A Warrior’s Second Chance novel Chapter 330

ALEXANDER

I exhaled slowly and rubbed the back of my neck.

“Anyway,” I said after a moment, “Mother doesn’t need permission to come to the pack house.”

It was the simple truth.

Helen had never been banished. No formal order had ever been given. As far as the pack was concerned, she still had every right to step through those doors whenever she wished.

There was a small pause on the other end of the line before Irene spoke again.

“I know that,” she said gently. “I just… want everything to go smoothly, Alex. Tomorrow is important to me.”

Her voice softened slightly.

“I don’t want unnecessary tension between you and Mom.”

I closed my eyes briefly and sighed.

Irene had always been the one trying to hold the pieces together.

“I’ll do my best,” I said.

“That’s all I’m asking,” she replied.

Then she added, a little more firmly, “And I’ll talk to Mom too. She’ll behave on her part.”

I huffed a quiet breath through my nose.

“I’m sure she will.”

There was a brief pause before Irene spoke again, her tone lighter now.

“Thank you, big brother.”

“Hmm,” I acknowledged.

A second later, the call ended.

FAYE

I watched his face for a moment after the call ended.

The room had gone quiet again, the faint glow from his phone screen disappearing as he lowered it. Whatever weight the conversation had carried was still there in the small sigh he let out.

I couldn’t help the small smile that spread across my face.

“Thank you,” I said softly.

His eyes lifted to me.

“For what?”

“For going along with that.”

The truth was, I already knew what Irene had asked.

She had mentioned it to me earlier and hinted that maybe I should help talk to Alexander about it. But I’d refused and encouraged her to bring it up to him herself.

For two reasons.

First, because I knew Alexander. Out of everyone in this world, Irene was one of the very few people he struggled to refuse. If she asked him directly, the chances of him agreeing were far higher than if I tried to convince him.

And second…

If he said no–or if the conversation turned into one of those tense arguments that sometimes followed whenever Helen was involved–Irene wouldn’t be the one standing here dealing with it.

I would.

And if I was being completely honest with myself, I didn’t want to fight with Alexander over Helen anymore. Not today.

Alexander looked at me for a moment before speaking.

“Irene wants Mother to be there tomorrow,” he said calmly. “She wants everyone to meet her mate together. As a family.”

I nodded, even though I was almost certain he knew I had already heard most of the conversation. He was just being polite.

Still, he explained it anyway.

Maybe out of habit. Maybe out of consideration.

When he finished, I smiled again.

“Thank you for agreeing to make it work.”

Alexander held my gaze for a second longer before a faint smile appeared on his lips. He leaned back slightly in his chair, watching me with an expression that slowly shifted into something that looked almost amused.

“You and Irene are making it sound like I have something against my own mother,” he said.

I folded my arms loosely, studying him.

Helen was his mother. That much was obvious to anyone who spent even a little time around him. Alexander loved her. I knew that. Anyone with eyes could see it.

My heart skipped before I could stop it.

“I think we’re ready,” he added.

A small smile formed on my lips, though a part of me hesitated deep inside.

The truth was… I wasn’t entirely sure if I was ready.

The memory of the first pregnancy still lingered somewhere in the back of my mind. The loss. The fear. The quiet grief that followed. Trauma had a way of settling into places you didn’t even realize it could reach.

But Alexander wasn’t wrong either.

Time had passed.

And if I was being honest with myself… it was about time.

If not for anything else, he needed an heir. That was simply the reality of the world we lived in. Having a child together wasn’t just something we wanted–it was something necessary.

Still, the smile stayed on my face.

Before I could say anything, Alexander spoke again.

“But I want it to be different this time.”

I looked at him curiously.

“We should get married first.”

That made my smile pause for a second.

Our engagement had happened a while ago, yet the wedding itself kept getting delayed. Mostly by me.

Alexander had asked a few times before why I kept postponing it, and the truth was… I didn’t even have a proper explanation for it myself.

It wasn’t that I didn’t want to marry him.

But every time the conversation about the actual wedding came up, something in me always found a

reason to push it further away.

Alexander studied my face for a moment.

Then he asked quietly,

“Are you not sure about it?”