A Warrior’s Second Chance novel Chapter 338

ROMAN

For a moment, I simply looked at him.

The question had been direct enough to catch me off guard.

Who are you?

It wasn’t asked rudely, but there was something about the way he said it that made it sound heavier than a normal introduction, as if the answer actually mattered to him.

I didn’t know the man.

I had only seen him earlier when I passed through the living room. Everyone had been gathered there, talking and laughing.

The Luna had mentioned earlier that Alpha Alexander’s sister was visiting and that she was bringing her mate along.

That had to be him.

Which made it a little strange that he seemed to be so interested in me.

I felt a faint flicker of uncertainty at the back of my mind.

Most guests in the packhouse didn’t pay me much attention, and I preferred it that way. It kept things simple. I stayed out of people’s way, and they usually did the same.

But this man was standing in the middle of the hallway looking at me like he was trying to figure something out.

And I had no idea why.

For a brief moment, I wasn’t even sure how to answer his question.

Who are you?

The words echoed in my head in a way.

It was a simple question.

But for someone like me, the answer had always been frustratingly short.

Because the truth was… I didn’t have much to give.

I didn’t have a story about where I came from.

I didn’t have a pack name to offer.

I didn’t even have a past to describe.

All I had was my name.

And even that sometimes felt like it existed on its own, disconnected from everything else.

Still, I gave him the only answer I really could.

“Roman,” I said.

The name felt small in the quiet hallway.

I watched his face carefully for a moment before adding, “You must be Irene’s mate.”

He didn’t answer in words.

Instead, he nodded.

But it wasn’t the kind of nod people usually gave when they were simply confirming something. It wasslower, slightly absentminded, like his thoughts were somewhere else entirely.

I wasn’t sure what he was thinking about, and honestly, I didn’t feel particularly motivated to find out.

The hallway felt a little too still.

And the longer we stood there, the more it felt like the conversation might drift somewhere I wasn’t interested in going.

Because if he asked anything else–anything about where I came from, how long I’d been here, or why I was here–I would have to give the same answer I always did.

I don’t remember.

I wasn’t in the mood for that conversation tonight.

I wasn’t in the mood to explain to a complete stranger that the only thing I knew about myself was my own name.

So before the moment could stretch any further, I gave him a brief nod.

“Nice to meet you,” I said.

And without waiting for anything else, I turned and hurried off.

THIRD POV

Irene had barely settled onto the edge of the bed when Helen began speaking.

The door had closed behind Jeffrey only moments earlier, and the quiet that followed felt heavy. Irene had expected her mother to ask a few questions, maybe make a passing comment about dinner or the long journey that had brought Irene and Jeffrey here.

Instead, Helen stood near the door with her arms folded lightly across her chest, studying her daughter with an expression Irene knew far too well.

It was the same expression Helen wore whenever she had already made up her mind about something and had simply come to inform everyone else.

Irene exhaled slowly.

“Alright,” she said, leaning back slightly on her hands. “What is it?”

Helen didn’t pretend not to understand.

“I don’t like him,” she said plainly.

The bluntness of it was so immediate that Irene blinked once before letting out a small laugh.

Not an amused laugh.

More like the sound someone made when they weren’t entirely sure they had heard something correctly.

“You don’t like him?” Irene repeated.

Helen nodded once.

“No.”

Irene tilted her head, studying her mother.

For a moment, she almost expected Helen to elaborate immediately. But Helen simply remained where

she was, her expression firm and composed.

And that was when Irene started to find the whole thing ridiculous.

“You’ve barely even spoken to him,” Irene pointed out.

“That doesn’t mean I can’t have an opinion.”

Irene let out another breath, this time more exasperated.

“Mom.”

Helen didn’t react to the tone. If anything, she seemed completely comfortable standing her ground.

“I’m serious,” Helen continued. “I don’t like him.”

Irene rubbed a hand lightly over her forehead before dropping it back to her lap.

“You’re acting like I just brought some random man home and announced we were getting married,” she said.

Helen didn’t respond.

Because the truth was, that wasn’t what had happened.

And Irene knew it.

Jeffrey wasn’t some man she had picked up along the way

He was her mate.

Which meant the bond between them had been established the moment they recognized each other.

It wasn’t a decision made over time.

It wasn’t something Irene had carefully chosen after months or years of consideration.

It had simply… happened.

Helen knew that.

“Jeffrey is my mate,” Irene said firmly.

Helen’s expression didn’t soften.

“I know that.”

“And you also know it’s not like I just picked him out of a crowd somewhere.”

Helen didn’t argue with that either.

Instead, she walked further into the room, her steps slow and measured.

“I’m aware of how the bond works, Irene,” she said calmly.

Irene watched her carefully.

There was something about the way Helen was speaking that made Irene uneasy.

Not because Helen sounded angry.

She didn’t.

“And you trust that explanation?”

Irene stared at her.

“Why wouldn’t I?”

Helen didn’t answer immediately.

Instead, she walked slowly across the room before stopping a few steps away from Irene.

“Irene,” she said quietly, “sometimes people say things that are technically true without actually explaining the whole situation.”

Irene felt irritation bubbling up in her chest now.

“You’re reading way too much into this.”

Helen’s gaze didn’t waver.

“Maybe.”

The calmness of that answer only made Irene more frustrated.

“You’re acting like he’s hiding something,” Irene said.

Helen folded her hands loosely in front of her.

“I’m saying I don’t know him.”

“And you think that’s enough reason to decide you don’t like him?”

Helen sighed softly.

“I’ve lived long enough to trust my instincts.”

Irene shook her head again.

“This is unbelievable.”

Helen watched her for a moment before speaking again.

“You’re putting a lot of faith in something you didn’t choose.”

Irene frowned.

“What is that supposed to mean?”

Helen’s expression shifted slightly now.

“When I met your father,” she began slowly, “it wasn’t because of a bond.”

Irene smirked.

“We weren’t drawn together by fate,” Helen continued. “There wasn’t some magical moment where the universe decided we belonged together.”

Her voice remained steady.

“We became mates because it made sense… politically.”

Irene stared at her.

Helen’s gaze drifted briefly toward the floor before returning to her daughter.

“It was a duty,” she said simply.

The words settled heavily in the room.

“Your brother made the same choice.”

Irene said nothing. She simply allowed Helen to speak.

“Alexander chose Faye deliberately,” Helen said. “Not because fate pushed them together, but because choosing her would strengthen the alliance between both packs.”

Irene sighed. “And you think that’s best?”

Helen nodded without hesitation.

“Yes.”

She took a small step closer.

“I would rather see you choose your mate with purpose,” she said. “Someone who benefits you, benefits this family, benefits the pack.”

Her voice softened slightly.

“Not someone chosen by a bond that may or may not have any real value.”

Irene looked at her for a long moment.