All Chapters of The Price of a Second Chance: Chapter 171 - Chapter 180

He stared at me. Then he nodded once, slowly. "There’s one more thing," he said, his voice dropping a tone. "The smell. Your smell. Before, he was my anchor. Now he’s also a trigger. It’s too good. It’s like hunger. I know I’m not going to hurt you. I know." He swallowed dry. "But knowing and feeling are two different things."He let the body give in to my hand. I was supporting his weight for a few seconds, like someone holding the trunk of a tree that swings in the wind. Then he straightened, put the blanket back on his shoulders, a gesture almost too human for that day, and stood up. I got up together."I want to show you something." He guided me down the corridor to the iron door on the floor that led to the staircase. The lock inside was still hot from the heat that remained. We went down slowly. The concrete walls had claw marks, yes, but not as deep as I feared. The smell of sweat and stone took everything, and I saw on the ground a semicircle of scratches, like steps that adva

The sun wasn’t even born when I woke up. The skin was throbbing. The air seemed dense. For a moment, I didn’t know if it was still night. Or if I were still stuck in it. I got up slowly. The ground was cold. The silence of the house was so complete that I could hear the sound of the fire dying in the fireplace. I sat on the edge of the bed and took a deep breath. That’s when I felt it. The smell.It was not a common smell. It was iron, earth, and life fading. Blood. And it came from far away, from the forest on the other side of the river. As clear as if it were there, in the house. The wolf awoke at once. Breathing accelerated. Instinct came."No," I murmured, trying to cut off the impulse. But he didn’t listen.The smell spread, dominating everything. I could feel it in my throat, in the air that entered, and in the hands that began to tremble. I left home.The forest welcomed me. Wet leaves rubbed on my legs. Every step was silent, precise. The stones, the wind, everything seemed t

Another night at home. The wind had stopped, and even the insects seemed to have disappeared. Naomi slept, her body shrunk under the blanket, and I stood there on the edge of the bed, looking at the ceiling and trying to find silence in my head. But silence did not come. He was there. The wolf. He didn’t howl, he didn’t growl, he just watched.Sometimes I felt the look inside me, as if peeking behind my own eyes. The heart beat slower. I stood up. The house was plunged into darkness, and the open windows let in a cold breath. The moon was rising from behind the trees, pale, almost shy, but enough to illuminate the ground. It was then that I felt that smell. Damned smell.This time, it was not fresh blood. It was living life. The kind of smell that the wolf recognizes before the man can name it. The body reacted by itself. The skin shuddered. The jaw contracted. The forest called."No," I whispered, but it was late. The legs moved before the mind decided. I went out the door. The morni

The sun was born. The light went through the cracks of the curtain and fell right on my face, burning the rest of the sleep that never came. The body still hurts. The hands trembled slightly. I ran my fingers through the hair and felt the sensitive scalp, as if even the wires had memory of the previous night.I went down the stairs slowly, the steps creaking under the weight of my body. Naomi was in the kitchen, fiddling with the stove. The smell of new coffee mixed with that of fresh bread, and for a second, the world seemed normal. A second only."Did you sleep?" she asked without looking."I closed my eyes."She sighed, turned, and looked at me over the cup. Hair still messy, expression tired. But her eyes said she still believed in me. Even after everything. "You should rest today. I can open the cafe myself."I shook my head. "No. If I stay here, the head will spin."She didn’t insist. She just held out a cup to me. The heat of the coffee against my hands was the first thing I fe

The moon was hidden behind thick clouds when we got home. The silence of the whole way weighed. Casper was still stuck in my body, like a poison. The smell of it. His words. His damn words.Naomi closed the door behind us. The latch snapped too loudly. I left my coat on the chair, but my entire body was shaking. The room seemed smaller, suffocating, the walls tight, the air heavy."Do you want water?" she asked.I shook my head. His throat was burning, but it wasn’t thirst. It was hunger. The hunger he had purposely poked. I sat on the couch, shoulders bent, hands open on my knees. Nails clanging. Almost. Always almost.Naomi stood for a moment, looking at me as if trying to guess if I was still me. Then, slowly, she came to the couch. Sat next to me. Her smell invaded the air, hot, alive, too human. "I should not have let him talk so much.""I know." The voice came out hoarse, low, almost a grunt. "But he knew what to say. He always did."She put her hand on mine. And the touch set m