Page 48 of Alphas Never Hide

“I’llget a chair,”Haydensaid, without waiting forVan’sresponse.Helooked relieved thatIwasn’t sending him away.

IthoughtVanwould go sit inHayden’schair behind the desk, but he didn’t.Itwas probably a territorial thing.Mykind were less territorial than other supernatural beings.Ourisolationist tendencies stemmed more from a false sense of superiority than a need to defend our property, soIhad to remind myself wolves and hellhounds were different.

Haydenset a chair beside mine and shut the door.Vandropped onto it asHaydenmade his way around to his desk chair.Assoon as he was seated, they both turned their attention to me.Havinga werewolf and a hellhound stare at me was unsettling.Iknew they weren’t trying to intimidate me, but my racing heart wasn’t getting the message.

IwishedHaydenwasn’t so far away.Whatwas wrong with me thatIwas both unsettled by his eyes on me but wanting him close to comfort me, all at the same time?Itmade no sense.

Iusually prided myself on my common sense, mostly because people didn’t consider fauns very logical.I’dalways thoughtI’dinherited common sense from my dad’s side, but maybe my faun genes were more powerful thanI’dguessed.

“Whatdo you want to know?”

“Whydon’t you start at the beginning?Describewhat led you to meetingRobbieand go from there.”

Iwished we could skip this part.Except, what if those asshole wolves abducted someone else?Isighed.Yeah.Ihad to talk about all that stuff.Damnit.

Chapter Nineteen

HAYDEN

Ryleywas distressed.Everypart of me ached to comfort him, and he hadn’t even started talking yet.

Ijumped up from my chair behind the desk.

“Van, come sit over here,”Isaid, yanking him out of the chairI’dbrought in for him.

Hedidn’t fight me, butIcould see he had questions.Assoon as he was out of the way,Isat in the chair he’d vacated and scooted it closer toRyley’s.Ididn’t relax until my leg touched his.

“Yougonna do that thing with my neck again?”Ryleyasked.Itsounded like he was teasing, but the look in his eyes told me he was serious.

“Ofcourse,”Isaid, and slipped my hand around the back of his neck, just likeI’ddo with someone from my pack.Thetension in his shoulders eased almost immediately.Hestill didn’t talk.

“Hey,”Isaid. “Wouldit help ifIstarted?”

Ryley’sforehead crinkled. “Whatdo you mean?”

“I’lltellVanwhat happened today.Whatwe found.Thenyou can fill him in on everything else.”

“Yeah, um, okay.”Ryleynodded.

ItoldVanabout how we picked up the trail they’d lost last night, how we found the tunnel, what we’d discovered down there, howRobbiehad talked to me, and then aboutRyley’splan to get me out of the cage.Vanscribbled notes asIspoke.Heasked a few questions, butI’dbeen with him in interviews enough times thatI’dstarted off by giving him as many details asIcould think of asIwalked through what’d happened.

Thenit wasRyley’sturn.

IthoughtVanmight poke at him to get him to talk, but he waited until the faun was ready.Ipushed more of my alpha energy intoRyley, thankful at least that part of my magic was still working.

“What’syour last name,Ryley?”

“Bell.Myname isRyleyBell.”Thenhe rattled off his address and a bunch of other random details, as if happy to recite all the boring facts of his life if it meant he didn’t have to talk about being captured.

Whenhis words petered out,Vannodded. “Okay.Whydon’t we talk about what you were doing beforeRobbiefound you?”

Ryleysighed, then he swallowed hard. “Itwas around the end ofJuly, whenIdecidedIneeded a vacation.”Heglanced at the old school calendarIhad pinned to the wall. “Thatwas over a month and a half ago.Almosttwo.”

“Whendid you leave your home?”

Ryleychecked his phone.AlthoughIdidn’t think hereally needed to,Icould see it gave him something to do with his hands.Somethingto look at other thanVanand me.Hegave us a date and continued his story again. “I’venever really had a vacation sinceIstarted my business about eight years ago, but suddenlyIjust…”Heshook his head. “Thatpart isn’t important.So, anyway,Idecided to tour around for a bit.IthoughtI’dgo home when the snow started to fly.Ormaybe not.I’venever tried skiing, so…”Heshook his head again. “Yeah.Youdon’t really care about that either.”

“Thereis no right or wrong way to do this,”Vansaid softly. “Justtalk to us.Atyour own pace.Saywhatever you want to say.IfIwant to know more about something,I’llask you some questions.Relaxand take your time.”