An Unwanted Second Chance (JB Tirado) novel Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Riley arrived at the training grounds wearing a pair of leggings and a lightweight blue shirt. The air was cool and some leaves had blown off the trees, blowing past her feet as she walked towards the sparring rings. Warriors were sparring, men and women alike, fighting and training. She watched for a moment, impressed by how well many of them fought.

“You ready?”

She turned to find Patrick in a pair of black shorts and a long sleeved black shirt behind her.

“Yes,” she said, smiling. “My wolf is ready to stretch her legs. My last assignment wasn’t a safe one so she

couldn’t run much.”

“Is the alpha joining us?” Patrick asked cautiously.

“No, he’s not.”

He raised an eyebrow but chose to not say anything. He motioned for her to follow him into the trees. They walked for a while until they were out of view of the training grounds.

“Our border goes about thirty miles in the trees in this direction. In some areas it’s more and in others less. Just follow me and you’ll see the trail as we go.” Riley nodded. “I’ll give you some space to shift.” He walked

away, disappearing between some trees.

Riley found a space out of sight and slipped her clothes off, stuffing them into the small bag she had brought

out. She allowed Rose to take over, feeling her bones crack and shift as her body changed shape. Riley was

surprised that the shift hurt more than normal, taking longer than it should. Once it was over, Rose stood up

and shook out her cream colored fur. She was a beautiful wolf, cream colored with light brown spots over her

back and tail.

Why was that shift more difficult? Riley asked.

I don’t know, Rose answered, scooping up the bag of Riley’s clothes in her mouth. Maybe whatever illness you

have is affecting me too.

Maybe. Riley sat back and watched Rose start to move through the trees to where they last saw Patrick. There was a large gray wolf with a black stripe down his back sitting on his haunches when Rose

approached. He picked up his own bag and took off, Rose following. The gamma’s wolf was fast, but Rose

was quick too and didn’t fall behind. The wind danced through her fur as she moved agilely over the rocks

and roots, following the clear path that marked the pack’s border. As they ran, Riley was surprised by the

vastness of the pack’s territory. She was starting to see how easy it could be for rogues to come up on them.

They consistently passed well timed patrols of wolves working in groups of two to four. She knew from

talking to Patrick that the number of wolves on patrol had to do with the skill levels of warriors. More skilled

warriors ran in smaller groups than less skilled warriors. Finally they reached an area where a dry riverbed

ran down into a shallow ravine. Riley saw that the border of the pack stopped before the ravine, but the gamma’s wolf veered off pack territory, weaving through the trees to climb the steep slope up to the top of the ravine. Rose carefully followed him, picking a path through the deep underbrush and rocky terrain. Finally they reached the top and the gray wolf motioned for Rose to stay before disappearing into the trees. Rose looked around, taking in the shallow gorge below where a powerful river must have flowed. The trees here

< Chapter 20

were thick and beautiful as their leaves changed colors.

+15 Points)

Rose turned her head at the sound of crunching leaves and Patrick, in his human form, wearing only his shorts and sneakers appeared. He sat down beside Rose and she stood up, carefully going into the trees and finding a spot to shift. The shift back to human was even more painful. Riley was grateful when it was over. She slipped her clothes on and carefully found her way back to where Patrick was sitting.

“Does it always take you that long to shift?” he asked as she sat down beside him.

“No.” She rubbed her forehead. Her headache was back. “I’m still not feeling well and I think it’s starting to

affect my wolf.”

He furrowed his brow. “That’s not typical for illnesses. Most human illnesses don’t affect wolves.”

“Yeah, I know.” She sighed. “Let’s not talk about it right now.”

He frowned. “Fine, but we will talk about it.” He reached into his bag, pulling out two bottles of water and several sandwiches. “I knew we’d be out past lunch so I grabbed us something to eat.”

“Thanks.”

They ate in a companionable silence for a few minutes, watching the wind shift the leaves through the trees.

“It’s beautiful out here,” Riley commented, taking a sip of her water.

“This is my favorite spot to come in the woods.” Patrick looked wistfully into the trees. “Whenever Lily got upset when we were kids, she would come out here. She used to call it her peace.” He smiled slightly at the memory. “After she was killed, I found myself coming out here more and more. Seems like the only spot I can think clearly some days.”

“She was your sister, right?”

He nodded.

“And you were close, I take it?”

He nodded again. “I was only a year older than her. Our parents used to joke that we were twins born a year apart. Growing up we did almost everything together. She never wanted to be left behind when I was with

Max and Kent.”

“Did she and Kent always get along well?” Riley asked curiously.

“No.” Patrick laughed. “If anything, I always suspected that Lily had a crush on Max. She was competitive with Kent. Lily was a good fighter, stronger than most men. She could take me and Max down sometimes

when we sparred, but never Kent. She tried so hard though and he would taunt her every time she failed. She

would be spitting mad for days afterwards.”

“Kent is a good fighter then?”

“The best. No one in the pack has been able to take him down. He’s never lost a fight since he became alpha. His dad raised him with the phrase ‘A strong Alpha makes a strong pack’ so he has always pushed himself hard. He truly believes that and feels that the stronger he is, the better his whole pack will be for it.”

“There’s truth to that,” Riley noted, “but it’s more than strength. There’s intelligence, fairness and so forth.”

Patrick nodded. “Kent is all those things. He’s a good alpha. Much better than his father in a lot of ways.”

“So what happened when Lily and Kent found out they were mates?”

2/4

<Chapter 20

Patrick smiled, staring out in the trees as though remembering. “Kent left at seventeen to train at the Werewolf Academy for three years, just like most alphas do. Lily wanted to go to the academy as well. She wanted to be an investigator at the Council. But Kent had to come back early after his father died. He didn’t finish his last year. Lily left the pack two days after her eighteenth birthday and three days before Kent came

back.”

“They just missed each other?”

He nodded. “She didn’t come home again for two years when her training was done. She had applied to the Council and was accepted to start training as an investigator. But she came home and found out Kent was

her mate.”

“So she didn’t go to the Council?” Riley looked at Patrick who shrugged.

“No, she didn’t. She always loved this pack and she loved Kent. She was happy here. She helped me train warriors and ran patrols and did all her duties as Luna. She loved what she did here.”

Riley gazed out over the ravine for a while, thinking about what Lily’s life must have been like and wondering

what Kent would be like if his mate hadn’t died.

O

1

“What about you?” Patrick asked, breaking into her thoughts. “Would you have still insisted on going to the academy if your mate hadn’t rejected you?”

She winced, still remembering the way Paul scoffed at her desire to go to the academy. “I wanted to go, but he said it was a waste of time, that women shouldn’t be warriors. I suppose if we had stayed together, I

wouldn’t have gone. But I don’t think I would have been happy.”

Patrick looked at her for a long moment. “How long did you know he was your mate before he rejected you?”

She bit her lip, looking down at the water bottle in her hands. “Too long.”

He reached over, gently squeezing her wrist. “You’re an excellent warrior, so clearly he was an idiot.”

She smiled. “Thanks, Pat.”

“Lily would be happy that Kent got a second chance, you know.”

Riley looked up as he let go of her wrist. “What?”

He shrugged, glancing away and then back to her. “She wouldn’t want him to be alone forever. I know she

would be happy he found you.”

Riley felt her mouth go dry as she turned to look back across the ravine, her chest aching. She rolled her bottom lip between her teeth as his words rolled around in her head.

“I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable,” he said quietly.

“You didn’t,” she said quickly. “It’s just this whole mate thing is still very new to me. I think it’s taking me a while to process things.”

“That’s understandable.” He took a sip of his water.

“What about your mate?”

He smiled, staring out into the trees. “She’s great. Smart, funny, beautiful. Everything I could want.”

Riley couldn’t help but smile as she watched Patrick. The love was clear on his face.

3/4

་་་་་་་་ !

“I’d love to meet her sometime,” Riley remarked.

“Yeah,” Patrick said looking back at her, “about that. You probably should meet her. You need to figure out

this illness.”

She rolled her eyes. “So we’re having this conversation now?”

“Yeah, we are. This is the third day you’ve been sick and it’s affecting your wolf. You need to get checked out. You said yesterday that you would see her if you weren’t better.”

Riley sighed. “I was feeling better last night, and during our meeting this morning. It’s really strange. It seems to come and go. There’s no real reason as to why. I really thought I was better last night.”

“I don’t pretend to know anything about medicine or illnesses,” Patrick said with a shrug. “That’s really Lana’s

specialty.”

She nodded. “Alright. I’ll see her.”

“Good.”

“But could we not tell Kent?”

Patrick frowned. “Why?”

She bit her lip for a moment. “He just seems like the type to… overreact.”

Patrick sighed. “Yeah, that’s him. But he still has probably figured out you’re sick. He would be able to sense

that through the bond.”

She shrugged. “I know, but I would rather he not know I’m seeing a doctor. Or how much this is affecting me.”

He pinched the bridge of his nose. “He’s your mate. You shouldn’t keep secrets from him. Plus, he’s my alpha.

I don’t keep secrets from him.”

“Listen,” Riley turned to face Patrick fully, “if it gets worse, I’ll talk to him. Just let me see your mate and see

what she says. Maybe it’s nothing.”

He sighed. “Fine. I’ll ask her to stop by your room after she gets off her shift. But if Kent finds out I’m hiding this, he’s going to lose his shit.”

“Thanks.” She let out the breath she didn’t realize she was holding.

“Yeah, well, if the alpha finds out, I’m going to need you to jump in front of that silver bullet.” He stood up. “I’ll

shift first and then you can.”