Page 23 of Alphas Never Hide (Willow Lake Supernaturals #5)

Chapter Twenty-Three

HAYDEN

The pub was surprisingly busy for a weeknight. And , given the way most of the people stared at Ryley and me when we walked through the pub doors that second time, I had a pretty good idea what had drawn them all out tonight.

Nosy bastards. The whole lot of them.

Even Daphne Rivers was here, sitting with a bunch of other well-seasoned gossips. I should have expected as much when I’d seen two of her sons in line at the Flying Rowan this morning.

Normally , that would make me growl, but today it didn’t. What I said to Ryley was true. None of these people were malicious. They cared about each other, and, for some reason, even after I’d messed up so badly, they still cared about me, too.

The deeper we walked into the pub, the more the feeling of rightness settled over me. How had I never realized how calming it was to be surrounded by these people? Talking to Ryley about these people had cracked something inside me and now everything was just… More ? Different ? Better ? I squeezed Ryley’s hand, hoping he sensed it too.

My eyes were getting watery. I swallowed hard and hoped no one noticed. Not that I cared if they saw me cry, but because I wasn’t ready to talk about why I was crying, not until I understood what all of this meant.

And who knows? Maybe I was just feeling this way because I was tired. Yeah , okay, I didn’t think that was the real reason.

A surge of energy rushed through me as if people’s affection for me was a tangible thing. I didn’t deserve their caring and goodwill, but I needed to quit fighting it. If I worked hard, someday I might be able to redeem myself and be worthy of it.

I nodded to several of the regulars as I led us across the room to where the guys Ryley had already met were sitting. They’d pushed a couple of tables together, so I suspected more people would be coming. I hoped it wouldn’t be too overwhelming for him. Like always, Jeremy was sitting in the middle of the group, scribbling madly in one of his many, many notebooks. Adrian was at his side, watching Jeremy like he was the center of his world, which I guessed he was.

Dillon was looking at Ash the same way. The big hellhound had his mate tucked under his arm. Ash was in another of his pink sweaters. He must wear nothing else. Just pink sweaters. Every pink under the sun. Although , I mostly wore T -shirts in various shades of gray, so maybe it wasn’t all that different.

Surprisingly , Ogden and Simon were there too. Simon had changed a lot since he’d met his mate, grown more confident and settled, but right now he looked ready to shift and hide. His mate whispered that he didn’t need to do anything he wasn’t comfortable with.

It was the same type of thing I’d said to Ryley . Shit . Was that another sign he was my mate? Maybe it was better not to think about that too much right now. If Jeremy sensed something, he’d start asking ten thousand questions about it.

Isaac and Teague were at the other end. They nodded at us in greeting.

“ Wait ,” Jeremy said, not looking up from what he was writing. “ Slow down. One idea at a time.”

Paws sat on the table beside Jeremy , leaning over to watch Jeremy’s pen move over the paper. He swatted at the end of the pen, like a house cat.

“ Stop that, Paws ,” Jeremy muttered. “ Adrian , can you get one of my pens from my bag and give it to Paws to play with? I’ll have to remember to grab one of Clawie’s toys and stick it in my bag for next time.”

Paws froze. “ I never… I wouldn’t… I wasn’t…”

“ I hope I’m here when Jeremy gives a cat toy to Paws so I can record it. My parents would love to see that,” Ogden whispered to Simon with a grin as he watched the confused cat-like creature try to deny what he’d been doing.

“ I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Paws flicked his tail and started cleaning his face with his paw, like that had been his intention all along.

When I let go of Ryley’s hand to pull a couple more chairs over, I missed his warm touch immediately. It must just be that my magic, even in its weakened state, was still encouraging me to comfort him. The others shuffled their chairs around to make room for us.

“ Do you know everyone?” I asked Ryley once we were seated. I slipped my hand into his again under the table, just to comfort him. Remind him he wasn’t alone. Really .

Ryley’s gaze darted around the table, like he was apprehensive about making eye contact with anyone. I hadn’t known Ryley for long, but it was strange to see him so uncertain. Where had the guy gone who’d kicked me in the face? Or demanded I get my ass back inside when I’d tried to leave last night? Or snuck into the back of my truck when I’d tried to go out to hunt Robbie this morning?

“ Yeah , I think so,” he said with a quick nod.

“ So , the other day we were talking about human sports,” Ash said to us. “ And you can imagine what happened next.”

I lifted an eyebrow. “ What ?”

“ They want to have a Willow Lake Olympics for supes,” Ash said.

“ Of course they do,” I muttered.

Jeremy looked down at his notebook. “ I still don’t see how this is going to work. Let’s say we have a swimming competition. Is it fair to put all these different supes in the same race? Kelpies , mermen, and octopus shifters don’t really have anything in common except that they all like water. Have we missed anyone? Are there any other supes in town who like water?”

“ Who is in charge of the betting?” someone from another table asked.

“ Isn’t it illegal to gamble on things like that?” Ryley asked.

I shrugged. “ As long as the wagers are small, Van turns a blind eye to that kind of thing.”

“ There will be betting?” Paws perked up and started purring. “ Perfect . Ash , get a piece of paper and a pen from Jeremy . You can record the bets.” He cleared his throat. “ Listen up, everyone. The first competition is open for bets now. Brodie , Weston , Henrietta , and Gary are competing in the swimming competition.”

Brodie , who’d been delivering a big plate of nachos, froze when he heard his name.

“ Bets for each sport will be kept separate,” Paws continued. “ All bets are final. Doesn’t matter if new competitors are introduced later. Place your bets with Ash now. Two dollars a bet, maximum five bets per person per competition.”

“ Shouldn’t we ask everyone if they want to compete first?” Ash asked, but he was already grabbing a pen from Jeremy’s bag.

“ My money is on Weston ,” someone yelled over to Ash . “ That merman’s been swimming in that lake every day for years. He knows that lake better than anyone, and have you seen the size of his tail? That thing is massive.”

“ That’s not all he’s got that’s massive,” another man said, rather loudly. “ It’s true what they say about the size of a merman’s fins being proportional, if you know what I mean.”

A few people chuckled.

Brodie’s nostrils flared. He glared at the man who’d spoken. He marched over with the nachos and appeared to trip as he approached the table. The nachos went flying, right onto the guy who’d more or less announced he’d slept with Weston . Shouts of surprise shot up from the man and his friends.

“ I’m so sorry,” Brodie said with false sincerity. “ Are you okay?”

They brushed away his apology, even the guy covered in chips, salsa, and sour cream. Everyone in town knew Brodie’s unfortunate history, which gave him a lot of leeway. No one wanted to be the asshole who yelled at the kid who’d been rescued from a cage.

I caught Brodie’s eye when he rushed by. His eyes widened and his cheeks darkened when he realized I’d seen what he’d done. He ducked his head and rushed across the room. I was going to have to monitor him. If his crush on Weston started interfering with his work or the pack dynamics, I’d have to talk to him. As it was, no one else seemed to realize Brodie’s accident was anything but accidental.

“ I don’t know, man,” someone else, from yet another table, said as they watched Brodie disappear into the kitchen. “ That Brodie is a kelpie, so yeah, more horse than fish, but he’s young and that gives him the advantage.”

“ So , no one’s betting on Henrietta or Gary ?” Ash asked.

Silence . Sure , they were octopus shifters, but they were also the local bakers and liked to sample their own goods. Looked like no one thought racing would be their forte.

“ I will,” Sally shouted from the bar. The incubus had been in a casual relationship with them for years. They’d finally made things a little less casual this summer. “ You’d never know it, but they have a lot of stamina.” She waggled her eyebrows. “ If anyone wants details so they can make an educated bet, I’ll tell you all about it.”

Yeah . I didn’t think any of us needed to know those details.

“ Next we have long distance running,” Jeremy said. “ So , mostly shifters, I guess?”

“ Dillon will compete,” Ash volunteered.

Jeremy turned his head to his own mate.

“ Fine ,” Adrian said. “ I will too.”

“ Then there is Hayden . Oh , and Van too,” Jeremy said, making more marks in his notebook.

Adrian groaned. “ I’ll never win against the alpha.”

“ Wait a minute,” I said. “ When did I say I’d compete?”

Everyone turned to look at me with varying degrees of exasperation.

“ Don’t bother protesting,” Paws said. “ We all know you’ll do it in the end, so let’s skip to that part.”

“ Fine ,” I said, sitting back in my chair. The damn cat was probably right.

“ It doesn’t matter anyway,” Isaac said from the other end of the table. “ I’m going to win.”

“ No way,” Teague said. “ Nelson will win, hands down.”

Isaac’s jaw dropped in disbelief. “ Nelson can’t compete in a race like that. He doesn’t run; he just pops from one shadow to another. Is there a flying competition? Stick him in that instead.”

“ But is he really flying?” Jeremy stroked his chin. “ I should make a note of that for my Amazing Book of Super Supes . But it brings us back around to the concern I had right from the start. I don’t see how this can work.”

“ We don’t have to figure it all out tonight,” Adrian said, rubbing Jeremy’s back.

Ryley leaned close to me. “ Is it always like this?”

I glanced around. Jeremy and the others were still arguing over competition categories and who should compete in what. People were shouting out bets to Ash for categories that hadn’t even been discussed yet. Levi and Carter were over at the pool table, trying to distract Parker from noticing what everyone else was saying. He was the only human in the place who didn’t know about supes. Jake was busy behind the bar. Buddy and Alice were feeding one another fries in a back corner of the pub. Old Thom was tucked away in another corner with a honey-colored beer, grumbling about how it wasn’t as good as Witch’s Milk . Paws was sitting in the middle of our table with his head tilted at an imperious angle, as if we were all his minions.

“ Yeah . Pretty much,” I said.

“ Huh ,” was all he said, as he went back to studying everyone in the pub.

Jake finished up with a patron at the bar and came over to us with a couple of food menus. I didn’t need one, but I took it anyway.

“ Sorry it took me so long to get over here. But , holy O’Keeffe , is it busy in here tonight,” Jake said, glancing around with a bemused look on his face. “ What can I get you to drink?”

“ You didn’t have to bring these over. I would have come to the bar,” I said, realizing I should have done that as soon as we walked in. But I hadn’t wanted to leave Ryley alone.

“ No worries,” Jake said. “ You want your usual, Hayden ?”

That was the thing I’d always liked about Jake . He usually called me by my name. None of that alpha crap with him. “ Yeah . That’d be good.”

Ryley read the list of what was on tap. “ And I’ll have a wheat ale.”

“ Yes ,” Jeremy said as he grinned at us, like he’d been listening to see what Ryley would order. Then he made a note in his book. “ I totally called that. Wheat ale for the faun, just like Isaac and Levi .”

“ If you want food, I’ll grab your order when I get back with your drinks.”

After we had our drinks and had ordered our food, Ryley and I sipped our drinks and watched everyone organize a mini Supernatural Olympics . That was entertainment enough. Being surrounded by people I considered friends while holding Ryley’s hand was surprisingly comfortable. I could see the speculative looks on people’s faces, but no one bombarded us with intrusive questions. Not even Jeremy .

That was also surprising, because my pack rarely held back their curiosity or their opinions.

My pack.

That wasn’t the first time tonight that I’d thought of these people as my pack and hadn’t cringed. And if I was being completely honest, that’d started before tonight.

Did that mean I wanted to be alpha?

For the first time, that question didn’t make me nauseous. I looked around the room again, letting my gaze drift over all these people. Warmth filled me. A tingling sensation that started deep in my core fluttered to life. It felt like magic. Then , as if that thought triggered a gateway to the alpha magic I’d always tried to shun, the little fluttering sensation grew. Streams of light flickered to life. They seemed to come from me.

What the?—?

More threads than I could count wove through the air like beautiful, shimmering streams of magic. I gaped at them. What was happening? My heart pounded, but I wasn’t scared.

Ryley turned to me. “ Is something the matter? Is your beer off?”

He couldn’t see the thread. Was I imagining this? At the other end of the table, Teague bolted out of his chair and stared at me in shock.

“ What ?” Isaac , Adrian , and Dillon said in unison as soon as Teague reacted, and they jumped to their feet. They were poised to attack as they looked around for a threat, but they didn’t seem to notice the dazzling light show any more than Ryley had.

Teague’s expression turned into a smile. A wide, exuberant smile.

“ Alpha ,” he said in an awed tone, as he tilted his head to the side.

The threads undulated as they stretched out from me .

The first one, the strongest one, reached for Ryley . As soon as it touched him, he gasped. A sweet smile crossed his face. He rubbed his chest. Immediately , a soft wave of acknowledgment and acceptance rolled back to me along the thread that connected us. Was he aware he’d done that? Agreed to be in my pack? Because that’s what that was, right?

I gulped.

My pack…

I had a fucking pack.

“ What was that?” he asked.

But I didn’t have time to answer, because more threads were reaching out. Some stopped at the people in the room, but others shot through the walls to places beyond the room, extending way beyond the building.

A ripple of awareness and joy bubbled up around me, through me. Those golden threads vibrated and pulsed with warmth and happiness. All except one. But a tsunami of joy swept away that shock of pain. These people— I let out a bark of laughter even as my damn eyes were stinging again—were my pack.

These people were my pack.

Everyone turned to face me and a wave of soft, reverent whispers of “ Alpha ” swept through the room.

I rubbed my chest, feeling the magic inside me grow stronger and stronger as it reached out to each person in the pack, and they wordlessly accepted me as their alpha.

Fuck .

I had a pack.

Maybe I always had.

I could admit to myself this much, at least: I didn’t hate the way it felt, this nearly tangible connection to the people in Willow Lake . I’d denied it for so long, so many times, that the idea of it still made me squirm, even if the reality of it was… nice.

But was it normal to hate it too? Because , now what? How could I live up to this important duty? I was a disaster. The decisions I’d made in the past had injured the pack. How could I ever make all this right?

I couldn’t figure this out tonight. I knew that. And suddenly I wondered if Jake had anything behind the counter that’d calm my rising— I should call it what it was—panic. Sweat beaded along my hairline. My hand squeezed Ryley’s . I fought the urge to run out of the pub and find a place to hide like Simon used to do.

In retrospect, I should have known that the Eternal Magic would figure out a way to get what she wanted in the end. And now, in less than twenty-four hours, I suddenly had both a pack and a potential mate.

Fuck my life.