The Lycan King's Second Chance Mate: Rise of the Traitor's Daughter Chapter 143: Breaking Chains, Breathing Magic

Easter~

The car humd steadily beneath us as we drove away, but my mind was far from calm. I kept glancing at Jacob—this impossibly powerful, devastatingly handso man who had just rewritten the course of my life with nothing but his voice and his magic.

Beside , Jacob stared ahead at the road, his profile backlit by the dying sun. The golden shimr from earlier still danced faintly at his fingertips, curling lazily before fading into the air like embers. My hand still tingled from where he had held it. I curled my fingers inward, as if to hold on to the warmth a little longer.

"Thank you," I whispered. My voice barely carried over the engine, but I knew he heard. "Thank you for freeing ."

His head tilted slightly, his lips twitching into a smile that could bring angels to their knees. "You freed yourself, Easter," he said gently. "I just made sure the chains didn’t try to crawl back."

I swallowed hard. My heart was full—achingly, blissfully full. "I’ll never forget the day Natalie walked into my life," I said. "She didn’t just offer help. She brought you into it."

He didn’t answer right away. Instead, he reached across the console and wrapped his fingers around mine again. His touch was warm, grounding, like the sun itself had decided to hold my hand.

"You’ll never suffer again," Jacob said, his voice a quiet vow. "Not while I’m here. And I’ll be here... always. That’s the benefit of falling for a god, you know."

I blinked. "Falling for—?" My breath caught in my throat, and a dizzying warmth blood in my chest. But he didn’t seem to notice the effect his words had. He just smiled ahead, casual and calm, like he hadn’t just set off a firestorm in .

Did he already know how I felt about him? Or was he just casually throwing around the word falling, totally unaware of what it was doing to ? God—what did that even an?!

Tears pricked the corners of my eyes, but this ti, they weren’t from pain. They were from... relief. Joy. Safety. Giddiness.

I turned my face to the window, pretending to admire the sunset, but really, I just didn’t want him to see crying like a lovesick fool.

I thought we were heading back to Jacob’s ho, then back to Zane’s. But instead, he took an abrupt turn off the main road and into a forest trail so hidden, I wouldn’t have noticed it if I blinked.

"Uh... are you planning to sacrifice to the forest spirits?" I asked with a raised brow.

Jacob laughed. "No sacrifices today. Just trust ."

"That’s what all the creepy guys say before they feed you to a magical bear."

He shot a grin, and I swear, the temperature in the car rose. "Good thing I am the magical bear."

I snorted. "Cocky much?"

He just winked.

Minutes later, we pulled into what I can only describe as the most bizarre, magical carnival I had ever seen. It was hidden deep in the woods, surrounded by glowing trees and glittering mist. Wooden stalls and wagons shaped like oversized mushrooms were scattered around, and creatures I couldn’t even na strolled the grounds—so tall and glowing, others with wings or vines for hair.

The sign at the entrance read: "Welco to Mischief Grove – Where Fun Is Mandatory."

I stared. "You’ve got to be kidding."

"Nope," Jacob said, hopping out and coming around to open my door. "Tonight, Easter Free, you are forbidden from frowning."

"I don’t..." I hesitated, my stomach twisting. "I don’t think I can... I haven’t had fun in... a long ti."

"I know." His voice was softer now, and when I looked up at him, the mischief in his eyes had been replaced with a deeper feeling.

He knew. Sohow, he knew.

"You don’t have to tell what happened with lody," he said, as if reading my thoughts. "I already know. I know that you bla yourself. That you think having fun is a luxury you don’t deserve."

My mouth went dry.

He stepped closer, brushing a strand of hair from my cheek. "But you do. You’ve paid enough for that night. You lost your ho, your joy, your laughter. It’s ti you got it back."

I blinked rapidly, trying to hold the tears at bay. "How did you know?"

"I’m a Spirit, Easter. Your soul told long before your lips ever could."

And just like that, sothing inside cracked. Not in a painful way—but like a dam breaking open.

"Okay," I said, my voice trembling. "Okay... let’s have... fun."

What followed was chaos. Glorious, absurd chaos.

First, he dragged to a ga called Lick-a-Toad, which was absolutely not what it sounded like. (Well. Sort of.) You had to catch a glowing toad and kiss it, and then the toad would scream out your deepest secret. Mine yelled, "SHE THINKS JACOB HAS A NICE BUTT!" and I nearly died on the spot.

Jacob just smirked like the smug god he was. "Well, I do work out."

"Don’t comnt on that," I grumbled, my cheeks on fire.

Next ca the Upside-Down Carousel, which spun so fast and flipped so many tis, I nearly threw up. Jacob laughed the entire ti, especially when I scread, "YOU’RE GONNA KILL YOUR BABY, YOU MONSTER!"

"First of all, I would never," he said between laughs as we stumbled off. "Second of all... wait, my baby?"

I blinked. Oops. "I an the baby. A baby. So baby. Babies in general—"

Jacob only grinned wider, clearly amused by my flustered panic.

Later, we wandered into the Cuddle Cavern, which was basically a cave of soft, floating clouds that shaped themselves into adorable creatures. I fell asleep there for ten whole minutes before jolting awake with a craving for pickles and cotton candy. Jacob was back in a second—with both.

"Pregnancy drama," I muttered between bites. "Don’t say I didn’t warn you."

"I look forward to the chaos," he replied without missing a beat.

As the night wore on, the laughter ca easier. The guilt loosened. I found myself dancing with glowing fairies and beating Jacob in a ga of "Catch the Moonbeam." (Okay, he let win, but I still got a prize.)

And in quiet monts, I watched him—his laugh, his ease, the way he made even the most mundane mont feel like magic.

At one point, I tripped on a mushroom, and he caught , his arms warm and strong around . For a breathless second, our eyes locked. I could feel his heartbeat. I could sll the faint woodsy spice of his skin.

But he just steadied and chuckled. "Careful there, warrior."

And my heart—my stupid, aching heart—sank just a little.

He didn’t notice.

He didn’t see.

But it was okay.

Because for the first ti in years, I felt alive.

And I didn’t need a confession or a kiss to make that true.

As we sat by a glowing pond near the end of the night, our feet dangling in silver water, I leaned into his side.

"I feel... free," I murmured.

Jacob tilted his head, brushing his shoulder against mine. "Because you are. And this is just the beginning."

I smiled, resting my hand on my belly. "We’re going to be okay, aren’t we?"

He looked down at , eyes glowing faintly gold. "You’re going to be extraordinary, Easter. You and the little firecracker in there."

And in that mont—with magic all around , laughter still echoing in the distance, and Jacob beside —I believed him.

I believed it all.

Even if my heart was already falling deeper than I knew how to stop.

And maybe... just maybe...

He’d catch when I did.

*********

Later that night, long after the fireworks had faded into smoke trails and the carnival music had lted into whispers, Jacob gently nudged toward the car.

"Ti to head ho, warrior."

"But..." I pouted, glancing longingly at the giant teddy bear soone was winning at a ring toss. "I was just about to beat that rigged ga."

Jacob grinned. "You were throwing the rings at the vendor."

"He looked smug."

"Exactly. Let’s not get banned from the fair."

I groaned dramatically, dragging my feet like a child, but the truth was—I was tired. The good kind. The kind that made your bones hum and your soul feel soft.

He opened the car door for , and I slipped inside, sinking into the plush leather seat with a contented sigh. The engine purred to life, and soon we were speeding down the open road under a blanket of stars, the wind brushing through the cracked windows.

Music filled the space between us—so old-school soul track that made sway in my seat and throw my head back with laughter.

"Tell you at least tried to dance when I wasn’t looking," I teased, glancing at him as he tapped the steering wheel in rhythm.

"Please," he said, flashing a cocky smirk. "The wind danced for ."

I snorted. "That is the most Jacob thing you’ve ever said."

He winked. "Thank you."

I was having the ti of my life. My cheeks ached from smiling. My chest was light. My heart? Well, my heart was a complicated ss wrapped in glitter, but for the mont... it was happy.

Then it hit .

Like, literally hit —in the bladder.

"Jacob," I said, suddenly sitting up straight, "I need to pee."

He raised an eyebrow. "I could just—"

"Nope," I cut in. "Do not magic a toilet in the car. That’s a line I refuse to cross."

He laughed, shaking his head. "Alright. Gas station it is."

A few minutes later, we pulled into a brightly lit gas station at the edge of a quiet town. I unbuckled quickly, already halfway out the door. "Be right back. Don’t vanish without ."

"Wouldn’t dream of it," he said, propping his elbow on the window fra. "But hurry. The wind’s starting to miss you."

I rolled my eyes, grinning, and dashed toward the restroom sign, the automatic door hissing open behind .

I barely made it to the dingy hallway of the public restroom before I heard soone gasp.

"Easter?"

I turned, heart stumbling a little in my chest.

Two won stood near the snack aisle, blinking at like they’d just seen a ghost. One wore a sunflower-printed dress and had a na tag that read "Gloria," while the other clutched a soda and gaped like I’d grown wings.

"Easter?" Gloria said again, her eyes wide.

I blinked. "Uh... yes?"

The second woman let out a tiny squeal. "Oh my word! You’ve grown so much! Do you rember us? We were mbers of your father’s church back in Bellemarais. You used to sing with the children’s choir—oh, you were so little!"

I stared at them, frozen. My mouth opened, but words refused to co out.

They stepped closer, smiling warmly like old aunties at a family reunion.

"You look so much like your mama now," Gloria said. "She’s here too, you know. Your parents. The church is hosting a three-day conference right down the street, at the Golden Candle Hotel."

I don’t know what else they said after that.

Because the mont I heard the word parents, my entire body locked up.

The blood in my veins pulsed like a warning drum.

My heart spiked—wild, hot, erratic.

Jacob was right outside.

But I was no longer okay.

I was no longer free.

And in that single breathless mont...

Everything changed.