Page 13 of Hellhounds Never Lie

Van met my eyes with his steady, calm gaze. It was clear the other hellhound trusted the newcomer.

I inhaled again to confirm my suspicions about the wolf. The scent connection was weak. Rob and this guy obviously didn't spend any time together. That was… intriguing. Fine. I could wait a few minutes and see what would happen. But if I caught the guy in any lies, nothing would stop me from grabbing Ash and making a run for the door.

"Hello, Hayden," Van said. "I was wondering when you'd show up."

The wolf glared at the hellhound. "You should have called me the minute they got into town."

Van rolled his shoulders. "I sent a group text. Not my problem if you don't check your messages. Besides, I work for the Town and the Supernatural Council, not you personally."

The alpha growled, but his stance changed subtly, like he suddenly remembered he wasn't the one in charge. It was strange for an alpha to back down like that. Hayden grabbed the chair beside Van, swung it around and then sat on it with the back against his chest. The air around him smelled of wolf and the grungy corner of a mechanic’s shop.

“Before we continue, tell Dillon that you aren’t working with Robbie so he doesn’t combust.”

Hayden narrowed his eyes at me. His nostrils flared as he inhaled. “So this is the hellhound?”

Van nodded.

“I am not working with Robbie,” Hayden said evenly.

Truth.

“You mean Rob, right? The alpha of the pack?”

“Yeah,” Van said. “He’ll always be Robbie to me, and probably Hayden too since the little shit is Hayden’s brother. He left here to start his own pack several years ago, but I expect most of us here would have a hell of a time thinking of him as an alpha. Good enough? That clear things up?”

I nodded. I’d accept Hayden in here for now. I wouldn’t be using the name Robbie, though. It made the belligerent asshole alpha sound like he should be six years old and running around with a dirty T-shirt and scuffed knees.

"Okay. Good. Now, Dillon here was just going to tell us what happened."

"I don't know why we have to do this again." I rolled my eyes. "You know I'm not lying."

Hellhounds couldn't tell a lie. They could smell lies in the air. They could see them on someone's face. But they couldn't tell one themselves. Based on a lifetime of unfortunate experiences with other supes, I knew that was a little-known fact. And, ironically, when I, one of the world's last hellhounds—though earlier today I would have said Iwasthe last—tried to explain my hellhound nature to people, they always thought I was lying. But Van would know about the lying thing, since he was a hellhound too. So, why was he being like this?

"I know that," Van acknowledged with a slight nod. "But we need details, and you don't seem great at giving those."

He wanted details. Fine. I would dig out my mental fucking thesaurus and dump details all over the man.

"A couple of weeks ago, on a windy Wednesday morning, I overheard two supes—a small female faun and a larger male centaur—talking at a coffee shop in the city. I believe they were coworkers. I don't remember the name of the place. It was on Water Street, in an old converted warehouse. The cappuccino was decent. The biscotti had almonds and chocolate—"

Ash covered his mouth to hide his snort of laughter. Everyone at the table heard it.

Van rolled his eyes. "Don't be an ass. None of us has time for that."

"You asked for details…"

"How about you stick topertinentdetails?"

"Fine." I nodded. "They said Willow Lake was a good place for supes of all kinds. The faun had vacationed here recently, or something. Anyway, I was looking for a change and thought I'd check it out. So I signed into Supenet and found the local pack. The pack name wasn't listed, but the address was. Thought that was as good a place as any to start."

Hayden frowned and crossed his arms over his chest.

"I got there about a week back. The alpha, Rob, was a bit of a jerk, but the rest of the pack was okay. No one was overly welcoming, but it usually takes people time to get used to having a hellhound around, so I wasn't worried." I rubbed my neck. "But as the days passed, nothing was improving, and I wasn't seeing any sign of what the supes at the coffee shop were talking about. The pack was full of wolf shifters and no one else. I'm surprised the pack even took me in, but the alpha seemed happy enough to have a hellhound around. He kept going on and on about how we're genetic cousins and that made me acceptable. I think he thought I was desperate enough for a pack that I'd be an obedient enforcer for him. Kept talking about how big I was, like my muscles were all I was good for. Asked me to donate my car to the pack as dues. The hatchback was a shitty thing I'd picked up for a couple hundred, so I figured he could have it."

I didn't mention I hadn't minded giving up the car if it meant finding a place to stay. A home. The men in this room didn't need to know that. There’d been a few times in my life when I’d settled in one place for a few decades before moving on, but I’d always known I’d leave. Nothing had ever felt permanent or stable. Nothing’d ever felt right.

Hell, for most of the last century, I hadn’t even managed to stay that long. Something always drove me on. Constantly searching. Constantly dreaming that maybe the next place would bethe place. They didn't need to hear Rob was right about how fucking desperate I was to find some place to put down roots. Hell, this time I hadn’t even lasted a week because even desperation couldn't override my inherent sense of right and wrong.

Van snorted. "I could see him being thrilled, imagining he had a hellhound willing to blindly follow his orders. Robbie never was very smart."