Page 232 of The Alpha's Second Chance Mate

The clock on the wall refused to go faster, despite the number of times I’d begged it to. It was five minutes to midnight, but that might as well have been a hundred years away with how slow the hands ticked.

The night before, I’d managed a fitful, restless sleep filled with awful nightmares. Everyone I loved, dead or dying. Two nightmares stood out and played through my mind the entire day. In one, I dreamed that Kyle, in his wolf form, feasted on the bodies of Cole and Ashton. The second was somehow worse and nauseatingly sexual in nature—Kyle tying me down and doing unspeakable things to me. I’d woken with a shout at three in the morning and had been up ever since, not wanting to subject myself to more dreams like that.

Two men I didn’t recognize had brought me breakfast and lunch. Each time, I’d asked to see Ashton, but the guard ignored me. My appetite was nonexistent, but I forced myself to eat. If Sydney was right and we’d need to run tonight, I’d need my energy.

Kyle had brought my dinner—steak, salad, and a baked potato with all the fixings. He’d set the silver tray down with reverence like I was a queen. The worst part had been him sitting behind me and rubbing my shoulders as I ate. I’d done my best not to show my dread. I’d anticipated him pulling his cock out and trying something. Blessedly, he’d departed when my plate was empty, promising me that we’d have “fun” once Cole was out of the way. I’d had to take a shower to get the greasy touch of his fingers off me.

Now that it was so close to midnight, I was getting nervous. What if it had all been some long con of Kyle’s? Could Sydney have lied about everything? There was that possibility.I’dlied to Kyle. My acting was good, but others might be better. What happened if, at midnight, instead of Sydney swooping in to save us, Kyle walked in? I could picture the sanctimonious grin on his face. I could also picture the things he might do to me for my betrayal, and death was theleastof my concerns.

When the door clicked open at 11:57, I jerked back, fully expecting Kyle or one of his minions. Instead, Ashton rushed in, his eyes bright with excitement.

“Are you ready?” he asked.

“I think so. Are we…” I trailed off as I saw who stood at the door behind him. Dallas.

He frowned at me, but his eyes were mournful in a way I couldn’t quite describe. “I’ll make my apologies later,” he said. “Right now, we need to move.”

Son of a bitch.He really is helping us.

Dallas lifted his eyebrows expectantly. “Seriously, Avery, we need to go.Now.”

Rising, I walked over and took Ashton’s hand. In the hallway, Cole’s brother kept swiveling his head back and forth, searching the corridors as we went, looking for anyone who might raise the alarm.

He led us to a large bookshelf on the same floor and nudged it aside, revealing a hidden stairwell.

“Whoa. That’s cool,” Ashton whispered.

“Move,” Dallas hissed, ushering us through the door.

He pulled the bookshelf back into place behind us and started down the stairs. We’d only gone a few steps when a massiveboomreverberated through the house, vibrating all the way into my bones. The fluorescent lights above the stairs went out, leaving us in pitch-black darkness.

“Hurry.” Dallas led us down the stairs with the faint light of his cell phone screen.

Through the walls beyond the stairwell, I heard men shouting and screaming commands. It sounded like full-blown chaos. Doors slammed, and booted feet thudded across the floor as men sprinted back and forth.

Doing my best to ignore the sounds, I tried to focus on following Dallas and Ashton. The light of Dallas’s phone was barely enough to see anything. I wasn’t sure why he wasn’t using a flashlight. Who the hell could have seen the light in here?

We descended two flights of stairs and came to a hallway. Toward the end, a sliver of light shone beneath a door. A safe room? Something with an alternate power source? That had to be it. Dallas led us in the opposite direction, deeper into the darkness.

Dallas lost his grip on the phone, and it crashed to the floor. “Shit.” He dropped to the floor to search for it.

Before his word could sink in, the door behind us swung open. A hand wound into my hair, yanking me backward, plunging me into bright light that blinded me momentarily.

Lips pressed to my ear, and hot, fetid breath washed across my face. “Why are you running? Why are you out of your room?” Kyle asked.

Terror spilled into my stomach as the heat of his body pressed into my back.

“Get your hands off her,” Ashton growled as he stepped into the room.

Kyle’s breath hissed out of him. “Ashton? What is this? What the fuck is this? Why are you all down here?” His confusion morphed into rage. “Are you trying toescape?” He punctuated the last word by yanking my hair, and I yelped.

“Stop hurting my mother, you fucking asshole,” Ashton snarled, taking a threatening step toward us.

“Ashton, run!” I shouted.

But he stayed where he was, glaring at Kyle.

“Traitors,” Kyle growled. “You’re both traitors.”

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