Page 18 of The Alpha's Second Chance Mate

“I don’t know if I can. That bridge may be burned beyond repair. I’ve known for twenty years that she’s my fated mate, but a mate has to love you back. I’m not sure if she could ever love me again.”

Trent eyed me speculatively. He could always see through my bullshit, the same way Avery could.

“You’re worried about becoming your father.”

I sighed and shook my head. “I don’t know what kind of mate I’ll be. It’s been so long. What if I end up breaking her heart the way my father broke my mother’s?”

“First of all, you aren’t a cock-sucking douchebag like your dad,” Trent pointed out. “Second of all, you care about Avery. I’ve watched woman after woman try to tempt tall, dark, and brooding Cole Garrett. They all last two, maybe three months—if they’re lucky. You can’t see yourself with another woman because you’ve always been thinking about the one who got away.”

Part of the reason I’d left all those years ago was that exact thing Trent was talking about, though I’d never admitted that out loud. Dad had pissed me off when he told me to end my relationship with Avery, and I’d run because of it. But the true fuel behind my departure was the subconscious fear that if I mated with Avery, I’d somehow break her heart beyond redemption. The terror that I’d devastate her the way my old man had ruined my mother was reason enough to bolt at the first opportunity I got. It was shitty, and stupid, and now I was paying the price.

“I’m scared, Trent,” I admitted. “I’m scared that no matter what I do, it won’t be the right thing. That I’ll hurt someone I care about.”

“I get that,” he said. “But you have to think about whether or not you can live with yourself if you don’t do what you know you need to. Are you going to stick around and be the alpha your pack needs, the father your son deserves, and the man Avery can rely on? Will you do that? Or are you going to let your fear rule your whole life?”

I arched an eyebrow. “When the fuck did you become a philosopher?’

“They teach that right after the ass-kicking part of basic training,” Trent quipped. “Want another drink?”

“God, yes. Today’s been rough.”

“You can say that again.”

5

AVERY

Ashton holed up in his room for hours after Cole left. I didn’t have the emotional energy to talk to him, so I sat on the couch, thinking about everything. For so long, I’d believed I would never see Cole again. Opening the front door had been like opening a portal to the past. He hadn’t changed much in fifteen years, and for half a second, it had been like Ireallyhad gone back in time. What really irked me was that smile of his, like he’d half-expected it to be me when I opened the door. Now, I had to explain to Ashton what was going on.

I groaned. Good God, I hadn’t had such a stressful time in my life since I’d lost my grandmother and Cole.

When the sun finally started to arc toward the horizon, lengthening the shadows in the living room, I heaved myself up and went to the kitchen. I wasn’t in the mood to cook, so I tossed a frozen pizza in the oven. I rested my hands on the counter, trying to organize my thoughts as I waited for the pizza. When it was done, there was nothing left to do but face the music.

“Ashton!” I called. “Dinner.”

A few moments later, his bedroom door opened, and he came shuffling down the hallway. He glanced at me while I cut the pizza and took a seat at the kitchen table. He was chewing on his lower lip, eyes darting from the tabletop to me. I could almost hear the questions forming in his mind, like bullets being loaded into a gun.

I slid a plate of pizza and a can of soda in front of him, then sat down in front of my own plate. Crossing my arms, I said, “All right. What do you want to know?”

He blinked, looking at me like he wasn’t sure he’d heard correctly. “Really?”

“Yeah,” I said, taking a bite of my pizza. “No reason to hold back now.”

He nodded as he tore off a piece of crust and popped it into his mouth. “So, that woman at the store today… she’s my aunt?”

“Yes,” I said with a weary sigh. “She’s your aunt. Her name is Farrah Garrett.”

“I thought so. Even back at the store, before I found out, I was getting majorauntvibes off her.”

Unable to help myself, I snorted a laugh. “What the hell are ‘aunt vibes?’”

“You wouldn’t get it,” he said. “You’re too old.”

“Ouch. Thanks for that.”

“Truth hurts.”

He grinned, and it was genuine. Some of the darkness that had been suffocating me the last couple of hours lifted, and I gave him a small smile in return.

---