Page 70 of Alphas Never Hide

Butmy brother, a purebred faun, was still considered a kid at that same age.Hewould have only turned twenty-five this past spring.Maybewhen he was an adult, we could meet up.Wouldhe remember whoIwas in anotherseventy-five years?WouldIrecognize him?Howlong wouldIeven live?Mymother had always told me my life would be short, like my father’s.

“Wolvesdon’t live as long as other supernatural beings like fauns.Wearen’t considered pups past the age of twenty,”Haydensaid.

Isighed, because of course he was still arguing. “Butyou’ll still live longer than a mundane human.”Ipaused as something occurred to me. “Wait.YouthinkIhave all the same magic as a full faun, right?Doyou thinkI’lllive as long as they do?”

“Huh.Ihadn’t thought of that, but yeah.Youare a faun.Fullstop.”

“We’llhave a long life ahead of us, if that’s the case.”Igrinned. “Nowthat we’re mated and blessed by theEternalMagic, your life span will have extended to match mine.”

Thatlittle gift from theEternalMagicwas one of the biggest perks of being a fated mate.Itdidn’t make us immortal—anyone could be killed—but, if we lived to the end of our natural lifespan, we would never be without one another.Iliked the idea of him being at my side for the rest of my life.Mygrin widened.

“I’mbeing an ass, aren’tI?”Hefinally met my gaze. “I’msurprised you’re accepting this so easily.”

Ithought about it. “IguessIam.Iwill admit that earlierIhadn’t planned on staying inWillowLake.”

Haydenwhined a little, and his eyes flashed with the golden light of his wolf.Irubbed his hip to soothe him.

“ButIdidn’t realize you were my mate then.”Iswallowed. “Iam still apprehensive about what will happen when your pack realizesIam your mate.Notonly amInota wolf, butI’monly half-supe.Don’tsay your pack won’t care, because you can’t know that.Notyet.Iwill admit they’re more welcoming than any other pack or group of supesI’veknown, but we can’t predict what’ll happen.”

“Actually, we probably can,”Haydensaid. “IthinkJake’shad a vision of us.”

“Really?Whatdid the vision show?”

“Idon’t know, butIsaw the way he reacted the first time he saw you.Herecognized you.Theonly way that’d happen is if he’d already seen you.”ThenHaydenfrowned. “Andthe assholes kept it from me.”

“Wouldit have changed anything?”

“No,” he admitted. “Butit makes me wonder what other secrets they’ve been keeping from me.”

Helooked at me, really looked at me.Somethingpulsed in the air between us.

“Iwill do everythingIcan to be a worthy mate to you,” he promised. “Iwill undoubtedly make mistakes and say shitIshouldn’t.Let’sface it,Ialready did within the first few minutes of receiving our mate bond.Thatmust be some kind of record.SometimesIfeel like that is allIdo, make one mistake after another.ButIwill never hurt you intentionally.Ididn’t mean to make you thinkIdidn’t want you.BecauseIdo.Despitewhat happened tonight,I’mnot cut out to be an alpha.AndI’mscaredIwon’t be a good mate either.”

Icould have said something like “you are the perfect mate for me”, butIdoubted that’d help ease his worries.

“Noone is perfect,”Isaid instead. “Ican promise youI’mnot perfect either.We’llhave to learn to be good mates for one another.TheEternalMagicprovides her blessing,but that doesn’t mean that everything will be easy from here on out.Westill have a lot to learn about one another.Butthe important thing is that we both want to try.Youdo, right?Wantto try?”

Heswallowed hard. “Yes.Ido.”

“Phew,”Isaid with a laugh.Ipretended to brush sweat off my brow.

Atiny smile played over his lips, andItook that as a victory.

“Hi, mate,”Iwhispered.

“Hi, mate,” he whispered back.

Wegrinned at one another and any lingering tension faded away.Yeah.Thatwas better.We’dbe okay.Ihoped.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

RYLEY

“Arethere any bird shifters in town?”Iasked asIstared out the window at the woods behindWillowLakeInn.Theroom had windows on two walls, north and west.Iwas standing at the west facing one, soIcouldn’t see the sun inching above the horizon from here, but there was a beautiful yellow glow hitting the tops of the dark green pines.Theresulting color was a lot like the mating marks we shared.

Weweren’t high enough to see the western mountains over the trees, butIbet they would look stunning in this light.Weshould go up to the next floor and see.

Okay.Imight, possibly, maybe have been trying to think of any reason to avoid going downstairs.