Page 93

Anger surged through me when she shivered, and I realized I could kill Kyle if it came to that.

It was no longer a distant possibility but more of a certainty.

Anyone who made my mate feel this way and possibly hurt my son deserved nothing but death.

When and if the time came, I’d be ready to do what needed to be done.

“If he hurts him, he’ll end up dead. I’ll make him pay, Avery.”

“If he touches a hair on Ashton’s head, you may not get the chance. I’ll fucking kill him myself.”

The ferocity of that statement surprised me. It reminded me of the aggression in wolves, and I wondered what kind of wolf she’d be if she were a shifter. If I had to guess, she’d be one hell of a force to be reckoned with.

We spent the next few hours doing nothing, which only amped up my anxiety.

I hated being idle, always had. The most I could do now was sit and watch Zayde work magic on the computer.

It all looked like gibberish. I stared at his screen as he wrote line after line of code, and not a damn bit of it made any sense to me.

When Langston called, I jumped at the chance to do something and answered the phone as quickly as I could.

“Scotty’s all settled,” Langston said.

“Any hiccups?” I asked.

“None. Clean sailing. I took a few extra precautions.”

“Those being?”

“Disabled the Wi-Fi in the cabin, cut the phone lines, told everyone to keep their phones on them and away from our guest at all times, as well as the keys to the car. I don’t want Scotty getting cold feet and trying to contact Kyle.”

Next to me, Avery pulled her feet onto the couch and hugged her knees, staring blankly at the cooking show on the TV. She still had that dark, distant expression on her face. I stood and walked down the hall and out of earshot.

“Avery’s not looking great. I think the toll is finally dragging her down. That call with Kyle must have been the tipping point.”

“Shit,” Langston hissed. “I was worried about that.”

“We need to end this soon,” I said. “Trent and I are thinking of challenging Kyle for leadership of the pack. A duel to the death.”

“There’s one problem with that plan,” he said.

“What’s that?”

“A challenge requires acceptance. Kyle won’t expose himself like that. His entire plan is to do this in the shadows. He doesn’t even want you to sign the pack over to him but to Dallas, right?”

I let out a low growl of frustration. “I suppose you’re right. I hadn’t thought of that.”

“Best-case scenario. Unless he, for some reason, decided to openly pursue the pack leadership, you’d have to challenge Dallas.”

“Shit,” I muttered.

“But,” Langston said, his voice lifting as if he’d thought of something, “maybe we can use psychology against him.”

“Yeah? How do you want to do that?”

“It would require Avery to keep playing the game. Staying on his good side the next time he calls her. If he’s still infatuated, and she plays it right, she might be able to talk him into challenging you.”

“Fuck,” I cursed. “I told her she wouldn’t have to do that again.”

“Just run it by her, see what she thinks. We don’t want to force her to do anything she doesn’t want to, but this might be the best way to kill two birds with one stone.”

I peered around the corner to check on Avery. She was still staring at the TV.

“I’ll see how she feels about it and will let you know,” I said. It didn’t sit well with me, but it might be our best option.

“Good.”

Pocketing my phone, I stepped back into the lounge. “Hey, Aves? Do you have a second?”

“Yeah, what’s up?”

I tilted my head to the kitchen where we’d have more privacy, though I doubted Zayde would even hear a word we said because he was so enthralled with whatever he was doing.

When we were in the kitchen, I said, “I need to ask you something, and whatever your answer, I’ll take that as the end of it. Okay? You’re in charge.”

Her eyes narrowed. “What are you talking about?”

Sighing, I said, “I just got off the phone with Langston, and he had an idea. Do you know that shifters can challenge for pack leadership?”

She nodded slowly. “It’s pretty rare for that to happen, isn’t it?”

“Rarer now than in the past, yeah.” I told her about the conversation with Chris, as well as Langston’s plan for Avery.

“I know I told you that you wouldn’t have to play-act with Kyle again, but Langston thinks you might be able to convince Kyle to challenge instead of the other way around.

If you say no, then that’s it, I won’t say anything else about it.

But I knew if I didn’t tell you, you’d be pissed at me. ”

“Hell yes, I’d be pissed,” she said.

“Does that mean you want to do it?” I asked, incredulous.

“Want to? No. Will I? Yes. I don’t like the thought of this challenge, though. It means you’ll be putting yourself in more danger, and that freaks me out. But I don’t see any other way. We’re starting to run out of options.”

“That’s true,” I admitted.

“But…” She bit her lower lip. “Are you sure about this? I know you shifters all get taught how to fight when you’re kids, especially heirs to the pack, but have you kept up that training?

” She rolled her eyes. “I don’t want this to sound like I’m questioning your manhood or something, but I assume you didn’t really keep up that training when you were gone. ”

I grimaced. “You’re assuming right. I spent so much time building my life that I let that slide. I guarantee you, I’m going to change that as soon as possible.”

“I just wish this was all over,” Avery hissed. “Kyle keeps dragging this out, and I hate it.”

I framed her face in my hands. “Are you sure you can do this? It’ll truly be the last time you have to talk to him.”

She nodded slightly. “It’s fine. I can do it. I swear. I can do anything for my boy.”

Ashton had no idea how lucky he was to have this woman as his mother.

An image flashed across my mind. Avery, eight months pregnant, off by herself somewhere alone, rubbing her stomach lovingly. My wolf growled, an unconscious sound I didn’t even have time to think about suppressing. A growl of desire.

“Hey, what’s going on?” Avery asked, studying me with concern.

The thought of her carrying my child sent an overwhelming pang of need through me. My wolf and I craved the idea. We’d missed so much, had never even seen Avery pregnant. It was something me and the beast inside me regretted, and we wanted to see it.

Hands trembling, I touched her stomach.

Her frown deepened for a moment, then the wrinkles on her forehead smoothed and she blinked up at me.

“Cole? What?—”

I leaned forward—lunged, really—and crushed my lips to hers. Her hands roved up my chest and into my hair. After several seconds, she pulled away, gasping for breath.

“What’s gotten into you?” she asked.

“I need you,” I said, my voice low and gravelly, more wolf than man. I glanced over my shoulder at Zayde, his eyes glued to his screen like a man possessed. Looking at her again, I said, “I want you, and whatever happens, I promise I’ll be there for it.”

The unspoken implication was obvious to both of us. I wanted to put a baby into her, wanted to see her stomach grow as our child formed inside her. It would be the greatest thing I’d ever experienced. I couldn’t go back in time, but I could ensure I was there for the next one.

Avery nodded vehemently. Taking her hand, I led her up the stairs.

The strange swirling in my stomach made me recall the butterflies from all those years ago, the first time I was with Avery.

Sixteen years old, unsure of what we were doing, but knowing we wanted whatever magical thing was about to happen.

Now, all these years later, I felt like a teenager again.

Pulling her into the bedroom, I kicked the door shut behind us and dragged her against me, our lips meeting in a fervent kiss.

The deep ache inside me swelled as her tongue slipped across my lips.

Without breaking our embrace, we shuffled toward the bed, falling onto it in a tangle of limbs and suppressed laughter.

Desperate fingers clawed at waistbands, shirt hems, and underwear until skin slid across skin. Avery’s body pressed into mine brought another growl from my throat. Lifting and twisting her until she was under me, I straddled her, never breaking eye contact.

My cock, already hard and throbbing, stood rigid.

Avery curled her fingers around it and stroked me, drawing a moan from my lips.

I took her nipple in my mouth, flicking my tongue over it.

Cool, soft fingers glided up and down my shaft until the hunger inside me became an inferno.

As I suckled at her breasts, I imagined how I would take her.

How she would cry out when I fucked her.

Avery looked up at me, eyes half-lidded with lust. “Give me your cock. I want to taste you.”

I spun, positioning my body to give her what she wanted, and buried my face in her pussy. She moaned and pulled me down onto her, sliding her mouth onto my shaft, her hands clutching my ass cheeks.

Groaning, I sucked on her swollen clit. Avery drew me down again and again, pulling on my ass, forcing me to fuck her mouth. The hedonism of that act made me hornier than I thought possible, and I slid two fingers into her soaking wet pussy, fucking her with my hand as I feasted on her clit.

As my fingers and tongue worked more feverishly, she writhed beneath me, sucking my cock harder and faster in eager anticipation of the orgasm I was drawing her toward. I moved my fingers faster as I thrust into her mouth. A few seconds later, she shuddered, releasing my cock as she cried out.

“Oh, God!”

Repositioning myself so I faced her, I kissed her. “Are you ready?” I whispered.

Gasping for breath, she nodded frantically. With a single thrust of my hips, my cock glided into her dripping entrance, and her body accepted mine. Her jaw dropped open, and she clenched around me. Collapsing down, I wrapped my arms around her, grinding my hips against her.