A Warrior’s Second Chance novel Chapter 446

FAYE I looked between Helen and Roman like maybe one of them would suddenly explain this in a way that actually made sense. But nothing. Roman was now sitting up on the floor, trying to catch his breath, while the room itself felt frozen around us. My anchor. How? Helen had called him my anchor. No. No, that couldn’t be right. Alexander was supposed to be the anchor. Alexander was the one who stood beside me through the ritual. Alexander was the one who held my hand while Helen performed the binding. Roman wasn’t even there. My voice came out before Alexander could speak again. “What do you mean?” I could hear the confusion in my own tone. I stepped slightly closer, staring at Helen. “Roman wasn’t even part of the ritual,” I said. “He wasn’t even in the room.” Helen’s expression remained calm now. Like the answer was already obvious to her. “The magic doesn’t care much about who was physically present,” she explained evenly. Her gaze shifted briefly toward Roman before returning to me. “It locates the blood and essence used for the binding.” A cold feeling slowly crept into me. Then Helen added… “So perhaps you should ask the young man how he managed it.” Silence. Heavy silence. My eyes moved toward Roman immediately. He still looked weak. Exhausted. His breathing had steadied a little now, but not fully. Slowly, Alexander turned toward him. “Start talking.” Roman didn’t hesitate. Not even for a second. His head remained slightly bowed at first as he spoke. “I’m sorry,” he repeated quietly. The guilt in his voice sounded real. Painfully real. “But I couldn’t just sit back and allow you to do it, knowing the risk involved.” Alexander didn’t interrupt. He just folded his arms… waiting. That somehow made the tension worse. Roman swallowed faintly before continuing. “If anything goes wrong with the plan… not only would the Luna be affected.” His voice weakened slightly there. “But you might lose your life too, Alpha.” Roman finally lifted his eyes briefly toward Alexander before lowering them again. “So I thought it was better to take your place.” The room went completely silent again. “If something goes wrong,” Roman continued softly, “Blood Crescent should still have its Alpha.” My throat tightened unexpectedly. Roman exhaled shakily before finally admitting it fully. “So… I swapped your blood and hair with mine when I got the chance.” I stared at him. Actually stared. Because I genuinely didn’t know what to say. Part of me was shocked. Another part of me couldn’t even process how he managed to do something like that without any of us noticing. And somehow, the worst part was that he sounded completely certain about his decision. No regret in his tone. Like he had already accepted whatever consequences came with it. Slowly, I turned toward Alexander. And for the first time since I met this man, he actually looked stunned. Really stunned....