Page 95

AVERY

S hiloh made a happy, high-pitched squeal when Cole and Trent shifted into their wolf forms, then clapped her tiny hands.

“She loves watching them do that,” Stormy said. “There’s a shifter cartoon she likes, but seeing it in real life is better, I guess.”

We were sitting on the back porch. Trent was going to train Cole, help him hone the fighting skills he’d pushed to the side while he was away from Harbor Mills. It was barely noon, but the late summer sun was already beating down on us.

“It is pretty amazing,” I admitted. “I think we get a little jaded about fantastic things when you see it so much.”

“True,” Stormy said with a shrug as she handed Shiloh a cracker to chew on.

Langston appeared from around the side of the house, ostensibly to ambush the two other men.

Suddenly, Trent turned on Cole, and he and Langston attacked the lone alpha.

I winced as they bit and clawed at each other.

It was all part of getting Cole back into fighting shape, and even though I knew they were pulling their punches, it looked terrifying.

“How’s Cole doing?” Stormy asked. “I can’t really tell by watching. All I see is fur and teeth.”

“I think he’s doing okay. He’s—” I paused mid-sentence as Langston flipped Cole over and clamped his teeth to his throat. That ended the exercise, and they started over. “Okay, well, he’s a bit rusty, that’s all.”

“It’s good that he’s taking this seriously, though. Right?” Stormy asked. “He could have easily been egotistical and decided being a pack alpha was all he needed to beat Kyle. This training is probably good for him.”

It was good for him. It also showed that he had grown in the last few days.

The fact that he was allowing Langston to help get him back into fighting shape said a lot.

Trent and Langston were both skilled fighters from their time in the military and would be instrumental in getting Cole ready to take on Kyle.

Cole hadn’t allowed his ego to get in the way.

In fact, he’d approached Langston to help him, much to my surprise.

“I’m proud of him. He’s a better man than he was before. When we were younger, I mean,” I added, glancing at Stormy. “He’s gonna come out of this okay. This will help.”

“I never thought I’d see stuff like this,” Stormy said. “This is all sort of surreal. It doesn’t seem like real life. I can’t imagine what you guys are going through. I don’t even have a mate involved in all this, just friends, and I’m stressed out.”

I could still remember the cuts and bites Cole had on him when he came back from North Crest. Yeah, it was stressful, and the whole thing did seem a bit like a dream. Unfortunately, every day I woke up, my son was still in a madman’s clutches.

The men took a break, chugging from water bottles.

In a span of a minute, Langston cast three different glances toward Stormy, who was completely oblivious as she played with Shiloh.

He pulled his shirt off, revealing his lean, toned body, then sent another look at Stormy as he tossed the shirt aside.

I bit the inside of my cheek hard to keep from snorting.

Langston, obviously disappointed he couldn’t catch her attention, went back to work with Trent and Cole.

“Hey,” I said, nudging Stormy.

“Huh?” She glanced up from digging a rattle toy out of Shiloh’s bag.

Deciding it was time to get to the heart of the matter, I decided not to beat around the bush. “What do you think of Langston?”

Her eyebrows shot up. “What do you mean?”

Dear lord. Stormy was one of the smartest people I knew, but when it came to stuff like this, she could be dumb as dirt.

“ Langston , Stormy. What do you think of him? You know?” I nudged her with my elbow and gave her an exaggerated wink.

Finally catching on, she looked out into the backyard, where Langston was showing Cole some sort of wrist lock. She eyed him for a moment, then glanced back at me.

“I mean, he’s hot. Like, super-hot. We’ve talked about this. Why? Are you trying to set him up with someone?”

“Holy fucking shit, Stormy,” I blurted, then slapped my hand to my mouth and looked at Shiloh.

Stormy waved me off. “It’s fine, she’s not talking yet. What are you so worked up about?”

“What do you think of Langston ? In a romantic sort of way?”

“God.” She laughed. “He’s cute, charming, and smart, but a guy like that wouldn’t be into someone like me.”

I wanted to tell her that any guy in his right mind would be interested in a woman who was beautiful, funny, smart, and built like a lingerie model, but I didn’t. Instead, I decided on the subtle approach, even though that hadn’t worked in the past.

“I think you’d be surprised.”

Stormy smiled sadly and shook her head. “I doubt it. I’m a single mother, recently widowed, and living with my mother. Those aren’t the kind of things men are looking for in a woman.”

“Immature men wouldn’t, but a real man would. You need to remember that,” I said.

The way Langston was drawn to Stormy was making me question if something more intense was going on.

Could Stormy possibly be his fated mate?

If that was the case, I had no doubt Langston would take matters into his own hands soon enough and tell her how he felt.

He’d be leaving to take over the pack from his father when all this was over, so he didn’t exactly have a lot of time.

Still, it would be nice if I could get Stormy to see how special she was.

I didn’t like that she was so dismissive about herself.

“I’m up for a surprise, but doubt it’ll come in a package like that ,” she said, pointing at a sweaty Langston.

Letting it go for now, I returned my attention to the guys.

It didn’t take long for me to get a really good sense of just how much Cole’s skills had deteriorated.

Back in high school, his pack mates would get together all the time and practice fighting and learning tactics.

They’d done it as a fun way to exercise, but Cole had received additional training because he was the heir to the pack.

I could still remember how formidable he’d been back then.

Now, though? It looked like he hadn’t practiced in years.

Trent lunged forward in his human form and kicked out, sweeping Cole’s canine legs out from under him. In his wolf form, Langston leapt onto Cole’s back and latched his teeth onto his neck again before backing off and shifting back.

“You weren’t watching Trent,” Langston said to Cole. “You were too focused on me. Remember, as wolves, we’re stronger and faster, but a well-trained human can still do damage.”

Cole shifted and got to his feet. From his body language, I could tell he was pissed.

“Jesus,” he said. “You didn’t give me any time to react.”

“Do you think Kyle will give you time?” Trent asked incredulously.

Cole let out a huff of breath and put his hands on his hips. “No, but I can’t seem to get my bearings when you aren’t letting up on me. Damn ,” he hissed, kicking at the dirt.

Langston pointed at him. “You need to harness that. That anger and frustration. Let that flow through you, but focus it. So far, you’re fighting like you’re analyzing everything. You aren’t reacting fast enough because you’re taking too long to go through all the possibilities.”

Cole glared at Langston. “Isn’t that called being careful? Safe?”

“Hey, I’m all about safety,” Langston said, putting his hands on his chest. “But sometimes you have to let your natural talent out to play. You’re damn good, and you can be even better if you’d allow yourself to be.”

“He’s right, Cole,” Trent said. “We can both see it. You’re right there —” he held his thumb and forefinger an inch apart “—but you’ve got to push some of that human thought to the back and let the wolf out a little more.”

Cole’s shoulders sagged, but he nodded. “I get it. I’ll try harder.”

“This guy is a psycho,” Langston said. “We can’t be sure what crazy shit he might pull during this fight. He’s gonna fight dirty. We’re just trying to get you ready for that.”

“Fair enough,” Cole said.

The thoughts of what Kyle might try during the fight made me uncomfortable, and I couldn’t bear to watch them train any longer.

“You want to help me make lunch for these crazies?” I said to Stormy.

Shiloh, who was resting her head on Stormy’s chest, blinked up at me. Stormy glanced down at her and smiled. “Sure. This one needs a nap, anyway.”

Once we had Shiloh down for a nap in the portable crib Stormy had brought along, we went about making lunch in silence. I browned the meat and heated the premade beans and rice I’d picked up at the store while Stormy sliced and diced onions, lettuce,jalapenos, and tomatoes.

I wasn’t sure where her mind was. Perhaps on what I’d said about Langston?

My thoughts were more visceral, though. Ashton.

A savage, gut-wrenching guilt crept into the very marrow of my bones.

Everything I was doing, each movement, each second of banality, was a betrayal.

My son was being held prisoner, and I was fucking cooking.

I couldn’t get rid of the anxious restlessness inside me.

At night, I didn’t feel comfortable doomscrolling through my phone or watching television because part of me thought I should be wallowing in misery and pining for my child, doing something to get him back right now.

The problem was, there was precisely nothing I could do for him.

That meant I had to keep on living as though he wasn’t gone, and that didn’t sit right.

I did my best to shove those guilty thoughts out of my head as I cooked.

When we’d finished setting up the burrito/taco bar on the kitchen island, Stormy called out the door, “Lunch!”

Within minutes, the kitchen was full of gigantic, burly, and starving men. Trent grinned as he saw the spread.

“You guys are the best . I’m fucking starving,” he said.

“Same,” Cole added with a smile before dropping a kiss on my cheek. “It looks great.”