An Unwanted Second Chance (JB Tirado) novel Chapter 76

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Chapter 76

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Chapter 76

The sky was dappled with pink and orange as the sun slowly slid behind the trees. Riley clasped her hands

between her knees, watching people move about from her spot on the front steps of the pack house.

Max and Penny had taken the news about Evan as well as Riley had expected, which meant it had not gone well at all. They tried to argue, Max even insisting that he wouldn’t let the child go, but sense had ultimately prevailed.

The following day had involved a meeting with the elders to officially present Riley as the luna. The elders had wanted to set a date for the Luna Ceremony, but Kent and Riley insisted that there would be no event until the situation with the rogues was resolved. That hadn’t stopped the news from spreading through the pack though, and Riley had been approached by an innumerable amount of pack members expressing their congratulations. All of them seemed elated that their alpha had found a second chance, many of them voicing how deserving he was of that blessing. It helped to remind Riley of how loved Kent was by his pack.

“Riley?”

She looked up to see Kent striding around the pack house. She was unable to stop the smile she felt at the

sight of him. He smiled too.

He was being trailed by a man who was maybe an inch shorter than Kent with short cropped blonde hair and bright blue eyes.

“This is Jaxon,” Kent said as they came even with her.

“Nice to meet you, Luna,” Jaxon murmured, tipping his head towards her.

“He’s one of my best warriors. I’ve chosen him to accompany you and Evan to the council.”

Riley’s smile faltered. It was the one point of contention that Kent and her had in the morning. Kent was insistent that a luna traveling outside the pack without her alpha had to be accompanied by a warrior. It was

actually a common practice among packs, but it still grated her nerves. Even though she had insisted she

was more than capable to protect herself and Evan, Kent would not be dissuaded.

She was still ready to argue, but when she called the commander to discuss travel details, Whey had even asked if she would be bringing a pack warrior with her. He had not been surprised at all to hear Kent was insisting on it and he had actually been the one to finally convince her to give in, telling her it wasn’t worth

the battle in the long run.

Whey was probably right, but that didn’t make her feel any less irritated.

“Nice to meet you, Jaxon,” Riley replied, trying her best to be polite.

“I’ve already fully briefed him on the details of your trip,” Kent explained. He considered her for a moment before adding, “I’ve also made sure he knows that you are a superior warrior and that while he’s officially accompanying you, he would do better to focus his energies on Evan.”

Jaxon smirked at this. “I heard you took the alpha down. I would pay good money to see that myself.”

She smiled at that. “I’m sure there will be plenty of chances to see that in the future.”

Kent rolled his eyes, but he was smiling.

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“I’ll stay out of your way, Luna,” Jaxon said. “I’m just looking forward to seeing the council compound. I’ve never been.” He glanced at Kent and then back to Riley. “Plus, I haven’t found my mate yet, so more traveling means more chances at finding her.” He looked so sweet, his cheeks reddening at that admission.

“Well, hopefully you’ll find her.” Riley glanced at Kent, who was shaking his head and smiling.

“Ok, Jaxon.” Kent clapped him on the shoulder. “You’ll leave tomorrow at one. Go back to the barracks and get packed. I believe you have one more patrol this evening, as well.”

Jaxon bid them both goodbye. They watched him walk away before Kent turned back to Riley.

“He’s a good guy. I think you two will get along well. Plus he has a slew of younger siblings so he’ll be good with Evan.”

“You know your pack members well,” Riley noted.

Kent shrugged. “A good alpha should know his pack’s strengths and weaknesses. That means I need to know everyone, but especially my warriors.”

“I hope to get to know them too,” she said, glancing over to where Jaxon was disappearing around the pack house.

“You will,” Kent murmured, stepping closer to her and wrapping an arm around her waist. “Once you’re back, we can discuss what you want your duties to look like.”

He pulled her flush against his chest and leaned down, kissing her gently under the ear, sending a shiver through her body..

“I wish I wasn’t going,” she whispered.

**

Kent had woken in a panic around 4AM, telling Riley about an urgent mindlink from Patrick. All she had managed to get from him before he rushed off was something about a couple warriors missing from patrol. She had gotten up with the intention to go with him, but he had insisted she stay and get some sleep before her trip. She had reluctantly agreed to stay as long as he mindlinked her about anything important.

Of course, she had not actually managed to fall back asleep. Rose provided her with brief updates that she was getting from Pax, but Riley had the sense that Rose was holding something back. She finally gave up around 5:30AM and had gotten a shower before settling down at the desk in her old room to work on some

reports.

Around 8AM she was headed to the elevator for breakfast when Kent appeared out of the stairwell. He was only wearing a pair of joggers and sneakers, his shirt in his hand. His hair was disheveled and his eyes were dark. She could feel the anger and worry radiating off him.

He froze when he saw her, his jaw clenching.

“What’s wrong?” she asked softly, taking a step towards him.

His fists clenched and unclenched at his side. “Jaxon is missing, but we suspect he’s dead.”

Riley froze, her stomach dropping. That wasn’t possible. She had just met him last night.

“He and his patrol partner, Holly, never checked in after their last patrol run,” Kent explained, lifting a hand to run through his hair. “They sent out an extra patrol to look for them, but all they found was Holly’s body along

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Chapter 76

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with three dead rogues. It was some kind of skirmish. Jaxon’s blood is everywhere, but we didn’t find his body. More than likely he was drug into the woods past our border but it’s not safe for us to look too far beyond the border for him. There appears to be even more rogues than our scouts have accounted for.”

Riley took another step, closing the distance between them to wrap her arms around his waist. Kent folded into her, burying his face into her neck. She ran her hands gently over his back while he took a shuddering

breath against her.

“You have to go,” he whispered into her neck.

“I am going,” she reminded him. “In just a few hours.”

He pulled back slightly so he could look at her. “No,” he murmured, his eyes pleading. “We’re moving up the

time. You’re leaving within the hour.”

“What?” She tried to pull back but he held her tightly.

“We have to get Evan out of here,” he explained. “The numbers that are being reported are huge. There’s an

attack coming, I can feel it. We need to get that boy out of here.”

She stared into his blue eyes, chewing on her lip. Slowly she nodded.

“Max will drive the two of you to the airport, but you will not have a warrior accompanying you. I don’t have

anyone to spare.”

“It’s ok.” She reached up to cup his cheek and he pressed himself into her touch. “I can take care of him.”

“I know.”

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