Page 31 of Alphas Never Hide

Sure, he’d heard the others call me their alpha, but he didn’t know the history.Hedidn’t know how badlyI’dfucked up in the past.Itwas oddly liberating.AndIrather liked the anonymity.Ryleywould only know whatIshared with him.He’donly judge me on what informationIgave him.

Although, admittedly,Ihadn’t tried to make a very good impression on him so far, so maybe that wasn’t the best idea either.Butif one person saw how unsuitedIwas to be the alpha, it could open other people’s eyes, and they’d see the same thing.

“So…”Ryleysaid after a few minutes.

Ihuffed.Because, really?Wewere back to that?

“Whatabout you?”Ryleyasked.

Well, what do you know?Hecould actually follow the word “so” with other words.Ishould give him a prize.

“Whatabout me what?”

“Youknow, what makes you happy?Besidesyour tools.”

Iwasn’t sure what it said about me and the peopleIassociated with, but the wordtoolstriggered some kind of strange word association.Ifit’d beenIsaacsaying that to, well, anyone, he would have made the wordtoolssound like a dirty joke.WhereasParker, if he was talking toLevi, would have said it suggestively too, but in such a way that you knew he was flirting with the big minotaur.Ididn’t detect any alternative meaning inRyley’suse of the word.

Maybehe wasn’t good at flirting.Ormaybe he wasn’t interested in me.

NotthatIwanted him to be.Ididn’t do relationships or one-night stands or anything, really.

“I’mhappy when people don’t ask me useless questions,”Imuttered.

“Ouch,” he said.Hewas smiling, though, soIdidn’t think he was bothered by my answer.Infact,Ithought he might be trying to stop himself from laughing at me.

Iignored him and sniffed the ground.

“What?”

“Thescent trail ends here.”

“Here?”Ryleylooked around, as if suddenly remembering why we were taking this trek through the forest. “That’snot right.Thisisn’t the place.”

Untilnow,Ryley’sscent had been strong enough to follow, andI’dignored the other scents in the area.Now, though,Iinhaled deeply.Van,Adrian, andDillonhad separated here.They’deach gone in a different direction, presumably to findRyley’sscent again.I’dbeen with themon enough searches to knowVanwould have had them running along a grid-like pattern, but that hadn’t worked.

Sowhat had they missed?

Chapter Twelve

HAYDEN

Liftingmy nose,Ipulled as much of the peaty forest air into my lungs asIcould.Ididn’t scent or hear moving water, soRyley’sold scent trail hadn’t been swept away.Whathad happened?Theanswer was here.Ijust had to find it.

“Whatare you doing?”

“Shutup,”Isaid. “Ineed to concentrate.”

Ryleygrunted but otherwise stayed silent.Idrew in another breath.Therich scent of damp earth and dying vegetation was the strongest, soIpulled it away from the rest.Istripped awayVan’sscent, thenDillon’s, thenAdrian’s.

Ryley’swasn’t there, except it was?

Mynose twitched.Isneezed.Andagain.

“Thereis magic here.”Ilooked atRyley. “Yourmagic and a hint of your blood, too.”

“Mywhat?”Helifted his eyebrows. “Didyou say magic?”

Washis surprise real?Orwas he mocking me?Icouldn’t detect falsehoods in what people said like the hellhounds could, but my wolf’s instincts were pretty good at detecting lies all the same.IwatchedRyley, looking for signs of deception.Hisskin didn’t grow damp with sweat, and his gaze didn’t dart around like he wanted to hide.Andmost importantly, he didn’t smell like the cloying scentIalways associated with deceit.