Page 109 of The Alpha's Second Chance Mate

Iread the letter three times, my hands shaking more and more. I couldn’t fully comprehend what I was looking at. It was in my father’s handwriting, but it sounded nothing like the abrupt, rude, and condescending man I’d known my entire life. Instead, it sounded like a man at the end of his life who regretted everything.

Were these really my father’s words? They were. They sounded like him. It looked like, in the end, he had changed. He’d changed and confirmed what I most feared. There was only one way to deal with Kyle once and for all.

Still staring at the letter, I texted Farrah and Trent, telling them to get their asses to the alpha house. While I waited, I rushed to the basement and found the safe. It was tucked into the wall behind a toolbox. Inside, I found a manilla envelope that contained the will naming me as heir to the Harbor Mills pack.

It meant nothing yet. Even if I sent it in and showed the people in charge that I was the alpha, Kyle would be enraged by what I’d done. It would put a target on my back. This piece of paper would settle things once and for all, but only after I’d dealt with Kyle.

Farrah and Trent arrived a few minutes after I returned to the living room.

“I hope this is good,” Trent said. “You better not have dragged us up here to chew us out.”

“Chew us out?” Farrah frowned at him before looking at me. “What the hell’s he talking about, Cole?”

Trent and I filled her in on what had happened the last few days, and Farrah listened intently. Her initial confusion gave way to anger and outrage. When I handed her the letter, her face became an emotionless mask. She read the letter twice before meeting my eyes.

She shook the letter. “Really great he decides to be a decent fucking person after he’s dead. I love that,” she said bitterly.

“I know, but he’s gone. Can’t really chew him out now,” I said.

“Well, we’ve got to do what he says here,” she said. “We can’t leave the pack in this psycho’s hands. We’ve got to take Kyle out. Take him out and somehow save Dallas, too. From what you’ve said, and what Dad says in this letter, he’s innocent. Kyle used him.”

“It’s what I already told you, Cole,” Trent said grimly.

“You’re right,” I said. “This won’t be easy. I don’t want to kill someone, but I don’t know what other choice we have.”

“Cops?” Farrah asked.

Trent snorted. “What are they going to do? All we have is your dad’s letter. Kyle has Dallas, who is also your dad’s heir. Best-case scenario, they don’t do anything and tell us to go to court. In the meantime, Kyle sends someone to put a bullet in our heads one night.” Trent shook his head. “No, he’s too sneaky for that shit. He’s covered his tracks well enough that there is literally nothing the cops could do even if we go to them. If we dogo to them, then he’d consider that an escalation and come for us faster. It’s what I’d do.”

“Trent’s right. There’s only one way this ends,” I said.

“I’m on it,” Trent said. “I’ve got some old buddies from the service that owe me. A few of them live pretty close. One’s in Nashville, another in Charlotte. A couple in Atlanta, too. I’ll make some calls, see if I can cash in on those favors. Can’t promise they’re all free to come help, but I’ll get someone here to assist.”

“He gave me a week to get out of town,” I said. “That’s not happening. I’m not going anywhere. I’m gonna bring hell to Kyle’s front door. We need to be ready for his retaliation. That’s part of why I want Avery and Ashton out of town.”

It was a gut-wrenching decision. I wasn’t a killer. I’d never taken a life. Yet, here I was, planning it.

If that was what it took to rescue the pack, to save my brother, my mate, and my child?

I’d do it in a fucking heartbeat.

27

AVERY

The suitcase on my bed was half-full, staring at me like some wide-open, judgmental eye. For some reason, packing up to leave Harbor Mills made memuchmore anxious and sad than I’d felt leaving Perry. Maybe because I was so angry when I’d left him, it had been more of a relief. This time? It was nearly as painful as my first departure from Harbor Mills.

A lot had happened in a short amount of time. Part of me felt like we’d arrived not long ago, and another part felt as though we’d been here for years and were being torn away.

Things had been tough on Ash and me the last few days. A heaviness hung over our house as we did our best to pack up. Ashton, for the most part, was doing as well as could be expected. After he returned from speaking to Cole, he seemed to be in a better mood, but I didn’t miss the sadness around his eyes. He was still hurt that Cole wasn’t doing everything to fight to keep us here, even though he understood exactly why he needed us to leave. Not only that, but he’d finally begun to make some real friends here in Harbor Mills, and I was ripping himup as soon as he’d started sinking roots. Until Cole figured out what to do about Kyle, Ashton would need to leave all his friends behind.

I’d dropped Ashton off at the park for one last afternoon of basketball with Braylen and the other pack boys an hour before. All of his things were packed and ready to go, so why shouldn’t he get to blow off a little steam?

Kyle was still out there, a dark and ominous cloud waiting to spit lightning down to hurt us. I was a bit worried about letting Ash go off and hang out with his friends, but over the last couple days, Cole had asked a few members of his pack to watch out for us. When I’d driven to the park, I’d noticed two of the pack members tailing us in a truck. They’d smiled and waved as I parked to let Ashton out. Knowing they would be there to watch out for him and keep any trouble away eased my fears. Ashton deserved a couple hours to say goodbye and have fun. Plus, Kyle had given us a few days. He could have lied, true, but at least we weren’t on our own. People were watching out for us, and that would keep us safe until we got out of town.

I zipped up my suitcase and rolled it to the garage. Almost everything we owned was there, packed and in the back of my new car. I stowed my bag in the back with everything else and walked through the house one final time. After being gone so long, it had become so much like home, and it broke my heart that I had to leave again. Whatever happened, I wouldn’t be selling this house. It deserved to remain in the family. That thought didn’t make leaving any less painful, though.

Going from one room to another, I flipped off the lights and stopped in my bedroom, turning the lights off and looking through the window at the tree swing outside. Would it still be here when I returned? How long would that be? Months? Years?Decades? I hoped not, but I couldn’t know for sure. It wouldn’t take that long to deal with Kyle, but it might take that long before I was ready to be here again.

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