Page 29 of The Alpha's Second Chance Mate

“Holy shit, Perry,” I hissed.

Enough. Apparently, blocking him wouldn’t do the job. It seemed like I’d have to tell him straight out to fuck off.

Snatching the phone up, I answered. “What the hell do you want?”

“Avery? Oh, thank God. I’ve been trying to get a hold of you,” Perry said, the words tumbling out in a rush.

“Yes, Perry, I know you have. Maybe you didn’t get the message. We’re done.”

“Wait,” he said in a pleading tone. “Can we talk for a second? Maybe work things out? I miss you.”

“You didn’t seem to give a shit about that when I walked in on you railing Shawna on the fucking couch.”

“Fair,” he said. “I fucked up. Bad. I can’t take it back, but we can’t throw away what we had over one mistake, can we?”

“You looked like you knew what you were doing,” I said in the same tone I’d use when speaking about the weather. “I doubt that was the first time your cock and her pussy have made acquaintance.”

“No need to be vulgar,” Perry grumbled.

I barked a laugh and leaned back in my chair. “Wow. That is rich. The guy who was caught fucking another woman is trying to lecture me on propriety.”

Ignoring that, he barreled on, “We can do counseling. I’ll go to therapy. I’ll do whatever I need to.”

“It’s too late for that, Perry. The moment you laid hands on my son, we were through. Even if you hadn’t been fucking someone else, we’d be done. I love my son more than I couldeverlove someone like you,” I said.

“Oh, yeah?” Bitter anger crept into his voice. The begging was over, and the rage had returned. “That shifter freak of a son? The one who broke my fucking nose? That one? How about this? You get your ass back here, or I’ll file charges. Assault and battery. You know how cops feel about shifters. Fucking freaks. They always take the human’s side when shit like this happens.”

My jaw dropped. The son of abitch.

“Here’s the deal, Perry,” I said, the venom in my own voice matching his. “The only reason Ashton broke your nose was because you assaulted me first. So, unless you want charges brought against you, lay off the threats. Understand?”

Silence. All I could hear were angry breaths on the other end. Time to really dig the knife in deep.

“Also, you’ve got ninety days to get out of that house because I’m putting it on the market.”

“What? You can’t do that. This is my house, too. You can’t sell it without my consent.”

“Oh, see, you’re mistaken, Perry,” I said sweetly. “When we got together, you decided to move in with me, not the other way around. You sold your townhouse and moved into the house I owned. My name is the only name on the mortgage. It’s mine to do with as I please. I don’t give a fuck about anything left in that house—Ashton and I took what we wanted. You can call a trash company for the rest, for all I care. If you decide to do that, it’ll be on your dime. Otherwise, it’ll be sold as is with all items remaining.”

“You can’t do this, you fucking bitch! Where am I going to live?!” Perry screamed.

“Not my problem. Also, lose my number, Perry.”

He was still railing on and on when I hung up. I tossed the phone down and glared at it. What an asshole. He hadn’t always been such a prick. I couldn’t pinpoint the exact moment things changed between us, but if I had to guess, it was when Ashton’s puberty kicked in a few months ago. The boy had shot up three inches in a matter of weeks. At five foot nine, he was only twoinches from Perry’s height. Being a shifter, Ash had also packed on a bit of muscle.

Looking back, it should have been easy for me to see how intimidated and afraid Perry was of Ashton. He’d always been a traditional type of man, and the thought of a boy being stronger than him probably ate away at his manhood in some way. Even before I caught him cheating, he’d gotten more distant, picking stupid fights with me and Ashton. That night had simply brought things to a head.

As awful as it had all been, I was sort of grateful. It felt like I’d dodged a bullet.

The fight on the phone with Perry had the strange effect of focusing my mind, and for the next two hours, I plowed through work, until my phone buzzed again. My hands froze above my keyboard, and unmitigated rage filled me. If that was Perry again, I might change my number.

It wasn’t Perry, though.

Cole:Hey. I’m sorry about last night. Would it be okay if I came by this afternoon and picked Ashton up to spend some time together? If that’s okay with you.

The message was a nice change of pace from Perry’s aggression. Cole had even apologized for what happened the night before. That was nice, especially since the awkwardness had mostly been my fault. I still wasn’t sure why one old phrase had made me so uncomfortable and sad.

Before I answered, I needed to check with the third part of this strange family triangle. Leaving my computer, I headed down the hall and found Ashton on the couch, reading a graphic novel, a bowl of chips and salsa on the coffee table before him.

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