Page 158 of The Alpha's Second Chance Mate

Rather than looking defeated, a wicked smile spread across Dallas’s face. “Are you sure you got them all?”

A tremor of worry spread through my chest, and I glanced at Langston.

The big man furrowed his brow and shook his head. “We got them all. Every guy who was with Dallas. All neutralized.”

Dallas barked a laugh, and Langston and I froze.

“So,” Dallas said, “you got every single guy? Everyguy?” he emphasized the last word.

“Yes, for fuck’s sake,” Langston said, finally showing a bit of frustration, something I hadn’t seen from him before. “All of your men have been handled. No one was able to send word to Kyle for backup.”

“Your new friend doesn’t get it, does he?” Dallas said, throwing a grin in my direction.

A sinking feeling twisted my gut. I wouldn’t have been surprised to look down and see my feet vanishing into the concrete like it was quicksand. Langston might not understand, but I was starting to see what Dallas was saying.

“Men?” Dallas said. “If you got all my men, then that means you probably didn’t notice my girl Sydney?”

Langston’s face went slack in surprise, and he locked eyes with me before looking back at Dallas.

“Who the fuck is Sydney?” he growled, twisting Dallas’s arm.

“She’s a sweet little thing,” Dallas said. “Real fucking good with a computer. You wouldn’t look at her twice. Not the typicalperson Kyle hires, but she can really blend in.” His eyes flicked to mine, and that smile became even more wicked. “I’m pretty sure that if you don’t have her in custody, backup is already on the way.”

38

AVERY

“What does all that mean?” Stormy asked, pointing at Zayde’s computer screen.

“It’s their movements,” he said. “Porter had more of the little tracking devices. I had him give one to everybody on the team. It’s them moving around North Crest.”

Pacing behind them, I glanced at the screen but looked away quickly. It was pointless. No detail, no images. It was like watching some ancient video game from the ‘80s. Staring at it did nothing for my nerves. I hadn’t been able to sit still the entire time they’d been gone. It had been nearly an hour at that point, and there was still no word from Cole or Langston.

Trent and Farrah appeared sporadically but mostly stayed outside, patrolling the property to make sure no one tried to sneak in. Stormy seemed calm and collected, and she was trying to stay focused for me, but it didn’t help. Every time I looked at the screen and saw one of those little dots sitting still too long, I imagined it was Cole lying in a ditch with a bullet in his brain.

“Avery, do you want to lie down?” Stormy asked, glancing back at me. “Rest on the couch for a bit? You’re getting yourself wound up.”

I stopped pacing. “No. It’s like a live wire’s been shoved in my mouth. I can’t stop moving. I’ll explode if I do.”

“That’s fair,” she said, giving me a sympathetic smile.

Zayde pointed at his screen. “Looks like things are coming to a head. Most of Porter’s group has stopped moving, and I got Langston and Cole together near the bank.”

Walking across the room, I put my hands on the back of his chair and leaned over to look at the screen. It looked like everyone had gathered in certain places—Porter and the pack members on the outskirts of town, and Cole with Langston near one of the larger buildings in town.

Just as I opened my mouth to ask what was supposed to happen next, my phone rang. Thinking it might be Cole calling, I snatched it from my pocket with shaking fingers and answered without even checking the caller ID.

“Cole?”

“Oh, you’d like that, wouldn’t you?” Kyle said, his voice oozing into my ear like slime.

“Kyle?” I whispered.

Stormy slapped her hand to her mouth, and Zayde jerked in his seat, lunging to grab the cable. He quickly plugged one end into the bottom of my phone and then went to work on his laptop.

“You sound surprised to hear from me,” Kyle said. “Shouldn’t be. I’ve given you plenty of time to think about my offer.”

Realizing I needed to make this last to give Zayde a chance to track him, I tried to get my bearings and act my ass off.

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