Page 124 of The Alpha's Second Chance Mate

Cole cleared his throat. “I texted my buddy that you guys were coming. He should be here any minute. I figure once he gets here, we can figure out what our next steps are.” Cole glanced at me, one eyebrow raised. “Um, are your friends going to get a hotel nearby or something?”

I frowned. “Of course not. There are enough beds and couches here. They can make camp here for tonight.”

Cole nodded and smiled, but the muscles in his jaw rippled as he clenched his teeth. “Great. Let’s, uh, well… let me help you guys bring your bags in, huh?”

“Much appreciated,” Zayde said.

As Langston headed out the front door with the others, Trent pulled up in the driveway. Cole and I followed them out, but before we made it to the door, Trent was shouting from outside.

“You’ve gotta befuckingkidding me!”

“You son of a bitch. Are you goddamnserious?” Langston bellowed.

Cole stiffened and sprinted outside, me close at his heels. We both froze, our jaws dropping. Trent and Langston looked to be fighting. My heart lurched, and for a moment, I thought they were trying to kill each other. But then the two men started laughing and hugged each other like long-lost brothers.

“You dirty motherfucker.” Langston laughed and shoved Trent away. “Trenton Monroe, you shithead. I didn’t think I’d ever see you again.”

Trent had his hands on top of his head, looking at Langston like a kid who’d just come downstairs to find Santa putting presents around the tree.

“You’re Avery’s friend from Iowa?” Trent asked, then looked at me. “Avery, you have awfultaste in friends. This guy is a worthless piece of shit.”

The two men hugged again. I frowned at them. Male friendships, and the way they bonded, was strange. They talked to each other like dogs, but were happy as pigs in mud.

“What thehell is going on?” I asked. “How do you two know each other?” It seemed surreal that these two men from different eras of my life had crossed paths before.

Langston released Trent and stepped back, wiping tears of laughter from his eyes.

“Avery, you know I was in the service, right? Well, me and this dickhead—” he punched Trent’s shoulder “—were in the same shifter unit. Same fucking bunk. Hell, we even went through basic training together.”

I’d known about Langston being in the army, but never would have believed the odds that he’d served alongside Trent. My shock must have been clear on my face, because Trent and Langston chuckled.

“Don’t worry,” Trent said, slapping Langston on the back. “We’re as surprised as you are.”

Langston grinned at Trent. “I think our odds of success just went up.”

“Bro, I’m stoked,” Trent said. “Kyle’s going the fuck down. He has no clue what shitstorm is heading his way.”

“Yeah,” Cole said. “It’s, uh… gonna be great.”

I glanced at him as Zayde and Porter walked over to Langston and introduced themselves. He was watching Trent and Langston with a strange look I’d never seen before. If I wasn’t mistaken, Cole was jealous. Not just of Langston’s friendship withme, but because he seemed to be close to his best friend as well.

31

COLE

The joyful reunion soured my mood. Langston and Trent kept making inside jokes every few minutes, then launched into stories of their time in the service together. He wasn’t just making inside jokes with Trent, though, but with Avery as well. I sat, watching it all play out, unsure of how I felt about it all. In some ways, I felt like an outsider peering through the window at a party.

It took a tremendous amount of willpower not to make some off-handed comment or be a dick. I stuffed all that down, but it kept wanting to bubble up as I watched Langston interact with my mate. Neither I nor my wolf liked it. They were so familiar with each other that it made my gut twist in a weird way, like someone had reached into my body and was wringing my intestines like a wet towel. Regardless of what Avery had said, I couldn’t help but wonder if there had been something between them in the past. The thought alone made my skin hot and itchy.

When Avery brought over a tray of snacks, Langston smiled and thanked her. Avery returned the smile. Earlier, Langston had nudged her and leaned in close to whisper something in her ear,making her laugh. Small things, nothingactuallyincriminating, nothing forward enough that I needed to speak up. Still, I didn’t like seeing another man so close to my fated mate.

If there’d been even one thing too much or too far, I’d have put a stop to it. In fact, I was looking for it. But there was nothing. It was all innocent. In fact, Langston seemed to want to catch up more with Trent than with Avery. For some strange reason, that made me jealous as well. My best friend being so happy to see this guy was a little like getting picked last on the playground.

Nowthatwas childish. I knew Trent had buddies in the military. He’d seen some shit and done even more. Going through things like that created a bond between people. It was natural, and a healthy way to cope. I had absolutely no reason to be upset that Langston was one of those buddies. What upset me was that everyone I cared about damn near worshipped the guy. Perhaps part of it was because it hurt my alpha pride. I wasn’t used to that, and until a day ago, I didn’t think I had any alpha pride. My whole life, I’d held myself to a different standard than my father. I’d never let things get to my ego the way he had. Now, it seemed I wasn’t as humble as I’d always thought.

“Ave, this pimento cheese dip is amazing,” Porter said, scooping a mound of the dip onto his cracker. “Did you make this?”

Avery snorted. “Someone did. All I did was buy it.”

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