Page 8 of Alphas Never Hide

“Thisone is fine.”

Isent the pin, then reluctantly returned the phone to the wolf.Hopefullyif he knew the wolf was working with me, thisVanguy wouldn’t come in, guns blazing.AndIreally, really hoped all of this was legit.Ifthis was some elaborate plan to trick me,Iwas going to be pissed.Ididn’t think this wolf had the know-how to set up a fake website for theWillowLakePDor redirect calls, soI’dtrust him.Fornow.

Itwasn’t likeIhad much choice.Icouldn’t get much further on my own.Myleg could barely hold my weight, andIwas feeling woozy.Ididn’t know if my light-headedness was because so much of my blood was outside my body instead of inside, or ifIwas in some kind of shock now.Eitherway, this was my best chance of getting outof these woods before the other bastard wolves came for me.

“Yougot it?Okay.We’llsee you soon.”Haydenlooked at me. “And,Van, letDocknowRyleywill need to see him.”Anothermumble from the other end of the call.Heshook his head, wincing as he moved. “No.Notme.I’mfine.”

WhateverVansaid next hadHaydenfrowning.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah.Youcan say you knowI’mlying all you want, but you can also fuck off.I’malive.That’sgood enough.”

Heended the call with a huff.Heshoved the phone in his pocket and leaned against a tree.Hisfingers tapped against his leg in a restless rhythm.

“Theyare coming, right?”

“Yes.”Hefrowned. “Weshould start walking.”

“It’lltake them longer to find us if we move around.”

“Weshouldn’t have called them,” he muttered.

Hedabbed at his still bleeding face again.Whenhe saw more blood on his fingers, he stripped off his shirt.Idid a double take.Whatwas he doing?

Icouldn’t stop my gaze from drifting over his torso.

Ishouldn’t have.Itwas wildly inappropriate.Afterall he was bleeding because of me, but my eyes had their own agenda.Andthen my brain got in on the situation and purred a “Oh, hello.Yeah, baby.”Which, really?Whydid my brain sound like a slimeball?

Butthe guy looked good.

AndIwas a normal, healthy guy with a normal, healthy libido, so it was naturalI’dnotice.Anyonewould look when presented with that chest and those arms and allthose yummy muscles.Buthe went and ruined it by rubbing the shirt over his cheek.Hewas trying to wipe the blood from his face, but he was smearing it everywhere.

Andmy brainstillthought he was sexy.

“Ishould be able to get us out of here,”Haydensaid as he continued to try to clean himself. “Ifyou’d trusted me, we could have been on our way already.”

“Isn’tyour pal theChiefofPolice?Itis literally his job to help people.”

Haydenshook his head. “Ididn’t want them involved.”

“Involvedin what?”Iscowled at him through narrowed eyes.Hebetter not have double-crossed me.

“HuntingforRobbie.”

“WhoisRobbie?”

Hisgaze swept over my chest and all the wounds.Heswallowed hard. “Thewolf whose scent you carry.”

Ishuddered under the memory his words triggered.Awolf.Histeeth dripping with saliva.Thepain.Theblood.Histongue lapping at my punctured skin.Hisfucked-up ideas about eating my magic through my blood.

Freshanger flashed through me.Iglanced down at my chest.Thosebite marks better fade whenIshifted.AndIneeded a gallon of antibiotics, because who knew what diseases that wolf carried?Supesweren’t supposed to carry diseases, but who the fuck knew with that cannibal?

“Youdon’t want them involved in finding the guy who did this?Isthat what you’re saying?Areyou sure you aren’t in cahoots with those other wolves?”I’dalways loved that word.Cahoots.Thereweren’t enough opportunities to use it in my day-to-day life. “Becauseit sounds like you’re out here on your own because you want to joinup with them without your pals in town knowing.Oh.Unlessyou’re trying to get yourself killed.”

“Iwon’t die,” he said with complete confidence.Whata misguided fool. “It’ssafer ifIdo this on my own.”

“You’resuch a cliché.”

Hisfrown deepened. “Whatdo you mean?”