Mated to My Fiancé’s Alpha King Brother

20 Chapter 20

Seraphina’s POV 1

| woke the next morning feeling like someone had taken a sledgehammer to my skull. The pounding in my head

was so intense that even the soft morning light filtering through my bedroom curtains felt like stabbing needles

behind my eyes.

“Oh God,” | groaned softly, pressing the heels of my palms against my temples.

When | tried to sit up, the world tilted dangerously to the left, and | had to grip the edge of my mattress to keep

from tumbling off completely. Every small movement sent fresh waves of nausea rolling through my stomach.

My clothes had been changed sometduring the night instead of the ruined emerald dress, | was wearing my

softest cotton pajamas.

“Mommy!” Adrian's voice madewince, but his little arms wrapping around my neck. “You're awake! | was

worried about you!”

Ophelia stood at the foot of my bed, her arms crossed. She looked like she'd been awake all night, her dark hair

escaping from

yesterday's ponytail and her clothes wrinkled from sleeping on the couch.

“Hey, sweetheart,” | managed to croak, pulling Adrian closer and breathing in his familiar scent of strawberry

shampoo and something purely him. “I’m so sorry | was late last night. Mommy had sunexpected, work

things to handle.”

“It's okay,” Adrian said solemnly, his small hands patting my cheeks with the gentle care of someone far older

than his four years. “I was

good for Aunt Ophelia. We had mac and cheese for dinner, and | brushed my teeth all by myself.”

“That's my good boy,” | said, pressing a kiss to his forehead. “Did anything exciting happen while | was gone?”

Adrian's expression grew thoughtful, and he glanced toward Ophelia before looking back at me. “A strange man

brought you hlast night. He was really, really tall, like a giant! But don’t worry, Mommy, | protected you. |

stood right between you and him so he couldn't

hurt you.”

Memories of the previous evening cflooding back in vivid, mortifying detail. The dinner party. Valerie's

public humiliation. Michael's

attempted assault. And then... Damien. Oh God, Damien.

Heat flooded my cheeks as | remembered the intensity of our encounter in his car.

“The strange man didn’t hurt me, baby,” | assured Adrian, though my voice cout slightly strained. “He was

actually helping Mommy

get hsafely.”

Adrian giggled, the sound chasing away sof the tension in my chest. “Can | have pancakes for breakfast?

The kind with the little

chocolate chips?”

“Of course, sweetheart. Why don’t you go get dressed for school while | talk to Aunt Ophelia for a minute?”

The moment Adrian's footsteps disappeared down the hallway, Ophelia pounced.

“Okay,” she said, settling onto the edge of my bed with the determined expression of someone prepared to

extract every detail. “Start

from the beginning. Who was that man?”

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| buried my face in my hands, groaning. “Ophelia, | don’t think I'm ready for this conversation.”

“Too bad. You disappeared for an entire evening, chunconscious in the arms of a man who looked like

he'd stepped out of a cologne advertisement, and now you're blushing like a teenager who just got caught

making out behind the bleachers. She leaned forward, her voice gentling slightly. “Sera, | was terrified. When you

didn’t answer your phone, when midnight cand went with no word... | thought something terrible had

happened.”

The genuine worry in her voice made guilt twist in my stomach. “I'm sorry. | should have called.”

“Forget the apology. Just tellwhat happened.”

So | did. Haltingly, with frequent pauses to hide my burning cheeks behind my hands, | told her everything.

By the t| finished, Ophelia was staring atwith wide eyes and an expression of complete shock.

“Holy shit,” she breathed. “Sera, you... you slept with your boss. Your Alpha boss. On your second day of work.”

1

Before | could respond, Adrian's voice drifted from the kitchen. “Mommy! I'm ready for pancakes!”

“Duty calls,” | said, grateful for the interruption. “I need to get him to school and get to work before I lose my job

on top of everything

else.”

“This conversation isn’t over,” Ophelia warned as | climbed out of bed on unsteady legs. “Tonight, we're talking

about everything.”

An hour later, | stood outside Nightshadow Industries trying to gather the courage to go inside.

My stomach was a mass of nerves as | rode the elevator to the executive floor. Would people stare? Whisper?

But when | stepped off the elevator, something unexpected happened. Instead of the hostile stares and

whispered gossip I'd been

bracing for, | was met with... nothing.

Business as usual. People nodded politely as they passed, offered their standard morning greetings, and went

about their work with the

sprofessional focus as always.

When | reached my desk, | found a steaming cup of coffee waiting for me, along with a small plate of pastries. A

note in Claire's elegant handwriting was tucked beneath the saucer: *Rough nights require soft mornings. Take

care of yourself today. -C*

The simple kindness made my throat tight with unexpected emotion.

| settled into my chair and tried to focus on my computer screen, reviewing emails and preparing for the day

ahead. But every few minutes, my eyes would drift toward Damien’s office door, wondering what | would say

when | inevitably had to face him.

At exactly nine-thirty, the door to his office opened, and he emerged looking like he'd stepped off the cover of a

business magazine. His navy suit was perfectly tailored, his dark hair styled with casual precision, and his blue

eyes were as penetrating as ever.

“Good morning, Miss Knight,” he said, his voice carrying its usual professional tone. “I'll need the Henderson

contracts reviewed by noon,

and please reschedule my two o’clock with the pack council. Something urgent has cup.”

“Of course, Mr. Nightshadow,” | replied, proud of how steady my voice sounded. “I'll take care of it immediately.”

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He's pretending nothing happened. “Maybe that’s for the best,” | murmured under my breath.

But even as | said it, | couldn't ignore the way my body responded to his proximity, the way my pulse quickened

every the spoke, the way my skin seemed to remember the heat of his hands,

The day passed in a blur of focused productivity. By five o'clock, most of the office had emptied out for the

evening. | was just finishing up the last of my daily reports when | heard the soft click of Damien's office door

closing.

| looked up to find the outer office empty except for the two of us. Damien was standing by his door, his jacket

off and his tie loosened,

looking more relaxed than I'd seen him all day. But there was something in his expression that made my pulse

quicken.

“Seraphina,” he said quietly, my nsounding different in his voice now that we were alone. “Could | speak

with you privately for a

moment?”

My heart started hammering against my ribs, but | nodded and followed him into his office. | took a deep breath,

gathering my courage. Before he could speak, | plunged ahead with the words I'd been rehearsing all day.

“About last night,” | began, my voice sounding steadier than | felt. “I owe you an apology. | shouldn't have lost

my temper at the restaurant, shouldn't have walked away like that.” | paused, meeting his penetrating blue

gaze.

“For the record, | was telling the truth. Gabriel and | never... Adrian isn’t his son. But | understand why Valerie's

words might have made

you doubt me.”

| took another breath, forcing myself to continue. “And thank you. For coming after me, for rescuingfrom that

situation. | don’t want

to think about what might have happened if you hadn't arrived when you did.”

The words hung between us in the quiet office, and | felt heat rising in my cheeks as memories of what had

followed his rescue flooded

back in vivid detail.

| started to turn away, to escape back to the safety of my desk and the pretense that nothing had changed

between us.

That's when his hand shot out and wrapped around my wrist, his fingers warm and strong against my skin.