A Warrior's Second Chance (Faye and Alexander) novel Chapter 142

SILVER HOLLOW

Sage moved through the room with a poise that came naturally to her, her smile warm and practiced as she greeted each arriving guest. Tonight was important. Tonight marked the gathering of packs who had not stood under one roof together in years.

Jason stood at her side, tall and commanding in his formal attire, his hand occasionally brushing hers as though to remind her that they faced this crowd together.

His voice carried easily as he exchanged words with visiting Alphas and their mates, but Sage noticed that his attention was never fully on the person he spoke to. His eyes flickered again and again toward the tall doors of the hall.

Sage tried not to sigh too loudly. She knew exactly what was on his mind.

Still, she waited until there was a lull between greetings before leaning slightly toward him. Jason,” she said softly, her smile never faltering as another group of people passed by with polite bows. “What is it? You’ve been restless all evening.”

Jason’s lips curved in something that wasn’t quite a smile, his shoulders lifting in a casual shrug that fooled no one. “Just wondering,” he murmured, his tone edged with dry impatience. “If your sister and her Alpha even plan on honoring the invitation. They should have been here by now. Blood Crescent isn’t exactly at the edge of the world. Some of these other packs traveled twice the distance, and they arrived before sundown.”

Sage’s lips twitched as she rolled her eyes. She had been wondering the same thing, though she would never give him the satisfaction of admitting it outright. “Jason, you know Faye,” she replied, her voice carrying just enough irritation to make it clear she’d long resigned herself to her sister’s antics. “She loves an entrance. She’ll wait until the attention has

settled, then sweep in so every eye is drawn to her. It’s practically tradition at this point. She

wants all the attention in a room.”

Jason’s jaw flexed, though he attempted to mask it with a sip from his glass. Beneath the irritation, there was something else.

Anxiety.

He had told himself it was ridiculous to feel it. Time had passed. He had moved on, hadn’t he? But the truth was unavoidable…just the thought of seeing Faye again unsettled him. He remembered her laugh, sharp and bright, like a spark thrown onto kindling.

He remembered her stubbornness, the way she refused to let anyone…least of all

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him dictate the terms of her life. And he remembered the look in her eyes the day she left, fierce and unyielding, even as it tore something inside him wide open.

Jason drew a slow breath, forcing his thoughts back to the present. He could not afford to dwell. Not tonight, not when he was Alpha now, not when his pack and all the others here needed to see strength.

But damn it all, the anticipation gnawed at him.

And then there was Alpha Alexander.

The name itself was enough to make Jason’s mouth tighten. Alpha Alexander of Blood Crescent was the most obnoxious wolf Jason had ever had the displeasure of knowing. Arrogant, cold, insufferably smug. He carried himself as though the moon itself bowed to him, as though every other Alpha in the room were nothing more than pawns orbiting his greatness. Jason loathed men like that…men who believed reputation alone was enough to

make them untouchable.

The only reason Alexander had even received an invitation to this gathering was because Jason’s council had insisted. They had argued that Blood Crescent was their strongest link, that Silver Hollow could not afford to alienate such a powerful ally. And Jason, though bristling at the thought, had eventually conceded.

But privately, he had told himself the truth.

The real reason he had not fought harder against the council’s decision was simple.

Faye.

The idea of seeing her again had tipped the balance. It was foolish, he knew…selfish even…but when the memory of her face stirred in him, when he thought of what it would be like to stand in the same room with her again, his resistance had withered.

He had told himself it would be nothing. A reunion, brief and unremarkable. Yet here he was, watching the doors as though the world depended on their opening.

Sage saw it all. She knew her mate better than he realized sometimes. “Are you really going to keep staring like that?”

Jason’s mouth curved faintly in a smirk, though it didn’t reach his eyes. “I’m not staring.”

“You are,” Sage countered smoothly, though she kept her tone even, friendly enough to mask the sharpness of her perception. “You’ve greeted three Alphas tonight without hearing a single word they said.”

Jason huffed, giving in just a little. “Maybe I’m simply impatient with all this polite chatter.”

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Chap 143

“Or maybe,” Sage said, her voice sharper now, “you’re anxious about seeing her again.”

Jason’s gaze snapped to hers, but Sage only arched a brow. She wasn’t accusing him. She was simply stating what he already knew.

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