Page 60 of Alphas Never Hide

“Yes,”Jeremysaid as he grinned at us, like he’d been listening to see whatRyleywould order.Thenhe made a note in his book. “Itotally called that.Wheatale for the faun, just likeIsaacandLevi.”

“Ifyou want food,I’llgrab your order whenIget back with your drinks.”

Afterwe had our drinks and had ordered our food,RyleyandIsipped our drinks and watched everyone organize a miniSupernaturalOlympics.Thatwas entertainment enough.Beingsurrounded by peopleIconsidered friends while holdingRyley’shand was surprisingly comfortable.Icould see the speculative looks on people’s faces, but no one bombarded us with intrusive questions.NotevenJeremy.

Thatwas also surprising, because my pack rarely held back their curiosity or their opinions.

Mypack.

Thatwasn’t the first time tonight thatI’dthought ofthese people as my pack and hadn’t cringed.AndifIwas being completely honest, that’d started before tonight.

Didthat meanIwanted to be alpha?

Forthe first time, that question didn’t make me nauseous.Ilooked around the room again, letting my gaze drift over all these people.Warmthfilled me.Atingling sensation that started deep in my core fluttered to life.Itfelt like magic.Then, as if that thought triggered a gateway to the alpha magicI’dalways tried to shun, the little fluttering sensation grew.Streamsof light flickered to life.Theyseemed to come from me.

Whatthe?—?

Morethreads thanIcould count wove through the air like beautiful, shimmering streams of magic.Igaped at them.Whatwas happening?Myheart pounded, butIwasn’t scared.

Ryleyturned to me. “Issomething the matter?Isyour beer off?”

Hecouldn’t see the thread.WasIimagining this?Atthe other end of the table,Teaguebolted out of his chair and stared at me in shock.

“What?”Isaac,Adrian, andDillonsaid in unison as soon asTeaguereacted, and they jumped to their feet.Theywere poised to attack as they looked around for a threat, but they didn’t seem to notice the dazzling light show any more thanRyleyhad.

Teague’sexpression turned into a smile.Awide, exuberant smile.

“Alpha,” he said in an awed tone, as he tilted his head to the side.

Thethreads undulated as they stretched out from me.

Thefirst one, the strongest one, reached forRyley.Assoon as it touched him, he gasped.Asweet smile crossed his face.Herubbed his chest.Immediately, a soft wave of acknowledgment and acceptance rolled back to me along the thread that connected us.Washe aware he’d done that?Agreedto be in my pack?Becausethat’s what that was, right?

Igulped.

Mypack…

Ihad a fucking pack.

“Whatwas that?” he asked.

ButIdidn’t have time to answer, because more threads were reaching out.Somestopped at the people in the room, but others shot through the walls to places beyond the room, extending way beyond the building.

Aripple of awareness and joy bubbled up around me, through me.Thosegolden threads vibrated and pulsed with warmth and happiness.Allexcept one.Buta tsunami of joy swept away that shock of pain.Thesepeople—Ilet out a bark of laughter even as my damn eyes were stinging again—were my pack.

Thesepeople were my pack.

Everyoneturned to face me and a wave of soft, reverent whispers of “Alpha” swept through the room.

Irubbed my chest, feeling the magic inside me grow stronger and stronger as it reached out to each person in the pack, and they wordlessly accepted me as their alpha.

Fuck.

Ihad a pack.

MaybeIalways had.

Icould admit to myself this much, at least:Ididn’t hatethe way it felt, this nearly tangible connection to the people inWillowLake.I’ddenied it for so long, so many times, that the idea of it still made me squirm, even if the reality of it was… nice.