A Warrior's Second Chance (Faye and Alexander) novel Chapter 323

Chapter 323

ROMAN

I learned quickly that training with Alpha Alexander was not the hardest part of being here.

The hardest part was everything else.

It started with the looks.

Not the curious ones. Not the cautious glances from wolves who didn’t know what to make of me.

The other kind.

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The assessing stares that lingered too long. The murmurs that quieted just a fraction too late when I

walked past. The way conversations dipped when I entered a room, then resumed in a different tone.

I wasn’t dumb.

I knew what they saw when they looked at me.

An outsider.

A stray who didn’t know his own history. No pack name. No bloodline to trace. No memory of who I had

been before I showed up here like some unfinished story.

And somehow, despite that, I trained with the Alpha himself.

I lived under the same roof as the Alpha and Luna.

I moved through the estate grounds without being questioned now… Alpha Alexander had removed the

restrictions as soon as our training started.

That alone was enough to breed resentment.

I felt it in the air like static.

I tried not to let it matter.

Alpha Alexander’s training left me too exhausted most days to care what anyone thought. By the time I was done dragging weighted sleds, sprinting through the forest, and falling to meet expectations I still didn’t fully get, I barely had the energy to hold my head upright–let alone defend my reputation.

But the pack noticed.

They noticed that I didn’t shift.

They noticed that I didn’t understand half the unspoken instincts they moved with effortlessly.

They noticed that when someone referenced a memory of childhood runs or first shifts under guidance. I

went silent.

And wolves do not tolerate weakness,

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That afternoon, I had just finished hauling some crates to the storage room as Alpha Alexander instructed… Punishment for raising my voice at him during training this morning maybe. I wasn’t sure…he didn’t say.

My arms ached faintly from the morning’s drills. I wanted nothing more than to shower and sit somewhere quiet.

I cut across the courtyard, keeping my gaze forward.

That was when I heard them.

“Look who it is.”

I didn’t slow.

Three of them stood there–two leaning against the wall, one sitting on a block. I recognized them vaguely from patrol rotations. Older than me by a few years. Built solid. Confident in the way wolves are when they’ve grown up knowing exactly who they are.

I kept walking.

“Hey,” one of them called out. “We’re talking to you.”

I didn’t answer.

I’d learned that silence was often the safest response.

“Guess he didn’t hear you,” another muttered loudly. “Maybe he’s still trying to remember how ears work.”

They laughed.

I kept moving.

My steps didn’t quicken. Didn’t slow. I refused to give them that.

“Must be nice,” the third one added. “Walk around like you own the place.”

That made something tighten in my chest–but I didn’t react.

“He thinks because the Luna took pity on him, he’s something.”

Pity.

The word dug deeper than I expected.

I had never asked for it…

Never asked to be found. Never asked to be brought here. Never asked for Alpha Alexander’s mentorship

But they chose to be kind to me. Yes, it was definitely pity

I just… ended up here. I had no choice in this.

“And now he trains with the Alpha like he’s special”

he’s sp

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“Special?” one of them scoffed. “He doesn’t even know what he is.”

Their laughter followed me.

I told myself to keep walking.

I was almost past them when I felt it–a hand grabbing the back of my shirt and yanking hard.

I stumbled backward from the force.

“Where do you think you’re going?” the one who grabbed me said.

I straightened slowly, forcing my expression neutral.

“I’m not interested,” I said evenly.

“In what?” he asked mockingly. “Conversation?”

“In this.”

I tried to step around him.

He shoved me back.

Not hard enough to knock me down.

Just enough to establish dominance.

“You think you’re better than us?” he demanded.

“I didn’t say that.”

“You don’t have to,” another cut in. “You walk around like you’re above everyone.”

I stared at him. “I don’t.”

“You train with the Alpha.”

“Because he told me to. I didn’t have a choice.”

“That doesn’t make you one of us,” the first one snapped.

I felt the shift then.

The tension in the air thickened. Their shoulders squared. Their stances adjusted.

This wasn’t about conversation anymore.

“It doesn’t make me anything,” I replied carefully. T’m just doing what I’m told.”

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“That’s the problem,” the second one said. “You’re not told to scrub floors. You’re not told to run supply routes. You’re not told to prove yourself.”

“I am proving myself,” I shot back before I could stop it.

They laughed again.

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“You?” one sneered. “You can’t even shift.”

Silence dropped heavily between us.

That was the part that always lingered.

I didn’t respond.

“Do you even know what it feels like?” he pressed. “To let your wolf out?”

The honest answer was no.

And they could see it.

“Exactly,” he said.

I tried again to step away.

This time, the shove was harder.

I staggered back, barely keeping my balance.

“Stop,” I warned quietly.

They exchanged amused glances.

“Or what?” the first one challenged.

I didn’t answer.

Because I didn’t know.

I had trained. I had learned techniques. I had endured Alpha Alexander’s relentless drills.

But fighting pack members in the middle of the courtyard?

That wasn’t training.

That was politics.

And I didn’t belong here enough to win that fight cleanly–even if I won physically.

I turned again, intent on leaving.

The fist came out of nowhere.

It connected with my jaw, snapping my head sideways.

The shock was worse than the pain.

I tasted blood instantly.

Before I could fully recover, another punch drove into my ribs.

The pain exploded through me.

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I stumbled back, hitting the dirt hard.

They didn’t give me time to rise or heal.

A boot slammed into my side.

Another into my thigh.

“Thought you were special!” one of them shouted.

I curled instinctively, arms coming up to protect my head.

Each blow landed with brutal clarity. No hesitation. No restraint.

I could try to fight back.

I knew I could.

Alpha Alexander had trained me for reaction. For precision.

But something held me back.

Not fear.

Not exactly.

It was… uncertainty.

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If I struck one of them hard enough to put him down, what would that mean? Would I prove their point? Would I confirm that I thought I was above them? Or maybe that I was trouble here…maybe even the Luna won’t be able to help then. I had nowhere else to go.

Another kick caught me across the shoulder.

Pain flared hot and blinding.

“Outsider,” one spat.

“Stray.”

“Doesn’t even know his own last name.”

That one hit differently.

My vision blurred–not from tears, but from the force of another punch splitting my lip.

I rolled, trying to create distance.

One of them grabbed my collar and hauled me halfway up just to drive a fist into my stomach.

The air left my lungs in a violent rush.

I dropped again.

This time, I didn’t try to get up.

< Chapter 323

Not because I couldn’t.