Chapter 141

ETHANI stood at the edge of the property with my back against a tree and my jaw clenched.Reese was on my left. Drew, Luke, and Tobias had spread out along the fence, their bodies low to the ground, keeping watch. The night was cold and clear, and the whole world smelled like pine and wet sand.Brian stood three feet to my right.He'd shown up ten minutes ago in a plain gray sweater and jeans, with no guards, no car, and no big speeches. He looked like a guy who'd come to a barbecue. We hadn't spoken yet.Finally, Brian reached into his jacket, pulled out a rolled bundle of papers, and held them out.I looked at his hand. Then at him."They're real," he said. "I'm not setting a trap, Morven. If I wanted you dead, I'd have done it a long time ago.""That's not as comforting as you think.""It's not meant to be."I took the blueprints. They were old and soft at the corners. Someone had even marked them with a red pen. I unrolled them on the hood of Reese's truck. Reese held down one c

Chapter 142

FREYAThe cellar door was huge, black, and covered in old carvings. It looked like it hadn’t been opened in a hundred years.Wren stood on my left. Celeste hovered behind us, wringing her hands. Somewhere above our heads, boots thumped across the floor. We didn’t have long.“Okay,” Wren whispered. “Cut deep enough to bleed. Not deep enough to cry about.”“You’ve done this before?”“Once. I cried about it.”I almost laughed. Almost. My heart was pounding way too hard.Wren pulled out a tiny knife and sliced her palm. She handed it to me. I stared at the blade for one second, thinking about my boys, and then I cut. It stung like crazy. Blood welled up and dripped down my wrist.“Together,” Wren said.We pressed our hands flat against the wood.For a moment nothing happened. I thought, great, we bled for nothing. Then the carvings started to glow a faint silver color like moonlight. The door groaned and shook. Then it swung inward, creaking loudly as it did so.Cold air rushed up from be

Chapter 143

ETHANThe first step into the tunnel felt like stepping into an oven.“Keep going,” Brian muttered behind me. “Don’t think about it.”“Easy for you to say.”“Not really. I’m the one who has to carry you out if you pass out.”The shed in the woods had been packed with rotten barrels and rusty tools. Under a pile of old tarp, we’d found a trapdoor. Reese had wanted to come with us. I told him to stay and watch the fence. If Gwyneth did something stupid, I needed someone on the outside who could think.Now it was just me and Brian, crawling through a coal tunnel so narrow that my shoulders scraped both walls.The ward hadn’t gone away. It was under us, over us, all around us. Every inch I moved, my skin burned. I could feel blisters rising on my arms and neck. My shirt stuck to my back. My wolf wasn’t even howling anymore. He was just growling low in my chest, over and over.“You’re bleeding,” Brian said.“I know.”“Your ear’s bleeding.”“I said I know.”“Just checking. You’ve got a lot

Chapter 144

FREYAI couldn’t stop shaking.We got home before sunrise. Someone took my coat. Someone else put a blanket around my shoulders. I think it was Reese, but I wasn’t even sure. I only remember walking straight to the nursery because it was the only place in the world I wanted to be.I filled the tub with warm water. My hands trembled so hard that I splashed it all over the floor.“Let me help,” Ethan said quietly.“No. I need to do it.”He didn’t argue. He just stood by the door and watched.I washed Jonah first. He was awake now, fussy and red-faced, kicking his legs at me like I’d done something rude. I loved every kick. I washed behind his ears. I washed between his toes. I counted his fingers. Five on one hand. Five on the other.Then I counted them again.They were ten. Ten perfect little fingers.I did the same with Micah. He sat in the water very calmly and watched me with those huge eyes. His silver glow had faded to nothing. The mark on his chest was still there, but it looked

Chapter 145

ETHANI didn’t sleep.I tried. I lay next to Freya for maybe an hour, listening to her breathe. She’d come back inside after talking to Celeste, her face as white as paper, and only said, “Not now, please.” Then she’d curled into me and passed out in about a minute.So I stared at the ceiling and thought about my grandmother.Bred to be a leash…What did that even mean?At dawn, there was a soft knock on our door. I slid out of bed, careful not to wake Freya, and opened it.Gemma stood in the hall. She wore a plain robe, and her gray hair hung loosely around her face. She looked older than she had yesterday. Her hands were shaking.“Ethan,” she said. “Will you sit with me just for a minute?”“Mom, are you okay?”“No. But I will be, after this.”We went down to the kitchen. She made tea, set a cup in front of me, and didn’t touch her own.“I need to tell you something,” she said. “And you’re going to be angry.”“I’m already angry. Might as well add to the pile.”That got a tiny smile o

All Chapters of Her Second Chance Alpha: Chapter 141 - Chapter 145

Chapter 141

Chapter 142

Chapter 143

Chapter 144

Chapter 145