Page 44 of Alphas Never Hide

“Ryley?”

Ishook my head. “Nothing.Ijust…”Justwhat?Nothing.Atleast nothingI’dsay aloud. “Let’s, uh, let’s get this out of the way.”

Hisforehead crinkled likeI’dconfused him, but he nodded, and we got to work again.Myfingers were bleeding.Myfeet hurt.Ihad splinters in weird places, like the webbing between my fingers.Butafter a while, we finally had the plywood removed from floor to ceiling.Thegap extended about a foot or so on either side of the bars.

Haydenhurriedly went through the remaining bags for people’s identification, then he shoved the small bag with the few wallets and phones through the bars to me.Thenwe both stared at the hole we’d created.Thiswas it, the moment we’d find out if it worked.IfI’dbeen stuck on the other side instead of him,Iwouldn’t have been as apprehensive, butHaydenwas a big, muscular guy.

Hecracked his knuckles and twisted his body one way and then the other, like he was preparing for a marathon.Ididn’t know what good that would do, but whatever.Heput his back against the wall and pressed up to the hole we’d made.

Fuck.Icouldn’t watch.

Fuck.Icouldn’tnotwatch.

Thiswas so not going to work.

Iheld my breath and squeezed in my stomach likeIwas the one trying to fit through the gap.

“Comeon, come on, come on,”Imuttered quietly.Ihadn’t been this stressed since…Well, sinceIbroke myself out of a similar cage yesterday.IswearIdidn’t know how my life had become so messed up.

Thenhe was through.

Holyfuck a doodle.Itworked.Icrashed into him, and he hugged me tight.

Nowwe just had to open the hatch, and we were golden.Hellfucking yeah.

Chapter Seventeen

HAYDEN

“Ithought for sure you’d get stuck trying to squeeze through there,”Ryleysaid with a wide grin.Hisrelief was so immense it felt tangible.

Icould have kissed him again, butIheld back.

Thelast time we’d kissed, it felt like we were trying to conquer our resignation, worry, and fear in one comforting moment.Butif we kissed now,Iwasn’t sure what it’d mean.Notthat a kiss needed to mean anything, but withRyleyit seemed like it should.And, if we kissed,Iwouldn’t want to stop.Ididn’t know what to think about that either.

“Metoo,”Iagreed.

Icouldn’t believeRyley’sidea worked.Wewere one step closer to freedom.Nowwe just needed to get out of the bunker.

Ieyed the bars and shuddered, thankful to be on this side of them.Inever wanted to experience that again.Ever.Icouldn’t imagine what those poor people likeOgden,Brodie,Dakota, andRyleyhad gone through, locked up for days or weeks or longer.Andthose were just the peopleIknew.Therewere so many othersIhad never met.Vansaid some people inBabette’swarehouse had been imprisoned for months or more.

Mywolf bristled under my skin at the thought.Hallelujah.Mymagic was coming back.Hadmy wolf just been saving its energy?

Yeah.Idoubted that was it, butIcould pretend.

Onthe upside,I’descaped the cage, so that had to mean theEternalMagicwas helping me.Shehated seeing her children contained, and we were her creations, an extension of her own magic.Atleast that’s what my parents had taught us.

HadRobbieforgotten you couldn’t cage magic?Whatwould theEternalMagicdo if someone abused her gifts like that?Couldshe be driving him mad because of that?Whatother explanation could there be?

WouldIbe in the same shape ifIkept ignoring theEternalMagic’srole in my life?Iwasn’t sureIwanted to test it.I’dbegged theEternalMagicto strip me of my alpha powers for years, but what if she took it all?Whatif she killed my wolf?Sharppain ripped through my chest.Iwould never survive without my wolf.

Hadthis been a wake-up call?

Eitherway, my wolf was back for now.Iwas ready for whatever came next.

Evenif we couldn’t open the hatch to the surface right away, it’d be okay.Ihad faith that theEternalMagicwouldn’t abandonRyleyand me.Shewasn’t done with usyet.Iknew it in my bones.Wehad both ignored her gifts, which earned us her ire, butRyleyhad done it unknowingly.Hewas the victim of his herd’s abuse.Hedeserved to be saved.Shewouldn’t abandon him too.

Ofcourse,I’drather not sit back and wait for her to save us.Justin case.