All Chapters of Second Chance At Love: Chapter 31 - Chapter 40

Cassie.The car felt suffocating. My fingers tightened around the seatbelt, gripping it so hard my knuckles ached. The sleek interior of Axel’s car, once fascinating with its leather and red-and-black design, was now the last thing on my mind. The only thing I could focus on was the way Axel drove like a madman, his foot pressing into the accelerator as though he wanted to punish the road beneath us.“Axel, what’s going on?” I managed to ask, my voice shaking despite my best effort to sound calm.His jaw clenched but he didn’t respond, his focus fixed on the road ahead, his knuckles white against the steering wheel.The tension was unbearable. The speed of the car, the way it swerved so sharply around corners, sent my pulse into overdrive. For a moment, I thought I heard a growl—low and menacing—and I wasn’t sure if it came from Axel or somewhere deep within the car itself.“Axel, I’m serious. Talk to me!” I tried again, this time reaching out to him.I intended for my hand to land

Cassie.“Cassie,” Axel called my name like a warning, his deep voice vibrating through the small kitchen space.I folded my arms across my chest, my eyes hard and unyielding. The intensity in his gaze didn’t scare me—it only fueled the storm that had been brewing inside me for years.“The least you could’ve done was to treat me like I was a person,” I said, my voice trembling with both anger and pain, “Do you even remember that you almost stripped me of my right to be Cam’s mother?”Axel’s breathing was harsh, his chest rising and falling like a caged beast ready to lash out at my words, and I instantly knew he recalled that day.He had known more than anyone, how horrible Selena had been, but he never tried to defend me once, and now he expected me to let go of everything I’d been through all because he was my mate?“Don’t bring him up in this, Cassie,” he said, his voice quieter but sharp as a blade, “you can make your point without bringing him up.”I let out a bitter laugh, shaki

Cassie.I had to suck up my tears and stop crying. I didn’t have the luxury of remaining in my pain for too long because sitting on the floor, drowning in my own tears, wasn’t going to change anything. Cam deserved more than my silence and despair.Sniffling, I wiped my swollen eyes and tear-streaked cheeks with the back of my palms, then I glanced in the mirror, flinching at my own reflection. It was a reminder of how long I’d sat there crying. It was way worse than how I looked in the morning.The one thing that had made me determined to visit Cam’s grave had been the realization that it was now two weeks to Cam’s birthday.Just two weeks, and he would’ve been four. My boy, a four years old.I inhaled shakily as I let myself imagine what Cam would be like as a four-year-old. There was no doubt he would’ve been introduced to his wolf, his tiny face would’ve lightened up with excitement as he discovered a new part of himself. He would’ve been riding his bike around the yard, laughing

Cassie.“Cassie? It’s really you!”I froze, my heart sinking as Carly’s mocking laugh filled what was left of the distance between us. She moved forward, leaning forward with a smile that told me she already thought she’d won whatever this was supposed to be. Bella was right behind her, the gleam in her eyes just as menacing. I just knew that her narrowed glances at me earlier would lead to something like this, but I’d decided to give her the benefit of the doubt.“I see some things haven’t changed,” I muttered under my breath, forcing my lips into a smile that didn’t reach my eyes. The last thing I needed was a confrontation with them tonight, not after leaving Cam’s grave with my chest already cracked wide open.“When Bella told me she’d seen you, I told her she had to be joking. I mean, you’d have to be stupid to come back here.” Carly smirked, her words deliberately dripping with malice. “And yet here you are.”I laughed softly, feigning nonchalance at the subtle jab. She was bla

Cassie.I blinked at him, my mind scrambling to process the question. He had asked it so softly, so out of character for him, that it caught me completely off guard. I tried to answer, but the words tangled in my throat, coming out as nothing more than a stutter. Before I could form a coherent response, the doctor spoke, thankfully taking the burden off my shoulders.“She’s lucky you brought her in when you did, Alpha,” the doctor began, his tone clipped but professional. “Her body’s been under a lot of strain. Malnutrition, dehydration, sleep deprivation—all of it is taking a toll on her wolf. If this continues, it could weaken her further. Her wolf’s connection to her is already fragile.”I barely heard the man’s words. My focus was split between Axel’s hand holding mine and his gaze burning into me. His thumb traced absent, repetitive circles over the back of my hand, and every time the doctor mentioned something concerning, Axel’s grip shifted—tightening, then loosening—like h