Page 101 of The Alpha's Second Chance Mate

“He said Kyle tricked his dad into signing the whole pack and all its money away to Dallas. What else is there?”

“Thewhat elseis that Kyle gave Cole a week to leave town and accept that he controls Harbor Mills now. If he doesn’t, then he’s going to kill Dallas. He also said he’d kill me, and you, and Ashton. He…” Trent broke eye contact. “Well, he made some threats about what he might do to you before he kills you.”

“Murder? You can’t be serious. People don’t really do stuff like that. This is real life.”

Trent’s eyes found mine again, and he smiled grimly. “I assure you, Avery. People absolutelydokill. Most of the time, it’s for much less than what Kyle is threatening.”

A thousand emotions shuddered through me as his words sank in.

“Cole didn’t have the heart to tell you,” Trent said. “He wants you to leave him. One way or another, he’s got to get you guys to safety, even if that means he loses you. I can’tlet him do that. Not without you knowing the truth about why he’s doing it.”

Of all the emotions rushing through me, the most prevalent was unmitigated anger.

“How could he keep something so important from me?” I snapped. “This is bullshit. I have a right to know the truth so I can make a decision. This isn’thislife. It’s mine and my son’s.”

Trent held his hands up in surrender. “I know. Trust me, I get it. You have to see where he’s coming from.”

“No, I don’t,” I hissed. “This is what he always does. He could have told me what was happening fifteen years ago, but he chose not to. Now he’s doing the exact same fucking thing. This is who Cole is. He’ll never change.”

Trent’s eyes widened in fear. “Wait, no. Avery, you can’t?—”

“I know what I need to do, Trent.”

He stared at me for several seconds, searching my face, trying to find some crack in my resolve, but when he saw nothing, he let his arms hang at his sides in defeat. “Okay. All right. I get it. I know this is hard. I’m sorry I had to tell you this. I just didn’t want you to think Cole didn’t have a good reason for it.”

“A good reason?” I scoffed. “Well, I’ll do what he’s too scared to do. It’ll be better for everyone in the long run.”

Head hanging low, Trent walked back into the forest, and I watched him go, not looking away until he shifted and vanished into the underbrush. If Cole refused to do what needed to be done, then I would. I’d rip the Band-Aid off. Make it quick. Then we could all go on from there.

It would hurt. It would be soul-shattering, but I survived it once. I’ll survive it again.

24

COLE

Sitting on my porch, I gazed out at the warm summer day and wondered how the fuck everything had gone wrong so fast. One minute, things were really looking up, and the next, it was all crashing down. It was ridiculous and maddening. Fate was fucking with me, giving me enough hope to let the flower in my heart bloom before crushing the petals with a steel-toed boot.

Why the hell had I spoken to Avery like that? What had gotten into me? The answer to that was fear. I’d been terrified of telling her the truth, of letting her know the kind of trouble she was in. That realization could scar someone, and I didn’t want that for her. Better if she and Ashton left without knowing why.

Ashton. The rage on his face when he’d come rushing out of his room made a lump form in my throat. That anger as he growled, all of it focused on me. It had broken my heart. All I wanted was to be a good father to him. And what had I done? A few weeks after meeting him, I’d caused a scene at his house, made him think I was disrespecting his mother. Perhaps even threatening her in some way. What a great guy I was.

Maybe Kyle was right. Dad and I might have a lot in common, and being shitty fathers was at the top of the list.

The road was calling to me, just like it had the other morning in Atlanta. It would be so easy to vanish. Pack my shit, get out of Avery’s hair, let Ashton live his life without a worthless jackass of a father. He’d be better off without me. Avery would be better off without me.

Like an insistent angel on my right shoulder, Trent’s voice came back to me. There were other people besides Ashton and Avery relying on me. The pack was depending on me. Trent was right when he said I couldn’t up and leave, though the more time that passed, the more it appealed to me.

There was too much to figure out. I refused to tell them what was happening. They’d already been through enough with how things had gone at the end with my father. We’d need to find a way to sort this all out quickly and quietly. Trent was the best to do that. I refused to let Kyle win. No matter what. We’d handle this one way or another.

I’d never taken another life. Trent had taken many in the service, and I didn’t know how he could live with that stain on his soul. Either way, it looked like it was going to happen. If I wanted Harbor Mills to succeed, whether with me at the helm or not, Kyle had to die. I was the acting alpha. No matter how much I wanted to, I couldn’t command Trent to do it. This was my burden to bear, and it had to be me. The mere thought of it made me sick.

My dark thoughts shattered when my phone rang. My heart lurched when I read Avery’s name on the screen. It had been over twenty-four hours since I’d last spoken to her, but I’d thought it would take longer for her to be ready to talk. I wasgoing to go down there soon and broach the subject. In fact, I’d been trying to convince myself to get in my truck. Could she have read my mind and decided to head me off?

With a trembling finger, I answered the call.

“Avery?”

“Hello, Cole. I think you need to come to the house—now. I need to talk to you.”

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