Page 51 of Alphas Never Hide

Notbeing able to shift into his wolf earlier must have really rattled him.

Whenwe pulled up to an old three-story brick building,Haydenfrowned at the six people and the fat calico cat standing in a line outside the doors to the inn.Italmost looked like they were there to welcome us in the driveway, like we were walking into aDowntonAbbeyspin off.Peopledidn’t normally stand around like that.Itwas weird.Unlessthey thoughtHaydenwas going to dump me on their doorstep and run.

Actually, yeah.Icould see why they might think that.

Atthe far end of the building was a one-story extension that had a pub sign over the door.Ihoped they served food there because, with everything that’d happened today, we’d forgotten to eat lunch.Iwas starving.AlthoughIoften forgot to eat whenIwas working on a project, today had been an exhausting day andIwas ready to devour something big and greasy.Ihoped they had more vegetarian options than justFrenchfries.

Haydenhopped out of his truck and grabbed the plastic bag with his clothes and other necessities.Igrabbed my backpack and followed him.Everyonesmiled and looked relieved when we approached.Irecognized a few people:Jeremy,Adrian, andIsaac.Butthere were othersIdidn’t know too.Twoof them, a demon and the man standing next to him, looked surprised when they saw me.Theyexchanged a look thatIwishedIcould interpret.

“Whatare you all doing out here?”Haydenasked, glaring at each of them one at a time, including the cat.

“Waitingfor you,”Jeremysaid with a wide smile. “Wehad the whole thing worked out for what we’d do if you tried to drive away.Inamed itOperation:StoptheAlphaBeforeHeDoesSomethingStupidAgain.”

“It’slike they know you,”Isaid toHayden.

Thatearned me a glare of my own.Ilaughed.ThenJeremymotioned me closer.

“You’vemet some of us but let me introduce the others.”Jeremymotioned to the demon.Ihadn’t met many of his kind in my life, but after you’ve met one demon, you never forgot what they looked like. “ThisisGage, alsoknown asMr.Dimples.Don’tworry, he’s bonded toWillowLake, so he won’t murder you.”

“ForMagic’ssake,Jeremy,”Adrianmuttered.

“Well, it’s true,”Jeremysaid with a little shrug.

Gage’sdark horns glinted in the sun as he reached out to shake my hand.Hishorns were way more impressive than mine, although at least mine disappeared whenIwas in my human form.Itwas one of the quirks of demons that their horns were just always there, no matter what form they took.Theonly people who didn’t see them were humans who hadn’t seen under theEternalMagic’sglamour yet.

“I’mGageStewart.Youcan call meGage,” he said. “Welcome.”

“So,Mr.Dimplesisn’t your formal name.Goodto know,”Isaid, making the demon grimace.

Jeremysnickered.Next, he gestured to the young man with curly brown hair standing beside the demon. “Andthis is his mate,Jake.Jakeowns the place.He’salso an oracle and a painter.Hekind of does it all.”

“Well, now that we’re bonded,GageandIboth own the place,”Jakeamended as he shook my hand next. “Andplease don’t ask for a reading or whatever.Ican’t do it on command.ButI’mglad you are here.Probablyhappier than you could know.”Hisgaze darted over toHayden, then back to me.

“Overthere isTeague,”Jeremysaid, pointing to a young-ish looking guy with reddish-brown hair.Hehad an average boy-next-door look about him. “Heis our death mage, but don’t worry about that.He’sone of the good guys.”

Teaguelooked confused atJeremy’simplication that he might not be a good person because of his magic.Buthe shook my hand.Thenthe cat, who was standing besideJake, shook out its tri-colored fur and seemed to clear its throat.

“Don’tworry,Paws,Ididn’t forget you.”Jeremypointed at the cat. “Andthis isPaws, also known asPawingtontheThird.”

“Apleasure,I’msure.Yours, not mine,” the cat said, tilting its head up regally.

“Ashe likes to remind us,”Jeremycontinued, “his pronouns are he and him.Heinsists we tell everyone from the start, so no one stares at his you know…”Hegestured to his crotch.

“Um, okay.Hello.”Iwaved at the cat.Ididn’t think you shook hands or paws or whatever with cats.Iwas pretty sure that was exclusively a dog thing.ButIalso knew this was no mere cat.Ididn’t know what he was, but magic clung to him.

“Ithink you met everyone else last night,”Jeremysaid, motioning toIsaacandAdrian. “Butwe might see some others inside.”

“Canwe go in now?”Haydensaid. “Ordo you want to introduce him to all the trees and shrubs too?”

“I’llgrab your keys and show you where your rooms are,”Jakesaid, ducking inside the door.

Wefollowed him.

Thedoors opened into a large room with a reception desk to the right.Betweenthe outside wall and the desk was a hallway.Mystomach rumbled at the sight of thesign that said it led to the pub.Ihoped we’d be going down that corridor soon.

Therest of the space was big and empty.Therewasn’t a bit of furniture in there and the walls were bare.Onthe far side of the room was a wide opening that led into another large room with a bunch of mismatched tables that looked like they’d been sourced from the side of the road on garbage day.Thedining room, perhaps?

“Sorry,”Jakesaid, catching my assessing gaze. “We’rein the middle of doing some renovations, so things are a little unfinished at the moment.Thetables are temporary until we can all agree on what we want.Although, between you and me, we’ll probably just go with whateverIsaacsuggests.”