Page 14 of The Alpha's Second Chance Mate

“I tried contacting you,” Avery said. “Of course, you canceled your phone. I guess you got a new email address, too, because I tried that. Every social media page went dark. You fucking ghosted me, Cole.”

All the blood seemed to have drained from my body. I needed to defend myself here. Whether I deserved forgiveness or not, I needed to get my point across.

“I’mnotlying, Avery. I only spoke to my father two or three times after leaving, so of course he didn’t say anything about it. As for Farrah, she said…” I trailed off, realizing how stupid it would sound coming out of my mouth, but it was the truth. “I did ask her about you. She told me you met someone at college, and that you guys got married and moved away together.”

“I met a guy and got married?Really?” Avery asked, her tone bitter and incredulous.

“It’s the truth. You have to believe that.”

“I did leave town, yes,” Avery said, shaking her head sadly. “I left because my grandmother died, Cole. She passed away, and the man I loved left me without a word of warning, and I waspregnant with his child. I didn’t want to start in the town that had caused me so much heartache. I left to get a fresh start with my baby boy.”

Taking a few steps back, I breathed in deeply to calm the hot fury that swelled like acid in my chest. My anger wasn’t directed at Avery, though. No, it was reserved for the people who weresupposedto be my family. My father and Farrah had let me live a lie for fifteen years. It didn’t surprise me that my father had been involved. We hadn’t ended things amicably, and I could see him being bitter enough to keep the information to himself. But Farrah? My baby sister? How could she have done this?Whywould she have done this?

My mind slid back to the phone call with Ricky, and I wondered if he knew? Him or Chris or any of the other betas Dad had run off, had they found out and pressured Dad about it? No, Ricky would have told me. It hadn’t felt or sounded like he was hiding from me when we talked. If he’d known, he would have asked or let it slip. Clenching my fists, I suppressed a shudder of rage.

“I hope you aren’t about to chew me out over this,” Avery said, eyeing me as I struggled with my emotions. “Because if you are, I’m going to tell you to get the fuck out right now.”

I shrugged, pushing down the anger that threatened to overwhelm me. “No,” I said. “It’s not you I’m upset with, it’s Farrah. I don’t understand why she’d keep this from me. I swear to you, I’m going to talk to her and find out what her deal was.”

“I don’t care about all that, Cole.” The bitter tone in her voice vanished, and now she simply sounded exhausted. “Farrah and I never liked each other, so I couldn’t care less about her or what she did or didn’t do at this point. There’s only one reason I’m back here, and that’s for Ashton.”

Ashton. The word bounced through my head, a ping-pong ball of sadness and regret. That was my son’s name.Ashton. A good, strong name. A name I should have known, a name that should have been special to me. Now, because of my asshole family and my being a dumbass, I’d never had the chance to know it.

Regret washed over me, settling deep in my bones. First tooth, first step, first word, first ball game, first birthday—I’d missed it all. Each milestone celebrated, while I was living a life that had always felt empty. I’d lost a decade and a half of my boy’s life, and that time would never come back. I never had the chance to hold him when he was a baby. I’d never laugh at the way he smeared food on himself in a high chair, or cradle him as he cried from a skinned knee. It was like losing someone you loved. For a few seconds, I imagined myself standing in a cemetery, but instead of a coffin being lowered into the ground, it was all the aspects of my son’s childhood that I’d missed out on. My inner wolf writhed in misery. Tears threatened to choke me, but I swallowed them down before I fell apart.

“He’s going through puberty,” Avery said. “He needs a pack. We came back here with the hope that your father would accept him into the pack and guide him through the changes he’s going through.”

“Of course,” I blurted. “Of course we’ll accept him. We’ll help him through it, I promise you that, Avery.” I lowered my voice, preparing to beg if needed. “Would you be okay if, while we bring him into the pack, I got to know my son? I’d… well, I’d love to not be a stranger in his life.”

I’d never imagined being a dad. Not once, in all the years I was away, had it ever occurred to me or felt like a real possibility. Now, a strange and fervent excitement filled me. Excitement andworry. Would I be a good father? Would Avery allow me the chance? Would the boy even want to get to know me?

“Like you have been for fifteen years?” Avery asked, ripping me from my thoughts, her eyes narrowing.

“I deserve that. I do. I can’t change the past, Avery, I know that. The thing is, Icanchange the future. If you’ll let me.”

“I’ll talk to Ashton,” she said after a few moments. “See what he thinks and what he wants to do. He’s old enough now to make some of his own decisions. Whatever he decides is what we’ll do.”

It wasn’t an outright no. “Fair enough.”

I desperately wanted to talk about what had happened. To discuss us—Avery and me. My wolf was begging me to make amends, to do everything I could to get her to smile. I’d known Avery was my mate right after my first shift. It had been hell leaving her, and even bigger hell fighting with my wolf about my decision. After running from Harbor Mills, I’d fallen into a depression, which was fed by my wolf’s sadness at not being with her anymore. The anger of a dumb kid had been too hot for my wolf to argue his case. Eventually, after years, my wolf had given up hope of ever seeing her again. Now, with her standing right here, he was going wild with a weird mix of happiness and sadness.

I couldn’t push it, though. I’d already gotten more than I could ever hope for. A son. An hour ago, I’d been hopeful at the prospect of seeing Avery again, but instead of being reunited with my lost love, my entire life had been shaken to its core. Pushing for a conversation would do nothing but make things worse than they already were.

“Uh, I guess I’ll let you guys get back to moving in or whatever,” I said.

“Yeah, you probably should.”

“I turned your water turned on,” I said. “I’m not going to have the office charge a reconnection fee. We usually do, but… shit, I guess it’s theleastI can do.”

“Sure. Fine. Do I need to sign something?”

I winced. “Damn, yeah. Hang on. It’s in the truck. I’ll be right back.”

As I turned to go back to my vehicle, I heard her sigh in frustration. I chastised myself. I’d been too worked up and nervous at the prospect of seeing her that I forgot the clipboard in the truck.Stupid.

When I returned, she scribbled her name on the bottom, and I noticed her last name was still Carlisle, which I took to mean she’d probably never married, or she was divorced. After handing her the receipt of work, she opened her door again and stepped inside.

“It was nice seeing you again,” I said, immediately shriveling inside at how lame and pathetic that platitude sounded. “Uh, I put my number on the receipt if you need it.”

---