Page 95 of Alphas Never Hide

“Yousaved me.”Haydentugged me into his arms. “Ididn’t think he’d try to kill me.”

“Howdid that happen?”Iswallowed hard, unable to pull my gaze from the leafy cage. “Ididn’t mean to do that.Idon’t know what happened.”

“Yousaved me,”Haydenrepeated.

Huh.MaybeIhad.Itwas like my magic, which until recently had done little more than allow me to shift, wason steroids.Wasthis becauseI’dmet my fated mate?Wasit becauseHaydenhad been super-sized by theEternalMagic, so she’d super-sized me too?FuckifIknew.Butthe important thing wasHaydenwas here.Hewas alive.AndRobbiehad been caught.

“Ilove you,Hayden.”Ihugged him as tight asIcould.

Theleafy mound by our feet shook.Robbiewas awake.

“Theycheated.”Theflora muffledRobbie’swords, but they were still loud enough that everyone could hear he was still very much alive.Leavesjiggled as he squirmed within his living prison. “IdemandHaydensurrender to me.Hislife is forfeit now.Iam alpha.”

“Reallife doesn’t work that way,”Vanmuttered.Hepulled the leaves away to exposeRobbie’sface. “Thereyou are.RobertWalker, you are under arrest for crimes against supernatural beings.”

Chapter Thirty-Nine

HAYDEN

Theparty that night wasn’t planned, at least not by me.ButsomehowRyleyandIended up at theWillowLakeInn, along with almost everyone else inWillowLake.I’dwanted to be at the police station withVanandDillonwhile they interviewedRobbieand his men, but they’d turned me away at theSupernaturalCouncil’srequest.VanpromisedIcould talk to them tomorrow under theSC’ssupervision.Isupposed their precautions made sense given the number of criminals killed during transport toSCprisoner facilities this summer, but still it didn’t make a lot of sense if you thought about it.IfIhad wantedRobbieand his people dead, they wouldn’t be breathing right now.

Butat least they were in custody.Now.Finally.

TheSChad also decided only they could gather evidence from the tunnels, which sounded like they just wanted to come in and throw their weight around to get credit for something they had nothing to do with.Butwhatever.Vandidn’t seem bothered.Gagewas chill about it too.So,Ilet it go.

Really, it was just a relief to have it all over.

Atleast theSChad agreed to act swiftly to carry out justice after they’d gone throughRobbie’ssecret lairs.Althoughno trial date had been announced,Ialready knewI’dattend.Iwanted to see him get what he deserved, but that wasn’t the only reason.Therewas still some tiny part of me that thought of him as my brother, my family.Itwas fucked up.

So, instead of dwelling on the past and thingsIcouldn’t change,I’dspent the day thinking about healing and hope for the future by spending time with some ofRobbie’svictims.Theirrelief atRobbie’scapture was overwhelming, andIhated that it’d taken so long to give them their sense of security back.

BrodieandDakotawere still working through their trauma, as wereConnyandGretchen, but they were getting there.Imade sure they knew they were all welcome to stay inWillowLakeas long as they wanted, forever even, andIhoped they felt a little safer now.TheJahallerwas still struggling to move, butDocassured me he was improving.MercerandOakwere all smiles—especiallyMercer, who was giving away bottles of glitter to everyone who walked in the door to their shop so they could spread the joy throughout town.Iwasn’t sureIequated glitter to happiness, butIcould see why it’d appeal to a raven shifter.Jakewas excited to discuss the renovations to the inn, andGagejust looked happy that his mate was happy.I’dfoundAshandDillonat theFlyingRowanCaféonDillon’slunch break from the policestation.Ashwas experimenting with a new pizza topping combination that would have set my tongue on fire but seemed to appeal to both of them.AndI’deven stopped by the landOgdenandSimonhad purchased to chat with them about their plans.Theyhadn’t been as directly injured byRobbieas some of the others, butIcouldn’t help but wonder ifOgdenwould have been safe ifRobbie’sactivities hadn’t attracted kidnapping assholes to the area.

Thelist of those who had been hurt could have been so much shorter ifI’dacted sooner.Thatwas somethingI’dhave to live with for the rest of my life.Inthe meantime,Iwould work to try to make it up to my pack every day.

Butstrangely, it also wasn’t all bad.IfRobbie’smen hadn’t stolen that whistle from the inn,SimonandOgdenmight never have met.Thatwas the same forJeremyandAdrian.AndRobbie’saction was the catalyst that broughtRyleyinto my life too.Icould never regret that.Noteven a little bit.Ryleywas the center of my world.Ijust wished he hadn’t needed to endure being abducted and held prisoner for us to find one another.

“Robbie’sstill not talking,”Vansaid, dropping into a chair across the table from me.Hehadn’t even taken the time to order a drink yet.Italmost felt like he was reporting to me.Andnow thatIwas officiallythealpha,IsupposedIwarranted getting my own personal update.

“Notsurprising,”Isaid.

“TheSCis doing some good work,”Vancontinued, “despiteRobbie’srefusal to cooperate.Theytracked down the hotel whereRyleyandConny’sabductions took place and found the guy who helpedRobbie.Hewas the frontdesk clerk, who supplemented his income with a side hustle in supernatural trafficking.Theirvehicles were his finder’s fees.Unfortunately, the vehicles are gone.Theywere sold to someone overseas, so we can’t recover them.Theguy had a ledger book going back about five years, though, so that’s useful.Therecords suggest three vampires were taken around the same time asRyley.”

“Iwonder if that’s whoRobbiewas alluding to when he talked about his pets.Youdon’t think there are more tunnels out there that we haven’t found yet, do you?”Ifrowned.

“TheSCis bringing in an earth mage to test the entire property.Ifthere is another tunnel, they’ll find it.We’verequestedBirchAvery, but it might be someone else who comes.”

“IwishIcould sayRobbiemight talk to me, butIdoubt he will,”Isaid.

Ihonestly didn’t understand howRobbiehad convinced so many people to sign up to be his minions.Evenall those years ago when the pack had split apart, it’d never made sense to me.Wasit just luck that he’d gotten this far and found so many people to join him?Iwasn’t sure that it was, and that scared me, becauseI’dnever considered him much of a strategist, and yet he’d done a lot of damage for a long time without getting caught.Butmaybe feeding people’s anger and prejudice overcame whatever shortcomings he had as a leader and attracted the people who could make his visions a reality.Evenwith some of his people talking to the authorities now,Idoubted we’d ever really know the full story.

Butat least he couldn’t hurt anyone else now.

“Theothers are spilling their guts,”Vansaid. “Sothat’s helping.”

Thatwas true.Withouta faun’s magic to keep them hidden, they’d been easy to round up in the woods.Fromthe moment they found out aboutRobbie’sarrest, they’d started talking and hadn’t shut up about everything they knew, even before seeingVanandDillonin their fiery hellhound forms.

OneofRobbie’scohorts had returnedConny’sflute and then he’d taken us around to all the tunnels.IswearImust have walked over some of those entrances a hundred times, butConny’smagic had kept them hidden from me.