A Warrior's Second Chance (Faye and Alexander) novel Chapter 118

Clam

Chapter 118

FAYE

Alexander walked past me… into the cell. The prisoner’s eyes darted up at him and, despite the man’s attempt at composure, I saw the trace of instinctive fear. He flinched…just slightly, but it was enough.

For a heartbeat, I thought Alexander would lash out again. But he didn’t.

Instead, he stopped right in front of the man. The anger I’d seen earlier, seemed to have cooled. Perhaps he’d realized what I already knew: sometimes anger pushed walls higher, but calm…calm could pry secrets loose.

“If this Marcus is so careful, so mysterious,” Alexander said. “…to the point where you know nothing about him beyond a name…then tell me…how do you know he’s coming to take Blood Crescent as Alpha?”

The question hung in the air… that was a good one. But I could bet he wasn’t going to get an

answer.

The man’s lips curled, that infuriating smirk stretching across his battered face. He didn’t answer. He just leaned back against the wall, as though the shackles and wolfsbane weighing him down were nothing, and let silence speak for him. His eyes gleamed with satisfaction, like he enjoyed watching Alexander try to wring sense from him.

Finally, he rasped, “I have nothing else to say.”

The smirk lingered, and in it I saw the truth…he thought his silence was power.

To my surprise, and definitely that of the prisoner, Alexander stood up and started walking out of the cell without reacting. He had almost stepped out when the man’s voice followed, more measured now, as if he’d finally decided the truth…or at least part of it…wouldn’t hurt him any worse than what had already been done.

“He bragged one time,” the said, his lips twisting. “We always did his dirty work. So when we hesitated for the first time, he couldn’t take it. You see, some of us didn’t want to touch Blood Crescent. We’ve heard the stories about you…about what happens to anyone foolish enough to cross into your territory.”

I felt Alexander stiffen beside me, though he kept his posture rigid and calm. “That’s when Marcus got curious,” the man went on, his tone almost casual. “He laughed at our fear. Said it didn’t matter what stories they’d heard, because he was the true Alpha. Said

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you were nothing but a placeholder…a man sitting on a throne that was never really his.”

Claim

My heart beat faster, because I could see the it in Alexander’s eyes–even though he didn’t move, I knew the insult had landed.

The prisoner leaned back against the wall with a weary sigh, as though he’d dropped his last weapon. “That’s how I knew. He told us himself. And by the way he said it…you’d almost believe him.”

His voice was hoarse when he finally spoke again, softer this time, like he wasn’t addressing just Alexander but the air itself.

“I know how this ends,” he said. “Once you’re done with me…once I’ve given you all I’m worth, you’ll kill me. That’s how men like you work.”

He wet his cracked lips, his eyes flicking up as though gauging Alexander’s expression before he dared continue. “But…before that happens,” he pressed, his tone carrying a raw edge now, “let me see my daughter. Just once…one last time.”

He gave a weak, broken laugh. “I know I’m in no position to bargain, no right to demand. But… ‘His chains rattled as he shifted forward ever so slightly, eyes narrowing with a strange challenge. “I just want to know if you’ll prove yourself the merciless beast they say you are. Or if there’s still a shred of man beneath the Alpha everyone fears.”

It wasn’t a plea…not really, it was a test. He was waiting…daring Alexander to show the cruelty that people who didn’t know him enough had carved into his name.

I lay on my bed, staring up at the ceiling, but sleep wouldn’t come. It wasn’t that I wasn’t tired -if anything, exhaustion weighed heavy in my bones. My body begged for rest, for the silence of dreams, but my mind wouldn’t let me drift off.

I thought of Alexander.

I could almost feel his restlessness echoing through the walls, the way his thoughts must have been gnawing at him like starving wolves. Alexander was many things, but he was never good at handling the unknown. If he couldn’t measure it, fight it, or tear it apart, it unsettled him. And frustration? He couldn’t handle it a bit.

Tonight he had both–the uncertainty of who this Marcus was, and the helplessness of not being able to strike back. And I knew him well enough to understand that he wouldn’t speak of it, not to anyone. He’d keep it inside, locked away, and let it burn him from within. That was

who he was.

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Chapter 118

Claim

I sighed and rolled onto my side, staring at the empty stretch of bed beside me. My chest ached at the thought of him sitting alone, or pacing in silence, letting the weight of unanswered questions crush him. He might have been Alpha to everyone else, but to me, he was a man carrying too much, and I couldn’t stand the thought of him doing it alone.

I wasn’t going to let him. Not tonight.

Swinging my legs off the bed, I slipped into my slippers and stood. The night air was cool against my skin as I opened the door. Without a second thought, I stepped out, into the hallway.

ALEXANDER

When I opened the door, I was surprised to see Faye standing there. She stood there in her nightwear, her hair a little tousled, her eyes softer than they had been all day. For a second, I simply stared, wondering if there was a problem.

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