Page 78 of Alphas Never Hide

“Ryley’stracker isn’t showing up on my screen.”Heshrugged. “Mustbe a malfunction or something.”

Thehairs on the back of my neck and arms all lifted at once. “Whatdid you say?”

“Thetracker.Itisn’t on my screen anymore.Couldit be because of his magic?”

Iscanned the trees.Couldthat be the reason?Iwanted to think so.

Aportal opened beside us, andJakeandGagerushed through it.Jake’sface had a streak of black paint, and the sight made my heart sink.Jakeonly used black when he was channeling a vision.Ifroze.

“Stopeverything,”Gagesaid. “Jakehad a vision.Wewere on our way here to tell you whenIfelt someone breach the town boundary.”

Gaspsrose from the supes gathered around us.Thenpeople were moving.Isaacabruptly stopped arguing withthe frog shifter and shifted seamlessly into his centaur form.Thefrog shifted too and leaped onIsaac’sback.

Underdifferent circumstances,Isaacbatting at the smaller shifter to dislodge him would have been funny, but no one was laughing right now.OakscoopedMercerinto his arms and growled at anyone who got close.Jeremy’swhite glowing magic flickered to life aroundAdrian, covering him in a protective shield.Brodiepulled a tremblingDakotaclose.Thenthey were both wrapped inWeston’sarms.Flamessurged to life inVan’sandDillon’seyes, and a fireball burst to life aboveAsh’sopen hand.

“Thevision?”Ichoked out.

Gage’sface was grim. “ItshowedRyleywithRobbie.”

Ididn’t wait to find out what else he had to say.Iraced to the trees, shifting asIran, needing to find my mate.Doc’sshouts, demandingIreturn and warning thatIwasn’t strong enough to fight, were lost under the pounding of my paws across the ground.

AsIran,ItrackedRyley’sscent.Itmeandered through the trees.Givenhow potent the trail was,IknewRyleyhadn’t used his magic.Wasit because he couldn’t?

Nothingabout his scent said he was frightened.He’dbeen anxious before the event started, but that seemed to have faded once he was in the trees.Idoubted his scent would be so normal if he’d come acrossRobbieout here.

Ididn’t detectRobbie’sscent anywhere, so hopefully the vision hadn’t come true yet.IfIthought theEternalMagicwould help me,I’dbe begging and praying and promising her the world to keep my mate away from my brother.ButI’dtried to do that too many times in the past and she’d never listened.

IfoundAdriana few minutes later.Hewas sniffing and pawing at the ground, just inside the town’s perimeter.Theboundary hummed beside us.I’dnever felt the edge so vividly before.Itmust have been a by-product of the alpha magic.

“What?Whatdid you find?”

“Ryley’stracker,Ithink.”

“Moveout of the way,”Idemanded, andAdrianjumped away from the object.Ipressed my nose to the tiny piece of plastic and circuitry. “Hisscent is there, but it’s fainter than it should be.”

Iinhaled deeply, trying to find his scent again in the vegetation around the area.Itwasn’t there.Hadhe gone over the boundary?Whywould he do that?Andwhy the hell would he drop his tracker?

Ithad to be a joke, right?

Anyminute now, he was going to jump out of the trees and laugh at us.We’dtell this story for the rest of our lives, and he’d tease me about how worked upI’dbeen when he finally showed himself.AndI’dlaugh right along with him and praise him for how amazing his magic was and…

Icrossed the boundary to look for more clues.Awhisper ofRyley’sscent floated in the air.And…

Fuck.

Robbie.Robbiehad been here too.Righthere.RightwhereRyleyhad been but wasn’t anymore.Mymurderous brother had my precious mate.Myheart felt like it’d been ripped from my body.

ThenIlifted my snout to the sky and howled.Ihowled in anger.Ihowled in fear.Ihowled for my pack.Butmostly,Ihowled for my mate.

Theair filled with the answering cries from my pack.Theywould help.We’rehere, they said.We’recoming,they said.Whateveryou need,they said.Andfeet pounded through the forest toward me.

Iwasn’t alone.

Chapter Thirty-One

HAYDEN

VanandGagewere the first to arrive and hundreds more supes came on their heels.Theycrowded together between the trees.Mostof the shifters had taken their animal forms.Theystared at me, pacing back and forth along the border of the town, waiting for me to command them.