Page 58 of Hellhounds Never Lie

I had mixed feelings about Dot. On some level, I understood the impulse to save her sister, but she should have talked to Van. And she shouldn't have shot me in the back. Obviously.

"It's weird they dumped the kid right after phoning Dot, isn't it?" Dillon asked.

A local rancher had found the ten-year-old tied up but otherwise physically unharmed about a quarter mile from town the morning after the robbery. She’d been found on the opposite side of town from the inn, so nowhere close to where the shifters had been patrolling. The poor girl had been out there all night.

Van rolled his shoulders. "Robbie is saying the wolves we killed had been acting alone. Says they probably tossed the girl because they'd already got what they needed from her, by making Dot do what they wanted. The last time he was under investigation he used some of his wolves as scapegoats too."

Dillon frowned. "So Rob gets away with all this? My testimony didn't help?"

"It’s your word against his."

"But he can't lie," I said, pointing at Dillon.

"You know that, and I know that, but the SC says that hasn't been proven conclusively."

"That's fucking bullshit," I muttered as I downed the rest of my milk and slammed my glass on the table. Honestly, it didn't have the same impact as downing a mug of beer or a shot of whiskey or even a glass of that fruity wine my mother liked.

Van stared at his glass grimly. “I’m thinking of calling in some outside help.”

“From the SC? That’s the only option, right?”

The hellhound grunted but didn’t clarify what he meant.

“Do you think Dot did anything else?” I asked after a minute or two.

“We’re going through her files and all that shit…” Van grimaced. “We haven’t found anything yet and I pray we don’t.”

Then the energy shifted.

I scanned the room. The last time something like that happened, Jake had a vision. This time it was just Hayden coming in. He'd thrown open the door to the pub and was stalking toward our table. His eyes were flashing, showing how close his wolf was to the surface. His hair was flying out in all directions, like he'd been pushing his fingers through it in agitation.

"What the hell are you doing here?" the wolf asked. The question sounded gruff, but there was affection in his tone.

He grabbed Dillon's shoulder and surreptitiously rubbed his wrist against the hellhound's neck, scenting him, marking him as one of his pack—even if Hayden refused to call it that. Then he did the same to me and Van before claiming one of the empty chairs at the table. He even reached over and scratched Paws behind the ear.

Paws ignored us all, despite having two more people join our table since he'd started giving himself a bath. I watched the cat twist around to lick the fur on his back, like the creature was providing a weird sort of entertainment.

Having rubbed his scent on to us, Hayden’s shoulders relaxed a little. He might not openly acknowledge he was Willow Lake’s alpha, but every little thing he did showed actions were stronger than words. Maybe Dillon was right about that.

"I went to your apartment, and you weren’t there. You just got out of the moon-cursed hospital; why aren't you at home?"

Dillon looked at me with an I-told-you-so expression.

"The pub has the best cow juice in town, didn't you know?" I lifted my empty glass with its milky residue. "I had to get my fix."

Hayden rolled his eyes and muttered something I couldn't quite catch. Van and Dillon both laughed, so obviously they'd heard. Whatever. I was still happy I'd forced Dillon to bring me here. To my way of thinking, routines and normal everyday life were always underrated. Before I’d met Dillon, going to the pub and being with the other Willow Lakers was part of my routine. I'd needed this to feel normal. I needed to believe we would all be fine.

Jake wandered over a few minutes later.

"Did you want a drink, Hayden?"

"You didn't have to come over, kid," Hayden said, turning his intense gaze on the bartender. "I was coming over to see you at the bar as soon as I'd growled at these two for a few minutes."

"It's no bother," Jake said, blushing under the alpha's attention. Then Jake's gaze darted to Van and Dillon.

The oracle's eyes lingered a little too long on Dillon to be entirely innocent in my opinion, but I couldn't fault the guy for looking. Dillon was a beautiful sight to behold. It looked like both Jake and I had a type, making it clear we never would have worked out, if we had ever tried dating.

"I wanted to thank all of you for stopping the break-in. I still don't understand what happened, what with the gas leak and then the robbery, but… At least nothing much was stolen.” Jake worried his hands as his gaze bounced around the table before landing on me. “And, Ash, I feel awful about you getting shot trying to save a bunch of my grandfather's weird junk.” He swallowed. “Your drinks are on the house from now on."