Page 10 of Alphas Never Hide

Atleast withRyley, we finally knew one thing forcertain.Robbiewas still in the area.I’dfigured as much, butRyleywas proof my gut was right.

Ishould shift and start trackingRyley’sroute back toRobbie’shideout.Fuck,Iwas tired though.MaybeI’drest a bit.Then, whenIknewRyleywas safe withVan,I’dfollow the faun’s path through the woods.Icould haveRobbiein custody by morning.

Thatshould make me happy, and it did, but it also…

Therewas a lot of shit going on in my head right now.

“Wouldhe actually eat me?”Ryleywhispered in my ear.

“Nottonight,”Ipromised.

“It’sfor the best,”Ogdenagreed. “Simonwould be mad ifIwas stuck in my dragon form for however long it took to digest you.”

Ryleypressed close enough to me thatIcould feel him shiver in disgust. “Youshouldn’t say shit like that to people.IpromiseI’mleaving the area as soon asIfigure out how.Youdon’t need to threaten me.”

Astrange pang shot through my chest at his words.Fuck.Whatwas that?Imust be hungry.Ihadn’t eaten sinceIdidn’t know when.

Iopened my eyes to see whatOgden’sreaction would be toRyley’swords, but he ignored the faun’s protest.Instead, he looked like he was admiring his long, sharp claws under the starlight.Theywere sparkly, like something had coated them with glitter.

“I’mso gladWillowLakehas a nail technician who is a supe,” he said, as he held out his paw for me to admire. “Thisgel treatment is brilliant, don’t you agree?”

Ryleysnorted, butIfelt the tension ease from his body.Iwanted to tell him not to underestimateOgden, but admittedly it would probably be difficult to feel too threatened by a dragon who was busy praising his manicure.Orwould it be a pedicure?Eitherway,I’dnever bothered with either.Awolf’s claws were his weapons.Iwouldn’t let anyone else touch them, especially not to cover them in fingernail polish.

Ogdendropped his gaze down toRyley’sfeet. “Youknow, they do hooves too.Yourslook like they’ve been through a grinder.”

Ryleytucked his feet behind me and out ofOgden’ssight.

“You’dbe surprised how pretty they could make them look,”Ogdencontinued, as ifRyleyhadn’t hidden his hooves. “LeviandIsaacdidn’t believe me either untilImade them go with me.”

Ryleysmacked me on the arm. “Youtold me you didn’t know any fauns.”

“Ouch.”Hehadn’t hit me hard enough to hurt me, butIcringed and rubbed my arm to tease him.

Ogden’sgaze snapped over to us and a curl of smoke rolled out of his mouth.

“Thereis no way that hurt you,”Ryleysaid. “Tellthe dragonIdidn’t hurt you.”

“Thistime,”Iagreed. “Youdidn’t hurt methistime.”

Hefolded his arms across his chest. “We’vebeen over this.HowwasIsupposed to know you weren’t like the others?Now, answer my question.Wereyou lying about the whole faun thing?”

“Idon’t know any others,”Isaid. “LeviandIsaacaren’t fauns.”

“Aminotaur and a centaur,”Ogdensaid, fillingRyleyin.He’drelaxed again, after decidingRyleyhadn’t injured me by hitting me. “Andnow, we have a faun.We’llhave a little herd of hoofed supes soon.”

“Whatthe fuck?Doyou realize how species-ist you sound when you group us together like that?Likewe’re livestock?”Ryleyscowled and crossed his arms. “Andfor the record, you don’thaveme.”

Ogdendipped his big dragon head. “Ofcourse.I’msorry.Imisspoke.It’sjust you supes with hooves are quite rare.Itseems notable that so many have come toWillowLake.”

Ryleytilted his head. “Fine.Iguess that is unusual.”

“WillowLakeis a special place,”Isaid quietly, because it was true.Myfather had once said theEternalMagicherself blessedWillowLakeand the supes who lived there.Notevery supe was welcome, though.TheEternalMagichad a way of driving those unwanted supes away.

I’doften wondered if theEternalMagichad drivenRobbieto create a situation where he’d had no choice but to leave.Itmade as much sense as anything else.

I’dheard someone once describeWillowLakeas aSupernaturalUtopia, butIdidn’t think that was it.WillowLakehad problems just like everywhere else, and we’d certainly had a lot of them over the last few months.ButI’dalways suspected what made us special was an enduring collective desire to respect theEternalMagicand live harmoniously with different supes.Thatwas the true magic ofWillowLake—its people.And, as a reward for embracing so many of her supernatural beings, theEternalMagicblessed us with more gifts, like fated mates and guardians.

Thesound of a vehicle in the distance had bothOgdenand me turning our heads.