Page 34 of Alphas Never Hide (Willow Lake Supernaturals #5)

Chapter Thirty-Four

HAYDEN

“ Something happened,” I said, picking up speed.

“ What ?” Gage asked as he lengthened his stride to match my pace. He had shifted out of his demonic form so he could move more easily through the trees, but he was still keeping up with me.

“ Yeah , their trail suddenly became strong enough that I can pick it up too. It isn’t as clear as it should be, but it is better than it was,” Dillon said from right behind me. “ There are five other wolves and someone else. A mage, maybe? I can see magic lingering in the air. And for some reason they went from being four-footed to two-footed.”

Oak was silent. His gaze stayed on the sky more than the forest.

“ Another faun,” I said. In fact, the scent reminded me of Ryley a little. “ Why would they take their human forms? They’d be faster on their paws. ”

“ It is welcome news for us, though. We might catch up and overtake them,” Dillon said.

“ I’ll let the others know,” Gage said, pulling out his cell phone.

“ Good job, Ry ,” I muttered. “ Keep doing exactly that.”

Last night, when my alpha magic had erupted and spewed over everyone, I’d seen a golden thread connecting Ryley to me. It’d faded from sight after I became alpha, but the more I concentrated on my bond with him, the more I could sense it. And through that link, I tried to let him know I was coming. That he wasn’t alone.

And I swore, just for a heartbeat, that I could feel him too. A warm sensation had wrapped around me. It felt like love, reminding me of all the best moments of my life: my parents telling me they were proud of me, the first time I shifted and saw my wolf, and the moment I accepted Ryley as my mate.

That had to mean he was still okay. I had to get to him before that changed.

My heart thundered in my chest. My paws pounded against the leaf-littered forest floor. Suddenly , a raven cawed overhead. Mercer was back. I thought about stopping for an update, but I couldn’t. Not when I was sure Ryley was just ahead.

Mercer ducked between the trees like a shadow. The whisper of his wings shook the yellowing leaves on the aspen trees.

“ I couldn’t see or hear them, and then suddenly I could. There are five wolves, including Robbie . Two of the wolves are carrying people over their shoulders. One has Ryley and the other has another faun. That other one is playing a flute.”

“ Did they see you?”

“ I don’t think so,” Mercer said as he banked around a tree trunk.

“ Good . How far ahead?”

“ They are almost at the road. A wolf is waiting there with the engine running on a beat-up truck. I don’t recognize the vehicle, but I can describe it, and I got the license plate numbers.”

“ Excellent work. Get that to Van ,” I said. “ And tell him to send a vehicle out to meet us at the road in case we don’t get there in time.”

“ Yes , Alpha ,” Mercer said as he shot up through the trees and out of sight.

I was already running, but I forced my legs to pump faster. I doubted we’d overtake Robbie in time, but I had to try. As soon as I smelled vehicle exhaust, I knew we were too late. We broke out of the trees in time to see Robbie’s truck veer off the shoulder and onto the asphalt.

“ Damn it,” I said on a panting breath. My wolf wanted to race after them, but I knew I’d never catch them.

“ I’m back and I brought company,” Mercer shouted from overhead. His large black wings thumped against the air as he raced down the highway after the truck. Beside me, Oak growled his displeasure, but he didn’t stop his mate.

“ Company ?” I asked.

“ Over there.” Gage pointed to the blue streak undulating over the treetops along the side of the road. “ Simon and Ogden are with him. ”

“ Wait , did you say Simon is there too?” I looked at the blue dragon again and sure enough, Simon was up there, attached to Ogden’s back with some kind of harness system. I couldn’t imagine what’d dragged Simon out here. I hoped he didn’t feel obligated to do this because we’d helped him and Ogden a while back. I’d never demand such a thing from him. This was not a tit-for-tat situation.

Still , I didn’t want Mercer out there alone, either. Years ago, someone had shot Mercer out of the air. Robbie had blamed one of his friends, but even if that was true, I knew Robbie had encouraged him to do it. I couldn’t let that happen again. Mercer would be safer if he had a companion in the air.

Fuck . I had to get Robbie . I had to stop him. He’d been causing problems for too long.

“ Where is the damn vehicle I asked for?—”

“ It’s coming. Over there,” Dillon said, pointing his nose toward the road leading to town.

A car skidded around a curve and raced toward us.

“ Who is that?” Gage asked.

I recognized that car, from its dented green roof to the ticking noise in the engine that I kept trying to get the owner to fix. I groaned. “ Clive Rivers .”

“ One of Simon’s brothers.”

“ Believe me when I say he is nothing like Simon .” That much was obvious as Clive brought the car to a squealing stop in front of us. The back end of the car fishtailed, but he didn’t lose control. I knew he didn’t always have that much luck, because he called the shop almost weekly to pull him out of a ditch .

The passenger door swung open and Warren , another Rivers boy, jumped out.

“ Hi , Alpha ,” Warren said as he waved at us. “ Here , you can sit up front.”

“ We can’t all fit in there,” I said.

“ We can if I shift,” Warren offered with an eager smile.

I wanted to argue with him, tell him and his brother to stay here while we took their car. But we were already losing time and an argument with those two would only waste more. I could probably command them to stay here using my alpha power, but the idea of compelling them to do something against their will made me queasy.

“ I hope you know what you’re doing,” I said instead, as I jumped into the front seat. Dillon , Gage , and Oak piled into the back, as Warren shifted to his cat form and hopped into my lap. He was no bigger than an average house cat, so he stood with his front paws on the dashboard so he could see out the window. As soon as everyone’s arms and legs were inside, Clive took off down the road again.

“ Watch the sky for Mercer and Ogden ,” I said. “ And , uh, Simon too.”

“ Simon ? As in our brother Simon ? That Simon ?” Warren asked.

“ He’s with Ogden . They’re following Robbie .”

“ I knew he had it in him,” Clive said. He let out a yahoo and pressed on the gas harder. “ He’s a Rivers , after all.”

“ Don’t kill us before we get there,” Dillon said.

Clive cackled, but didn’t make any promises.