Page 58

AVERY

T he sun dipped toward the Appalachian Mountains, the rays of light angling in the way that only happened in summer. The lush, green trees swayed in the light breeze. It was a perfect day—beautiful and pleasant.

I found no joy in it, though. My hands shook in terror and rage. The scene before me could have been a cold hellscape for all I cared. Nothing mattered right now, nothing at all. My son was gone, in the hands of a madman, and I had no idea how we were going to get him back.

It replayed through my mind a hundred times, each time worse than the last. Realizing Ashton was missing, seeing that poor dead man in the truck, then hearing the awful voice on the phone.

Kyle. Every time I thought his name, I saw his scraggly features leaning down over my son, saw the thick knuckles smashing against his young cheeks, splitting his lips and blackening his eyes.

I clenched my fists to stifle the scream that wanted to erupt from my throat.

Even now, four hours later, everything was as raw as it had been in the moment.

“Hey,” Cole said from behind me.

I spun on the spot, finding him standing in the doorway on the back porch.

“Hey,” I grunted, unable to say more for fear I’d dissolve into sobs.

He closed the distance between us and put his hand on my lower back.

The gesture was probably meant to comfort me, but I didn’t want to be touched.

I didn’t want anything but to have my son back.

But the warmth of his hand anchored me, holding me in place.

Without that, I might have spun off into hysterics.

The only thing keeping my mind from shattering was Cole’s steady presence.

“It’s going to be okay,” Cole said. “We’ll get him back. I promise.”

“How can you promise that, Cole?” I said, pulling away from his touch.

“We don’t know where he is. Kyle could be keeping him anywhere.

That freak wants me to go be his goddamned sex slave or something, or else he’ll murder my son.

We can’t even go to the fucking cops because he could kill Ashton if we do.

I want you to be right, but please,” I said, my voice dripping with desperation, “explain to me how it will be okay ?”

Cole’s head dropped, and I could see how upset he was, see the heartrending worry that had descended upon him the moment he’d learned of Ashton’s kidnapping. My sympathies were muted, though. It was nearly impossible to worry about his own fears when mine were roaring through my soul.

“We’ll think of something,” Cole said at last. “I don’t know what yet, but we will.”

I let out a weary sigh and turned to look at the sunset again.

“If I thought it would do any good, I’d agree to whatever Kyle wanted,” I said with a rueful chuckle.

“But that asshole isn’t the type to go away that easily.

I’d go be his mate, but then there would be another ultimatum, another threat, another twist of the arm to get more. More, more, more. Always fucking more.”

Cole grunted behind me as though he’d been kicked in the stomach. Turning, I saw him gaping at me in horror.

“You can’t be serious, Avery. There’s no way you actually considered doing what he asked, did you?”

“Of course I did, Cole,” I snapped. “I would, quite literally, do anything for my son. Anything . I would die for Ashton. I’d trade my life for his in a heartbeat if I thought it would keep him safe.”

“But…” Cole shook his head slowly, looking disappointed and sad. “Our bond. We’re fated mates.”

My shoulders slumped, hands flopping at my sides. “Cole, I love you, but some things are more important than love. You love me. If this was twisted around differently, and Kyle was some crazy female shifter threatening you with the exact same proposition, would you consider it? To save our son?”

Cole flinched as if slapped. “I… what? That’s… well, I don’t?—”

“Exactly,” I said, looking at him with a compassionate weariness. “Not so easy, is it? You love me, and I love you, but nothing on earth is more important than Ashton’s safety.”

Cole opened his mouth to respond, but then the back door opened again. Trent stepped out to join us, his face strained.

“You know I can hear you two in there, right?” Trent glared at us like a parent who was pissed at his kids for fighting. “Now isn’t really the time to be arguing, is it? It’s not going to solve anything.”

Unconsciously, I moved to Cole’s side. As angry and terrified as I was, he was all I had right now. As I slid my hand up his back, the heat of him radiated into my palm.

Cole put an arm around me and nodded. “Yeah. You’re right. It’s just really stressful.” He cleared his throat. “Have the guys taken care of the body? Has anyone spoken to Chuck’s family yet?”

Chuck Gaynor was the pack member Cole had assigned to watch over Ashton. His image would forever be etched in my mind: open, sightless eyes, blood spattered across his cheeks, his body slumped awkwardly in the front seat. My stomach heaved at the memory, but I kept my composure.

Trent nodded. “I got together with some of the elders. They’re telling them now. His body was taken to the local clinic.”

Cole sighed and ran a hand through his hair, looking up at the sky with bitter anger on his face. “This is all my fault,” he said. “I should have been there instead. Not him.”

He was only partly right. The fact that he was taking so much of this on himself wasn’t healthy, but I didn’t know how to help him.

Yes, none of this would have happened had Cole not come back to Harbor Mills, but it wasn’t his fault.

How could he have known there was a psycho sowing these seeds of chaos in our hometown?

Plus, I was to blame as well. Kyle had taken his weird obsession with me to a level I couldn’t understand.

If I hadn’t brought my son back here, he’d still be safe.

Neither of us should be lamenting things we couldn’t have foreseen or anticipated.

“No one could’ve known it would go this far, Cole,” Trent said, echoing my own thoughts. “We can’t blame ourselves. What we need is a plan.” Trent put his hands on his hips. “What about the police? I mean, we have a dead man here. Why not bring them in?”

“No,” Cole and I said in unison.

“If we get the cops involved, Kyle may cut bait and run,” Cole said. “If he does that, he’ll kill Ashton before getting out of town.”

“Cole’s right,” I said. “I could hear it in Kyle’s voice when I talked to him on the phone.

He won’t hesitate to kill him. Besides, we have no clue where he is, and I doubt the police would, either.

He’d get wind of it before they even got close.

I won’t put Ash in more danger than he’s already in. ”

Trent tilted his head back, then shook it and looked at the porch ceiling. “Well, Avery, I don’t know what else to do. A man is dead. Usually, the first thing you do when someone is murdered is call the authorities.”

“We’re shifters,” Cole growled. “You know what society thinks. Shifter issues should be taken care of internally. Hell, if Harbor Mills was even a little bigger, we’d have our own shifter police force, and we wouldn’t even be having this conversation.

Even if we called the authorities, they’d probably tell me to deal with the other guy myself.

They don’t want to get involved with pack politics—not even when someone gets killed.

It’s bullshit, but that’s the way things are, and you know it. ”

Trent sighed and gazed off into the surrounding forest. “So? What’s the play? We can’t call the cops, we obviously can’t hand Avery over. Where do we go from here?”

“We’ll figure it out,” Cole said. “We have to. Let me think on it.”

“Cole!” someone shouted from within the house.

“Shit,” Cole said. “That’s Farrah.”

In the chaos of everything happening, Cole hadn’t had time to call his sister until twenty minutes prior. Trent, Cole, and I headed inside to meet her. She was pacing the living room, looking distraught.

“Were you being serious?” she demanded. “Dallas took Ashton?”

“Yeah.” Cole rubbed at his temple with his left hand. “Ash’s friend Braylen and some of the other boys at the park confirmed it when we questioned them.”

“Why would Dallas do that?” Farrah looked heartbroken and confused. “Where’s Ashton now?”

I glanced at Cole. “We have no idea.”

He nodded. “Kyle’s keeping him somewhere. Farrah, I doubt Dallas did this of his own free will. Kyle must have forced him to do this.”

“This Kyle Alexander is a real piece of work,” Trent said. “He’s running things with an iron fist. Dallas probably had two options. Do this and live, or say no and end up in a ditch somewhere with a bullet in his head.”

“He’s right,” Cole said. “I could see it when we met with Kyle. Dallas was terrified of him and his goons. I have no doubt he’d do anything Kyle said, even something this bad. People do crazy shit when they’re scared.”

“I don’t care why he did it,” I said, my voice thick with anger. “He did do it. That makes him just as guilty.”

Farrah and Cole looked at me like I was insane. Trent, however, glanced away. I didn’t miss the distinct look of agreement on his face, though he obviously didn’t want to choose sides.

“Avery, he’s my brother,” Cole said.

The anger that had been simmering inside me exploded.

I took a threatening step toward Cole. “And Ashton is our son, for fuck’s sake.

You know what that means, right? We have a responsibility to protect him.

” I jabbed a finger into Cole’s chest. “ You have a responsibility.” I lowered my voice, forcing myself to stay calm.

“I know Dallas is your brother, but Ashton is your son. Dallas is an adult who made his choices. Ashton didn’t ask for any of this. ”

Cole looked hurt by that, but he also accepted my words. The truth I’d spoken couldn’t be refuted. It was all true. The fact that he’d have to choose which loved one he had to help was awful, but I didn’t see any way around it.