Page 2 of Alphas Never Hide (Willow Lake Supernaturals #5)

Chapter Two

HAYDEN

“ Son of a fucking, cloven-hoofed dick weasel.” The muttered words cut off with a thud and a groan, like someone had fallen and hurt themselves.

It’d been a handful of minutes since I’d started tracking the scent of blood, so I paused and listened.

“ Fucking bucking duck,” the person continued. “ Why hasn’t anyone perfected transporters yet? I could really handle getting beamed the fuck up about now.”

They obviously hadn’t detected my presence yet. I sniffed the air again. The blood was concentrated here.

“ Get the fuck up, Ryley ,” the mystery man said.

Was someone with him? I only scented one person and an unfamiliar animal-like scent, too. The mixture reminded me a bit of Isaac , the centaur who’d moved to town recently, or Levi , the local minotaur, but it wasn’t quite the same. Weirdly , the scent, reminiscent of grass and sage and clover, intrigued me. It reminded me of hot summer afternoons when I ran the perimeter of the pack lands, particularly along the stretch that was more prairie than forest.

I crept closer.

They hadn’t noticed me yet, and I wanted it to stay that way as long as possible. One step. Then another. I inched forward until I could make out limbs and fur and skin.

What was that?

Sprawled across the forest floor was the strangest creature I’d ever seen. He was undoubtedly a supernatural being, but I didn’t know what kind. The bottom half looked like some kind of farm animal, but the top was human-ish except for the short, little nubby horns poking out through his dark brown hair.

Was he a centaur who had somehow lost his backside? Or a child-sized minotaur? No , minotaurs didn’t shift like that. Was he stuck mid-shift?

I’d never seen a mid-shift problem like that before, so perfectly divided over the body. Although , my Anubis form, which had my head transition to a wolf and made subtle changes over the rest of my body, was similar. Was this the same, only in reverse?

Intrigued by the unusual sight, I stepped closer. A cluster of brittle leaves crackled under my paw. I froze, but it was too late. The supe lifted his head. My first thought was this was not a child. No , this was a full-grown supe. His wide eyes scanned the trees until they landed on me. His face contorted in anger, pain, and fear.

“ Fuuuuck .” He groaned and cast his gaze up toward the sky, as if begging for divine intervention. It was such a human gesture, because every supe knew the Eternal Magic didn’t live in the air. “ Not another one. Are you replicating yourselves out here or something?”

I startled as he collapsed to his back. As I drew closer, I saw the source of the blood. His pale torso was covered in it. It flowed from scrapes and cuts and, fuck, were those bite marks, too?

What was he doing? Exposing his stomach to me was a submissive gesture, but his muttered words didn’t sound submissive. His two little hoofed feet twitched in the air.

“ Alright . Come on. Let’s get this over with. Come and get me.”

I edged closer, sniffing the ground for more clues about what was going on. “ I smelled blood. Are you okay?”

“ For Magic’s sake,” he muttered, like he couldn’t believe I’d ask such a question. Even in the dim light, I could see his eyes roll. “ Do I look okay to you?”

He sounded more irritated than pained, but between the eye rolling, the twitching, and the strange things he was saying, I wondered if he was having a hallucinatory seizure. His behavior wasn’t normal.

“ Come on already. Let’s do this.” His words dripped with impatience as he beckoned me closer.

“ Are you okay?” I asked again as I neared him.

“ Wouldn’t you like to know,” he grumbled. “ What is taking you so long? Get your ass over here.”

“ Do you need help standing? Are you mid-shift?”

“ What an asshole,” he muttered, and I had no idea why. My questions were perfectly reasonable. He glared at me. “ Yeah . Right . Sure . You should check my ankle. I think I twisted it.”

Shit . If he’d broken it, he could be in shock. Was that why he was acting so strangely? At least I could help with his ankle. Maybe then he’d settle. The place inside me where my alpha magic lived warmed as I gave in to the need to care for him.

The heavy scent of blood nearly obliterated the smell of everything else, but as I drew closer to the creature, I picked up other nuances. And there, under the rest, was a scent I’d recognize anywhere, even after all these years. Robbie . My damn brother’s scent was all over this poor man. Knowing what I knew of my brother, I suspected he was responsible for those scrapes, bruises, and raw looking bites on the man’s lean body.

My heart pounded as I glanced around at the woods again. I still didn’t scent another supe, but this had to be a trap. And I was the dipshit who’d walked right into it.

“ What are you waiting for? I don’t have all night.”

“ Where is he?” I asked warily, scanning the woods. “ Come on out, Robbie . Let’s talk.”

“ My name’s not Robbie , asshole. Which you would know if you’d asked me,” the man said. “ I’m Ryley . And could you quit yelling? Fuck only knows what you’ll attract with all that racket.”

I waited. No one charged at me from the shadows. I waited a little longer. Robbie had never been a patient guy. He must not be here. So , what did that mean? Was this Ryley guy another of Robbie’s prisoners? Had he escaped?

If my suspicions were true, he was the best lead I’d come across.

Finally .

The Eternal Magic herself had delivered him right to me. If she expected an apology for all the bitching and complaining I’d been doing tonight, she’d have to wait. First , I needed to get this guy away from here and to safety as soon as possible. I shifted into my human form as I darted forward. The guy’s legs twitched again. I didn’t have a first aid kit with me, but I could strip off my T -shirt and use it to bind his ankle.

I reached for the foot he said was injured?—

The supe’s foot shot out, aiming straight for my eye. I dodged, but not quick enough to avoid it completely.

Thump . Thump . Thump .

His cloven hoof battered my face three times before I fell backward. As I collapsed, the back of my head struck a tree trunk. Fantastic . That was just what I needed after getting a hoof to the face.

“ Watch where you put that thing. You could have blinded me.” I slid my fingers over my cheek. They came away wet and bloody. The two points on his hoof were as sharp as knife blades. “ Are you having a seizure?”

“ You’re still alive? Damn it. You must have a thick skull.”

“ You’re trying to kill me?” My words were barely discernable through my growl. I blinked at the murderous stranger. “ What the fuck, man?”

Ryley had grabbed onto a low hanging tree branch and was hauling himself to his feet. He didn’t seem capable of putting weight on one of his feet, so he hadn’t been lying about his injured ankle. When he got upright, he swayed and almost fell again. When he was finally steady, he scowled at me. If he had any kind of kinetic magic, like the kind humans gave their fictional superheroes, I’d be dead.

“ Oh , don’t sound so surprised. I’m not falling for it. And I’m not going back with you.” He raised his hands in the air and lifted his injured leg in a bizarre pose that reminded me of a praying mantis. I shouldn’t think he looked cute like that. Like a little pup, trying to be all mean and menacing, while striking the strangest pose I’d ever seen. Yeah . I definitely wasn’t thinking clearly. I probably had a brain injury. “ If you try to make me, I’ll go all Karate Kid on your ass.”

“ Huh ?” My thoughts churned sluggishly through my throbbing head, but it didn’t take much to figure out what the problem was. “ I’m not one of those wolves.”

He huffed. “ Right . Like I’m going to believe that.”

“ I’m serious.”

“ So , what are you saying? You’re just some rando wolf out for a stroll?” He lowered his arms and leg, then hobbled toward me. I inched away from him. I had no desire to be on the business end of those hooves again, so I figured my best plan was to stay out of kicking range.

I stared at his vicious hoof for a minute until I was sure he wouldn’t strike me again. Then my gaze wandered up his body. Now that I saw him standing, he was taller than I’d first thought. He also reminded me of something or someone, but my head ached too much for me to figure it out right now. Was it from a movie or a TV show?

Even in my human form, my senses were strong enough to pick out a few details about him in the darkness of the forest. Beige -colored fur covered everything south of his waist. I didn’t let my gaze linger down there, though. I didn’t want him thinking I was trying to check out what he was packing between his legs, even if I couldn’t see anything because of his fur .

In my quick glance, I noted how his bottom half was more animal-like, from the shape of his short legs to the hooves and his little stubby tail. His upper half was human, with two notable exceptions: those little stump-like horns sticking out through his brown hair, and eyes with creepy rectangular-shaped pupils.

“ No , you’re right. I’m not randomly strolling around,” I said. “ I’m looking for the wolves who captured you. Whatever you can tell me about them will help.”

“ Nope . I’m not falling for that. Why are you really here? You’re just trying to distract me until they catch up, aren’t you? Do I look gullible? And , while we’re being all honest and shit, I should let you know you aren’t taking me anywhere. Never .”

“ I’m not with them. I can help.”

He sneered in disbelief. “ If you aren’t with those prick-crickets, how did you know I’d been captured, huh? You smell like you haven’t had a bath in weeks, just like they do. I haven’t had a shower in weeks, and I still smell better than you. Do you really think I’m going to fall for your lies?”

His voice had gotten louder and louder the longer he talked until he nearly shouted the last question. And prick-crickets? What in the name of Magic was a prick-cricket? This guy’s swearing was truly bizarre. It was like he thought if he pushed a bunch of words together, that was enough, even if they didn’t make sense.

“ I don’t smell that bad.” I checked my pits again. He had a fair point. I was a little ranker than I’d thought. And my T -shirt had at least three oil stains, and my ripped jeans had more. I sighed and lifted my hands in a placating gesture. “ Fine . I can see why you might be confused about me, but I swear I’m not with them. I’m the…” I swallowed. Nope . I couldn’t say I was the Alpha of the Willow Lake pack. Lies would get me nowhere. “ I live in Willow Lake . We’re trying to catch those wolves and bring them to justice.”

The guy stopped his wobbly approach. He put one hand against a tree to brace himself and the other on his hip. If his leg hadn’t been injured, I suspected he would have been tapping his foot impatiently. “ So I’m supposed to believe you’re some kind of vigilante?”

“ Can’t we just say I’m here to help?”

The way his eyebrows lifted in obvious disbelief suggested that wouldn’t be happening.

“ Listen , how about you take my phone? You can go online and call the police or something. Sometimes the reception isn’t the greatest out here, but you could try.”

“ And you’re going to sit there quietly while I’m mucking about on your phone. Right . Sure . I believe you.” He shook his head. “ You really must think I’m an easy mark. I might not be a full supe, but that doesn’t make me gullible. I’ve faced off against worse assholes than you.”

“ Listen to me for a minute.” I wasn’t sure if this was a mistake or not, but I wasn’t getting anywhere with my other tactics. “ I’m not saying this to scare you, but if my intention was to abduct you or hurt you, I could have done that by now. When I first approached, I wouldn’t have gone for your feet. I would have gone for your jugular to kill or subdue you. And now? I could shift and knock you to the ground before you could duck behind that tree. But I’m not doing that.” I paused and studied his reaction to my words while trying to figure out how to be as non-threatening as possible, particularly after saying all that. “ Do you get what I’m saying?”

His face twisted, suggesting my logic wasn’t impressing him. “ You’re saying I’m supposed to trust you because you haven’t tried to kill me yet?”

“ Pretty much, yes.” I was used to being trusted. I didn’t realize how much I took that trust for granted until I didn’t have it.

“ You must have really excelled at debate class in school.” He frowned as he eyed me for one long moment. I felt the moment he decided to take a chance on me. The tension in the air eased. He reached out and wiggled his fingers. “ Give me your phone.”

I pulled my phone from my back pocket slowly, so he didn’t think I was doing anything nefarious. My fingertip was still bloody from when I’d wiped my face, so it left a red streak across the surface when I unlocked the screen. I gently tossed my phone to him, still not keen on getting too close to his hooves.

My face was bleeding. Facial wounds were always such drama queens. And his hits had struck close to my eye, so the blasted thing was starting to swell. Nope . I didn’t need another kick like that anytime soon.

“ You know, you shouldn’t show your pattern to anyone. Now I can unlock your phone any time and really mess things up for you,” he said as he tapped on my phone. I couldn’t see the screen, so I didn’t know what he was doing. Maybe he was downloading viruses or installing spyware or all those other things Buddy had warned me about. I didn’t really care. All I used it for was accepting calls from people in the pack, so it wouldn’t be hard to replace it.

“ Are you seriously giving me a lecture about phone security right now?”

“ Well , it’s true,” he said. “ Why don’t you have more apps? These are factory basic. Where are your pictures? Your apps? Your socials? Your games? Are you sure you’re legit? Because this is not normal.”

I didn’t think he needed an answer.

“ Huh . So , we are close to Willow Lake . You weren’t lying about that.” He tapped on the screen a bit more. “ Did you know you have the police station’s phone number in your contact list as van? What is a van? Like an acronym or something? Villains Are Nicer ? Or Victims and Numpties ?”

“ Van is the name of a friend. A hellhound. He’s also the Chief of Police .”

A few more taps. “ Huh . Would you look at that? Supenet agrees with you. There is a hellhound in charge of the police in Willow Lake named Van Clark .”

I barely stopped myself from saying I told you so.