Page 70

COLE

S tupid, stupid, stupid , I cursed myself as I ran. Grass flattened beneath my paws as I careened through the forest.

I’d been running for hours, trying to let the wind tear away the gross feelings, but it wasn’t helping. Shame, embarrassment, and anger continued to wage war inside me. Why was I acting like this? And why couldn’t I stop?

My whole life, I’d seen myself as the alpha I was—always prepared, ready, and assured.

Even though I’d never craved the power and recognition that came with being the leader of a pack, each day I looked in the mirror, I knew what I was.

The confidence that came with that had never been overt, just a subtle and constant presence in my mind.

For some reason, the appearance of this Langston guy had shattered that, and I didn’t understand why.

Trent was a badass. His training alone would have made him formidable, and if I was honest, he could probably beat my ass in our human forms. The only chance I’d have would be when we were wolves, since mine was much larger and more powerful than his.

Deep down, I knew it wasn’t any one thing about Langston, but everything all at once.

He was confident, handsome. He carried himself like a warrior, just like Trent did.

He’d also managed to step in and get things moving in a way I hadn’t been able to, almost effortlessly making plans.

The guy was no-nonsense and quick to make decisions.

The epitome of an alpha. Not only that, but he’d known my mate and my own son for a long time.

Hell, he’d spent more time with them over the last ten years than I had.

In all honesty, he was closer to family than I was.

That was the part that really nailed me.

He was like a neon billboard of all the mistakes I’d made and everything I’d missed.

Even in the short time I’d known him, a dark realization had oozed up from my mind.

Langston and I were both alphas, yes, but Langston was stronger.

His aura was more pronounced, his power more evident, his life more put-together.

I’d never met an alpha stronger than me.

Sure, I knew there were stronger alphas out there, but I’d never run across one.

If someone had told me I’d meet one at some point, I’d have assumed I’d simply acknowledge them and move on.

Now, I knew that wasn’t the case. My pride was more fragile than I’d ever imagined.

Skidding to a halt, I padded up to an outcropping of rock and looked out over the wilderness.

The impact of man was still evident out here.

I could see the highway winding through the foothills in the distance, and a few houses sat nestled in the forest. Still, it was a relaxing place.

Throughout my entire time in the woods, I kept having the same thought, and no amount of running could dispel it.

What if Langston could be a better mate to Avery than I could be?

Throwing my head back, I let out a deep, mournful howl that echoed across the forest.

No ! I shouted at myself, the word booming deep in my mind.

Avery loved me, and I loved her. These were just stupid thoughts born from my insecurities.

I was being an idiot. Even after the dumb mistakes I’d made in the past, fate had brought us back together.

It was a one-in-a-million chance, and I was squandering that by being a childish dumbass.

Not only that, but there were bigger things at stake here than my own ego.

Slapping my paw down on the dirt in anger, I thought of Ashton.

Alone, scared, in danger. My son was missing, held captive by some psycho, and all I could think of was myself.

No more. I had to get my head right and work with anyone to save my son. I’d work with Langston and figure it out. Hell, I’d work with the fucking Easter Bunny if it meant getting Ashton back safe and alive. I needed to focus.

The wind turned, and I caught a familiar scent. I spun around, waiting for Trent. He came padding out of the underbrush, his eyes wary and worried as he approached. Those were the eyes of a pack mate who’s afraid his alpha was going to snap and lash out in anger.

More shame. Even my best friend thought I might do something dumb.

Trent shifted and put his hands on his hips.

“I got a message from Langston. He’s found something you need to see. If, ” he added with an irritated tone to his voice, “you can handle being around the guy long enough to hear him out.”

I shifted and stepped forward, eager to hear what Trent knew.

“What’s going on? What did they find?”

“No clue,” Trent said. “Langston said it was something you needed to see in person. He didn’t want to say anything on the phone. It sounded urgent, though.”

“Well, let’s go,” I said, and went to move past him, ready to shift and run back home.

Trent pressed his palm to my chest, stopping me. “Hang on.”

I knew what was coming, and I deserved it. Though, that didn’t mean it would be pleasant or that I’d like it.

“Are you going to handle this like a man?” Trent asked.

“Yeah,” I grunted.

“Really?” Trent asked, raising his eyebrows. “Because you’ve been acting like a little bitch all day.”

Lowering my head, I said, “I know. I’m sorry about that.”

“Sorry doesn’t mean shit to me,” Trent said.

“I don’t need sorry. What I need is my alpha to act like a goddamn alpha, not like some pissy toddler who missed naptime.

” Trent pointed back over his shoulder in the general direction of town.

“I’ve known Langston for a long time. We went through some major shit.

If I were you, I’d be over the fucking moon that a guy like that traveled across the country to help me save my son.

Ashton needs you. Kyle has your son, and from what we saw in North Crest this morning, he’s not only a threat to your family but your town as well. ”

“I’ve got it,” I said, holding my hands up in surrender. “I know. I’ve been a dick. I promise my head is in the game. We’re good.”

Trent kept his eyes locked on mine, almost like he was trying to look all the way into my skull and read my thoughts. Whatever he saw must have told him what he needed to know. He dropped his hand from my chest and nodded once.

“Good. All I want is my friend back.”

“I’m back. It’s me,” I said. “I promise I’ll do better.”

“Well, let’s get going, then,” Trent said.

We shifted and sprinted back home. Thankfully, I’d spent my run going in a one-mile radius around my place, so we weren’t too far away.

We hopped into Trent’s vehicle and headed for Avery’s place.

The whole drive, I had a nervous tickle in my stomach.

The worst thing about my behavior was that I’d have to look into Langston’s and Avery’s eyes and take whatever came my way.

I deserved whatever they gave me, though.

If the tables had been turned and Langston had acted the way I had?

God, I couldn’t imagine the shit I’d have given the guy even if he apologized.

I was more worried about Avery’s reaction, though.

When we got there, Trent led the way into her house.

Swallowing my pride, I followed him. Avery was sitting at the kitchen table with Stormy and Langston.

She glanced up, and we locked eyes. She didn’t smile, didn’t jump up to greet me with a hug, or even acknowledge my presence.

Instead, her gaze stayed on me a moment before sliding over to Trent. Then she smiled.

“Hey, Trent,” she said.

Fuck. This wasn’t good. I couldn’t blame her, though. I needed to focus and get my head in the game. Show everyone here I was capable of being the bigger man, of being a better man than I had been earlier.

Taking the initiative, I headed straight for Langston, holding out my hand.

“Hey, uh, I’m sorry about earlier. I was a dick, and you didn’t deserve that,” I said, doing my best to be as sincere as I could.

Langston glanced down at my hand for half a second before nodding and shaking.

“No problem, Cole. Water under the bridge.” He nodded toward Zayde. “We’ve got bigger problems, anyway.”

“What did you guys find?” I asked, releasing his hand and moving to join Zayde at the kitchen counter where he had his laptop open. As I took my spot, I cast a sidelong glance at Avery. She gave me the faintest nod and a small smile. Not much, but I’d take it.

“Once we got checked into our rooms, Zayde did a bit more poking around North Crest’s systems,” Langston said.

Zayde gave me a slight once-over, then nodded. “At first glance, it appeared they didn’t have any surveillance systems. Looked like a little backwater town that never upgraded to the twenty-first century, but then I hit paydirt.”

“What was it?” I asked, leaning over eagerly to see what he had.

“I accessed the public works site. The place where you go to pay your gas bills and shit. I dived into the code and found a weird little back door that took me to a bunch of deleted files for the municipality. The files were deleted by someone who didn’t really know what they were doing.

People like to think hitting that little trashcan icon is all you need to do.

Unfortunately, for anyone trying to get rid of the dick pic they took when they were drunk, it takes a lot more to really get rid of something. ”

I pointed at the computer. “What is all that?”

A dozen small thumbnail squares lined the screen, all black-and-white pictures that were too small to make out.

“North Crest does have security cameras around town. Not many, but they were all on the same server. The one some dumbass tried to wipe. Look what we found,” Zayde said as he clicked on the first thumbnail, enhancing the size to full screen.