A Warrior’s Second Chance novel Chapter 380

FAYE

The silence that followed felt different.

Heavier.

I didn’t look at him immediately.

I didn’t want to.

Because I already knew-

I knew this wasn’t over.

Not even close.

There was a shift in the air before he spoke.

“Really?”

I lifted my head slowly.

“You’re suicidal now?”

The words landed hard.

Not because of what he said–but how he said it.

Flat… direct.

“No,” I said quickly, shaking my head. “That’s not–Alexander, I wasn’t trying to-”

He pushed himself off the door before I could finish.

The movement alone was enough to cut me off.

He didn’t raise his voice.

He didn’t need to.

There was something in the way he carried himself right now… more controlled, in a way that didn’t feel calm at all.

And suddenly, the room felt even smaller.

“I walked in and found you underwater,” he said, his tone steady, measured. “Completely unresponsive.”

“I know, but I-” I started.

“You weren’t breathing,” he said, cutting me off.

I stopped.

Just for a second.

Because I could see where he was coming from.

And that made it worse.

“I wasn’t trying to kill myself,” I said again, more firmly this time. “I just-”

I paused, the words catching because I didn’t even know how to explain it in a way that didn’t sound wrong.

“I needed to cool down,” I finished.

His gaze didn’t change.

“If that’s your idea of cooling down, then we have a bigger problem.”

Frustration flickered through me instantly.

“That’s not what I meant.”

“Then explain it to me. Make me understand.”

The words came out sharper this time.

I pushed out a breath, my fingers curling slightly against the edge of the bed.

“I got into the water,” I said, trying to keep my voice steady. “That’s it. I didn’t think I would-“I stopped, shaking my head. “I didn’t think anything was going to happen.”

His eyes stayed on me. He wasn’t convinced.

“You didn’t think,” he repeated.

Something in my chest tightened at that.

“I didn’t realize. It was an accident,” I corrected quickly, my tone shifting despite myself.” There’s a difference.”

“Is there?”

I looked up at him then.

Really looked.

And the expression on his face-

It wasn’t just anger.

It wasn’t just frustration.

His expression didn’t change.

Not even slightly.

I let out a breath, dragging my hand through my damp hair, the strands still clinging to my skin.

“I wasn’t trying to drown myself,” I said more firmly.

Still nothing.

That silence–it pressed harder than if he had argued back.

“I didn’t mean to hurt Ethan,” I added, the words coming quicker now, like once I started, I couldn’t stop. “I didn’t plan that. I didn’t wake up today thinking I was going to throw someone across the training ground for no reason.”

My throat tightened slightly, but I pushed through it.

“I didn’t plan to share that dream either,” I went on. “I didn’t even understand it myself. And now somehow Roman heard the same thing and-” I shook my head again. “None of that makes sense.”

I could hear it now.

How it sounded.

Disjointed… scattered.

But it was the truth.

“I didn’t mean what I said about sending Roman away,” I added quickly. “That wasn’t-“I exhaled, frustrated. “That wasn’t me thinking curly.”

I looked at him then, properly this time, searching his face for something–anything that showed he understood what I was trying to say.

But he just stood there watching me.

And it felt like he was still measuring everything against what he had seen instead of what I was telling him.

My hands clenched slightly at my sides.

“Things are just happening,” I said, my voice dropping slightly, but the tension still there. “I don’t know why. I don’t know how to stop it. I don’t even know what it is.”

The words hung there for a second.

“I’m trying to figure it out,” I added, quieter now. “But you standing there and talking to me like I’ve completely lost my mind-“I let out a sharp breath, my frustration breaking through fully now. “That’s not helping.”

There.

It was out… all of it.