An Unwanted Second Chance (JB Tirado) novel Chapter 69

Riley pulled back from Kent, shifting so she could see Alma and Patrick more clearly. She ran both hands over her face, taking a deep, shuddering breath.

“I met Paul on my eighteenth birthday. The pack had a tradition that all women had to go through the warrior barracks on their eighteenth birthday in case they were mated to a warrior. I was going towards the barracks

to present myself when I ran into Paul. He was the beta of our pack. He was ten years older than me and he had taken a chosen mate three years ago.

“It was not a secret that Paul didn’t want to take his chosen mate, but the alpha forced it. Paul had been

messing around with the alpha’s younger sister and she ended up getting pregnant. When the alpha found

out, he forced Paul to take her as his chosen mate. By the time I met him, he had one pup and his mate was

expecting their second.

“When I saw Paul, I knew instantly that he was my mate. I started running towards him, but when I went to

hug him, he grabbed my arm.” She flinched at the memory. She could almost feel his fingers digging into her

skin. She had bruises afterwards. “He wasn’t gentle. He told me not to say anything. To act normal.

“He took me to this house on the edge of the pack property. His family owned it. It was pretty there. The

house was small, but there was this river that ran right by it. Once we got there, he was gentler, kinder. I

thought maybe he only acted so harshly at first because he was surprised. Once we were there, we… I thought it was fine. We…”

She shook her head, her breath catching in her chest. Kent took one of her hands, squeezing it between both

of his gently. She couldn’t bring herself to look at him.

“We mated that same day, but he refused to mark me. He said if he marked me, it would sever his bond with

his chosen mate and it would cause her too much pain. He said she would probably lose the baby if he did

that, so he asked me to wait until after the baby was born healthy. He said as soon as the baby was born, he would tell everyone – that we could be together. He asked me to stay at the house, to live there and not tell

anyone about us.”

She scoffed, shaking her head. “I thought it was romantic. We had this secret love that no one could know

about. I was so naive.

“He came more often than he didn’t, but he wouldn’t stay the night. In the beginning he was so sweet. He

would bring flowers and all my favorite foods. He would talk to me for hours about how great our life was

going to be together. He built these huge dreams in my mind and I believed every word he said.”

She looked down at where Kent was still holding her hand. “I loved him. I really did. I had never experienced anything like the mate bond. It was so consuming and I was so young. I couldn’t imagine my life without him. For that first month, everything was so beautiful.

“But I also wanted to be a warrior. The alpha didn’t let many women train as warriors, but I was one of the best, so he let me continue. I had been accepted to the academy, but Paul didn’t want me to go. He didn’t want me to keep training as a warrior. He wanted me to quit my training, to stay in the house, to wait for him. At first I thought he just didn’t realize how strong of a fighter I was. I thought he would change his mind when he realized, but he didn’t. He got so mad when he realized I was still going to training. He started yelling at me, telling me how embarrassing it was for him to watch me spar. How i wasn’t even that good. He kept

Chapter 69

telling me that women can never be strong warriors, that he could take me down with his eyes closed”

She shook her head. “He never even sparred with me. He had no idea how well I could fight, even back then. I

thought he would just get used to it, so I didn’t listen to him. I kept going to training.”

Riley bit her lip, trying to take a steadying breath.

Kent gently kissed her temple. “Keep going,” he whispered. “You’re doing great.”

“When I still didn’t listen, that’s when he started hitting me. The first time he promised it would never happen again. He was beside himself, crying and apologizing, saying he had no idea what came over him. He promised he would never get carried away again. But he did it again a few weeks later. It became almost like this routine for us. He would get angry, hit me and then apologize, bringing flowers and telling me that he loved me so much it made him crazy. He kept saying that once the baby was born, once he could tell everyone about us, things would get better.

“And I wanted to believe him. I loved him so much. I just wanted to believe that it was the stress of the baby and hiding our relationship. I just convinced myself that things would get better.

“But one night he came over, when we had been together for about four months. He fell asleep in my bed and didn’t wake up until morning. It was the only time he ever stayed for the night and it was a complete accident. During the night, his mate went into labor, but no one in the pack knew where he went. She ended up having the baby alone while he was asleep in my bed.” Riley bit her lip hard. “The next morning, he was livid. He said it was all my fault, that I shouldn’t have let him fall asleep, that I was complicating his life.”

She closed her eyes. “He hit me so hard that day. My right eye swelled shut. He had never hurt me that bad.” Riley took a ragged breath. She could feel the anger radiating off of Kent as he wrapped his arm around her shoulder, pulling her tightly against him. She took a deep breath of his scent, trying to calm down. “Luna,” Alma said, reaching out to pat her knee, “I know this is hard, but I need you to finish the story.”

Kent kissed her forehead as she sat up, giving her a tight smile.

“I told him I didn’t want to be with him anymore.“, Riley closed her eyes. “I told him that I wanted to reject him and leave. He got so mad, madder than I had ever seen him. I tried to run away from him, but he cornered me in the bedroom. He threw me down on the bed.” She trailed off, her throat dry.

“I didn’t want to,” she whispered, tears stinging her eyes. “He didn’t give me a choice though. He was too big, too strong. He said I was his, that I didn’t get to leave him. I didn’t want to…” She shook her head, the tears breaking free. “But I couldn’t stop him.”

Kent stood up abruptly, startling Riley. He paced away a couple steps. Riley couldn’t see his face but she could feel the rage radiating off of him.

“Alpha,” Alma warned.

“He raped you?” Kent turned to look at her, his eyes black. Riley flinched at his expression, looking away. “Kent,” Patrick said, his voice full of warning as he took a step towards him.

Kent looked away, his shoulders heaving. Riley swallowed hard, watching him. His anger was palpable and her stomach twisted as she looked down at her hands.

Suddenly Kent was beside her again, wrapping an arm around her waist, pulling her tightly against him.

Chapter 69

“It’s ok,” he breathed into her hair. “I’m not mad at you. I might go kill him, but you did nothing wrong. It wasn’t your fault.”

Until that moment, Riley didn’t realize how long she had waited to hear those words. She started crying, burying her face into his chest, her fingers digging into the skin of his back. Kent held her tightly, gently rocking her until her sobs subsided.

Once she was finally calm, Kent loosened his grip, allowing her to sit back from him.

“What happened after that?” he asked, rubbing her back.

She took a shaky breath. “He told me he was going to leave his chosen mate. He told me to give him three weeks. He kept telling me I was too weak to survive a rejection. And I felt too weak by then. I didn’t know what to do. I had no one to go to for help. My father was a drunk and I didn’t have friends anymore. Paul had kept me in that house, away from everyone and I felt so trapped and alone.

“Then one day Paul came with the alpha. I thought that he had finally told people about us. I thought things would be better now, that he was going to actually leave her. But then the alpha ordered Paul to reject me” She shook her head. “And he did. He didn’t even blink. He just rejected me and the alpha ordered me to accept it. Then the alpha banished me. He said I was the problem, that I had tried to ruin Paul’s relationship with his chosen mate.”

Riley chewed the corner of her mouth, staring at the floor for a moment. “Right before he left that day, Paul looked at me and said that the Goddess had made a mistake. He said the mate bond isn’t a blessing, but a

curse. That was the last thing he ever said to me.”

“Sounds like he was the curse,” muttered Patrick.

She smiled wanly. “I thought that later actually. Being his mate would have been a punishment for me, at least. I realize now that he never would have changed, but when I was with him I had just wanted to believe he was good. But after I left, after I got to the academy, I was determined to be stronger and better than any man I met. I was never going to let anyone bring that low ever again. I was never going to rely on someone like that and I was never going to need a mate to feel complete.”

“So you’ve pushed the alpha away.” Alma nodded as Riley turned to look at her. “I think I know why you’re so

sick.”

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