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AVERY

“ D ammit,” Cole hissed as he walked through the front door. Behind him, Langston and Trent followed. All three of them looked exhausted and sweaty.

“Still no luck?” I asked, feeling stupid the moment the words were out of my mouth. Obviously, they’d been unsuccessful.

“No,” Cole grumbled.

“I’m not sure where he could be hiding,” Langston said, walking over to the coffee machine to start a pot. “Our teams have scoured the whole county. We keep catching slight hints of his scent here and there, but nothing substantial.”

It had been two days since Cole first led the pack on their search for Dallas, and they still hadn’t found him.

The fact that he was nowhere nearby allowed me the chance to come over to Cole’s house, which was a blessing.

I hated being away from him. As much as I loved Stormy and her family, Cole was safety, he was stability, and I needed that right now.

At first, he’d argued against it, but we’d compromised.

I spent my days at the alpha house, then went back to Stormy’s at night.

Cole sat at the kitchen table, brooding, as Langston put a mug of coffee down before him. He glanced at the steaming liquid, and I worried he might sling the cup across the room. But it wasn’t anger in his eyes. It was frustration.

“He’s got to be around here somewhere,” he finally said. “He was on video, attacking that guy.”

“Maybe he’s holed up in Kyle’s mansion,” Trent said. “It’s the safest place for both of them at this point, right?”

“Maybe.” Langston’s face said he didn’t buy it.

“But we’ll never be sure. I took a team to skirt that mansion late last night.

There are so many scents around it, there’s no way to know for sure.

We did catch Dallas’s scent, but it was faint.

It could be from a couple days before. Who knows.

We can’t know until we get inside that place. ”

“This isn’t working,” Cole said. He didn’t sound defeated, just pissed off.

“You’re talking about finding Dallas, or about Kyle?” Langston asked.

Cole blew out a breath and put his cup down. “Both, but mostly about Kyle. I was sure he’d have challenged me by now. Especially after that call from Avery. It’s been days, and nothing but radio silence.”

“I really thought he bought it,” I said. It had worried me as well when Kyle hadn’t outright challenged Cole for leadership of the pack. With each hour that went by, it seemed less and less likely that he would.

“I’m worried he may have seen through the act,” Cole said. “Kyle may have figured out that you were playing him.”

An icy shiver ran down my spine. I didn’t want to think about what Kyle might do to Ashton if he thought I’d been screwing with his head. The man was unbalanced, and I wouldn’t put anything past him. That knowledge terrified me beyond belief.

Cole must have seen the look in my eyes, because his face softened. “He won’t do anything to loosen his hold on us. The only bargaining chip he has is Ash, and he won’t do anything to weaken that hold.”

“You’re probably right,” I said. “I’m just terrified. Ash’s been gone so long. I just want him home.”

“And we’ll get him home,” Cole said. “I’ve promised you that, and I swear to all that is holy, I’m going to keep that promise.”

“I know,” I said. “You guys are doing everything you can, and I understand that. It’s just—” I tapped the side of my head “—the mind of a mother never stops. Especially when your child is in trouble.”

“I get that,” Cole said gently. “I do.”

He pushed away from the table and came over to hug and kiss me. He glanced at the others. “Let’s hit the road again.”

“Already?” Trent looked incredulous.

“I won’t be able to rest until we’ve found Dallas.”

“Let’s do it,” Langston said wearily. “The others are still out searching, anyway. No reason for them to be working when we aren’t.”

“I’ll see you in a few hours?” Cole said to me.

I nodded, hoping he couldn’t read my thoughts as he kissed me again. If he could, he’d probably lose his mind.

I watched through the window as they shifted and bounded off toward the woods again, set on hunting Dallas down.

Maybe they’d find him, and maybe they wouldn’t.

Either way, there was nothing I could do on that front.

I was neither a shifter nor a man. As bitter as the pill was to swallow, there was a sexist line drawn through the world.

Men searched, hunted, and fought. Women worried, planned, and waited.

It was ridiculous, but so ingrained in both human and shifter societies that it might as well be written in stone.

Except in this situation, there was something I could do.

Porter and Zayde strolled around in the yard.

They didn’t appear to be planning on coming inside any time soon.

Taking my phone out, I unblocked the number Kyle had used to call me, hesitated for an instant, then dialed him.

As I waited for the phone to ring, I held my breath, unsure what I’d say or what game I’d play when he answered.

Instead of Kyle’s voice, I was met with an automated message saying the number was out of service.

“ Shit ,” I hissed in frustration, but before I could begin to be truly disappointed, my phone rang.

It was a private number. The odds of this being anyone else was outlandish. It had to be Kyle. With trembling fingers, I answered the call.

“H… hello,” I said, all my previous bravery melting away.

“I’m glad you called, Avery,” Kyle’s oily voice said, and I had to suppress a shiver. “When I didn’t hear from you, I was worried Cole had taken away your phone.”

“Uh, well… it’s, uh, been hard to find a moment alone,” I said, trying to find my footing as quickly as I could. “I finally have a moment, but the number I had said it was disconnected.”

Kyle chuckled. “My little friend Sydney is a wonder. All calls are routed to my new number after the caller gets the out-of-service message. It helps prevent Cole’s little hacker friend from tracking me.

Your number still showed on my caller ID, though.

I’m sure you understand how serious things are right now. Precarious, you might say.”

Licking my lips, I decided to play into Kyle’s idea that I was being controlled.

“I actually don’t,” I said. “Cole’s been keeping me in the dark on everything. Has something else happened I need to know about?”

“It’s okay, my dear,” he said, and I could taste bile at the back of my throat. “I had a feeling that son of a bitch would try to lock you down. I’ve had some reports that he’s tried to sequester you in your friend’s house, so this isn’t a surprise.”

A bolt of fear shot through me. Cole had been right. Kyle was having me watched somehow. Whether by Dallas or some other minion, he knew I’d been spending time at Stormy’s.

“He didn’t trust me to hang around his house very long. He thinks I might mess things up somehow. He thinks I’m a dumb woman, you know?” I said. Speaking the words made me feel awful, but they seemed to work.

“No fear, Avery. I have a man in town. He’s lying in wait, anticipating my call. When the time is right, I’ll let him know. Soon, you and Ashton will be together. Soon, we’ll be together.”

At the mention of my son’s name, my heart shuddered painfully. I wondered if Kyle could hear it over the phone.

Throwing caution to the wind, I said, “Speaking of Ashton, can I please talk to him?”

He’d say no, of course. He’d want to keep dangling him like bait on a hook.

“I suppose a quick conversation would be appropriate. Hang on a moment,” he said.

My jaw fell open, and my already pounding heart increased its pace. My knees were weak enough that I had to sit down, afraid that I might collapse at any second.

“Mom?”

Tears sprang to my eyes, and I gasped at the sound of my son’s voice.

“Oh my God, Ashton. It’s me. It’s me, are you okay?” I asked, rambling through the tears that streamed down my cheeks.

“Calm down, Mom. I’m okay. They haven’t hurt me or anything. I’m safe. Stop crying,” he said, keeping his voice low.

Taking a few deep breaths, I tried to get my heart under control. I had to play this right. Kyle was there with Ashton, and I couldn’t blow my cover yet.

“Baby, is… uh, are you alone?”

A momentary pause, and I heard the sound of rustling clothes like he was moving.

“He’s across the room,” Ashton whispered. “He’s texting someone, I think.”

“Okay, can you tell me?—”

“Mom, don’t let him get you,” Ashton said, the words hissing out below a whisper. “I figured out what he’s trying to do.”

“He told you?” I asked, horrified that he’d told my son that he wanted me as his little piece of arm candy.

“Basically. Not in so many words, but…” Ashton went quiet for a moment, then said, “He’s being really nice to me. A few days ago, he started trying to get me to call him… he wants me to call him Dad .”

I swallowed hard, trying to keep both rage and vomit from roaring out of my mouth. That fucker was trying to get my son to treat him like a father? If Cole didn’t kill the prick, then I most certainly would.

“Don’t worry about all that,” I said. “I’m just happy to hear your voice and know you’re safe. Cole and I will handle everything else.”

“Mom, I know you won’t leave my dad for this psycho?—”

“Speak up, I want to hear you, please,” Kyle said, his voice muffled from the other end. He’d obviously noticed how quiet Ashton was being.

“Uh, sorry. Sure,” Ashton said, and raised his voice to a more normal conversational volume. “Anyway, Mom, I love you. I miss you. Be careful, okay? I don’t want you getting hurt.”

“I won’t,” I said. The conversation was coming to an end, but I didn’t want him to go away. If I’d had my wishes, we would have spoken like that for hours. Simply hearing his voice made me feel better.

“Oh, hey,” Ashton said, and he sounded like he was smiling. “Did you ever go get that dog from the shelter we talked about?”