung himself onto his back and stared up into the night sky.

  ***

  SPLASH!

  Carter woke in confusion to an icy flood of water and the evil laughs of Nick and Zach. He scrambled to a sitting position to see Nick holding a now empty bucket.

  “Ha ha! Wake your punk asses up!” Nick laughed.

  “Where are we?” Clinton asked, wiping his face. It was still just before dawn.

  “You survived the night as a unit,” Nick said. “I'm proud of you guys.” Carter rolled his eyes and shot an angry look at Scott and Derrick.

  “Can we go now?” Scott asked, trying to flap his shirt dry.

  “Sure,” Zach said and started unlocking the cuffs. “You're free to go.” The pledges put several feet of space between themselves and looked at the two brothers.

  “You guys can go,” Nick repeated. “Bye.”

  “Go where?” Carter asked. “We don't know where the hell we are!”

  “You can go wherever you want,” Zach said, checking his watch. “It's six o’clock, though. Some of you might have to go to class. And Clinton you might want to get out of here before the sun rises. I don’t want you to turn to stone or whatever it is you vamps do in the sun.”

  “We burn,” Clinton quietly acknowledged.

  “Well I'll give you guys a hint,” Nick said, pointing. “Walk up that trail for about three minutes, and you're right behind the dining hall.” He and Zach glanced at each other and shared a hearty laugh.

  “I told you, you freaking idiots,” Carter said, gritting his teeth.

  “Well,” Zach said after he caught his breath. “I've got class. I'm out.” He threw up a peace sign and got in the truck.

  “Peace out, punk bitches,” Nick sang. He joined Zach in the truck, and they drove away. The pledges stood in the woods, soaking and speechless.

  “Carter...” Scott began.

  “Don't you effing talk to me!” Carter snapped. He balled up his fists and marched after the truck alone.

  ***

  Carter sat in the dining hall across from Jenni. Even after missing breakfast, he had no appetite. Jenni watched awkwardly as he picked at his food. The sirloin steak, mash potatoes, and gravy combo was not exactly enticing. Jenni was beginning to regret that she had asked her boyfriend to lunch.

  “So,” she said.

  “So what?” Carter put his fork down and looked across the table at her.

  “So,” she said slowly, “how's everything with your frat and all?”

  “It's fine,” he replied, picking his fork back up.

  “It doesn't seem fine,” Jenni said, wrinkling her eyebrows. “You look like you've got something on your mind. Or up your butt.” She paused and thought about what she had just said. “Oh, God! Did they make you do something…?”

  “No,” Carter said with a hint of a grin. He almost wanted to laugh. “It's nothing, really. I don't want to talk about it. I haven’t been sleeping well since all of this started.”

  “Well, okay,” Jenni said, swallowing another bite of her turkey sandwich. “But if they start making you doing weird stuff…”

  “They're not going to make me put anything in my butt or anything like that,” Carter said. “It’s not that type of party. Seriously.”

  “Okay,” she shrugged.

  “Okay, then. So what's been going on with your sister?” Carter said, changing the subject.

  “What do you mean?” she said with a mouthful of food.

  “I see her around a lot on campus,” he shrugged. “She doesn't seem to be adjusting very well.”

  “Yeah,” Jenni pondered. “She's always on the phone with friends back home. I told her she needs to meet new people, or she's going to be miserable.”

  “I could introduce her to some people if you want,” Carter offered.

  “No, thank you,” Jenni replied tartly. “You are not hooking my sister up with any of your frat brothers.”

  “And what's that supposed to mean, exactly?” Cart
er said with a raised eyebrow.

  “It means that I know how frat boys are,” she said matter-of-factly.

  “You don't even know these guys. Some of them are actually decent,” Carter defended.

  “I know enough to know that they're not trying to get to know somebody unless they're 'getting to know' them,” Jenni said, using her fingers to make quotation marks in the air. “Nakedly.”

  “I don't even know what that means,” Carter said, sitting back in his chair. “So, are you saying I'm like that?”

  “You do seem a little different,” she mused. “I've never seen you act the way you've been acting these past weeks.”

  “You know what?” Carter raised his voice. “You shouldn't judge people until you get to know them. These guys aren't as bad as you say they are. You act just like your sister sometimes, you know. All that running around thinking you're better than everyone else with your nose all in the air.”

  “Are you kidding me?” Jenni's voice was just below a shriek. “I do not! How could you even say something like that, Carter? I support you in everything you do.”

  “Because it's the truth,” he said, much quieter this time. “No matter how much you don't want to hear it.”

  “You've got room to talk,” she leered. “You can't seem to get it through your thick skull that all of your new 'best friends' are a bunch of boneheaded jackasses. You're the only person on campus who can't see it. There is a reason no one likes OOP.”

  “Oh, please be quiet. You don't even know half of what they are…” Carter was cut off by the sound of Adrian's tray dropping on the table. She scooted a chair up while balancing her phone between her shoulder and ear.

  “Alright, girl. I'm about to eat lunch. I'll call you back in a bit.” She ended the call and set the phone on the table.

  “Sure, you can sit with us,” Carter mocked.

  “What?” Adrian said.

  “Carter, stop it,” Jenni commanded.

  “What?” Adrian repeated. “You guys need some privacy? I can turn my chair this way.” She made an ill attempt to rotate her chair before Jenni stopped her.

  “No, you don't have to do that,” she said. “We were just talking.”

  “Oh,” Adrian said and repositioned her chair.

  “'Oh'?” Carter said, glaring at her.

  “I guess it wasn't too important,” Adrian said.

  “See, that's what I mean,” Carter said to Jenni. Then he turned back to Adrian, “Why do you have to be so disrespectful all the damn time?”

  “Carter, stop it,” Jenni repeated, a little louder this time.

  “Dude,” Adrian laughed, “this is a free country. I can say whatever the hell I want. Okay?”

  “Alright,” Carter said. “Whatever.”

  “Carter, what is wrong with you?” Jenni pleaded. “You've had this horrible freaking attitude all day. I think you need to get some sleep.”

  “He probably hasn't gotten any lately,” Adrian volunteered, nudging her sister with her elbow.

  “Adrian!” Jenni said, taken aback. “Stop it!”

  “I think you've probably been giving out enough for the rest of us,” Carter commented.

  “Even if I was,” Adrian leaned in, “I don't give to charity.”

  “Stop it,” Jenni whispered with her face in her hands.

  Adrian didn't appear to hear her. She put her elbow on the table and held up her pinky finger. “And I certainly wouldn’t donate to your Toy for Tots,” she marked.

  “Screw you,” Carter said quietly.

  “According to you,” Adrian said, sitting back in her chair, “everyone already has.” She made a racy motion toward her midsection.

  “Stop it. Stop it. Stop it!” Jenni said, slamming both hands on the table. Adrian and Carter jumped, suddenly remembering her presence. “Now we are going to sit down, enjoy our lunch, and not fight anymore. Carter, if you have nothing positive to say to my sister, you can leave.”

  “Me leave?” Carter laughed. “Ha ha.” He looked away from the table in an attempt to hold back his anger.

  He saw Nick across the dining hall looking for a place to sit while Scott and Derrick stood around him with their trays. Carter almost could not believe how stupid they looked, almost like high school girls trying to get in with the popular group. They noticed Carter and started heading toward him.

  “Great,” Carter mumbled.

  “What?” Jenni and Adrian said, looking around.

  “Hey, Carter!” Nick said when he was a few feet from the table.

  “Hey,” Carter replied dully.

  “Adrian,” Nick acknowledged. Adrian rolled her eyes. Nick faced Jenni and said, “I'm sorry, I haven't met you yet. I'm Nick.”

  “Jenni,” she replied. “Nice to meet you.”

  “Yeah, Carter,” Nick said. “I just came over to tell you that we signed you up for our intramural basketball team.”

  “Oh, yeah?” Carter said.

  “Yeah,” Nick said. “We've got practice tonight, and our first game is Friday. So be there, alright?” Carter glanced at Jenni. Her face was expressionless.

  “Alright,” he said to Nick.

  “See you there, then. Nice to meet you, Jenni. Adrian.” Adrian gave him a sarcastic smile and showed him her middle finger. Nick nodded to each of them and turned to find a table with Scott and Derrick.

  “Well, I guess you have to go to that now. That's nice,” Jenni said.

  “You know I have to,” Carter said. “You don't need to get mad about it.”

  “Whatever,” Jenni shrugged.

  “There you go again,” Carter said. “I didn't know I had to go until just now. You heard it yourself.”

  “I don't even know why you would want to hang out with that asshole,” Adrian said.

  “How do you even know him?” Jenni inquired.

  “Yeah, how do you know him?” Carter mused.

  “For your information,” Adrian said, “I don't know him like that, Carter.”

  “Right, right, sure,” Carter mumbled.

  “That dirt bag has been trying to put his bone in me since my first day on campus,” Adrian shared. “I don't know if it's the steroids going to his brain or if he's just hard of hearing. No means no.”

  “Huh,” Jenni said.

  “I don’t think he’s on roids, but you’ll never know until you give it a chance,” Carter advised.

  “Coming from someone who just called me a whore?” Adrian reminded him. “No thank you sir. That's gross.”

  “See, there's your problem,” Carter said.

  ###

  teebryant@boardgamemedia.com

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