Page 50 of Alphas Never Hide

So, it took a tremendous effort to keep supes imprisoned.That’swhy, in the past, hellhounds were tasked with executing the worst criminals.Itmade things simpler.AndIwas beginning to see the benefits of the old system.

Andonce an alpha, always an alpha, a little voiceinside me whispered.Iignored it, because it wasn’t the same.Itjust…Itwasn’t.

Iclenched my teeth. “Fine.Sowhen can he get here?”

“Twodays at the earliest.Ifthey find a problem, it could take longer.”

Thatwas too damn long.

“Iknow,”Vansaid, agreeing with me even thoughIhadn’t said a word.Mygrowling, which had grown louder, must have clued him in on whatIwas thinking. “ButIhaven’t found another available earth mage who can come any faster.”

Ididn’t like it, but what couldIdo? “Letme know when he’s here.”

“Yeah.Whatever.Youcan talk to him when he gets here.He’llbe staying at theWillowLakeInn.Jake’soffered him a free room, as a thank you for what he did with that tunnel at the beginning of summer.”

“Theyalready have rooms ready?”AfterRobbieand his asshole buddies had detonated bombs at the inn during the summer,JakeandGagehad been renovating and fixing the place up with plans of it becoming a sanctuary, butIhadn’t heard they’d finished already. “Ithought they were still working on the dining room.”

“Theyare.”Vannodded. “ButJakealso wanted to get a few rooms done, at least the ones that needed less work.Afterreplacing the windows,Gagesaid most of the second-floor rooms only needed cosmetic upgrades.You’dknow this if you’d been to the inn recently.Anyway,Gagesaid there are a few rooms that are ready.Atleast three,Iguess, since he said there were rooms forAsh’sbrother, one forRyley, and one for you too.”

“Idon’t need a room.”I’dalmost said, “Wedon’t need a room,” butRyleywould probably benefit from being somewhere with a decent shower and a bed that wasn’t created from a table, lumpy cushions, and a couple of musty sleeping bags.

“Yes,”Vansaid. “Youdo.Becausethe doc said you need a keeper.Youshould have heard him whenItold him you’d gone out to the hills today.”

Irubbed my eyes. “Whydid you have to tell him that?”

“Ididn’t go tattling on you.Hecame to the office this morning after discovering you hadn’t gone to work.Hewas at the garage to check up on you.Whenyou weren’t there, he wanted me to do a damn wellness check.Hethought you might have dropped into a coma.”

“Oh.”Thatwas unfortunate.

“Hecame with me to your place in case you needed medical assistance.”

Iguessed that answered one of my questions.Vanknew whereIlived, and nowXanderdid too.

“Here.Ican tell you exactly what he said because he made me write it down.”Vanflipped back a couple of pages in his notebook before glancing at me to make sureIwas paying attention. “Hesaid, andIquote, ‘Ifhe refuses to stay with me, he is going to stay at theWillowLakeInnwhere there will be lots of people around to make sure his stubborn ass’—his words, not mine—’doesn’t sneak out again like an impulsive teenager with an underdeveloped prefrontal cortex.’Healso said, ‘Ifhe refuses, lock his stubborn alpha ass’—once again, these are his words not mine—’in a cell at the police station, for his own damn health.’”Vanlooked at me. “Listen,Idon’t know what allis going on with you, but the doctor has the authority to intervene if he feels someone’s health is at risk.Youknow that as well asIdo.Supesdon’t normally get sick, but if they do, they need to be monitored because of the weird way magic affects an ailing body.Youcould become a danger to yourself or others.Sodon’t doubt me whenIsayIwill lock you up if he tells me to.Isthat what you want?”

Ishuddered.IfXandertoldVanto lock me up, the bastard would do it too.Iwasn’t going back in another cage.

“Ryleycan stay with me.”

Vansnorted and looked atRyley. “Right.Likethat worked out so well this morning.”

“Well,Istopped him from going out in the middle of the night,”Ryleysaid. “But, yeah, after he slept and stuff,Ididn’t think it’d be a problem.Ididn’t knowIwas supposed to keep him home indefinitely.”

“Well,Xandersays you need two days of nothing but rest and lots of protein.”Van’sgaze held mine. “Afterthat, he’ll reassess and see how you are.”

“So, it looks like we’re going to the inn,”Ryleysaid.

“Yep,”Vansaid.

Afterthe scare with my shift to my wolf not working earlier today,Icouldn’t even argue.IfItried to convince themIwas fine,Vanwould hear the lie.SoIsaid the only thing that came to mind. “Fuck.”

Chapter Twenty

RYLEY

Haydengrumbled when he shoved clothes into a plastic shopping bag.Hegrumbled when he threw his bag into his truck.Hegrumbled when he drove us the short distance to the inn.

Noneof that surprised me.Butwhatwassurprising?Foras much as he grumbled, he was obeying the doctor’s instructions.