All Chapters of My Second Chance Mate is a Barbarian : Chapter 161 - Chapter 170

IrinaI knew she was behind this. She had to be. She was the one who knew I was a survivor. She was the one who hated me for it. She thought my years of smiling for Aldric, my years of working the clay in the dark, was a weakness. She didn't understand that I did it so she wouldn't end up on a spike. And now she was using these savages to dismantle me? I felt a hot, bubbling surge of hatred in my chest that was sharper than the steel in my side. I swore, right then, that if I survived this night, I would make her regret every single drop of blood I spilled on this floor. I would burn her reign to the ground before it even started.“Where is it, Irina?” Yvara’s voice dropped into that bored register that made my skin crawl. My grandmother used to say that magic like yours is a parasite. It needs a physical host to feed on. Where is it?"I clenched my jaw, staring at the wall. The pressure in the room was becoming physical. The heat from the hearth, the smell of my own blood, the relent

Irina"They'll kill me! Fuck! Irina, you bitch! They're going to cut me open! They'll kill me!"He started pouring out all his grief right there on the dirt-streaked stone. He was sobbing, snot running into his beard, his hands clutching his own head as if he could hold his thoughts together."You only care about yourself!" he shrieked at me. "Why would you do this to me? I loved you! I risked everything for you! You fucking bitch! You're going to die for this. You will die a miserable, lonely death in this frost. Your daughter is going to be the one to end your life, Irina! Do you hear me? She hates you! And Aldric... gods, Aldric will boil you alive when he finds out you've been fucking a barbarian! I hate you! I fucking hate you!"I just stared at him. I watched him spiral, watched him weep and curse my name, and I felt... nothing. I couldn't say I felt a single spark of remorse. I couldn't even find it in me to pity him. It was like a part of my brain—the part that handled things

Irina"I wouldn't do that if I were you, Sera."She was still leaning against my vanity, casually watching the drama like it was a play she’d seen a dozen times before.Sera’s head snapped up. I watched the moment her expression slowly solidified. The tears didn't stop, but the distress vanished, replaced by something dark, jagged, and dangerous."You fucking bitch!" Sera cursed.In an instant, she closed the gap. I didn't even see the moment she unfurled herself from the ground. All I saw was Sera snapping Yvara’s head to the side with a brutal, closed-fist punch.Yvara stumbled back, her boots scuffing against the stone. Sera stood before her, panting like she had just run a marathon, her chest heaving under her tunic."You promised me!" Sera screamed, her voice echoing off the vaulted ceiling. "You fucking promised you wouldn't hurt her! Why the fuck did you go as far as stabbing her?"Yvara slowly brought her hand up to her mouth, wiping a smear of blood from her lip with the back

IrinaThe healer snipped the thread, and the sound felt like a gunshot in the quiet room.I sat there, slumped in that hard wooden chair, feeling the pull of the fresh stitches against my ribs. It was a dull, thrumming ache now, not the white-hot fire of the blade, but it made me feel heavy. Old. I looked down at my hands, stained with my own blood. I felt stupid. I was the Queen of Valdris, a woman who had outmanoeuvred high lords and survived Aldric’s cold bed for two decades, and here I was, getting stitched up by a man who smelled like wet dog and antiseptic in a room that looked like a bird had exploded in it.The healer didn't say a word to me. He did his final rounds, checking the tension of the bandages, his fingers rough and clinical. When he was satisfied, he gave a short, jerky nod to Fenris and Sera."It's fine," he said, his voice a dry rasp. "The blade missed the vitals. The body just needs time to knit the meat back together. Keep her still."Fenris gave a single, tight

Irina"Don't be long."I felt a pang in my chest. A sharp, stinging needle of jealousy. I couldn't be jealous of my own daughter, could I? But I was. I saw the way he looked at her. He didn't look at her like a tool. He looked at her with a longing that I hadn't seen in a man’s eyes since... well, maybe never. Even Torin’s hunger had been a weak thing, a shadow of this.Fenris gave me one last warning look, then spoke to Mina."Stick around until she’s done," he told the girl.Mina nodded. Fenris turned on his heel and left the room, his heavy boots thumping down the corridor until the sound faded.Now it was just the three of us.Sera stood there for a second, her fingers touching her lips where he had kissed her. She looked like she was trying to pull the "Luna" mask back on."Mina," Sera called out.The girl didn't respond at first. She was staring at me, her eyes flat and unreadable. Sera sighed.Sera swallowed, her throat moving in a hard gulp. "Mina. Bring the record."I watched