Page 13 of Alphas Never Hide (Willow Lake Supernaturals #5)

Chapter Thirteen

HAYDEN

“ Do you feel it? Do you feel the forest? Do you feel how familiar it is?” I whispered, needing to keep him focused.

Ryley let out a shuddering exhale. His eyes fluttered open. He swayed, and I leaned in closer to steady him.

“ Fuck me,” he said in wonder. “ That’s … I’m … But …”

“ Do you feel your magic in the forest now?”

“ Yes , but I don’t understand.”

“ Can you sense where you walked? Can you follow the trail?”

“ I think I can,” Ryley said with a shaky voice. “ But how is this possible?”

If he started asking those questions, he was going to lose the fragile connection he’d made.

“ Point in the direction,” I said.

Thankfully , he didn’t argue with me. He pointed toward the northwest .

“ Good ,” I said. “ Do you think you can hold on to that feeling?”

“ I don’t know. I don’t know how I’m doing this to begin with.”

“ That’s fine. Just try it. If it doesn’t work, we’ll try something else.”

He scanned the forest like he was seeing trees for the first time in his life. “ This is so messed up. It’s like I can see things I’ve never seen before.”

“ I think you could always see them,” I said. “ You were just taught to ignore them.”

Ryley pressed his lips together but didn’t disagree.

“ Let’s see what we find over here, shall we?”

We walked in silence for a bit, then Ryley stopped abruptly. He clenched his hand into a fist. “ I lost it. I knew it wouldn’t last.”

And that was why it hadn’t lasted. The brain was a powerful thing. I sighed. “ Let’s try again.”

He shook his head. “ I’m done. My head is swimming.”

I wanted to demand he try again, but if I pushed him, I suspected he’d just dig in his hooves. So I lifted my head and inhaled, looking for new clues while he calmed down. Ryley’s scent was still masked, but there was something more. Robbie . My brother had been through here recently. He might even be here right now.

My heart thundered in my chest. This was it. I’d finally put an end to all the problems my brother had caused. I’d finally confront him. Stop him. Turn him in to the Supernatural Council .

“ Stay here,” I whispered. “ Hide . Better yet, go back to the truck. Call Van . ”

I tacked on that last bit about Van because I figured that was the only way I’d get Ryley to leave without me. His gaze snapped to me.

“ Is he here?” Ryley asked, way too loudly. So much for the element of surprise.

“ Be quiet!”

He clamped his hand over his mouth. His gaze darted over the woods, jumping from one shadow to the next. His chest rose and fell rapidly as his breathing quickened. At this rate, he’d pass out from panic before he escaped.

Fauns were similar to goats. So , were fainting fauns a thing? Buddy loved watching those fainting goat videos on his breaks. They made him laugh his ass off. I’d even chuckled at a few too, but I wasn’t laughing right now.

“ Ryley , you’re safe. I won’t let him touch you.” I imbued as much conviction as I could into my voice. My alpha energy surged, and I didn’t shy away from it. He needed to know I was serious. Confident . If Ryley was part of my pack, it would have been enough. But I wasn’t sure if it would work on him.

He whimpered and crouched beside me. His head was still whipping around as he scanned the area for Robbie . His fingers clutched at my fur, pinching and pulling it. I could have done without that, but the sting of pain heightened my alertness.

I strained my ears to pick up any new sounds. Given how Ryley was panting beside me, it wasn’t easy.

“ Stay here. I’ll check things out.”

“ Fuck no,” Ryley whispered frantically. “ I knew we should have waited, but oh no, Mr . Lonewolf had to?—”

“ Ryley ? ”

“ Hmm ?”

“ Shut up.”

He scowled at me, but at least the first blush of his panic was fading. As I stepped forward, I expected Ryley to let go of me. He didn’t. He crept along beside me with his fingers tangled in my fur.

Every few steps, I stopped to listen and sniff the air. Robbie’s scent was fresh. He’d been through here this morning, but not within the last half hour. He must have discovered Ryley was missing and tried to find him. The question now was: Was he still here?

I fucking hoped so.

We made slow but steady progress. Ryley’s panic was still riding him hard, but he had it under control. So , when he tugged at my fur, I stopped and assessed the area again. What had he seen?

As if hearing my unspoken question, he lifted a shaking hand and pointed at a dip in the forest floor where the fallen leaves were disturbed. I inched forward.

There was a trapdoor. In the forest. That didn’t belong out here. The disturbed ground suggested a screen of broken twigs, dirt, and pine cones usually concealed the trapdoor. The door would likely have remained hidden if the area around it hadn’t been cleared.

Why was I surprised? I’d known there wasn’t another building out here and I couldn’t imagine Robbie roughing it in the trees. An underground den made sense.

The bigger question was: How the hell had I missed it before now?

My heartbeat ticked up to a faster tempo. I tried to shake Ryley’s hand off, but he refused to let go. Fine . It looked like we were doing this together. I crept around the door in a wide circle, hunting for signs of booby traps. The concentration of Robbie’s scent led away from the door.

I wanted to follow it. Desperately .

Except , what if more people were trapped in there?

Damn it.

I circled the door again, this time drawing closer. I didn’t find any traps. Either he was arrogant enough to think he didn’t need any, or I’d find something under that door. I sniffed and listened for a long time before I finally shifted into my human form, bringing with it my clothing, and more importantly my phone.

“ I don’t sense any other wolves close. Robbie was here, but he isn’t now.”

“ Are you sure?” Ryley’s gaze darted around the area.

“ I’m sure.”

Surprisingly , my phone showed a signal. Sure , it was weak, but it was still there. I motioned Ryley over and handed him my phone.

“ Can you do another tack on a map thing for Van ?” I whispered.

“ A pin?”

“ Whatever . It looks like a tack.” Then I remembered his request from last night. “ Shit . You wanted to borrow my phone this morning. I forgot.”

“ It’s fine. I’ll do it later.” Ryley did something on my phone and handed it back. I tucked it into my pocket again. I looked at him. He was eyeing the door warily.

“ You don’t have to come.” I reached for my phone again, then held it out for him. “ Take this. ”

He shook his head. “ We’re a team. Besides , I got out once. I can do it again if I have to.”

I didn’t want to waste time arguing with him, but everything in me was protesting the idea of him going back to the place where he’d been imprisoned. Yes , he was an adult. He could decide. But , man, I wished I could convince him to do what I wanted. It’d be for his own good. He’d be safer up here. He had the forest all around him if he needed to escape. Now that he knew how to access his magic, he could hide if he needed to.

But I wasn’t surprised when he wouldn’t listen to me.

I shoved my phone in my pocket again, then I wrapped my hand around the cool metal handle. I expected a lock, or at the very least, a latch. There was nothing. The door lifted easily and silently. I peered into the cylindrical hole. It reminded me of a root cellar we used to have at the old pack house years ago. I bet that was where Robbie had gotten the idea.

A large, corrugated metal culvert had been stuck in the ground vertically with a ladder fixed to the side. The hole was deeper than the average basement, so I couldn’t see much at the bottom. This bunker must have been out here for years, because the land showed no signs of construction.

Ryley stood at my side and peered into the hole too.

“ Yep . That’s the place.” He shuddered. “ That’s where I was held.”

I wanted to hold him close. I wanted to pick him up and carry him away from here. I wanted to protect him from whatever was down there.

Instead , I asked, “ What can you tell me about it? ”

“ I didn’t spend time sightseeing. I looked for a way out and took it.”

“ So more than just the one room?”

He nodded. “ Yeah . There are a bunch of tunnels. Only an ant or a gopher could make sense of the place.”

Great . Well , there was no time like the present to go get lost in a maze. “ Shall we?”

Ryley blinked at me. “ Shouldn’t we wait for the others?”

“ I’m going in.”

“ I knew you were going to say that.” He heaved out what sounded like an aggrieved sigh and let his shift wash over him.

I lifted an eyebrow. Most supes preferred to stay in their shifted forms if they were scared.

“ It’s easier to go down a ladder when you don’t have hooves.”

Right . That made sense. “ I’ll go first.”

Ryley grabbed my forearm. His fingers dug into my skin. I looked at him, surprised.

“ Just … Just be careful.”

I nodded. “ You too.”

I wanted to comfort him. Offer him anything I could to show him I’d do anything to keep him safe. The best way to do that was to use my alpha power. Again . It’d be for a good cause.

It was weird how the one thing I’d wanted to get rid of for most of my life was the one thing I wanted to give Ryley over and over again.