A Warrior's Second Chance (Faye and Alexander) novel Chapter 68

Chapter 68

ALEXANDER

Sweat dripped down my temples, stinging my eyes, but I didn’t stop. My fists slammed into the heavy bag, over and over, the sound echoing across the training hall. My muscles burned, my lungs begged for a pause, but the restless storm in my chest demanded otherwise.

I wasn’t boxing to train. I was boxing to think, to stop thinking. To fight the things I couldn’t see… to clear my head. All at once.

The problems never ended–border threats, staged attacks. Everyone looked to me for answers, and right now, I didn’t have enough of them.

I knew deep down that the pack was going to find out about this whole thing one way or another. I could delay it, but I couldn’t stop it. And when they found out, they’d want answers. Again… answers I didn’t have.

I didn’t even notice Cole until his shadow broke my focus. He must have been standing there a moment, patient, but I only caught his presence when I sensed movement from the corner of my eye.

I tore my gaze from the bag and looked at him. “What is it?” My voice came out low.

Cole walked closer. “You’ve missed calls from the station. They said they’ve been trying to reach you.”

I frowned, looking around until I spotted my phone lying carelessly on the bench, screen lit up with a long line of missed notifications. Several calls. Officer Derek’s name repeated over and over. My jaw clenched.

I’d put the damn thing on silent earlier because I needed the quiet.

Grabbing it, I dialed him back immediately. The line connected after one ring.

“Good morning, Alpha,” Derek’s voice came through.

“Derek,” I said, still catching my breath. “What’s the matter?”

He didn’t waste time. “The guard in custody gave us something important to work with, but it’s complicated. A description of a ring–he said it belonged to the one who gave them orders directly. I had a sketch artist work with him, and I’ve sent the image to your phone.”

I stared at the sweat–slicked floor beneath my feet, thinking about what he said. “You’re certain he’s telling the truth? He could still be playing games, trying to misdirect the

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investigation again and waste our time.”

*25 Points

“I thought of that too,” Derek admitted. “But he’s in terrible condition already. The wolfsbane has weakened him badly–he’s not in the right state of mind to spin elaborate lies. And besides, Alpha, he was allowed to see his family. He knows they’re under protection as long as he cooperates. He has no reason to risk lying now.”

That made sense. Reluctantly, I gave a curt nod even though Derek couldn’t see me. “Alright. I’ll look at the sketch, see if I recognize anything.”

We ended the call.

Immediately, I noticed the notification sitting on my phone screen. My thumb tapped it open.

The sketch loaded.

At first glance, it was simple…too simple. A ring engraved with the head of a wolf, but not an ordinary one. This wolf had three eyes. One on the forehead.

I stared at it, a strange unease crawling through me.

Cole leaned over my shoulder. The moment his eyes landed on it, I saw the same confusion

mirrored in his face.

“Doesn’t look like anything I’ve ever seen,” he said quietly.

“Nor I.” My voice was flat. I turned the phone toward him fully, then back to myself, scrutinizing the lines of the sketch. It was clean, professional. Precise enough that it couldn’t be dismissed as a prisoner’s hallucination.

But it wasn’t familiar. Not remotely.

I dialed Derek again. He picked up fast.

“It doesn’t look familiar,” I told him without preamble. “Too ordinary. Doesn’t resemble the emblem of any established pack.”

“I thought the same,” he replied. “I ran it through the database, checked all known pack symbols in the country. Nothing matches. No wolf with three eyes. No pack crest even close

to it.”

I rubbed a hand over my jaw, pacing slowly across the floor. “Then it isn’t a pack symbol. It could be personal. A signature mark of whoever wears it.”

That possibility gnawed at me. A personal emblem. That meant whoever orchestrated this wasn’t just hiding behind a pack. They wanted to leave their own mark, carve out their own

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identity in blood and chaos. Or maybe it was just a random ring.

No!

“Does this make our work easier, or harder?” Derek asked on the phone.

425 Points

“Both,” I answered. “Easier, because if we find the man with that ring, we’ll have our target. Harder, because now we know we’re not just chasing packs and territories. We’re hunting a specific wolf. That could make the search more difficult.”

Cole’s jaw tightened beside me, but he stayed silent, listening.

On the other end, Derek exhaled. “Exactly! It narrows the search… but it also complicates it, because it’s too specific.”

I closed my eyes briefly, the weight of it settling like stone on my shoulders. “Then pull every resource you can. Search records, underground markets, jewelers, blacksmiths, smugglers- anyone who might’ve crafted or sold such a piece. Someone knows something about a ring this unusual. Someone’s seen it before.”

“Yes, Alpha,” Derek said immediately. “I’ll get my team on it right away.”

When the call ended, I let the silence settle for a moment. The faint drip of sweat from my chin to the mat. My own heartbeat, steady yet relentless.

Cole finally spoke. “A wolf with three eyes. What does that even mean?”

I looked at him, then back at the sketch still glowing on my screen.

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