Page 114 of The Alpha's Second Chance Mate

“Cole!” someone shouted from within the house.

“Shit,” Cole said. “That’s Farrah.”

In the chaos of everything happening, Cole hadn’t had time to call his sister until twenty minutes prior. Trent, Cole, and I headed inside to meet her. She was pacing the living room, looking distraught.

“Were you being serious?” she demanded. “Dallas took Ashton?”

“Yeah.” Cole rubbed at his temple with his left hand. “Ash’s friend Braylen and some of the other boys at the park confirmed it when we questioned them.”

“Why would Dallas do that?” Farrah looked heartbroken and confused. “Where’s Ashton now?”

I glanced at Cole. “We have no idea.”

He nodded. “Kyle’s keeping him somewhere. Farrah, I doubt Dallas did this of his own free will. Kyle must have forced him to do this.”

“This Kyle Alexander is a real piece of work,” Trent said. “He’s running things with an iron fist. Dallas probably had two options. Do this and live, or say no and end up in a ditch somewhere with a bullet in his head.”

“He’s right,” Cole said. “I could see it when we met with Kyle. Dallas was terrified of him and his goons. I have no doubt he’d do anything Kyle said, even something this bad. People do crazy shit when they’re scared.”

“I don’t care why he did it,” I said, my voice thick with anger. “Hediddo it. That makes him just as guilty.”

Farrah and Cole looked at me like I was insane. Trent, however, glanced away. I didn’t miss the distinct look of agreement on his face, though he obviously didn’t want to choose sides.

“Avery, he’s my brother,” Cole said.

The anger that had been simmering inside me exploded. I took a threatening step toward Cole. “And Ashton isourson, for fuck’s sake. You know what that means, right? We have a responsibility to protect him.” I jabbed a finger into Cole’s chest. “Youhave a responsibility.” I lowered my voice, forcing myself to stay calm. “I know Dallas is your brother, but Ashton is your son. Dallas is an adult who made his choices. Ashton didn’t ask for any of this.”

Cole looked hurt by that, but he also accepted my words. The truth I’d spoken couldn’t be refuted. It was all true. The fact that he’d have to choose which loved one he had to help was awful, but I didn’t see any way around it.

“Your brother stole our son and delivered him into the hands of a maniac. Whether he did it willingly or at gunpoint, it doesn’t change what happened,” I said, brushing my fingers over his cheek. “Because of that, I can’t look at him as anything other than an enemy. Maybe if we see some other proof, I’ll change my mind. But as of now, Dallas is just as guilty as Kyle. Do you understand where I’m coming from?”

He nodded vaguely. “Yeah,” he whispered, still looking like a man trying to make a terrible decision. “Yeah, I get it. I understand.”

“The two of you keep acting like he’s family or something, but does Dallas feel the same way? Your piece-of-shit father pretty much made sure he was never part of the family, so why should he feel any loyalty toward you?” I shook my head. “I get thatDallas was being threatened, but couldn’t he at least have triedto warn one of you that Kyle was going to move sooner than he’d said?”

Farrah was staring daggers at me for talking about Dallas the way I had, and for a moment, I really wished she’d say or do something. I desperately wanted to hit something—or someone. We’d been on our way to making peace, but if she wanted to mouth off about this, I’d be happy to drag her ass outside and get some frustration out.

Trent raised his palms, gesturing for calm. “How about we take a step back and think about how to get Ashton back? Worry about—” he threw a glance in my direction “—how upset we are later. Anger leads to mistakes. Mistakes lead to death. That’s a little something I learned in the military.”

His words struck home. Even though I’d been trying to keep my anger in check, it was billowing up inside me like a balloon. Farrah hadn’t helped matters, but she was only looking out for her brother. There was no way to compartmentalize this. Everyone had a stake in this game. My anger wouldn’t help get my son back. Trent was right. We needed to work together.

Instead of agreeing with him out loud, I simply nodded at him.

He gave me a nod in return and said, “Anyone have any ideas?”

“We already have someone on the inside,” Cole said. “Why don’t we try to figure out a way to make contact with Dallas? If we can talk to him, then maybe we can get him to see that we can protect him. Get him to change sides and help get Ashton back.”

I couldn’t help rolling my eyes, but did my best to stay calm. Cole couldn’t be serious. “Didn’t you hear anything I said? He’s on Kyle’s side. Whether willingly or not, he made his choice.A choice to kidnap his own nephew. Even if he’s only doing it because he’s scared, do you have any idea how scared someone has to be to do something like that? If he’s that terrified of Kyle, there’s no way he’d help us, even if he wanted to.” I shook my head sadly. “Christ, Cole, you don’t evenknowyour brother. You two didn’t really grow up with him. Some random kid who shows up every few months at your house isn’t a sibling.” I gestured to Farrah and then to Cole. “You two keep thinking he has some sort of loyalty to you, but he doesn’t. Not that I’ve seen. You have no clue what kind of man he grew up to be. When was the last time either of you spoke to him before you came back home?”

Farrah and Cole both lowered their eyes, shame written on their faces. I took that as an answer and pointed at them.

“Exactly what I thought,” I said, letting my arm fall to my side in exhaustion. “The only thing the three of you share is a worthless prick of a father.”

“That’s not fair, Avery,” Cole said.

“You didn’t know Dallas the way we did,” Farrah added, though her voice was much less forceful than usual. I’d clearly struck a nerve.

“Enough,” Trent barked. “We need to think about this. A good night’s sleep might make things look clearer in the morning.”

---