Page 26 of Alphas Never Hide

Hewas not a man of many words today.

Isighed.Whydidn’t this place have a drive-through lane?Haydenmade no move to get out with me.So, it looked like this was where he planned to ditch me.

“Doyou want anything?”Iasked, as ifIwas unaware of his plan.Ipushed the truck door open, thenIpaused. “Wait.Idon’t have any cash or cards.”

Ialmost laughed as he grunted and yanked his keys from his ignition.Hegot out and slammed the door shut.Haydenmarched to the door without saying a word.Hisbody language, on the other hand, wasn’t shy about letting the world know he was annoyed.Maybesome coffee would do him good, too.Puta little pep in his step.Ajump in his rump.Somedrive in his stride.Somegas in his ass.

WhatwasIeven saying right now?Mybrain wasobviously dying from coffee withdrawal, because no one wanted gas in their ass, or a jump in their rump either, come to think of it.Butit was excusable, right?It’dbeen ages since my last coffee, becauseRobbieand his asshole buddies hadn’t come around with a coffee cart.They’dbeen terrible hosts.

“Alrightythen,”Imuttered.Ihopped out and followed him into the diner.

Insidethe exterior doors was a small entrance area with pictures of sunsets on the walls.Eachfeatured a twisted rowan tree that appeared to have sprouted from pure rock.Consideringthe place was called theFlyingRowan, it made sense.

Thediner itself was quirky.Tothe left was a dining area, with tables of different sizes in the middle and booths around the perimeter.Therowan theme continued here.Amassive photo covered most of one wall.Asizeable bonsai version of the tree sat in one corner.Itneeded a trim; the branches and leaves were reaching out as if eager to poke someone’s eyes out.

Tothe right was a counter where people clutching travel mugs queued for their morning fix of caffeine.Isensed at least half of them were supes.Ididn’t have the strongest senses in my human form, but the magic swirling around this place was almost a physical presence.

Ifought the urge to turn around and run back to the truck.Toomany supes in one place never boded well for me.Butthe decadent aroma of freshly brewed coffee kept me whereIwas.Damnit.Myneed for coffee was going to get me killed.IfollowedHaydenas closely asIcould without tripping over his feet or bumping into his back,praying he’d shield me when, inevitably, someone decided the hybrid was an easy target.

Whenthe people in the line sawHayden, several ducked their heads and whispered, “Alpha.”Eachof the people who called him alpha waved to the space in front of them, offering their place in line to him.Haydenbarely acknowledged them with a nod as he stomped to the back of the line.Ifollowed.WhenHaydenpushed me in front of him, just like those other people had tried to do with him, a new energy filled the room.Everyone’sattention was on us.

Iedged back, closer toHayden.Icouldn’t shake the feeling that ifIstood close enough to him,I’dbe safe.Hedidn’t move away, thankMagic.

Suddenly, people were pulling their phones from wherever they’d stashed them—their pockets, their purses, their backpacks, and even their bras.And, just so you know,Ihadn’t needed to see a busty woman reach into her shirt and grope her boob until she finally pulled out a sweat-covered phone.Becauseeww…

Ishuddered.

Suddenly, it was like we were celebrities being hunted down by paparazzi.Phonesangled toward us.Flasheswent off.Mostof the people didn’t even try to be sneaky as they snapped pictures of us.

Thiswas not whatI’dexpected.

“Uh,Hayden?”Iasked. “What’shappening?”

“Ignorethem,” he muttered with a scowl.

Yeah.Ididn’t see how anyone could do that.Ididn’t want to give the rabid photographers a reason to turn on me, soIpushed down my apprehension.IfIpretendedeverything was okay,Icould trick them into believing it was true.Atleast untilIhad my coffee in my hand, and we could leave.

Thevibe wasn’t antagonistic, though.Nope.Itwas something else entirely.Allthese random people were happy to seeHaydenwith someone.IfIshowed themIwas happy to be with him too, maybe that’d keep me in their good books.

Itilted my head at a jaunty angle and smiled.Everyonesmiled back and encouraged me.Huh.Notthe reactionIexpected.Iwas tempted to test the waters by making a duck face.That’swhat celebrities always did, right?ButIcouldn’t decide ifIshould keep facing the cameras or twist to look up atHayden.IfIdid it right, made it look all lovey, they’d really lose their shit, includingHayden.Theguy needed to loosen up.Andwould it hurt him to smile for the pictures?Justa little?Ididn’t want anyone to thinkI’ddragged him here under duress.

Hmm…HadIever seen him smile?Sure, we hadn’t met under the best circumstances, butIwas certainI’dsmiled since meeting him.Andjust like that,Ihad a new goal in life.Iwanted to be responsible forHaydensmiling.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake,”Haydenmuttered beforeIcould make my duck face.Then, speaking louder, he said, “ThisisRyley.He’snew to town.”

“He’swearing your shirt,” someone from the front of the line said.

“Hesmells like you,” someone else said.

“Isthis a date?Orthe morning after?”Thatperson winked.

Alarge man in the middle of the line frowned.Somethingabout him screamed supernatural in a familiar way.Mygrandfather was buddies with a minotaur and this guy reminded me of him.Popsand his friend often got together to drink ouzo and reminisce about the old times.Andby old times,Imeant really old, like ancient.Iwas pretty sure my grandfather was already old whenHomerwalked the earth.

“Leavethem alone,” the minotaur barked out.Thelarge man pointed at the two young cat shifters at the front of the line. “AndEliandTheo, pay attention.It’syour turn.Getup to the counter or get out of the way.”

“Oh, come on,Levi.YouknowMamawill want to know what’s going on,” one of them grumbled, but they still shuffled forward and placed their orders.

Haydendipped his head in thanks to the large man after everyone spun to face the counter again.