Page 103 of The Alpha's Second Chance Mate

“I called you here to make sure you do what’s right by your pack. Even if you handle Kyle, you can’t leave again. I know you never wanted to be alpha, but you’re the best man for the job. This is your calling. If you run off into the sunset, with Kyle dealt with or not, then you won’t be any better than your father.”

The words slammed into me like bullets. I’d had my own worries about that, but hearing it voiced out loud was a shock. It sounded much worse, more visceral and shameful than the depressed voice in my head.

My emotions must have been written on my face because Avery scrutinized me, then nodded.

“You’ve been running for years, Cole. It’s what you do best. You can’t run from this. Not this time. How long before the guilt of it all sends you to the bottom of a bottle like your dad? How would you feel, knowing you’d left your pack—a pack that by all rights belongs to our son one day—and left it in the hands of that psycho Kyle?”

It would eat me alive. I wouldn’t have anything. No family, no pack. I’d spiral. I already knew it, and it hadn’t even happened yet.

Sitting there, looking at her, I wondered what I could say. How I could apologize. It seemed that the more I wanted to run, the less sense it made.

“I’m taking Ashton. We’re leaving town.” Her voice was calm but stern.

I’d wanted that, or thought I did, but actually hearing it was like getting kicked in the balls.

“I know you need to focus on what’s coming,” she went on. “I have a hunch it’ll get ugly, so I need to think of my son’s safety. I don’t want him anywhere near whatever might happen.”

“Okay,” I said, and I was shocked at how weak my voice sounded when it came out. “Well, I think that’s smart. I want Ashton safe, too. But, uh, what about us? You and I, I mean.”

She gave a single shake of her head. “I don’t think now’s the right time to explore a new relationship. You have a ton of shit to work through, Cole. And it doesn’t look like you want to work them through with me. That’s fine with me, by the way. Better to find that out now than down the road.”

My wolf whined and snarled. I’d never, in my entire life, felt him react this way. Not even the first time I left Avery. I could actually sense him raging at me. I had no doubt that if it had been possible, he would have lashed out and bitten me for causing this, for pushing our mate away. As close as we were in spirit, we were still separate enough to disagree on major decisions like this.

Her words sent a lead ball dropping into my stomach, tearing through my intestines. Her flippant and emotionless tone hurt the most. Had I broken this so badly that she didn’t even feelanything at severing this bond? The thought alone made my gorge rise, and I had to swallow bile back.

“Are you rejecting me?” I asked, my voice thick with emotion.

Avery stared back at me, placidly at first, then her chin and lower lip quivered. Tears welled in her eyes, and she cleared her throat.

“My heart won’t let me do that. Not yet. All I know is that I have to separate myself from you until you learn to become the mate I need you to be. The mate I deserve. Right now, you are not that person.”

I stared back at her.

I couldn’t argue with that.

25

AVERY

Ashton’s door banged open, and I closed my eyes, preparing myself for the coming storm. For a moment, I cursed his enhanced senses. He’d probably heard most of, if not all, of what we said.

He came barreling out of the hall, glaring at both of us.

“Don’t I get a say in this? You’re just going to make me pack up and leave? I thought this was going to be our home, Mom.”

“Ashton, there are bigger things going on here,” I said. “Go back to your room, and we’ll talk when Cole leaves.”

Ashton’s eyes snapped from me to his father.

“Andyou,” he snarled. “You aren’t going to fight for us? You aren’t even gonna try?”

Cole blanched. I hadn’t thought he could look worse. Obviously, that was wrong. He was an alpha and always so powerful and intimidating, but under the withering glare of his son, he melted, sinking back into the chair. Fifteen years of absence and regret,compounded with the shame of his boy being disappointed in him, was too much.

“Ashton, I’m sorry?—”

“God!” Ashton shouted with a groan of disgust. “Stop saying you’re sorry. That’s all I could fucking hear in my room. Sorry, sorry, sorry.”

“Ashton,” I gasped. “Language!”

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