My Second Chance Mate is a Barbarian (Sera and Fenris) novel Chapter 90

Sera

The heavy oak door of the den clicked shut.

The loud, roaring noise of the Great Hall vanished instantly. The sudden silence in the room left a faint ringing in my ears. I stood near the center of the floor, staring at the dark wood of the door. The adrenaline that had kept my spine straight during breakfast finally started to drain out of my system.

Fenris walked past me. He didn't say a word. He went straight to the large stone hearth, picked up a thick iron poker, and jabbed at the dying embers. He threw two heavy logs onto the grate. The fire caught, casting a sharp, flickering orange light across the stone walls.

He set the iron poker down. He turned around and leaned his lower back against the stone mantle. He crossed his massive arms over his chest and looked at me.

"Your mother is a witch," Fenris said.

His voice was calm. It wasn't an accusation. It was a simple statement of fact, delivered with a trace of genuine surprise.

"She prefers the term healer," I replied, my voice sounding incredibly thin in the large room.

"She melted a man's face off and glued it to my guard," Fenris pointed out bluntly. "That is not healing."

I shifted my weight from one foot to the other. I crossed my arms over my chest, mirroring his stance, but I felt entirely exposed. "She did what I told her to do."

Fenris tilted his head slightly. His pale grey eyes studied my face. He looked at the tension in my shoulders. He looked at the way my fingers dug into the wool of my sleeves.

"When did you think of the process?" Fenris asked.

"What do you mean?"

"You looked at Kael bleeding out on the stone floor," Fenris said, his voice dropping into a lower, quieter register. "He was drowning in his own fluid. The room was chaotic. Yvara was panicking. The healer was panicking. You stood there for ten seconds, and you built an entire coup in your head. You pieced the magic, the guard, and the cover-up together instantly."

I felt my chest tighten. I didn't know how to read his tone. Was he impressed, or was he terrified of me?

"I grew up in the South, Fenris," I said, my voice turning defensive. My heart beat faster against my ribs. "I watched Kane navigate assassination attempts and council betrayals for three years. I learned how to survive. If Kael lived, he would have killed you. I did what I had to do."

I took a step backward. "Are you angry? Do you think I overstepped my boundary?"

Fenris didn't answer. He pushed off the stone mantle.

He crossed the room in three long strides. He didn't stop until he was standing directly in front of me, completely erasing the physical distance between us. The sheer size of him blocked out the firelight. I had to tilt my head back just to look at his face.

He reached out. His large, calloused hand cupped the side of my jaw. His thumb brushed over the dark purple bruise fading on my cheekbone.

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