Page 13 of Alphas Never Hide

Ishook my head. “Itneeds to be me.He’lllisten to me.”

“Bullshit,”Vansaid. “Robbiehas never listened to you.Hewon’t start now.”

“But…”

“Thethree of us will assess the situation.Ifwe need backup, we’ll call for it, unlike you.”

“Icalled you, didn’tI?”Iscowled.

“Onlybecause you are both injured and couldn’t get out of here on your own.Ibet you hated calling me.”

“Oh, he’s got you there,”Ryleysaid. “Although, to be clear,Iwas the one who called, not ‘Mr.I’maLoneWolf’ over here.”Hedropped his voice again, like he was trying to mimic me, butI’dnever sounded like that a day in my life.

Fromthe corner of my eye,IsawAsh’sjaw drop open in surprise atRyley’sjab.Yeah.Onlya select few supes dared to disagree with me, and they certainly didn’t sass me.NotbecauseIdemanded obedience, but because of the alpha power thing.Itmade people uncomfortable to contradict the person they deemed to be their alpha.

Iwasn’t sure whyRyleywasn’t intimidated by me or awed by my alpha power.ButIthinkIkind of liked it.

Meanwhile,Vanwas staring at me, soIstared right back at him.Tolook away would meanIwas submitting.Myeyes watered.Itdidn’t help that my face and the back of my head were throbbing, and my body ached from all the runningI’ddone after a long, busy day at the garage.

Iblinked.

Damnit.

Chapter Five

RYLEY

“I’mtelling you,I’mfine,”Haydengrumbled. “Ican shift.”

“Absolutelynot,”Vansaid. “Docsaid if you were injured, you weren’t supposed to shift until he looked you over.Andit’s pretty damn obvious you’re bleeding.”

Weall eyed the blood dribbling downHayden’sface.I’dalways thought shifters, especially predatory shifters, healed quickly.Iguessed not.Oops.Theothers glanced at my hooves.Yeah.Itmight be better not to dwell on how much the guy was leaking.Itwas time to change the topic.

“Howfar is the walk back?”Myankle ached.Thetrek out was going to be a bitch.

Vanshot a look atIsaac. “Canyou carry him?”

“Uh…What?”Isaacblinked, like he didn’t understand the question.

“Youheard me,”Vansaid impatiently.

“IfIsaaccan’t carry him,I’llshift and do it,”Haydensaid through a growl.

VanignoredHayden.

“Inever saidIcouldn’tcarry him,”Isaacgrumbled. “ButI’ma centaur, not a horse.”

Vanstared the guy down with his fiery eyes.Man, those were creepy as fuck.Itdidn’t surprise anyone whenIsaacfinally surrendered and agreed.

“ShouldIshift?”Iasked.

“Docsaid no shifting and that goes for you too.”Vanpointed his creepy eyes at me, andIheld up my hands in surrender.

Assoon asIsaacshifted,Vanhoisted me onto the centaur’s back.Haydengrowled the whole time.Whatwas his problem?Itwasn’t like he was the one trying to balance on top ofIsaac.

“Oh,”Jeremymurmured. “Maybewe should use a picture of them instead, you know, for the riding competition.Becauseit is impressive.Ridingshould definitely be a category.”

“He’snot riding me,I’mcarrying him,”Isaacprotested.