Page 98 of The Alpha's Second Chance Mate

“You leave Avery here, or I kill Dallas,” Kyle said. “In fact, I’ll kill anyone I want. That pretty sister of yours. Farrah? Your handsome boy Ashton? Maybe even your buddy here, who has more brains than you do,” he said, pointing at Trent. “I’ll lay waste to anyone and everyone I need to. That’s what power does, Cole.” Kyle narrowed his eyes and grinned mirthlessly. “Power means I get what I want. If I want to ride that little cunt until she screams my name, then Iwill.If I want to kill the pack elders and install my own, then Iwill. All these dead bodies that could pile up are on you if you don’t do what I say. Has any of this gotten through that thick alpha head of yours?”

“You keep my son’s name out of your goddamn mouth,” I snarled, shaking with nearly uncontrollable rage. “You don’t speak his name. And if you touch one hair on his or Avery’s head, I’ll?—”

“You’llwhat?” Kyle’s lip curled in disgust. “You’ll do what I fucking say or—” He snapped his fingers.

The man holding the gun to Dallas’s head fired a shot into the ground a bare inch from my brother’s foot. I jumped, flinching in surprise and terror. Dallas screamed and clutched the uninjured foot.

“See, Cole?” Kyle said. “I have the power. Not you.”

“What the fuck did I ever do to you? Why are you doing this?” I demanded as hopelessness began to sink in.

“I do what I want, when I want. You haven’t wronged me in any way, but you’re an obstacle that must be removed. If you want to be a door, you can swing open and allow me through. If you want to be a wall, I will take a sledgehammer to you and break you down into a pile of shit. Either way, I get what I want, but there’s only one way you and the people you care about get out whole. Understand?”

“Avery will leave,” I said.

Kyle waved that away. “Many will, but that’s not my problem. I’ll still have the town, and people will come. As for Avery? Yeah, she doesn’t strike me as the type who’d go for what I like to do in bed. She might run, but if she stays for even a day, I’ll have her—kicking and screaming if I need to—then send her and the brat on their way. It’ll be enough to know that I got under your skin good and hard. If you and her stay together, you’ll always know my dick was in her. Might even film it and send it to you so you can see how a real man fucks.”

Had Trent not been there to grab me, I would have jumped him, guns be damned. I didn’t give a shit if I died. I couldn’t letthe asshole talk about Avery like that. Trent dragged me away, putting distance between ourselves and the guns.

Kyle tucked the money bag under his arm and strolled to the car. The big man followed as the other man dragged and shoved Dallas into the backseat. Kyle opened the passenger door. He made to get in, then turned back to us and held up a single finger.

“You have one week to put your affairs in order and get the fuck out of my town. If you don’t leave by then, I’ll put a bullet in your brother and mail you his severed cock as proof.” Kyle smiled sweetly again. “Have a great day.”

23

AVERY

Something was wrong. A weird feeling of unease wormed its way through my stomach. Ashton was in his room, and I was sitting at the kitchen table. Cole still wasn’t back. He hadn’t called or texted. Strange.

I’d been cold toward him before he left. My hurt at the way he’d acted most of our time away had made it hard to be more open. I knew it was harsh, but I could only be understanding to a point. Though, it may have been better if I’d tried to talk to him about it more openly. Would my being short with him this morning have caused him not to check in, though?

Kyle was dangerous, and God only knew what could happen during the hand-off. The longer Cole was away, the more uneasy I became. Maybe it was all over and done, but he didn’t have the heart to come see me or make contact? How long did I wait?

The clock on the stove showed that it was even later than I’d thought. Screw it, I needed to know what was going on.

When I picked up my phone, I hesitated, thinking of calling Cole directly. That thought went out the window almost immediately.What if he was right in the middle of the hand-off or discussion with Kyle? Even the thought of how awkward it would be for his worried mate checking up on him made my skin crawl. Instead, I dialed Farrah, using the number Cole had saved into my phone.

“Hello?”

“Farrah? It’s Avery.”

“Oh.” There was such a long pause that I thought she might have hung up, then she spoke again. “What’s up? Is anything wrong?”

“Have you heard from Cole? I’m a little worried about him.”

“Uh, not in a little while. He texted me a little less than an hour ago saying he and Trent were heading to drop the cash off with that cocksucker Kyle.”

Trent was with him? That was good. It meant he wasn’t there all alone with nobody to watch his back. Still, what was taking so long? Hand over the money and come home. It should have been a two-minute exchange.

“I thought he’d be back by now, is all.”

“I’m sure everything is fine. Cole knows how to handle himself, Avery. He’ll probably be back any minute.”

As though her words were some sort of magical spell that conjured him, Cole walked through the front door at that exact moment.

“Holy hell, Farrah. He just got back. He’s here,” I said.

Farrah, who’d been putting on a remarkably brave front, sighed into the phone. “See? Told you. It would be all right. I’ll let you go.”

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