Page 59 of The Alpha's Second Chance Mate

Dallas shook his head and sighed. It was an exhausting sound. “Can we just do this fast? You don’t have to keep pretending to be the protective big brother.”

“I’m not pretending, Dallas,” I said, feeling the sting of his words.

He waved a hand at me. “Enough. I’m fine, Cole. I’m only here to give you a message.”

“I don’t give a fuck about any message. What I really want to know is how you got caught up with this guy in the first place.”

“Are you really asking that, Cole?” Dallas asked, venom and spite in his voice. “I didn’t grow up like you and Farrah. I didn’t have the same life. You guys grew up rich in that big alpha house. Brand-new cars when you turned seventeen, a fat bank account, and all the prestige of being the alpha’s kids.” He slammed his fist into his own chest. “I was a bastard. An embarrassment. Dad’s cock got hard, he fucked my mother without protection, andboom, there I was. Fuck, man.” He sneered and spat on the ground. “I bet you and Farrah think I’m the reason your mother died. Who else was going to take me in?”

“No. Wait, Dallas, that’s not what Farrah and I believe?—”

“Cut the shit, Cole. I remember the way you guys looked at me. Like dog shit that had gotten smeared on your pretty new white shoes.”

“That’s enough! We never looked at you like that. Dad? Maybe. I wasn’t here for a long time. He’s the one who fucked up. If not for him, I truly believe my mom would still be here. But you had nothing to do with that. Farrah and I have always known that. You were a product of a bad decision, but that doesn’t make you any less of a person.”

“Sure,” Dallas said, but I could tell nothing I’d said had sunk in. “Me and my mom were scraping by my whole childhood. When she got sick and was dying and finally told me about LanceGarrett being my dad, I thought it would be this great change. That he’d welcome me into his house and help her. All I ended up with was a threat from him to keep my mouth shut and two rich kids trying to be my buddies. Really great.”

“Your mom was sick?” That was news to me. “What do you mean, she was sick?”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake, Cole,” Dallas spat. “Stop playing dumb. My mother died before I ever met you. I showed up alone at your house when I was ten. What, you think I did just for fun?”

Farrah and I had been kids when Dallas first appeared. Dad had admitted to the affair and the love child, but Dallas hadn’t been around much after that. Only a couple times a month at most. Farrah and I always thought he was with his mother. As children, we were too concerned with the mental and physical decline of our own mother to worry about a new brother. Even at that age, we’d spotted the similarities and known it was true. Our main focus, however, had been on Dad and how he’d fucked up rather than on Dallas.

“Dad paid some woman to watch me,” Dallas said. “A real bitch. Some human he knew could keep her mouth shut and keep me out of sight of the rest of the pack. Once I turned fourteen, I got out there. Took my chances on my own. A few years back, Kyle and his crew took me in.” He shrugged and eyed me angrily. “They aren’t good people, but at least they didn’t leave me out in the cold.”

I had no clue. No idea that my half-brother—no, mybrother—had been cast out into the cold. No mother, a father who saw him as nothing but a mistake and something to be ashamed of. I’d been too mired in my own struggle with becoming alpha, my relationship with Avery, and my hatred of my father to learnmore about the sad, quiet boy who showed up at our house from time to time to get cussed at and talked down to by my father. Shame, like thick and viscous oil, oozed across my mind. The inner wolf whined, abashed at our mistake.

“I’m not Dad,” I said. “I won’t leave you out in the cold. Neither will Farrah. You can come back. You can be part of the Harbor Mills pack. We’re here for you.”

Dallas took a step back, shaking his head. “Stop trying to be the big brother, Cole. It’s way too late for that. I’m here to give a message, and that’s what I’m doing. Kyle says he wants the first twenty-five grand by the end of next week. If you don’t, then someone—” he glanced through the window at Avery and Ashton “—is gonna pay.”

“Next week?” I asked. “He said I had thirty days.”

Dallas sighed wearily and took a few more steps back. “Yeah, well, it’s his fucking money. He gets to make the rules and change the rules. If I were you, Cole, I’d find that money. Trust me when I say Kyle isn’t someone to fuck with.”

He turned, shifted, and bounded away from the restaurant.

“Fuck,” I hissed.

The change in timeline was one thing. That was irritating, and it angered me, but what pissed me off more was that the asshole had sent my brother to deliver the information and the threat. That, and the not-so-subtle hint that Avery and Ashton might be targets of Kyle’s vitriol, sent waves of fury through me that I could barely contain.

Through those emotions, I still felt the shame that came from what Dallas had said. I didn’t blame him for relaying themessage. The state of his face told me he’d refused initially. Dallas was nothing but the reluctant middleman. This was between me and Kyle.

I nearly tore the pocket of my jeans as I yanked my phone out and sent a text to both Farrah and Trent, telling them to meet at the house in half an hour. I took a few deep breaths to calm myself, then headed back inside to join Avery and Ash.

“Is everything okay?” Avery asked.

“Not great, but it’s fine. Are you guys ready to head out? I’ve got a meeting at the alpha house and figured you guys could hang out there.”

Despite my best efforts to keep emotion out of my face and voice, Avery, even after all these years, knew me well. Whatever she saw on my face had her eyes narrowing minutely.

“Yeah. That sounds good,” she said. “Come on, Ash.”

I paid the bill, then we left. The drive back to my house was mostly silent. Both Ashton and Avery realized something important had happened.

“Was that guy your brother?” Ashton asked eventually.

Avery turned toward the backseat. “Honey, let’s not?—”

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