Page 237 of The Alpha's Second Chance Mate

“What I need,” I grunted as I stood with his body, “is for you to shut the fuck up until we’re safe.”

The flames had already rushed down the stairs and were flickering across the plywood walls. The temperature was skyrocketing, and sweat beaded my face and arms as I carried Dallas toward the coal chute. Wincing, I shoved him upward, until he tumbled onto the grass. Flames licked at me, singeing the hair on my arm. Wood creaked as beams behind me broke and succumbed to the fire. Had the floor not been concrete, we wouldn’t have made it.

I managed to scramble out of the hatch moments before a massive fireball swept through the basement, sending a burst of flames, swirling ash, and debris across us. I did my best to shieldDallas from it, then lifted him again and hurried back around the house to my team.

“Has anyone called the cops?” I asked, collapsing to my knees with Dallas. “He needs an ambulance.” I let out a volley of racking coughs. The smoke in my lungs made every breath a challenge.

“Looks like someone did,” Langston said.

Red, white, and blue flashing lights threw chaotic arcs of illumination into the night. Fire trucks, ambulances, and police cruisers careened toward us at high speed.

“See that, little brother,” I said, smiling at Dallas. “You don’t get to die yet. You gotta get better, so you can give me arealapology.”

Farrah fell to her knees beside Dallas, tears spilling from her eyes. “I should wring your neck, you dumb fucker,” she said, but she smoothed his hair tenderly from his brow.

Dallas managed to roll his eyes. “Shit, are you going to try and baby me now, sis?”

“Maybe,” she said. “If you’ll let me.”

The emergency vehicles pulled up, and the men went about their work. Firefighters uncoiled hoses and began unleashing streams of water on the flames, but even I could see it was no use. The EMS teams sifted through the battlefield, doing their best to give aid to those who were only injured, and putting sheets over the dead.

“I swear toGod,as soon as the call came in, Iknewyou’d have something to do with this.”

A disheveled Chief Milbanks strode toward me, his face unshaven and hair mussed. He must have rolled out of bed and into his cruiser. He stood chest-to-chest with me, even as an EMS tech tried to strap an oxygen mask on my face. I waved the tech off.

“We only did what you weren’t able to do,” I said. “Besides, weren’t you the one who didn’t want to get involved in pack stuff?”

Milbanks jabbed a finger into my chest, and it was all I could do not to grab it and snap the offending finger in half.

“That was before I had a motherfucking war.” He swept his arm around. “Look at this shit, Cole! There’s dead bodies everywhere. Do you have the slightest fucking clue how much paperwork this is gonna?—”

“Hey, Chief,” one of his deputies called. “Incoming.”

Milbanks, face ruddy with anger, turned. Sure enough, a convoy of giant black SUVs rolled down the driveway. Milbanks shoved his fists into his hips and stared the vehicles down as though they’d arrived to offend him in some way.

Avery and Ashton put their arms around me. Langston stood off to one side, a knowing smile playing on his lips. That threw me off. Did he know who was in these cars?

The lead SUV parked directly in front of Milbanks, and the back door opened. A white-haired but imposing older man extricated himself from the rear seat and straightened his solid black suit. The guy could have been a professional football linebacker in his youth. Even though he had to be at least sixty, he didn’t look like the kind of person anyone would want to mess with.

Avery burst out laughing, the sound filled with joy. Ashton whooped.

“You know that guy?” I asked.

“Who the hell are you?” Milbanks said, stepping toward the man. “Are you authorized to be here?”

The man gave a condescending little smile that withered Milbanks’s courage. “I have all the authorization I need,” he answered a deep, rumbling baritone.

He slid a badge and ID from his inner jacket pocket and showed it to Milbanks. The chief scanned the ID and paled.

“Oh.” Milbanks backed up a step. “My apologies, sir. The scene is yours. Let us know what you need.”

“I need a perimeter set up, at least three miles out. Make sure we cast a broad net to capture any men who might have escaped. I want your team to set up roadblocks and assist the EMS teams with casualties. My men will begin collecting the surviving suspects.” He snapped his fingers in Milbanks’s face. “Go.”

Milbanks strode away and began shouting orders at his men. I stood there, more confused than I’d ever been in my life, when Langston walked straight up to the man and embraced him. It wasn’t a friendly hug. It was familial. The pieces started falling into place.

“You did good, son. You did real good,” the man said, patting Langston’s back.

Langstonsankinto the man. He no longer looked like the powerful, larger-than-life man I’d come to know. He looked like a little boy. After a few moments, Langston straightened.

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