Page 15 of Alphas Never Hide (Willow Lake Supernaturals #5)

Chapter Fifteen

HAYDEN

My head hurt. Again .

The doc was going to weld a helmet to my head if he found out about this.

I would have to make sure he never did. Of course, I might not get out of here. It’d be difficult for him to scold me if I was dead.

I touched the bump on my head and pulled my hand away to look. No blood. That was good.

All I needed to do was shift, and everything would be fine. I reached deep inside myself and pulled on my magic. I waited for the shift to come.

It didn’t.

My chest tightened like a vise was squeezing it… And squeezing… Tighter and tighter.

Fuck .

This couldn’t be happening. I tried again. And again, my magic fizzled away. A few coarse hairs sprouted along my forearms and on the back of my neck before disappearing again.

And then nothing.

Yes , I’d used a lot of magic today already and last night too, but what was it Xander had said about my magic being out of whack? His words sounded more and more like a premonition now. It looked like he hadn’t been exaggerating. Too bad I didn’t know that earlier, I would have ordered steak and eggs for breakfast. And , you know, not gone to the woods with Ryley today.

I struggled to sit up. I couldn’t make it to my feet. Not yet. So I leaned against the wall. Ryley was pacing on the other side of the bars. He was pulling at his hair and muttering to himself.

“ Hey ,” I said. “ It’s going to be okay. Why don’t you get out of here?” I pulled out my phone and the keys to my truck. I pushed both through the bars. “ Drive into town. Van should be at the police station by now.”

Ryley’s face contorted in disbelief at my suggestion. “ I’m not leaving you here. Not like this.”

He flapped his hand at me. Could he tell how fucked up I was? Was that what was holding him back? Yeah . I could see it. He’d never leave if he thought I was vulnerable. Which meant I needed to stand and show him I was fine. Wrapping my hands around the bars, I hauled myself up. I was more unsteady on my feet than I would ever admit out loud. I hoped he didn’t notice.

“ Come here, Ry ,” I said softly.

As soon as he was close, I pressed my head against the bars to get closer yet. Our foreheads touched. His fingers wrapped around mine where I still gripped the bar .

“ Breathe with me,” I said. I inhaled slowly and released it just as slowly.

“ I don’t need a meditation coach,” Ryley grumbled.

“ Quit talking and do as I say. In and out.” I lifted my hand and rested it on his shoulder. When he didn’t bat it away like he had earlier, I slid it over his body at a languid pace until I had the back of his head cupped in my palm. With anyone from my pack, I wouldn’t have taken so much time, but Ryley wasn’t in my pack. Or , uh… I guess no one was because I didn’t have a pack.

My head hurt too much to go down that path.

My magic wasn’t responding to my desire to shift, but apparently I could still feel the stir of my alpha energy. It was fainter than normal, but it was still there, intuitively responding to Ryley’s fear. I needed to calm him, and my magic was determined to help, at any cost.

Easing his panic was the least I could do since I was the one who’d gotten us into this mess.

This was just one more shitty decision to heap on a lifetime of shitty decisions. Why anyone would think I’d be a good alpha was beyond me. I was a sorry excuse for a wolf.

I’d put Ryley in danger. Me . I’d done that. Just like I let someone get away with destroying my dad’s pack. And if Van was right, my parents’ murderer had escaped justice too.

A true alpha kept people safe. A true alpha didn’t hide from difficult confrontations. A true alpha stood up for their pack and sought justice.

I wasn’t an alpha. I never had been. And I would never be worthy of that title .

Nothing would change that, but my parents and the remnants of their pack deserved better. I’d let them all down for too long. And now I’d let Ryley down too.

All those years ago when my life went to shit, I hadn’t wanted to believe Robbie capable of instigating so much destruction, but this past summer had shattered any lingering delusions I had about him. And now, having searched his hidden bunker, I had more evidence of how messed up he was.

Fucking Robbie .

I hated him. I loved him. Still . Somehow . I wanted to blame him for everything that’d happened, but that wasn’t fair. Since the Eternal Magic had gifted me with alpha power as a child, everyone had treated me as the next leader of the pack. I should have realized Robbie’s childhood jealousy wasn’t something he would grow out of. I should have paid attention and stopped him before it was too late.

If we’d formed a closer relationship, would things have been different?

Watching a few more after-school specials together or taking him for runs in the woods wouldn’t have solved all our problems, but I might not have been so damn oblivious. How had I missed the signs he was a murderous, power-hungry asshole?

My eyes were open now, though, and I would stop him before he did anything more.

But first, I needed to get out of here.

“ Better ?” I whispered when Ryley’s energy felt calmer.

Ryley tilted his head to look up at me. He blinked. His hazel eyes stared straight into mine. The intensity of the look made me freeze. I didn’t know whether to pull away or try to get closer. As close as the bars would let us, anyway. He licked his lips, and I knew I wouldn’t be letting go of him. Not yet.

His mouth brushed against mine and my fingers tightened at the nape of his neck. He tasted as sweet as I’d imagined, with a hint of cinnamon. My eyes closed as I savored the feel of his lips and his mouth and his tongue… Fuck , his tongue. It danced against mine in the most erotic way. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d let myself get lost in something as simple as a damn kiss.

When the kiss ended, we stood looking at one another through the bars of the cage. I cleared my throat and let my hands drop to my side.

“ You should get out of here,” I said.

“ You have the worst ideas,” he said, but his words didn’t carry any heat.

A screech, like feedback on a microphone, shot through the room.

“ Well , look at the rat caught in my trap,” someone said.

I froze, because I recognized that voice. Sure , I hadn’t spoken to Robbie in a dozen years, but I’d never forget what he sounded like.

Ryley turned to face the door with his fists raised, but no one was there. I strained my ears and caught the crackle of static.

“ He isn’t here. It’s a speaker,” I told Ryley .

“ Did you set my other pets free too? That’s not nice, brother. I don’t play with your things. You shouldn’t play with mine.”

“ Come here, turd wrinkle,” Ryley shouted as he pranced on his hooves. “ Call me a pet to my face, I dare you.” Then he whipped around and frowned at me. “ And did he just call you his brother? Is that true?”

Before I could answer, Robbie’s laughter filled the room. The sound made my hair stand on end. I tried to shift again. I begged my magic to listen, to obey. It didn’t.

“ Yes ,” I reluctantly admitted. Thankfully , Ryley didn’t threaten me with his hooves again. “ Let me out, Robbie . This has gone on long enough.”

“ I’ve lost everything because of you,” Robbie said. “ But I’m not giving up. When you’re gone, I’ll finally be the alpha I was supposed to be. Your magic will pass to me, like Dad’s passed to you.”

Ryley glanced over his shoulder at me. “ Did he have a Darth Vader poster on his wall when he was a kid? Because I feel like there had to have been signs. Did he have a teddy bear? Someone should have given him a teddy bear. And a vintage poster of the original Star Trek officers. Just sayin’”

“ It doesn’t work that way, Robbie ,” I said, ignoring Ryley’s commentary. “ You know that.”

“ Of course it does,” Robbie scoffed. “ Dad lied. Mom lied. Everyone lied to keep the power to themselves. But it doesn’t matter now. This isn’t how I’d planned this, but…” It almost sounded like he was sniffling. Was he crying? No way. My brother didn’t succumb to feelings like that. He never had. But he’d always excelled at mimicking them. “ You took my pack, Hayden . Why did you do that? Everything is gone. My pack and my house and my property and my pets…”

“ Enough with the pets shit already, you fruit fart,” Ryley said, waving his fist toward the part of the wall from where the sound was emanating.

Sharp pain reverberated through my chest as I remembered exactly what it was like to lose everything. Only , in my case, my life had been upended because of my brother, whereas Robbie had lost his through poor choices and greed.

“ I still love you, Hayden ,” Robbie said. “ You’re my big brother. You were supposed to protect me.”

“ I love you too, Robbie . I’ll help you. You know I will.” My voice sounded clogged with more emotion than I’d expected. I rubbed my chest. I hadn’t expected talking to him to hurt this much.

“ Help . Yeah , right,” Robbie scoffed. “ I think I’ll pass. I don’t need your kind of help.”

The static-filled background noise ended abruptly.

“ And I thought the fauns were bad,” Ryley whispered to himself. “ You must have had some fucked-up family dinners.”

“ Let me out,” I shouted, ignoring Ryley’s mutterings. “ Robbie ?”

“ I think he’s gone,” Ryley said.

“ He might still be listening. Are you listening, Robbie ? Let me out. You know you want to. We’re family. Remember what Mom and Dad said? Family sticks together. We’re a unit.”

No response.

I shouldn’t have expected him to free me, except I think I had. Deep inside, I still considered him family. Yes , I wanted to stop him. Not just to help his victims, but to help him too—even after all the terrible, horrible things he’d done. It felt foreign and strange to believe he wouldn’t or couldn’t feel the same way.

“ Fuck twit thinks you’re going to die in here,” Ryley said.

I knew Ryley was right. Except Ryley was on the other side of the bars, so why would Robbie think that? I wouldn’t die in the time Ryley took to walk out of here and get help unless…

What if this cage wasn’t the only thing that’d changed when I hit that trigger? What if the entrance was sealed now, too?

“ Ryley , go. Check the exit. See if it’s locked.”

Ryley’s eyes widened, understanding my worries immediately. “ I’ll be right back.”

“ I’ll be here.”

It wasn’t like I had any other choice. Son of fuck. I couldn’t believe I’d let us get trapped in here.