Page 58 of Alphas Never Hide

IsaacandTeaguewere at the other end.Theynodded at us in greeting.

“Wait,”Jeremysaid, not looking up from what he was writing. “Slowdown.Oneidea at a time.”

Pawssat on the table besideJeremy, leaning over to watchJeremy’spen move over the paper.Heswatted at the end of the pen, like a house cat.

“Stopthat,Paws,”Jeremymuttered. “Adrian, can you get one of my pens from my bag and give it toPawsto play with?I’llhave to remember to grab one ofClawie’stoys and stick it in my bag for next time.”

Pawsfroze. “Inever…Iwouldn’t…Iwasn’t…”

“IhopeI’mhere whenJeremygives a cat toy toPawssoIcan record it.Myparents would love to see that,”Ogdenwhispered toSimonwith a grin as he watched the confused cat-like creature try to deny what he’d been doing.

“Idon’t know what you’re talking about.”Pawsflickedhis tail and started cleaning his face with his paw, like that had been his intention all along.

WhenIlet go ofRyley’shand to pull a couple more chairs over,Imissed his warm touch immediately.Itmust just be that my magic, even in its weakened state, was still encouraging me to comfort him.Theothers shuffled their chairs around to make room for us.

“Doyou know everyone?”IaskedRyleyonce we were seated.Islipped my hand into his again under the table, just to comfort him.Remindhim he wasn’t alone.Really.

Ryley’sgaze darted around the table, like he was apprehensive about making eye contact with anyone.Ihadn’t knownRyleyfor long, but it was strange to see him so uncertain.Wherehad the guy gone who’d kicked me in the face?OrdemandedIget my ass back inside whenI’dtried to leave last night?Orsnuck into the back of my truck whenI’dtried to go out to huntRobbiethis morning?

“Yeah,Ithink so,” he said with a quick nod.

“So, the other day we were talking about human sports,”Ashsaid to us. “Andyou can imagine what happened next.”

Ilifted an eyebrow. “What?”

“Theywant to have aWillowLakeOlympicsfor supes,”Ashsaid.

“Ofcourse they do,”Imuttered.

Jeremylooked down at his notebook. “Istill don’t see how this is going to work.Let’ssay we have a swimming competition.Isit fair to put all these different supes in the same race?Kelpies, mermen, and octopus shifters don’t really have anything in common except that they all likewater.Havewe missed anyone?Arethere any other supes in town who like water?”

“Whois in charge of the betting?” someone from another table asked.

“Isn’tit illegal to gamble on things like that?”Ryleyasked.

Ishrugged. “Aslong as the wagers are small,Vanturns a blind eye to that kind of thing.”

“Therewill be betting?”Pawsperked up and started purring. “Perfect.Ash, get a piece of paper and a pen fromJeremy.Youcan record the bets.”Hecleared his throat. “Listenup, everyone.Thefirst competition is open for bets now.Brodie,Weston,Henrietta, andGaryare competing in the swimming competition.”

Brodie, who’d been delivering a big plate of nachos, froze when he heard his name.

“Betsfor each sport will be kept separate,”Pawscontinued. “Allbets are final.Doesn’tmatter if new competitors are introduced later.Placeyour bets withAshnow.Twodollars a bet, maximum five bets per person per competition.”

“Shouldn’twe ask everyone if they want to compete first?”Ashasked, but he was already grabbing a pen fromJeremy’sbag.

“Mymoney is onWeston,” someone yelled over toAsh. “Thatmerman’s been swimming in that lake every day for years.Heknows that lake better than anyone, and have you seen the size of his tail?Thatthing is massive.”

“That’snot all he’s got that’s massive,” another man said, rather loudly. “It’strue what they say about the sizeof a merman’s fins being proportional, if you know whatImean.”

Afew people chuckled.

Brodie’snostrils flared.Heglared at the man who’d spoken.Hemarched over with the nachos and appeared to trip as he approached the table.Thenachos went flying, right onto the guy who’d more or less announced he’d slept withWeston.Shoutsof surprise shot up from the man and his friends.

“I’mso sorry,”Brodiesaid with false sincerity. “Areyou okay?”

Theybrushed away his apology, even the guy covered in chips, salsa, and sour cream.Everyonein town knewBrodie’sunfortunate history, which gave him a lot of leeway.Noone wanted to be the asshole who yelled at the kid who’d been rescued from a cage.

IcaughtBrodie’seye when he rushed by.Hiseyes widened and his cheeks darkened when he realizedI’dseen what he’d done.Heducked his head and rushed across the room.Iwas going to have to monitor him.Ifhis crush onWestonstarted interfering with his work or the pack dynamics,I’dhave to talk to him.Asit was, no one else seemed to realizeBrodie’saccident was anything but accidental.