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“Be careful. See you in a bit.”

“Bye.”

I dressed as quickly as I could, then tiptoed to the side of the bed and nudged Cole.

“Cole, wake up.”

His eyes fluttered open, and he squinted against the early morning sunlight streaming through the windows. The sleepy confusion vanished within seconds, and he sat up in bed, wide awake.

“What’s wrong? Is everything okay?”

“Yeah,” I said, stroking his arm. “Calm down. We need to get up. Langston will be here with his friends in an hour.”

I studied his face, looking for any hint of worry or irritation at the mention of the man. To my relief, I saw nothing. All he did was nod and frown.

“Langston?”

I gaped at him, then realized I’d never even told Cole his name. That was embarrassing.

I put a hand to my forehead and nodded. “Yeah, sorry. That’s his name. Langston. The two other guys are named Zayde and Porter.”

“Oh, good. I thought something bad had happened. Hand me my pants?”

He got dressed, and we headed to the kitchen.

We had buttered toast and coffee for breakfast as we waited.

Cole seemed to be at ease, no worries whatsoever about Langston from what I could tell.

It was a relief, to say the least. I’d been worried that Cole would get more territorial the closer it came to the meeting.

Not just of his pack and town, but also of me.

Almost exactly an hour after Langston called, I heard a car pull into the driveway. Hurrying to the window, I pulled the curtains aside and saw Langston, Zayde, and Porter climbing out of an SUV, each looking travel-weary but alert.

“They’re here,” I said, the girlish hopefulness in my voice surprising me. Help. More people here to help save Ashton.

I rushed to the door and swung it open right as Langston stepped onto the porch.

He was massive, built similarly to Cole, with football-player shoulders and bodybuilder arms. From the corner of my eye, I saw Cole stiffen.

Langston was an attractive man, and Cole was obviously seeing that.

If I had to guess, he was probably wondering if anything had ever happened between us, and what exactly that was.

The answer to that was, of course, nothing.

Langston was like the big brother I never had.

Langston pulled me into a hug, lifting me off my feet as he did. His sandy-colored hair was swept back from his tanned face, and a hint of light brown stubble lined his cheeks and chin.

“We’re getting your boy back, Avery,” he whispered in my ear. “I promise.”

Before I could stop myself, the tears started again.

All I could manage was a small sob and a nod.

Langston held me for a few more seconds—a few seconds longer than Cole liked by the sound of the low growl that came from across the room.

If Langston noticed it, he did a good job of ignoring it.

He put me down, then walked straight toward Cole, hand outstretched to shake.

“Langston Meadows,” he said. “You must be Cole Garrett. Avery told me all about you over the phone. Good to meet you. You’ve got a really good-looking pack land here. Speaks of good leadership.”

“Yeah. Thanks.” Cole eyed him warily, but he did shake his hand.

“Ave, my girl. Long time no see,” Porter said as he gave me a hug.

The man was slimmer than Langston and Cole, but no less impressive with his lanky musculature, like a sprinter or basketball player. His shaved head gleamed in the sunlight streaming in through the door, and his thick black beard ticked my cheeks.

“Hey, Porter,” I said, hugging him back. “Good to see you.”

Zayde nodded and smiled at me before taking his turn to embrace me. His dark brown skin was warm, his arms powerful. Out of the three, he was the quiet, intense one.

“We’re here,” Zayde said. “Don’t you worry. Lang, me, and Port are gonna help get that boy back safe.” He put his finger under my chin and nudged my head up until I met his eyes. “Bet on it.”

“Thank you,” I said, looking at each of them. “All of you.”

Porter and Zayde shook Cole’s hand as well, but I caught Cole giving Langston the side eye as they introduced themselves.

Realizing that I was still standing next to Langston, I went quickly to Cole’s side, close enough that I could feel the tension vibrating through his body.

All I could do was pray he didn’t decide to make an ass of himself in front of my friends.

“So,” Langston said, clapping his hands together. “What’s the plan?”

Cole cleared his throat. “I texted my buddy that you guys were coming. He should be here any minute. I figure once he gets here, we can figure out what our next steps are.” Cole glanced at me, one eyebrow raised. “Um, are your friends going to get a hotel nearby or something?”

I frowned. “Of course not. There are enough beds and couches here. They can make camp here for tonight.”

Cole nodded and smiled, but the muscles in his jaw rippled as he clenched his teeth. “Great. Let’s, uh, well… let me help you guys bring your bags in, huh?”

“Much appreciated,” Zayde said.

As Langston headed out the front door with the others, Trent pulled up in the driveway. Cole and I followed them out, but before we made it to the door, Trent was shouting from outside.

“You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me!”

“You son of a bitch. Are you goddamn serious ?” Langston bellowed.

Cole stiffened and sprinted outside, me close at his heels.

We both froze, our jaws dropping. Trent and Langston looked to be fighting.

My heart lurched, and for a moment, I thought they were trying to kill each other.

But then the two men started laughing and hugged each other like long-lost brothers.

“You dirty motherfucker.” Langston laughed and shoved Trent away. “Trenton Monroe, you shithead. I didn’t think I’d ever see you again.”

Trent had his hands on top of his head, looking at Langston like a kid who’d just come downstairs to find Santa putting presents around the tree.

“You’re Avery’s friend from Iowa?” Trent asked, then looked at me. “Avery, you have awful taste in friends. This guy is a worthless piece of shit.”

The two men hugged again. I frowned at them. Male friendships, and the way they bonded, was strange. They talked to each other like dogs, but were happy as pigs in mud.

“What the hell is going on?” I asked. “How do you two know each other?” It seemed surreal that these two men from different eras of my life had crossed paths before.

Langston released Trent and stepped back, wiping tears of laughter from his eyes.

“Avery, you know I was in the service, right? Well, me and this dickhead—” he punched Trent’s shoulder “—were in the same shifter unit. Same fucking bunk. Hell, we even went through basic training together.”

I’d known about Langston being in the army, but never would have believed the odds that he’d served alongside Trent. My shock must have been clear on my face, because Trent and Langston chuckled.

“Don’t worry,” Trent said, slapping Langston on the back. “We’re as surprised as you are.”

Langston grinned at Trent. “I think our odds of success just went up.”

“Bro, I’m stoked,” Trent said. “Kyle’s going the fuck down. He has no clue what shitstorm is heading his way.”

“Yeah,” Cole said. “It’s, uh… gonna be great.”

I glanced at him as Zayde and Porter walked over to Langston and introduced themselves.

He was watching Trent and Langston with a strange look I’d never seen before.

If I wasn’t mistaken, Cole was jealous. Not just of Langston’s friendship with me , but because he seemed to be close to his best friend as well.