Page 142 of The Alpha's Second Chance Mate

I could see the hard steel of his conviction in his eyes.

“If he’s with Kyle, the choice is easy. My son comes before anything and anyone else. I’ll put him in the ground right beside Kyle if I have to, and I won’t hesitate.”

I sighed in relief. Cole would do anything for Ashton, but deep down, I was worried he would do precisely that—hesitate. If he did that in the heat of battle, his precious traitor of a half-brother might use that moment to stab him in the back. Literally. I wanted my son back safe, but I also wanted Cole safe. Relaxing, I lay my head on his chest.

“My head’s in the game now,” Cole said as he stroked my hair.

“I know. I can tell. I’m ready to go back out now,” I said, pushing the covers off.

“Are you sure?” Cole asked, sitting up and surprised. “You don’t have to. You really should get some rest.”

“I know,” I said, patting his shoulder. “But I want to be around people. Being alone isn’t too appealing at the moment.”

That was the truth, too. Without other voices, people, and things to keep my mind off the horrors playing through my head, I would very likely go mad. Something had clicked in my head these last five minutes. Cole’s head was back in the game, and so was mine. I’d be no good to Ashton if I collapsed into a sobbing wreck every ten minutes. As bad as it was, I had to be strong for him.

“Let’s go, then,” Cole said, and led me out of the bedroom.

Trent and Langston glanced up as we walked down the hall. Porter, Zayde, and Stormy were watching them with rapt attention.

“What’s up?” Cole asked.

“I think we’ve got the skeleton of a plan,” Trent said. “Basic, but I think it’s the best option.”

Cole took my hand, and we crossed the room to join them.

“Lay it on me,” Cole said as we took seats.

“First thing,” Langston said, glancing worriedly at Cole. “We’re going to need people to pull this off. More than what we have here.” He gestured around the room. “In a perfect world, I’d get a big group of my own people to jump in here, but that’s not feasible. Making the phone calls, orchestrating travel, all that? It’ll take too long. Trent told me you guys were doing your best to keep all this quiet, but you’re gonna need to do your alpha thing. Tell everyone what’s happening and see if anyone in your pack is willing to help.”

Cole stared back at him, an unreadable look on his face. I worried this was about to turn into another fight. Cole might get angry that Langston was telling him what to do.

Instead, Cole sighed. “I suppose we couldn’t keep this bottled up forever. Pretty soon, everyone’s going to know that Chuck was murdered. I can’t keep the lid on this forever. Probably should have called a pack meeting already.” He rubbed his jaw but nodded at Langston. “I’ll get it done. Now, why do we need all this muscle?”

Trent pointed at Zayde’s computer. “Zayde’s been scanning all these videos, watching Kyle’s men move through North Crest. By our count, he’s got less than a dozen guys in his crew. At least, that’s all he brings with him. What we need is enough manpower to overwhelm his numbers. A full shock-and-awe attack that he won’t be ready for.”

Even as he spoke, I could almost picture him and Langston back in the army, dressed in desert-colored fatigues, briefing their teams before a mission. Was this really happening? Here? In rural fuckingGeorgia?

“When would we spring this trap on Kyle?” Cole asked.

“We don’t go after Kyle first,” Trent said, shooting Langston a worried glance.

“Right.” Langston grimaced. “We target Dallas first.”

Cole didn’t even blink, just nodded along. “Probably smart,” he said. “Kyle will be pretty wary for a bit. Dallas won’t have as much security around him. They’ll all have their eyes on protecting Kyle. I like it.”

“You’re good with it?” Trent asked, his brows knitting together as he watched Cole’s face for some sign of emotion.

“Dallas took my son,” Cole said, and he looked ready to kill. “If I can’t get Kyle, then he’s the next best thing.”

“What’s Farrah gonna say about that?” Trent asked.

“I’ll handle her. Don’t worry.”

“Fair enough,” Trent said. “We expect Kyle to make contact soon. He gave Avery that ultimatum, so I’m sure he’s going to try to call her and see if she—” he shivered in disgust “—has decided to be his mate yet.”

I sneered at the thought. “Gross. Fuck him. If he calls, I’ll tell him to go screw himself.”

“Don’t do that,” Zayde said. “If he calls, you need to keep him on the line as long as possible.”

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