A Warrior's Second Chance (Faye and Alexander) novel Chapter 102

FAYE

The water had long since cooled, but I didn’t move. I just sat there in the bathtub, knees tucked close to my chest, watching the ripples fade as I shifted slightly. My mind was too loud to let me enjoy the bath anyway.

All day, the same images circled like vultures. The cold dungeon walls pressing in on me. The heavy chains. The guard’s eyes, too quick to look away. My own helplessness.

But above everything else, it was Alexander’s face I saw most vividly.

The way his eyes burned when he looked at me through those iron bars. Not with suspicion, not with accusation… but with something far fiercer. With anger, yes…but not directed at me.

He hadn’t even asked me for explanations. He hadn’t demanded I prove myself. The words had barely left my lips–I’m innocent–and he had simply said, I know.

Just like that.

I still couldn’t believe it.

He didn’t care how it looked. Not to the guards, not to the pack. Not even to the elders, who were probably salivating over the chance to whisper that their Alpha was blinded by sentiment. He had dismissed all of it with one decision.

I let out a shaky laugh, dipping my hand into the water and watching droplets slide down my wrist. What a mess my life had become. What a chaotic, unpredictable storm I had walked

into by stepping into this pack.

For a second, I wondered if Alexander had gone to reason with them, maybe try to negotiate a middle ground. But then I pictured the look in his eyes, the raw anger straining at the edges of his control. No. He hadn’t gone to reason. He had gone to confront them. Which would only make things worse.

I sighed and finally pulled myself out of the tub, the cold air biting at my skin. My body ached -not from the dungeon, not really, but from the exhaustion that came with too much thinking, too much feeling.

I dried myself off and slipped into my nightwear, slowly, as though my body were trying to stretch out the minutes before I had to face my thoughts again.

I crawled into bed, the sheets cool against my skin, and stared at the ceiling. That was when it hit me–not the anger, not the humiliation, but fear.

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Chapter 102

Real fear.

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For the first time since I set foot in Blood Crescent, I felt it coil tight in my stomach, icy and suffocating.

What would happen next?

Even if–by some miracle–I got out of this one unscathed, what about the next trap? Whoever set me up had been bold enough to slip that ring into my belongings. Bold enough to risk Alexander’s wrath. Which meant they would try again. They would stop at nothing until I was gone, discredited, or destroyed… maybe executed.

And I had no idea how to fight them.

I’d fought wars before. As a delta, I had led warriors into blood and fire, carved my place with blade and skill. I knew how to battle with teeth bared and enemies in sight. But this? This wasn’t about strength. This wasn’t about blades or claws or even courage in the field. This was politics, deceit, silent daggers passed hand to hand in the dark. This was the kind of war where you didn’t know the battlefield until you were bleeding.

And I was hopelessly inexperienced.

Sure, I could fight back. I could challenge them head–on, prove I wasn’t weak, maybe even run if it came to that. But running would make me guilty. Fighting them openly would make me reckless. Either way, I’d be playing into their hands.

How much more could I take before I broke?

The thought sat heavy in my chest. I had always prided myself on my strength, my endurance. I was the fighter who never yielded, the woman who could outlast pain and fear. But lying there in the silence, I felt it for the first time…my limits creeping closer.

A chill spread through me, colder than the dungeon ever had been. My body trembled even though the night was still, and before I realized it, tears welled up in my eyes.

I didn’t stop them this time.

For the first time since I arrived here, I let myself break. The tears slid down my cheeks silently, soaking the pillow beneath me. I curled in on myself, arms wrapped around my stomach as though I could hold the pieces together, as though I could keep myself from unraveling completely.

I hated it. Hated the weakness, hated the quiet sobs I couldn’t swallow down. But I couldn’t stop. The emptiness inside me spread, swallowing everything, and I wept into the silence of my room.

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A knock at the door made my heart lurch violently.

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I froze, my breath catching, every instinct on high alert. For one terrifying second, I thought they had come for me again–that the elders had found some new excuse, that I was about to be dragged back behind bars.

I sat up quickly, wiping my face with my sleeve, trying to erase the evidence of my

breakdown. My hands shook as I pushed my hair back. Whoever it was, I refused to let them see me like this.

The knock came again.

Swallowing hard, I rose from the bed and walked to the door. I yanked it open faster than I meant to, my frustration spilling over, but everything stood still when I saw who it was. It was Alexander.

He stood there in the doorway, eyes scanning me with an intensity that made me feel as though he could see straight through the flimsy mask I’d just put on.

I blinked, thrown off balance. “What-”

“I came to check on you,” he said simply, his voice softer than I expected, steady in a way that contrasted the storm I’d seen in him earlier. He stepped into the room without waiting for permission, and I moved aside because, really, what else could I do?

The space seemed to shrink around him as he entered. He turned back to me, and asked, ” How are you feeling?”

It was such a simple question…gentle, even. But it shattered me completely.

I don’t know what snapped inside me. Maybe it was the memory of his eyes in the dungeon, blazing not with doubt but with certainty. Maybe it was the way he stood here now, as though he didn’t regret a single thing he had done for me tonight. Or maybe it was just that I was so tired, so damn tired ofbeing strong.

Before I could stop myself, before I could think better of it, I moved.

I closed the distance between us and threw my arms around him.

For one heartbeat, I thought he would stiffen, push me back, remind me of the walls that always seemed to stand between us. But he didn’t. He just stood there, letting me bury my face against his chest.

I clutched at him, desperate, because for the first time since this nightmare began, I felt safe. Not because the danger was gone. Not because the fight was over. But because he was here.

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Chapter 102

The tears came again, hot against my cheeks, and I didn’t care.

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ALEXANDER

When her arms wrapped around me, I froze. Faye had never reached for me… not like this. For a moment, I simply stood there, stiff, caught completely off guard.

Then instinct took over, and I pulled her close, holding her firmly against my chest. She was trembling, but she didn’t let go. I realized she was… breaking.

“I’m here,” I murmured, my voice low against her hair.

Her shoulders shook, and I felt the dampness of her tears soak into my shirt. A fire burned low in my chest…not just anger at the elders, but myself too.

When she finally lifted her head, her eyes met mine. They were wide, glassy, and far too vulnerable for someone who had endured everything she had. My hand moved on its own, brushing a stray tear from her cheek.

That was when I felt it…the shift.

Her breathing hitched as my thumb lingered at her skin, her gaze flickering down to my lips before darting back up to meet my eyes. My wolf surged forward at that tiny, unspoken gesture. I leaned in, drawn by the pull that had haunted me since the first day I laid eyes on

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