Page 10 of The Alpha's Second Chance Mate

Inside, I began to relax. Something about being in a home that waslived inhad a calming effect on me. Grandma’s house held nostalgia, but after being empty for fifteen years, it had a sterility to it that would eventually go away the longer we were there. Here, in Stormy’s house? There was life here—toys strewn across the floor, a cartoon playing on the television, food out on the counter, and dirty dishes in the sink. It was all I wanted, and hopefully I’d have it once we made the house a home.

Ashton took Shiloh into the living room to play with her, leaving Stormy and me to talk in the kitchen undisturbed.

“Where’s Liz?” I asked. The house actually belonged to Stormy’s mother.

“Mom’s taking a shower,” Stormy said. “She’ll be down in a few minutes. Here, you chop the lettuce.”

“Are you two settled yet?” I asked, taking the knife and head of lettuce from her.

Stormy shrugged, her mouth twisting into a sad smile. “I guess so. The house is more than big enough. Three bedrooms and three bathrooms. We could stay here for years if we wanted to. Mom would like that. But… God, I miss Clint.” She swallowed a few times and blinked back tears.

Clint and Stormy had been madly in love, and Shiloh was the apple of Clint’s eye from the moment she was born. It was so fucking unfair that she’d only had her father in her life for six months. The biggest heartbreak was the fact that Shiloh would never remember him. She’d only know her father throughpictures and videos. It almost mademecry, so I could hardly imagine Stormy’s heartache.

Once she had herself under control, she began placing slices of meat and cheese on the bread.

“So you saw Farrah?” she asked. “How’d that go? Give me more details.”

“She basically acted like I was some sort of criminal for coming back. She looked, like, really freaked out about it. God, you should have seen her face when she saw Ashton. Looked like she’d seen a ghost.”

“That bitch,” Stormy hissed, keeping her voice low so Ashton didn’t hear. “I never liked her after the way she treated you back then. Acting like you were some whore banging every dude in town and didn’t know who’d knocked you up. The fucking nerve of her. I was happy when she left.”

Frowning, I looked up from my cutting board. “Farrah left? I thought it was only Cole?”

Stormy shook her head. “Didn’t I tell you? She left a few months after you did. I didn’t move away until after college, so I saw it all happen. No clue why she’s back in town, though.”

“I know why.”

Liz, Stormy’s mother, walked in, her hair still wet from the shower.

“Why?” Stormy asked. “I’ve only been back a couple weeks. I haven’t had time to ask about the Harbor Mills pack drama. Did Lance Garrett decide to bring her home?”

Liz’s eyes widened. “Oh, God, Stormy. I didn’t tell you.”

“Tell me what, Mom?”

“Lance Garrett is dead. That’s why Farrah came home. She’s sorting out the pack stuff now that their alpha is gone.”

The knife slipped from my hand and skittered across the counter. Lance was dead? If Farrah was back, did that mean Cole was as well? Eyes bulging in shock and heart thundering, I raised my eyes to meet Liz’s.

“Does… uh… does that meanyou know whois back in town?” I asked.

Liz lifted a hand to cover her mouth. “Oh, Lord. Sweetheart. I didn’t even think. If he is back, I haven’t seen him. I don’t run in those shifter circles, so I’m not plugged in. All I can say is I haven’t seen him.”

“Holy shit,” Stormy whispered. “Can youimagine?”

“I don’t want to,” I said.

Not only had my plan to introduce Ashton to his grandfather suddenly been tossed in the trash, now I had to figure out how to tell him his grandfather was dead. I’d been back in Harbor Mills for only a few hours, and nothing was going right.

When the sandwiches were done, Liz got a few bags of chips out, and we went about eating lunch. I poked at my food, my appetite suddenly gone. All I could think of was the possibility that Cole was back in town. I hadn’t seen him since the night he up and left without a word. When I told Farrah I was pregnant, she came back a few days later and relayed his message to me. He wanted nothing to do with me or the child growing in my belly. To this day, I still couldn’t figure out what I’d done to make him leave me like that.

I’dneverloved any other man the way I’d loved Cole. Not even Perry. I was never head over heels in love with Perry like I had been with Cole. I was only twenty when Cole left, still just a kid, but we were soulmates. More than that, I was his fated mate. When Cole left, my heart had shattered in a way I’d never thought possible. If Ashton hadn’t come along a few months later to give me something to live for, who knows what might have happened.

My phone rang around the time we were done eating. Ashton was catching up with Stormy and Liz, who he hadn’t seen in several years. I went into the den to answer the call.

“Ma’am? This is Tammy. We spoke earlier?”

The woman from the water company. “Yes, is my water turned on yet?”

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