Page 213 of The Alpha's Second Chance Mate

“What if Avery’s right?” I blurted.

“About?”

“What if we aren’t doing enough? We all thought hunting Dallas was enough, but it obviously wasn’t. I’m starting to think Avery might have the better thought. It could be better if we sayfuck itand go in, guns blazing, and attack Kyle’s mansion.”

Trent’s cheeks puffed up and deflated as he blew out a breath. “That sounds pretty badass, but it also sounds like a great way to spill alotof blood. Not only Kyle’s, but the blood of our friends as well. To be successful, we’d need to get most of the pack involved, not the small group of elite guys we’ve been using. Wasn’t the whole point to keep the pack safe? This idea goes inthe opposite direction. Do you really want to use innocent people as cannon fodder?”

He was right, of course. I couldn’t do that. The pack had already been through too much. With everything Dad had put them through, along with Kyle’s shit? It was enough to make any pack splinter. If I drafted a hundred people to attack that mansion against their will, I might as well close up shop. Head back out west and start over. The pack would never follow anyone from the Garrett bloodline again. I refused to be a dictator like that.

Still, we had to dosomething. The longer Kyle had Ashton, the more opportunity it gave him to somehow use my son against me. Either as bait, or to goad me into acting rash.

When I mentioned that fear to Trent, he nodded along sympathetically.

“I’ve thought of that, too,” he said. “If it does come to that, and he tries to use Ashton as some type of weapon against you, then the paradigm shift. We’ll be left with no choice but to do something drastic.”

“Grab a notebook or something,” I said. “Let’s get some stuff on paper.”

Trent frowned but turned around and pulled a beaten-up notepad from a drawer along with a couple pens. “What kind of stuff?”

I wanted to tell him that I needed to get my mind off of Ashton and Avery for a bit. Instead, I said, “Contingencies. If Kyle tries to spring some sort of trap on us using Ashton.”

Trent flipped the notebook open. “All right. If we were in his shoes, what would we do to try and fuck with us?”

We went over multiple plans, some so outlandish that I didn’t think they even merited writing down, but it was helping to get my mind off things, and I went with it. Nearly an hour later, my phone rang.

“It’s Langston,” I said with a frown. “Wouldn’t he be in bed if he was out tracking all night?”

Trent chuckled. “Knowing that guy, probably not. Back in the service, he could operate on one or two hours of sleep over three days. Dude’s a machine.”

“Hey,” I said as I answered the phone.

“It’s me,” Langston said, his voice low, barely a whisper.

Something about his tone sent a chill up my spine, and I sat straighter. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” Langston said, and I thought I could hear a savage glee in his voice as he spoke. “It’s Dallas. I’ve got eyes on him.”

Trent and I nearly tripped over each other as we rushed for the door.

“Where?” I shouted into the phone as Trent hopped into the driver’s seat of his truck and I climbed in the passenger side.

“Caught sight of him heading away from Kyle’s mansion,” Langston said. “Damn lucky. I was about thirty seconds away from getting into my truck and going home. A Jeep drove past the spot where I’d hidden my truck right as I was about to get it, and I’ll be damned if it wasn’t Dallas driving by. Before I could talk myself out of it, I jumped in and took off after him. Stayed back so he wouldn’t see me, but I followed him on foot for a few hours. I wanted to make sure I knew where he was going before I called.”

“Are you serious?” I asked.

Trent slammed the gas, pulling out of the driveway, tires screeching. “Where the hell did you end up?”

“I’m not familiar with this area, but street signs say this town is named Bellview. He’s just walked into a café.”

“Thefuck?” Trent said. “That’s a two-and-a-half-hour drive from here.”

“Gun it, then,” I said.

The engine roared as Trent put on speed, heading west toward Bellview.

“We’re on our way,” I said into the phone. “But it’ll take time to get there.”

“Got ya. I’ll stay put, keep a close eye on him. I’ll notify you if he moves.”

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