Page 76 of Alphas Never Hide

Weall stopped to watch the two shifters cut through the water.Asthey neared the finish line, which was a yellow ribbon held between two canoes,Brodieinched ahead.Thenhe was through withWestoncrossing the line after him, no more than a foot behind.

I’dseenWestonswim enough times to know he hadn’t pushed as hard as he could to cross the finish line.Merfolkwere sprinters.Theylived in shallow areas close to the shore where they regularly needed to hide from humans.Butkelpies were creatures of the oceans and built to endure enormous distances.Therewas no wayWestonshould have lost in a small space likeWillowLake.

Butno one would hear that from me.

Brodieneighed when he realized he’d won.Helifted his head in the air, shook out his silvery mane, and leaped through the water, kicking up enough waves and water to make the canoes rock wildly.Westonsmiled fondly at theantics of his competitor.Huh.Brodie’sinterest might not be as one-sided asI’dthought.

Westonhad a reputation for sleeping around.Ihoped he didn’t think he could treatBrodiethat way.Thekid—okay, he wasn’t a minor, but he still felt like a kid to me—wasn’t likeWeston’sother conquests.Iwanted to say it wasn’t my business, butBrodiefelt like my business because of how we’d saved him fromRobbie.Westonwould never intentionally hurtBrodie, but whenWestoninevitably moved on to his next lover,Brodiewould be devastated.

Theyshifted and staggered out of the water.WestonclappedBrodieon the back, congratulating him on his win.Assoon asWestontouched the kelpie, the kid froze like he didn’t want to move or say anything to makeWestontake his hand away.Thensomeone shouted at the merman, which pulledWeston’sattention away fromBrodie.Themerman’s face lit up, and he accepted a consolation kiss from the guy who’d called his name.

“Hideand seek is next,”Jeremysaid as he jumped off the chair.Helooked down at his clipboard. “Wehave six contestants who have agreed to hide?—”

“Seven,”Ryleysaid quickly.

“Youwant to sign up?That’sgreat!”JeremyscribbledRyley’sname on his paper. “Theway it’ll work is that a competitor will hide, then we’ll time how long it takes for them to be found.Thenthe next competitor will hide.”

“Whereare they hiding?”

Jeremylooked around at the park. “I’doriginally thought we’d do it here, but there’s a lot more people thanIexpected.Shouldwe move this up toWinslowPark?We’llneed to go over there anyway for theSisyphuscompetition.”Jeremyflipped through his papers. “Althoughwe don’t have many people signed up for that one yet.”

“Gofigure,”Ashmuttered. “Rollinga boulder up a hill is supposed to be a punishment.”

“Ifsomeone goes into the woods behind the park, they could run for miles,”Isaid. “Thosewoods go all the way to the mountains.”

“Supescan always tell when they cross the town boundary, right?”Jeremyasked. “We’lljust say they can’t go past that.”

Theback of my neck itched at the thought ofRyleygoing into the woods, even the ones within the town limits.Noone else seemed bothered by the idea.WasIoverreacting?Gagewould know if anything bad was happening inWillowLake.AndJakewould have received a message from theEternalMagicif this was a problem.Neitherof them had voiced any concerns.

So, yeah,IguessedIwas overreacting.Anew mate problem.Ormaybe that itchiness meant something else, likeIhad a sunburn.

Ihoped it was a sunburn.

Chapter Thirty

RYLEY

Ihadn’t been this close to vomiting because of nerves sinceIleft my herd all those years ago.Whyon earth hadIthought this would be a good idea?Nauseawas not fun.Notto anyone.

Thefirst three competitors had already gone, with another four, including me, yet to go.Adrian, who used to hunt fugitives when he worked with theSupernaturalCouncil, was the seeker.Therest of us were supposed to hide and evade him as long as possible.Adrianfound the first two within minutes.Thelast one, a little lizard shifter of some kind, had evaded being caught for a full fifteen minutes.Waitingfor them to return had been nerve-wracking.Iwouldn’t last that long.Noway.

“Ournext competitor isRyleyBell,”Jeremysaid after consulting his clipboard.

Istaggered toward the starting line.Iwasn’t drunk, but my limbs weren’t functioning properly.Itmight bebecauseIwas teetering on the edge of hyperventilating.IfIpassed out,Iwouldn’t have to do this.

“Areyou ready?”Jeremyasked.

Igave him a shaky thumbs up.Ifliving in the herd had taught me anything, it was thatIwas stronger thanIthought.Iwould do this.I’dhidden my magic from mundane humans for years.Icould hide from a supe for a few minutes.Besides, it didn’t matter ifIcame in last.Someonehad to.It’dbe fine.

“Ry?Youokay?”Haydenasked from the sidelines.

Iwaved him off.

Ineeded a plan.Right.Nowwhat?

Fucka duckle,Isucked at this.

Ijust needed to break this down.Firststep,I’dgo into the trees.ThenallI’dneed to do was find a pretty little shrub and sit down beside it.Yeah.That’dbe fine.Icould do that.Easyas pie.Apiece of cake.Apicnic.