Page 62 of Alphas Never Hide

Flamesflared inDillon’seyes with the fire of his hellhound as he watched his mate stretch and twist.Hejumped up from his seat, his gaze never leaving his mate’s body, and stalked over toAsh.Whenhe got there, he wrapped his hands overAsh’ships and kissed his neck.

“Dillon, quit kissing your mate and bring the board over here,”Pawsordered.

“IthinkI’mmissing something,”Ryleysaid.

“Theyhave a bet going on.Theywagered whenIwould accept thatIwas their alpha,”Iexplained.

“Youknew?”Jeremyasked.

“OfcourseIknew.Thereis always a bet.So, when no one asked me to place a wager on something afterJake’sbet ended, it was obvious the new bet was about me.”

“Whatever,”Pawsmuttered. “Justbecause he figured it out doesn’t invalidate the wager.”

DillonandAshreturned to the table, smelling of arousal.Irubbed my nose.Ihadn’t needed to scent that.Dillonset the board on the table in front of us and circled today’s date on the calendar that showed everyone’s guesses.Hefrowned atPaws. “You’rejust saying that because you had today as your guess.”

“Oh?DidIwin?”Paws’ fake surprise wasn’t fooling anyone.Iknew from experience that the cat knew perfectly well what days he had picked.Heprobably had everyone else’s wagers memorized too.

“Whydoes he get to bet?” someone moaned from a nearby table. “Itisn’t like he needs money.Jakefeeds him and houses him.Canhe even spend money anywhere?Ibet he doesn’t even have a bank account or a wallet.Wherewould he put his winnings?”

“Comehere and say that to my face, asshole,”Pawssaid. “Becausethe lastIheard, whatIdo with my money isn’t any of your business.But, please, keep talking if you don’t want to bet on anything in the future.”

Thecomplainer didn’t say anything more, butIcould tell he was wondering who appointedPawsthe one who controlled the pub’s betting.I’dpay to watch someone try to wrestle control from the cat.Mymoney would be onPaws.Ididn’t know what he was, but he was no mere cat shifter.

Themore attentionPawsdrew to himself, the less panickyIfelt.Thecat, as if sensingIwas thinking about him, winked at me likeIwas in on a joke, then shouted out more insults and commands.Slowly, people quit staring at me likeIwas a novelty.Isat back in my seat and watched everyone carry on around me.Exceptfor the lingering warmth in my chest,Icould almost pretend it was a normal night at the pub.Almost.

ThenGageandVanrushed into the pub, followed by a whole mob of townsfolk.

Igroaned.

GageandVanpushed through the pub to get to our table.Whenthey arrived,Vanstared at me for a long moment, before nodding sharply. “It’sabout time.”

Ishook my head. “Fuckoff.”

“I’mglad to see nothing else has changed,” he said. “Itold you it wouldn’t.You’vealways beenWillowLake’salpha.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,”Imuttered. “Graba drink and sit down.Idon’t need you towering over me.”Iglanced atGage. “Youshould do the same.”

Vanglanced around the room.

“Ineed to sort out this crowd first.”Hewent to the bar, whereJakewas staring at the massive crowd with a panicked look on his face.JeremyandAlicehad already gone behind the bar to help him.Vansaid a few words toJeremy, who nodded and looked relieved.Thenthey propped open the doors that led to the parking lot, where a bunch of people were waiting to get in.

Itwas like all ofWillowLakehad come.Itwas almost as ifI’dcalled them here.

ButIhadn’t, hadI?

Vanwhistled, getting everyone’s attention.

“Anyoneparked in the parking lot, get out there and move your vehicle to the road.We’reclosing the gate.Afterthat, you can take your drinks outside if you want.Nodrinking and driving.Andthis is for tonight only.”

I’dexpectedGageto go help his mate behind the bar, but he was studying me with a speculative gleam in his eyes.

“Stayout of my head.”Ipointed my finger at him.

Hiseyes weren’t changing to red like they did when he used his demon magic, but the way he was looking at me was still weird.

“Idon’t need to read your mind—”Gagepaused, obviously for dramatic effect, “—Alpha.”Heemphasized the word with a tiny waggle of his eyebrows.He’dclearly been spending too much time withJeremyandOgden.

Iflipped the demon the bird, earning a smile that flashed the dimplesJeremywas always talking about.