Page 59 of Alphas Never Hide

“Idon’t know, man,” someone else, from yet another table, said as they watchedBrodiedisappear into the kitchen. “ThatBrodieis a kelpie, so yeah, more horse than fish, but he’s young and that gives him the advantage.”

“So, no one’s betting onHenriettaorGary?”Ashasked.

Silence.Sure, they were octopus shifters, but they werealso the local bakers and liked to sample their own goods.Lookedlike no one thought racing would be their forte.

“Iwill,”Sallyshouted from the bar.Theincubus had been in a casual relationship with them for years.They’dfinally made things a little less casual this summer. “You’dnever know it, but they have a lot of stamina.”Shewaggled her eyebrows. “Ifanyone wants details so they can make an educated bet,I’lltell you all about it.”

Yeah.Ididn’t think any of us needed to know those details.

“Nextwe have long distance running,”Jeremysaid. “So, mostly shifters,Iguess?”

“Dillonwill compete,”Ashvolunteered.

Jeremyturned his head to his own mate.

“Fine,”Adriansaid. “Iwill too.”

“Thenthere isHayden.Oh, andVantoo,”Jeremysaid, making more marks in his notebook.

Adriangroaned. “I’llnever win against the alpha.”

“Waita minute,”Isaid. “WhendidIsayI’dcompete?”

Everyoneturned to look at me with varying degrees of exasperation.

“Don’tbother protesting,”Pawssaid. “Weall know you’ll do it in the end, so let’s skip to that part.”

“Fine,”Isaid, sitting back in my chair.Thedamn cat was probably right.

“Itdoesn’t matter anyway,”Isaacsaid from the other end of the table. “I’mgoing to win.”

“Noway,”Teaguesaid. “Nelsonwill win, hands down.”

Isaac’sjaw dropped in disbelief. “Nelsoncan’t compete in a race like that.Hedoesn’t run; he just popsfrom one shadow to another.Isthere a flying competition?Stickhim in that instead.”

“Butis he really flying?”Jeremystroked his chin. “Ishould make a note of that for myAmazingBookofSuperSupes.Butit brings us back around to the concernIhad right from the start.Idon’t see how this can work.”

“Wedon’t have to figure it all out tonight,”Adriansaid, rubbingJeremy’sback.

Ryleyleaned close to me. “Isit always like this?”

Iglanced around.Jeremyand the others were still arguing over competition categories and who should compete in what.Peoplewere shouting out bets toAshfor categories that hadn’t even been discussed yet.LeviandCarterwere over at the pool table, trying to distractParkerfrom noticing what everyone else was saying.Hewas the only human in the place who didn’t know about supes.Jakewas busy behind the bar.BuddyandAlicewere feeding one another fries in a back corner of the pub.OldThomwas tucked away in another corner with a honey-colored beer, grumbling about how it wasn’t as good asWitch’sMilk.Pawswas sitting in the middle of our table with his head tilted at an imperious angle, as if we were all his minions.

“Yeah.Prettymuch,”Isaid.

“Huh,” was all he said, as he went back to studying everyone in the pub.

Jakefinished up with a patron at the bar and came over to us with a couple of food menus.Ididn’t need one, butItook it anyway.

“Sorryit took me so long to get over here.But, holyO’Keeffe, is it busy in here tonight,”Jakesaid, glancingaround with a bemused look on his face. “WhatcanIget you to drink?”

“Youdidn’t have to bring these over.Iwould have come to the bar,”Isaid, realizingIshould have done that as soon as we walked in.ButIhadn’t wanted to leaveRyleyalone.

“Noworries,”Jakesaid. “Youwant your usual,Hayden?”

Thatwas the thingI’dalways liked aboutJake.Heusually called me by my name.Noneof that alpha crap with him. “Yeah.That’dbe good.”

Ryleyread the list of what was on tap. “AndI’llhave a wheat ale.”