All Chapters of The Price of a Second Chance: Chapter 141 - Chapter 150

The quarry seemed to breathe with me. The moon was high, round, and cruel. And I was no longer just a man. It was no longer just flesh trying to hold. The wolf had taken over the entire space, and I howled like someone who tears the sky to warn, I’m here; I’ve always been here. But there was something different that night. I wasn’t alone.His smell finally revealed itself. My howl died in my throat and turned into a confused growl. My wild found his. He did not turn away. On the contrary. Let his breath change rhythm. Let his body writhe. Let the bones crack. Let the skin tremble. I saw. I heard. Likewise, I felt.And then he was no longer just the long-coat and leather briefcase reporter. He was a wolf. Medium, yes. The impact was like a punch in the chest. I spent my life believing we are all the same. A cage without company. But there he was, turning before me without fear, without hiding. His beast did not roar like mine but had teeth and eyes that shone with the same hunger.I a

The moon of the previous night was still burning behind my eyelids when I woke up. I felt it as a recent scar, like a mark engraved on the flesh. The quarry did not go out of my mind. The reporter. His wolf. The extended hand. And my mistake of having pressed.Mistake or not, it was already done.At the café, the routine remained unchanged. Whispers on the sidewalk, cameras blinking against the glass, customers coming just to look. But nothing looked the same after the quarry. Every camera click was a reminder: I could tear that glass and show them what it really was. I could, but I didn’t. The wolf growled, impatient, like a caged beast who had already tasted freedom.The doorbell rang. A couple came in and looked around as if they were on cursed ground. They asked for two small coffees and paid without facing me. The man left the change on the table instead of giving it to me. They left quickly, as if the air here was poison.And then I saw him. The long coat, the leather briefcase.

The house seemed to breathe with me, as if it were the wolf scratching out. Naomi said nothing more after the last sentence. We were silent, but it was not empty. It was a silence that screamed more than any discussion.She was standing by the window, her arms still crossed, her face bathed in the dim light of the street post. I was sitting, but my body vibrated, restless, as if every muscle was caught between the desire to approach and the fear of moving her away.I wanted to talk. Likewise, I wanted to promise that nothing would change, that the reporter was not a threat, and that the only truth that mattered was hers. But my mouth dried before words. Because part of me knew there was no turning back. I had opened space for the other, and she felt it."Aren’t you going to sleep?" I asked, my voice hoarse."Sleep?" she repeated, laughing without humor. "With all this in my head?"I sighed and put my elbow on my knee. "I don’t sleep either. Even when I want to.""It’s not insomnia, La

The night came, and I decided to leave Casper with the children. Lancelot and I went back to his house after closing the cafe, and for the first time in days, there was no shouting in the street, no glass shaking with stones, and no hidden cameras behind poles. Only silence. It was almost strange.At home, the smell of old coffee still stuck to the walls, mixed with his sweat and mine. Lancelot took off his apron, dropped it on the couch, and threw himself into the armchair as if the weight of the world had come down with the sun."Today was less bad," he said, running his hands through his hair.I sat next to him, letting my leg rub his. "Less bad is still bad, Lancelot."He laughed, that short laugh, without light, but that made me want to hold him. "It is the closest peace we will ever have."I looked at him, the broad shoulders, the tired mouth, the eyes that hid more than they revealed. And even then, I wanted to believe. You needed to believe."So, let’s pretend it’s peace," I m

The dusk hit the curtains with that orange tone that makes everything slower. The triplets were scattered on the carpet of the room, fighting over who would mount the tallest tower of colored blocks. Jimmy, as always, wanted to be the leader, and Jody screamed that it was her idea. Jared, in the middle, tried to put together pieces from both sides, as if he could save the peace of the whole world with half a dozen cubes.I was watching, sitting on the couch. It was a family scene, simple, almost banal. But banality no longer existed in my life. The smell of Lancelot was still stuck in my skin. It consumed me. Love was there, but also fear.It was when they knocked on the door. Three dry knocks, too familiar. The heart sank before the mind recorded. I opened the door, and there he was. Casper."Good afternoon," he said, as if it were an ordinary visit. He was practically living with us now."Good afternoon," I replied, firm.He stepped inside without waiting for an invitation. His scen