Page 42 of Alphas Never Hide

“Letme out,”Ishouted, ignoringRyley’smutterings. “Robbie?”

“Ithink he’s gone,”Ryleysaid.

“Hemight still be listening.Areyou listening,Robbie?Letme out.Youknow you want to.We’refamily.RememberwhatMomandDadsaid?Familysticks together.We’rea unit.”

Noresponse.

Ishouldn’t have expected him to free me, exceptIthinkIhad.Deepinside,Istill considered him family.Yes,Iwanted to stop him.Notjust to help his victims, but to help him too—even after all the terrible, horrible thingshe’d done.Itfelt foreign and strange to believe he wouldn’t or couldn’t feel the same way.

“Fucktwit thinks you’re going to die in here,”Ryleysaid.

IknewRyleywas right.ExceptRyleywas on the other side of the bars, so why wouldRobbiethink that?Iwouldn’t die in the timeRyleytook to walk out of here and get help unless…

Whatif this cage wasn’t the only thing that’d changed whenIhit that trigger?Whatif the entrance was sealed now, too?

“Ryley, go.Checkthe exit.Seeif it’s locked.”

Ryley’seyes widened, understanding my worries immediately. “I’llbe right back.”

“I’llbe here.”

Itwasn’t likeIhad any other choice.Sonof fuck.Icouldn’t believeI’dlet us get trapped in here.

Chapter Sixteen

RYLEY

Irushed through the tunnels, keenly aware that something besides mystery speakers and metal bars could be hiding behind the walls.Ifsomething sprang out at me right now,I’dhave a heart attack, hit the dirt floor, and die before they even touched me.

Inever should have compared this place to a fun house, because now that the thought was in my head, it was haunting me.WhenI’dfirst left my herd,I’dwanted to experience everything the mundane human world had to offer.Goingto a fun house had seemed like it’d be, well, fun.Itwasn’t.Therewere creepy clowns, eerie laughter, nothing being what it seemed, and people jumping out at you to make you scream.Whydid humans like to be piss-your-pants scared?Theywere almost as messed up asRobbiewas.

Iskidded to a halt on my hoofed feet whenIreached the ladder to freedom.Ilooked up.Thedamn hatch wascovering the exit.Withoutgiving myself time to panic any more thanIalready was,Ishifted into my human form and scrambled up the rungs.Thehatch, which had opened easily for me last night, refused to budge.Therewas no latch or handle, but the thing wouldn’t move.Iput on my glasses to see ifI’dmissed something, but nothing stood out.Itwould have been better to do a partial shift and look through my faun’s eyes, but my nerves were too frayed.Iwas scaredIwould lose control and my whole body would change.Thelast thingIneeded was to suddenly have hooves while trying to balance at the top of a metal ladder.Ipushed up against the lid.Ibeat it with my fist.Nothingworked.

Sonof an ass-zit.Thiswas bad.

Ireluctantly climbed down the ladder again.Mybrain scrambled to come up with a new plan.Therehad to be a way out of here.Everybuilding needed at least two exits.Therewere regulations.

Right.Becausepeople who built illegal bunkers on their land cared about building codes.Butthere had to be vents for air or, if we were really lucky, a hidden escape hatch.Wehad searched the tunnels and found nothing like that, but that didn’t mean they weren’t there, just like that speaker.

Ipushed myself to shift again as soon asIstepped off the last rung.Mytransition was sluggish.Mymuscles quivered with the effort.Iwouldn’t be able to shift many more times without food to balance my magic.ButIfelt a hell of a lot better being in my shifted form, even ifI’dnever be as powerful as a wolf shifter or a hellhound.Itrudged back to the cell whereHaydenwas trapped.

Hetook one look at me and cursed. “Noluck?”

“Noluck,”Iconfirmed. “Ihave a new plan.Thereis a speaker behind this plywood, right?Andevery wall and ceiling has plywood just like this.Ibet we’ll find other things if we rip it down.”Likehopefully a way out.

Haydeneyed the haphazard supports. “Soundslike a good way to have the whole place collapse on us.”

Iignored him.Noone appreciated aNegativeNelly. “Butfirst, we’ll get you out of the cage.”

“Goodidea,Sherlock.Andhow are we going to do that?”

“Ihad a lot of time to plan my escape.Iwent for the lock because it was the easiest thing to do, but we don’t have that option here,”Isaid, absently waving toward the lock-free bars. “ButIsaw a documentary once about how when people were locked in a room, they always focused on the door and the lock, but the weak spots are often the walls.”

“Itis a place to start,Isuppose.”Haydeneyed the walls skeptically. “ButIdon’t think this will be as easy as kicking through sheetrock.”

“Wewon’t know until we try.Canyou shift?”Iasked. “Maybeyou could claw at the plywood.Ionce saw a video of someone’s dog ripping through a door like they were digging a hole.”Itapped my foot on the ground. “Whatif you dug under the bars?Thesebars can’t be embedded too deeply.”

“I…”Haydenswallowed and averted his eyes.Colorrose on his cheeks. “Itried shifting, but…”