Page 123 of The Alpha's Second Chance Mate

“Yup. It’s already punched into the maps app on my phone. We’ll see you soon.”

“Be careful. See you in a bit.”

“Bye.”

I dressed as quickly as I could, then tiptoed to the side of the bed and nudged Cole.

“Cole, wake up.”

His eyes fluttered open, and he squinted against the early morning sunlight streaming through the windows. The sleepy confusion vanished within seconds, and he sat up in bed, wide awake.

“What’s wrong? Is everything okay?”

“Yeah,” I said, stroking his arm. “Calm down. We need to get up. Langston will be here with his friends in an hour.”

I studied his face, looking for any hint of worry or irritation at the mention of the man. To my relief, I saw nothing. All he did was nod and frown.

“Langston?”

I gaped at him, then realized I’d never even told Cole his name. That was embarrassing.

I put a hand to my forehead and nodded. “Yeah, sorry. That’s his name. Langston. The two other guys are named Zayde and Porter.”

“Oh, good. I thought something bad had happened. Hand me my pants?”

He got dressed, and we headed to the kitchen. We had buttered toast and coffee for breakfast as we waited. Cole seemed to be at ease, no worries whatsoever about Langston from what I could tell. It was a relief, to say the least. I’d been worried that Cole would get more territorial the closer it came to the meeting. Not just of his pack and town, but also of me.

Almost exactly an hour after Langston called, I heard a car pull into the driveway. Hurrying to the window, I pulled the curtains aside and saw Langston, Zayde, and Porter climbing out of an SUV, each looking travel-weary but alert.

“They’re here,” I said, the girlish hopefulness in my voice surprising me. Help. More people here to help save Ashton.

I rushed to the door and swung it open right as Langston stepped onto the porch. He was massive, built similarly to Cole, with football-player shoulders and bodybuilder arms. From the corner of my eye, I saw Cole stiffen. Langston was an attractive man, and Cole was obviously seeing that. If I had to guess, he was probably wondering if anything had ever happened between us, and what exactly that was. The answer to that was, of course, nothing. Langston was like the big brother I never had.

Langston pulled me into a hug, lifting me off my feet as he did. His sandy-colored hair was swept back from his tanned face, and a hint of light brown stubble lined his cheeks and chin.

“We’re getting your boy back, Avery,” he whispered in my ear. “I promise.”

Before I could stop myself, the tears started again. All I could manage was a small sob and a nod. Langston held me for afew more seconds—a few seconds longer than Cole liked by the sound of the low growl that came from across the room. If Langston noticed it, he did a good job of ignoring it. He put me down, then walked straight toward Cole, hand outstretched to shake.

“Langston Meadows,” he said. “You must be Cole Garrett. Avery told me all about you over the phone. Good to meet you. You’ve got a really good-looking pack land here. Speaks of good leadership.”

“Yeah. Thanks.” Cole eyed him warily, but he did shake his hand.

“Ave, my girl. Long time no see,” Porter said as he gave me a hug.

The man was slimmer than Langston and Cole, but no less impressive with his lanky musculature, like a sprinter or basketball player. His shaved head gleamed in the sunlight streaming in through the door, and his thick black beard ticked my cheeks.

“Hey, Porter,” I said, hugging him back. “Good to see you.”

Zayde nodded and smiled at me before taking his turn to embrace me. His dark brown skin was warm, his arms powerful. Out of the three, he was the quiet, intense one.

“We’re here,” Zayde said. “Don’t you worry. Lang, me, and Port are gonna help get that boy back safe.” He put his finger under my chin and nudged my head up until I met his eyes. “Bet on it.”

“Thank you,” I said, looking at each of them. “All of you.”

Porter and Zayde shook Cole’s hand as well, but I caught Cole giving Langston the side eye as they introduced themselves. Realizing that I was still standing next to Langston, I went quickly to Cole’s side, close enough that I could feel the tensionvibrating through his body. All I could do was pray he didn’t decide to make an ass of himself in front of my friends.

“So,” Langston said, clapping his hands together. “What’s the plan?”

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