Page 45 of Alphas Never Hide

“Let’sget out of here,”Isaid.

AfterRyleyshoved the toiletry bag containing all the phones and wallets we’d found in his backpack, we left the room.Ishivered asIpassed into the hallway; there’d been a moment there whenI’dwondered ifIwould be stuck in that little room for the rest of my life.

Ilistened for a sign that we had company, butIdidn’t detect anything.DidRobbieknow we’d escaped?Hemust.He’dknown whenIwas trapped, so he must knowI’descaped.Ihoped he had no more surprises rigged in here, waiting for us to trigger them.

RyleyandIhurried through the tunnel.Istayed as close asIcould to him.Ididn’t want another set of bars to crash down and separate us again.Atleast if we were on the same side of the barrier,Icould protectRyleyifRobbiereturned.

Wereached the exit without incident.

“Goahead,”Ryleysaid, motioning to the ladder. “Itried and couldn’t budge it.”

“Don’tgo anywhere.Stayright there.”Iwasn’t going far, butIneeded to know he was close, so thatIcould look down and see him.

Henodded. “Youand me, we’re stuck like glue.”

Ihauled myself up the ladder.Assoon asIgot to the top,Ireached for the hatch.Itwiggled beforeItouched it.Robbiewas here.Ilet go of the ladder and let myself fall to the ground.Painshot through my legs at the impact, butIwas still standing.Ryleygasped, butIput my hand over his mouth before he could demand answers.Idragged him over to the wall where we’d be out of sight of anyone descending the ladder until they got to the bottom.Ishoved him behind me.

Ireached into the place where my magic lived, because now would be a fine fucking time for my shift to come back to me.Magicfluttered inside me, before slipping away.Nothinghappened.Damnit.Again?Ithought we were past all that.

Footstepsclanged on the ladder rungs.

Then, in a blur, someone landed in front of us.

Iwas out of time.Itdidn’t matter ifIdidn’t have my magic;Ihad to fight.Ihad to saveRyley.Thiswas going to hurt, butIhad to takeRobbieout before he shifted.Iwas about to throw myself at him when the intruder’s scent hit me.Reliefswept through me.Thecavalry had arrived for the second time in two days.

“Adrian,”Isaid. “Fuck, it’s good to see you.”

“Whatthe hell,Adrian?”Jeremycomplained. “Youweren’t supposed to do that.Youwere going to wait for me.”Hechattered the entire way down the ladder. “Operation:SaveTheAlphaSoWeCanKickHisAssisn’t a solo mission, damn it.”

Ryleysnorted behind me.Right.NowthatIknew we weren’t about to be attacked,Ididn’t need to have him pressed up against the wall.Itwas harder than it should have been to step away and stop shielding him with my body.

WhenJeremywas almost at the bottom rung, he looked over his shoulder, assessing the situation.

“Oh, hello,Alpha,”Jeremysaid. “Iwas just talking about you.”

“Ishe here?Didwe find him?”Ashcalled down from the top.

“Wegot him!”Jeremycalled up.

Morefootsteps clattered down the steps.

“Anddamn it,Jeremy.”Ashtalked almost as much asJeremyhad as he climbed down. “Youweren’t supposed to go down next.Ican’t believe you shovedDillonso hard he fell on his ass.”

“Hetook me by surprise,”Dillonmumbled. “AndIwasn’t about to manhandle him out of the way.Adrianwould have gone for my throat ifI’ddone that.”

ThenDillonwas coming down the ladder too.

“Howmany people are here?”Iasked.

“Prettymuch everyone from last night again.”Jeremygrinned. “ExceptVan.Buthe is expecting you to go straight to the station as soon as we get back to town.Hesaid something about making sure you knew how much of a pain in the ass you were.”

Ismothered the groan threatening to break free.I’ddeal withVanwhenIsaw him.Butfirst,Ihad other priorities. “Makesure someone stays topside.Wewere locked in here until you opened that hatch.”

“Stayup there,Isaac.Watchfor wolves,”Adrianshouted.

“Yeah, we had to move a monster-sized boulder to get you out.”Jeremygestured, holding his hands far apart to show the size.

“Aboulder?”Ireiterated in disbelief.