Page 190 of The Alpha's Second Chance Mate

As depressed as I’d been the last few days thinking about Ashton, hearing Langston talk about my friend and her baby filled my heart with so much love. I remembered all those dark nights right after Marcus had died. Stormy, lying in my bed, crying in soul-wrenching sobs that I didn’t think would ever end. Knowing this man who I loved like a brother and who was kind and good was possibly going to be her mate and help heal her broken heart made me so damn happy.

“Shiloh is pretty cute, isn’t she?”

Langston laughed and slapped his knee. “She issofucking cute. I wanna pinch those little cheeks. I’ve never feltthatbefore, either. Before I came here, I wasn’t even sure if I ever wanted to be a father. Now, I think it might be pretty fun.”

A harried-looking Stormy came out, holding Shiloh on her hip.

“Hey, Avery? I hate to do this, but can you give me a ride back home? I put her last diaper on. I forgot to restock her bag, and I don’t want to have another accident without one.”

“Sure, let me get my?—”

“I can give you a ride,” Langston said.

Stormy looked a little taken aback. “Oh, you don’t have to do that. Avery can take me. It’s no problem. She picked me up this morning.”

“She…” Langston’s eyes flicked to me, then back to Stormy. “She needs to stay and talk to Cole about something important. Plus, you shouldn’t be going anywhere alone at the moment. I swear, it’s no problem.”

Playing along, I put a hand to my head. “Crap, he’s right. I need to go talk to him right now, actually. I totally forgot.”

Stormy licked her lips and gave Langston a goofy little smile. “All right, then, big guy. Let me grab my stuff.”

They left a few minutes later, and I went inside to check on Cole. I found him upstairs, sitting on the bed, fully dressed but his hair still wet from the shower. He had the same glum look I’d seen before.

“You look like someone just told you your dog died,” I said, sitting down next to him.

He chuckled. “Sorry. My pride took a big hit, you know?”

“You’re still upset about the training? You shouldn’t be. Trent and Langston were in the military. You can’t judge yourself based on them.”

He sat up straighter. “I suppose you have a point, but it’s hard to get that through my thick skull. It’s hard to explain to a human, but when you’re born an alpha, especially the heir to a pack, there are certain expectations. About how you can handle yourself in a fight, for one.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Is this some sort of toxic masculinity thing?”

“No.” Then he shrugged. “Actually, that might be a good description. You’re born as this person who’s stronger and faster than everyone else, and you get used to it, you know? Having someone else put your ass in the dirt—easily, at that—is humbling.”

“Listen, mister,” I said, putting my arm around him, “you’ve done a lot, more than most people could. There’s no reason to beat yourself up after one bad day. I know we’re going to get out of this, and I know that’s because we have you. I believe in you.”

That pulled him out of his funk a bit, and the light returned to his eyes. “I like hearing you say that.”

“I like saying it.”

“I don’t want to let you down,” he said, becoming serious again. “There’s so much riding on me. You, Ashton, the whole pack? There’s all this pressure. I don’t have the room to be weak. I’ve got too many people relying on me.”

“Like I said before, you’re doing great.”

“Yeah. Maybe I am, but it doesn’t feel like it. All I know is that I spent all those years running from being a pack leader, but now I can’t run anymore. My son’s life is at stake. Your life is at stake. I refuse to run from that.” He looked at me, his eyes icy-cold. “I’m going to handle this. I’m going to take care of Kyle once and for all. I guarantee that.”

Nothing about killing or hurting someone should make a person happy, but after everything that had happened, it was the onlyway. I wouldn’t relish Cole having to bear that, but we’d both do whatever was necessary for our son.

After a dinner of takeout pizza, the others left, and Cole and I went to bed early. I drifted off to sleep, nestled beside Cole’s warm body.

“Mom! Momma!”

Ashton’s scream came from down the hallway. My heart lurched at the agony in his voice. He hadn’t called for me like that since he was a small child. Stumbling from bed, I ran for the door, swinging it open. I stepped out of Cole’s bedroom into the living room of the house we’d shared with Perry in Des Moines.

Perry, naked and humping the same neighbor I’d caught him fucking weeks ago, grinned at me.

“Told you you’d regret leaving me,” he sneered, his thrusts never slowing. “Dumb bitch ran off, and what happened? Got your little bastard kidnapped.”

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