The Price of a Second Chance의 모든 챕터: 챕터 201 - 챕터 210

The silence of the morning seemed different to me. Not even the birds sang right, as if they knew something was about to happen.The children were still sleeping. Jody curled up in the blanket, Jimmy lay across the bed, and Jared hugged the pillow as if that was enough to drive away the fear. They seemed at peace, but even their sleep carried something tense. As if the instinct, inherited without guilt, already knew what the world was preparing.I stood at the door of the room for a while, just watching. The cruelest part of it all was this: the way the chaos outside never matched the silence at home.I closed the door slowly and went back to the room. The phone was on the table, blinking with a new message. It was from Jaela."The Council has called the meeting. Today. Willow will open the vote."I read it more than once, as if it could change the meaning. Those words meant that there was no respite. And somehow they also meant that Casper was not going to back down. And neither was

The next day came. A silence covered the city. I knew that the council had already met. He also knew that there would be no official announcements, not immediately. But the air seemed to bring messages. The smell of fear is something we recognize. I already felt it. He mixes with the earth, infiltrates the streets, and sticks to clothes.I spent the morning at home with the children. They tried to play, but their tension was almost equal to mine. Jody drew on the table but stopped at each louder sound; Jared assembled a puzzle with no will, and Jimmy kept the same pace.Outside, all is quiet. No car, no laughter, no routine sound. People were waiting. And when a city of wolves waits, it is because it knows that something will fall. I went to the window and stood there for a while, watching the path that led into the forest. Sometimes I saw figures among the trees. It was not imagination. They were patrolling. Wolves. Maybe medium. I took the phone more than once. No, Casper. Not a mes

The smell of wet earth was the only thing that still reminded me I was alive. In the last days, even this began to mix with the smell of fear. Not others. Mine. I always believed I could control what was inside me, but control is just a trick of the mind. When the body decides to break, there is no willpower that holds.It’s been weeks since I slept properly. When I try, I wake up sweating, with my nails sticking in the ground and my mouth full of the taste of blood. Sometimes it is mine. Sometimes, no. The sounds of the forest irritate me. Everything irritates me. The rustling of leaves, the wind, the distant singing of some bird. The whole world seems to mock me, reminding me that I still exist.I thought about going to her. Naomi. I know I can’t, but the memory of her face is the only thing that keeps the monster from taking over completely. When I close my eyes, I see her in the yard, with her hair stuck and a tired expression. I see her eyes before she turns her back on me for th

I ran until my body couldn’t take it anymore. The forest went by like a blur, and every step seemed to rip a piece of me. The air ripped her throat, and the blood pulsed too high. When I finally stopped, I no longer knew where I was. I only knew that she was still with me. The smell, the touch, the voice saying I was still me.I fell on my knees in the mud, trying to breathe. My hands hit the ground, and the sound that came out of my throat was no longer human. Still, a part of me insisted on calling her name. But the voice did not obey. Only came the roar, hoarse and suffocated, mixed with pain. The beast inside me didn’t like her name. It was as if that sound hurt, as if remembering her was a weakness. And maybe it was.The fever came back, stronger. The whole body burned. The nails grew larger, cutting the skin. The taste of iron dominated the mouth. Every second, I felt the man moving away, becoming small inside of me, screaming from a place that no longer heard right. I knew what

The sun had barely risen, and I already knew that the day would be long. His smell was everywhere, stuck in my hands, in the coat, even in the air I breathed. The house seemed smaller, suffocating. The children were still sleeping.I took the oldest backpack from the closet and filled it with what I had given—water, towels, gauze, and cold food. I didn’t even know why. Maybe it was instinct. Potentially just fear. I slowly closed the door and went out, feeling the morning cold hitting my face.I didn’t need to walk much. He was still there. Lying between the leaves, pale skin and closed eyes. For a moment, I thought it was too late. I approached slowly, my heart beating in his neck. When I touched his arm, the body reacted. A slight tremor, almost a reflex. "Lancelot."The eyes opened. The gold was weaker, mixed with the usual color. He tried to speak but only came out with a hoarse sound. I put my finger on his lips. "He doesn’t talk. He just breathes."He obeyed. The fever was burni