All Chapters of The Second Chance Werewolf: Chapter 211 - Chapter 220

Olivia's PovDeath as an end always seemed unlikely to me. I always pictured it as a doorway, a memory-made and breath-made archway. But I never expected I would float so near to it.Everything got under control in silence. Not the calm variety that accompanies sleep, but the heavy, drowning silence of dropping too deep, too far. Before I saw anything, I felt it, a sensation like being drawn back through thick honey, the world dissolving at the margins of my awareness.And then... I went elsewhere. Not dead but not vanished.Hanged in that void in between life and death.Above me was black, streaked with fiery flashes that never touched the ground. The air throbbed like insects humming secrets. I stood at the edge of a forest not from any planet I knew, clothed in something that resembled smoke and silk. But not in my body.It pulsed. Breathed.Like it watched me.I turned around, attempting to run, or maybe get a clearer under

Enrique's PovAlone with my ideas now, I pulled the old notebook I had stashed behind the bookshelf. The cover was constructed of broken, black leather; the papers smelled of ash and deterioration. I turned to the spot Lily had flagged, running my fingers over the runes inscribed in iron ink. The language was not human. At least, not completely.I would require a vessel of power. Something formerly pure, now contaminated, soil from a dedicated grave and a heart still beating from a creature impacted by the moon. Ivan.The youngster had always exuded a strange energy. Not powerful, but... strange. He had undergone something as a result of the failed rite; it had opened a door we had not yet crossed. He was transforming. I knew better, even if the others believed it to be trauma or terror. His blood had started to wake up.I required it. No, I had need of him. Not yet.I returned back to Lily's by the wood for the first rites. The summoning.I

Enrique PovNikolai got increasingly cold. More subdued. I had noticed the change weeks ago, the way his eyes lingered too long, calculating. The way he did not laugh as freely near me any longer. The manner of the greetings became formal, clipped, rehearsed.I wasn't stupid. I dominated stray packs far longer than most of these pampered palace wolves possessed teeth. I could tell when someone was watching. I knew when someone was plotting.Nikolai also. He was certainly plotting something.They had started watching me. Constantly hovering just out of reach, badly camouflaged guards presented themselves as cooks, stable assistants, even one as a gardener who couldn't distinguish basil from mint. I might have chuckled if it wasn't so disrespectful.I did my bit nevertheless.I grinned. I trained with them. When Lyra laughed too hard, I let her put her hand on my arm. Like some over-involved cousin, I also aided Alexei with supply run logistic

Nikolai's PovBy the time I backed away from the table, the hearth's fire had burned low. Smoke rising gradually like a breath long-held and eventually discharged. Ash coiled against the stone walls, old choices, charred parchment, and ink filled my research scent. Outside, the evening had become a gray whisper of morning, and I had stayed in this room since dinner.I contemplated deeply on the patterns of the attacks. I couldn't sleep a wink, not until I had broken it.And I finally did.The symbols, the timing of Olivia's coma, Ivan's drawing patterns, even Lily's binding ceremony's sudden failure all pointed to one thing… they tried to utilize royal blood and fell short.Their failure resulted from a disruption of the tether. Olivia's mind, which was stronger than any of them had expected, fought the spiritual hold Lily attempted to apply on her. That's what made the ceremony turn out badly.They also did not anticipate that.

Enrique's PovEver since that dinner night, Nikolai had not looked at me the same. That still, weighty silence between mouthfuls. The curious comments. The flicker in his eye, that only a fool would overlook.He kept an eye on me. Still.I'd catch it, his scent, faint but close, too close in regions he didn't belong. I would look for understated hints. I began to notice strange but subtle acts. Papers shifted from its position where I left it. Boots, which weren't mine rubbing my floor. His guards had stopped even trying to bury their noses in the dirt.They considered themselves to be clever. He considered himself to be intelligent.I decided to let him. Let him go smell. Let him be hound.I was used to the shadows, the darkness. Long before Nikolai had a title, I had made them my friends.Still, I stayed low.I cut down on my trips to the woods, kept talks basic and polite. I visited Lyra at the pack house every now and then