A Warrior's Second Chance (Faye and Alexander) novel Chapter 154

The council hall was chaos. Not the kind that came from outside…the kind born of anger, fear, and wounded pride. The Alphas of the surrounding packs had gathered for what was meant to be a day of peace and strategy, but now their voices clashed like swords in the air.

“This was a setup!” one of them snarled, slamming his palm against the long table. “A damn trap! You lured us here, Jason… brought us all under one roof just to have us slaughtered like dogs!”

Jason’s eyes flashed. “Mind your words, Roderick.”

“Mind yours,” another Alpha cut in. “You called this summit. You promised neutrality, safety, order. And what do we get? An ambush in broad daylight…right in your own territory!”

Jason’s patience was thinning by the second. His jaw ticked. “If I wanted any of you dead, you wouldn’t still be standing here throwing accusations.”

But his tone only seemed to stoke the fire.

“So which is it then?” Roderick spat. “You set us up… or you’ve lost control of your lands so badly that even rogues can walk in and out as they please?”

Murmurs of agreement rippled through the room. The scent of tension and fury was thick enough to choke on.

Jason’s power flickered through the air like a low growl. “Careful how you talk to me,” he warned, voice vibrating with restrained authority. “You’re still standing in Silver Hollow. Watch your tone before I remind you what that means.”

The warning silenced a few…but not all. The council of Alphas wasn’t easily cowed, especially not by Jason.

Before another word could be exchanged, the heavy doors burst open.

Jason’s Beta stumbled inside, his outfit torn, blood staining his sleeve. His chest rose and fell rapidly as he tried to catch his breath. “Alpha…” he managed. “It’s over. The noise, the fires… the fighting stopped.”

Jason turned sharply. “What?”

“The attackers… they’re pulling back,” his Beta said between breaths. “Retreating…all of them.”

A beat of silence followed his words. The room full of Alphas exchanged confused glances.

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“Retreating?” Jason repeated slowly. “Just like that?”

The Bete nodded, wiping sweat and grime from his forehead. “They’re gone as suddenly as

they came.”

“That doesn’t make sense,” one of the older Alphas muttered. “Rogues don’t retreat… not when they’ve got this kind of momentum.”

Jason’s frown deepened. “Maybe it’s a trick.”

That thought hung in the air, heavy. No one wanted to say it aloud.

Then, before anyone could ask further, another warrior staggered into the room. He was younger, bloodied and limping, his face smeared with soot. His breathing came in short, harsh bursts, and his eyes darted around the hall until they landed on Jason.

“Alpha!” he gasped, dropping to one knee. “They… they took her.”

Jason stiffened. “Took who?”

“The Luna,” the man said, his voice hoarse. “They took Luna Sage.”

Every head in the hall turned sharply toward him. The words hit like a blade through the

center of the room.

Jason’s expression hardened. “What did you say?”

The warrior swallowed, forcing the words out again. “I heard them with my own ears. As they were pulling back…one of them shouted it. ‘We have the Luna of Silver Hollow!‘ They repeated it. They bragged about how pleased their leader would be with the present.”

Murmurs erupted instantly–questions, curses, disbelief. Chairs scraped, power flared.

Jason’s eyes flashed dangerously. “That’s impossible,” he snapped.

The man shook his head. “I swear it, Alpha. They said it clear as day.”

“Where?” Jason demanded.

“Near the eastern border, close to the ridge. They were retreating fast, but they sounded

certain,”

The Alphas exchanged dark, uneasy glances.

Jason opened his mouth to issue an order when the doors swung open again–this time not in panic, but with sharp, purposeful movement.

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Sage stepped into the room, her face pale and streaked with ash. Her hair was tangled, her hands still trembling faintly from the shock of what had just happened. “What Luna?” she demanded, her voice echoing across the tense silence. “What are you talking about?”

Every Alpha froze again.

Jason blinked, disbelief flashing across his face. “Sage…”

She looked around the room, eyes darting between the faces and Jason’s grim expression.” What’s going on? Why are they saying someone took the Luna? I’m right here.”

Jason frowned deeply, confusion settling in. “We thought…” His words faltered. “We were told they took you.”

“Me?” Sage repeated. “That’s absurd. I was with my mother the entire time. Faye told me to get her to safety, and we hid until the noise stopped.”

The air shifted as realization began to dawn. Jason straightened slowly, his chest tightening with a new kind of dread.

“If they didn’t take you,” he said carefully, “then who did they take? Maybe they were just bluffing.”

Before anyone could answer, a low sound rolled from the far end of the corridor…distant but unmistakable. Heavy footsteps echoed, quick, unrelenting, carrying a power that made the very air inside the hall thicken.

The doors slammed open once more…this time so violently that one of them cracked against the wall.

The sound alone silenced the entire room.

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