A Warrior's Second Chance (Faye and Alexander) novel Chapter 385

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Chapter 385

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Voices overlapped before anyone made an effort to control them.

“This is too sudden,” Edwin said.

“It’s not sudden, it’s necessary-” Wyatt cut in.

“Necessary for who?” Edwin shot back.

Darren stood at the center of it, unmoving, his expression set, but his silence only gave them more

room to keep going.

Edwin leaned forward slightly, his gaze fixed across the table. “We are not questioning the

transition,” he said, his tone firm. “We are questioning the timing. You can’t force us to rush into any

kind of coronation at the moment.”

Stephen scoffed under his breath. “Call it what it is. You’re questioning his authority.”

A few heads turned at that.

No one denied it.

Darren’s fingers flexed once at his side.

Eleanor, seated toward the end of the table, spoke next, her voice quieter but cutting through the

noise. “Leadership is not inherited by urgency,” she said. “It is proven. And at the moment, what we have is expectation–not certainty. It is not good enough.”

“That expectation is backed by decision,” Wyatt shot back. “The line has already been drawn-”

“And lines can be redrawn,” Edwin interrupted, sharper this time.

The tension shifted.

Darren’s gaze moved slowly from one speaker to the next, but he still didn’t say anything.

Not yet.

“They want more time, can you imagine,” Stephen muttered.

“As if we have not wasted enough time already. What do you all really want?” Wyatt asked.

“The pack wants assurance,” Eleanor added.

Darren felt it.

The room didn’t go quiet after that.

Chapter 385

If anything, it grew louder.

Arguments stacking over arguments, each one pushing further than the last.

“He hasn’t even led a full council responsibly-” Eleanor said.

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“He hasn’t commanded under pressure without cracking… we all know his character,” Edwin said. ” And yet he expects to be followed without question?” he finished.

Darren’s jaw tightened.

Still, he held it.

For a moment longer.

Edwin leaned back slightly. “Titles can be given,” he said. “Respect cannot… he has to earn it.”

A few murmurs of agreement followed.

“That is not your decision to make,” Stephen cut in.

“And yet here we are, making it anyway,” Edwin replied.

The shift was sharp now.

No more careful wording.

No more restraint.

“And what exactly are you suggesting?” Wyatt demanded.

“I’m suggesting,” Edwin replied, “that we are not obligated to recognize authority that has not yet

been earned.”

Darren’s patience snapped before the words even fully settled.

“That is enough.”

The growl in his voice cut through the discussion, low at first, but carrying enough force to make a few of the members pause mid–sentence. Not all of them.

Edwin exhaled sharply, unimpressed, his expression barely shifting. “You speak as though the title is already yours,” he said, his tone measured, almost bored. “It is not.”

A few others murmured in quiet agreement.

Darren’s jaw tightened.

It had been like this since the announcement was made.

The majority of the members were against his coronation before the full moon.

That was obvious.

In their tone.

In the way they spoke over him.

In the way they looked at him.

Like he was something temporary.

Something untested.

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Something they could still challenge.

His hands curled slowly into fists at his sides.

“I am not speaking as though it is mine,” Darren said, his voice sharper now. “I am telling you that it

will be. Whether you like it or not, Beta Edwin. It is you who need to learn your place.”

Edwin leaned back slightly, folding his arms. “Confidence is not power,” he replied. “And power is

what this position demands. Not noise.”

Darren felt it like a blow to his gut.

It pressed against him, building, tightening, coiling into something dark in his chest.

They didn’t see it.

That was the problem.

They didn’t see what was coming.

They didn’t understand what he was about to become.

And the more they spoke-

The more certain he became that they would regret it.

“You think I don’t know what this position demands?” Darren said, his voice dropping lower. “You

think I haven’t prepared for it?”

The members didn’t answer.

That alone felt like an answer.

Darren let out a short breath.

“Then keep watching,” he added.

Eleanor spoke up. “With all due respect…we have been watching. And what we see is a man eager

for power, but not yet worthy of it.”

That did it.

Darren’s shoulders squared, his head lifting slightly as something broke through the restraint he

Chapter 385

had been holding onto.

Darren hit the table hard.

“You don’t see it,” he said slowly.

“None of you do,” he continued.

Darren stepped forward, his chest rising and falling as the energy surged through him.

And then he struck his chest once.

Hard.

“In just a few days,” he said, his voice louder now, stronger, edged with something almost unhinged, “every single one of you will swallow those words.”

Silence followed.

Darren’s gaze moved across them, one by one, holding each of their eyes as his expression

hardened.

“You will bow,” he continued, his tone dropping again. “Not because you choose to-”

He paused for a moment.

“But because you will finally recognize my power.”

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Darren turned to face Edwin directly. “And then I will make sure you regret ever challenging me. Mark my words.”

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