A Warrior's Second Chance (Faye and Alexander) novel Chapter 423

16:54 Fri, May 8

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Chapter 423

ALEXANDER

Not in a werewolf who had already been through enough instability.

I stepped slightly to the side, resting one hand lightly against the edge of the desk without sitting.

“You don’t get to decide what affects the pack and what doesn’t,” I said. “Especially not when it involves control issues like that.”

Roman nodded once.

“I understand.”

But I could tell he did.

Just not fully yet.

There was still something in him holding back.

Something he hadn’t put into words.

I didn’t push further for the moment.

Instead, I changed direction slightly.

“Ethan taking you out helped prevent a bigger issue,” I said. “But that doesn’t change the fact that you left without informing anyone.”

Roman nodded again.

“I know,” he said. “I’m sorry.”

I held his gaze for a second longer, then straightened.

“Sit,” I said.

He obeyed without hesitation.

I finally moved to my chair, lowering myself slowly as my thoughts shifted.

Because I wasn’t just listening to what he said.

I was connecting it.

iloal“།་སྤ་སྔོ་།ཆུ

Restlessness.

Instinct pressure.

The timing.

And the fact that he felt the need to remove himself from people before anything escalated.

That wasn’t just physical strain.

That was something deeper.

Something that needed monitoring.

leaned back slightly, my gaze still on him.

“You said it felt like something building,” I said.

Roman nodded.

“Yes.”

I let that sit for a moment.

Then I added, more quietly, “When exactly did it start?”

He hesitated.

That pause told me more than the answer would.

But eventually he spoke.

“Earlier, this morning,” he said.

I exhaled once, controlled.

“Alright,” I said finally. “We’ll handle it properly from here.”

Roman looked up slightly.

I didn’t elaborate further.

Not yet.

Because now I had a new priority forming in my head.

And it wasn’t just about where he went.

It was about what was happening inside him when he did.

FAYE

+75 Pants

I woke up feeling a lot better, although the relief didn’t come all at once.

It crept in slowly, like my body didn’t fully trust it at first.

A few minutes after Helen made me drink that… thing–whatever it was–the sharp, unbearable pain began to dull.

Not disappear completely, not immediately, but enough that I could finally breathe without feeling like something was tearing.through me from the inside.

I stayed where I was, lying back against the bed, my body still tense out of habit even as the intensity faded.

My fingers loosened slightly against the sheets, and I realised I had been gripping them so hard my knuckles had gone pale.

It took time.

More than I wanted to admit.

But eventually, the storm passed.

Or at least… quieted.

About an hour later, I was sitting up, my back resting against the headboard, staring at nothing in particular as I tested the absence of pain like it might return if I acknowledged it too quickly.

It was gone.

Completely gone.

No burning.

No sharp pull.

No overwhelming pressure under my skin.

Just… stillness.

I flexed my fingers slowly, then glanced down at my wrist. The mark was still there–clear, structured in a way I still didn’t want to fully accept–but it wasn’t hurting me anymore.

Not now.

But I knew better.

Helen had been very clear.

She hadn’t fixed anything.

She had only slowed it down.

Bought time.

That was the word she used.

Time.

$25 Points

And something about the way she said it made it sound like a resource that was already running out.

I exhaled quietly, leaning my head back for a moment and closing my eyes.

“This isn’t over…”

The words stayed in my head.

Because I didn’t need anyone to remind me.

I could feel it.

Not pain, not anymore.

But something underneath.

Waiting.

I opened my eyes again, staring ahead as my thoughts started to spiral in directions I didn’t

like.

The way my body had betrayed me earlier.

And now this.

An ancient spell is not something you fight.

Not something you outsmart easily.

Something that was already in motion.

I let out a soft breath through my nose, shaking my head slightly like I could physically push the thoughts away.

1423

I wasn’t going to sit here and let myself drown in that.

I had just gotten the pain under control. I wasn’t about to replace it with panic.

I shifted slightly, pulling the blanket closer around me even though I wasn’t cold. It was more instinct than anything else something to hold onto, something to ground myself in the present.

For a few seconds, the room was quiet again.

Then-

My phone started ringing.

The sound cut through everything so suddenly it made me blink in surprise.

I frowned slightly, reaching for it where it lay beside me on the bed.

I wasn’t expecting a call.

Not right now.

Not with everything going on.

I picked it up and glanced at the screen.

And paused.

It was my mother.

I hadn’t heard from home in a while.

A hundred small thoughts rushed through my mind all at once, none of them settling long enough to form into anything clear.

Why was she calling now?

Was everything okay?

Or-

I stopped that line of thinking before it could go any further.

I wasn’t going to assume the worst.

Not yet.

Still, something in me braced anyway.

Just in case.

I took a small breath, then answered the call, forcing a smile into my voice even though she couldn’t see it.

“Hello, Mother.”

“Faye.”

Her voice came through softer than usual, and something about that alone made me straighten slightly without thinking.

“Mother,” I said again, a little warmer this time. “How are you?”

“I’m fine,” she replied, but there was something under it–something unsettled. “Are you alright?”

The question lingered for a second longer than it should have.

I hesitated.

Not enough for her to catch it… I hoped.

“I’m fine,” I said, keeping my tone light, easy. “Why do you sound like that?”

There was a small pause on the other end, and I could almost picture her shifting, deciding how to say whatever she was about to say.

“I had a terrible dream about you last night,” she said finally.

My grip on the phone tightened slightly.

“A dream?”

“Yes,” she replied. “It woke me up, and I couldn’t go back to sleep after that. I would have called you since morning, but something came up and distracted me.”

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