Page 93 of The Alpha's Second Chance Mate

We tossed our stuff back into our luggage and sprinted out the door. The elevator seemed to be going in slow motion, and I shifted my weight from foot to foot in anticipation. I thought Cole was going to deck one of the valets when they took more than five minutes to bring our truck up. The tires squealed as we pulled away and shot toward the highway.

Cole’s knuckles were white on the steering wheel, his eyes glued to the road. The look on his face wasn’t anger or rage. It was sadness and desperation.

“I thought it wouldn’t happen until the full moon,” he muttered at one point. “I really thought that’s when it would happen. Not tonight. I never would have left if that was the case.” He glanced at me. “I promised I’d be there for it. To help him through.”

“I’m sure it’s okay. You’re there in spirit,” I said lamely. “And you’ll be there after to help him. That’sifit does happen tonight. Remember yours? It took almost a full day for you to finally shift. Maybe that’s how it’ll be with Ashton. We may have until lunchtime before he goes through with it.”

“Every shifter is different, Avery,” he said, voice growing tighter. “Some take hours or days, and others can go through the process in a few minutes or an hour. There’s no rhyme or reason to it. Not genetics or anything. It’s all random. He could already have shifted for all I know.”

“And if he did, it’ll be fine. You need to calm down, Cole.”

“This is important,Avery. Really important,” he said, and I could hear the imploring tone in his voice.

“I know, but if we miss it, it’ll be fine. I promise. Ashton won’t hold it against you.”

Cole scoffed. “Even as big of a piece of shit as he was, my father was there for my first shift. The guy didn’t give a fuck about anyone but himself, but he managed to be there for me. I have to be there for Ashton. I have to.” He punctuated the last word by banging his palm on the steering wheel.

I wasn’t a shifter, so I couldn’t truly understand the significance of a first shift. But I wanted to be there for my son, to make sure he wasn’t in pain or terrified. That was what I was most worried about. Cole? He was thinking of all the things he’d missed in the past. I remembered the look in his eyes when I’d shown him the photos of Ashton as a kid—all the big milestones he’d missed, and how awful he felt for missing them. This was another milestone, perhapsthebiggest, and he was beating himself up for it.

As we entered the city limits of Harbor Mills, I thought about how to ease his worry. But there was nothing I could say. Nothing could pull a father out of that kind of self-abuse.

The truck nearly tipped up on two wheels as we turned into my driveway. Before we’d even come to a stop, Cole let out a soul-rending groan.

“No!”

As I looked up, I saw what had made him react. Trent was leaning against the porch railing, a grim smile on his lips. A young, beautiful wolf sat on its haunches beside him, panting and gazing at us with the closest thing to a smile a canine could manage.

The wolf looked nearly identical to Cole’s. That was Ashton. My baby boy. I grinned at him through the windshield, tears forming in my eyes. He was beautiful. As surreal as it was, I couldn’t stop myself from breathing a sigh of relief that it was finally done. He’d made it through.

Forcing myself to tear my eyes from Ashton, I spared a glance at Cole. He looked devastated. Heartbroken wasn’t a good enough word for the expression on his face. If I had to describe it, he looked like he did when his mother had died. It was that level of devastation.

I put my hand on his shoulder. “Cole?—”

He shrugged off my hand and got out of the truck. “Let’s go.”

With a weary sigh, I got out as well. Cole plastered a fake smile on his face and hurried toward Ashton.

“Hey, buddy.” He laughed. “You look so good.”

He knelt and rubbed behind Ashton’s ears. The wolf that was my son closed his eyes in pleasure as Cole scratched his neck. I could still see the pain in Cole’s eyes, but he was doing a good job hiding it for Ashton’s sake. At least that was something. I neverwould have been able to forgive him if he’d made this special moment about himself. If I knew one thing about Cole Garrett, it was that he always tried to put others first, even when he was in pain.

“How’d he do?” Cole asked Trent.

Trent knew Cole as well as I did, and when he saw Cole’s face, his eyebrows knitted together. Trent looked almost embarrassed that he’d been here instead of Cole.

“He did good,” Trent said as he patted Ashton’s head. “He’s a natural. Happened fairly easily.”

Ashton stood and padded down the steps to me, and I knelt in front of him. I could still see my son in the wolf’s eyes. My boy was in there.

“I’m very proud of you,” I said, stroking his head.

Ashton whined happily and wound his way around my legs almost like a cat. Cole had done the same thing long ago, marking me with his scent. Ash was making sure the whole world knew I was his mother.

“That’s an alpha thing,” Cole commented. “Showing everyone that you’re under his protection. That you are his mother, and any other wolf needs to respect it.” Cole grinned grimly. “Or expect his wrath.”

Without another word, Cole shifted, dropping down to four feet and padding toward Ashton. The two wolves sniffed each other, then rubbed against one another. A father greeting his son.

Cole nudged my hand with his muzzle, and I took his face in my hands, looking into his wolf eyes. I could still see the anguishand heartache there. He was beating himself up for not being here.

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