Mated to My Fiancé’s Alpha King Brother

12 Chapter 12

Seraphina’s POV 1

The moment I heard that sickeningly sweet voice calling out “Brother!” my blood turned to ice in my veins. Even before she rounded the corner, I knew exactly who it was. That voice had haunted my nightmares for five years-the voice that had laughed as my world crumbled, that had mocked my pain with casual cruelty.

Valerie.

My hands instinctively clenched into fists at my sides as she swept into the office like she owned the place, her bleached blonde hair bouncing with each calculated step. I quickly turned my back to her, praying desperately that she wouldn’t recognize me. Five years had changed me-l was no longer the broken, naive omega who’d fled Whispering Valley in shame. But some things about a person never changed, and I couldn’t risk her seeing my face.

“Brother! I heard from my husband Gabriel that you’re hosting some fancy dinner party tonight, and you didn’t even think to invite us?” *Gabriel.* The name hit me like a physical blow, confirming what I’d already suspected but desperately hoped wasn’t true. So Gabriel hadn’t been lying after all—he really was part of the Nightshadow family. Which meant Damien… my mate… was Gabriel’s brother.

Both.

The cosmic joke of it all made me want to laugh hysterically. Or scream. Or both.

“How could you possibly-” Valerie’s voice cut off abruptly, and I could feel her predatory gaze focusing on me like a laser. “Oh, well well. What do we have here?”

Every muscle in my body tensed as she began circling me like a shark scenting blood in the water. I kept my face turned away, my heart hammering so hard I was sure everyone in the room could hear it.

“Let me guess,” she continued in that same mocking tone I remembered so well, deliberately bumping her shoulder into mine as she passed. “Another desperate little assistant trying to claw her way up the corporate ladder by batting her eyelashes at the big bad Alpha? How long do you think this one will last before she runs away crying? A week? Two days?”

The familiar cruelty in her voice made my wolf snarl with rage in my mind. Ayla was practically clawing at my consciousness, demanding I turn around and show this bitch exactly what five years of independence had taught me. But I forced myself to remain still, to keep breathing, to not give her the satisfaction of a reaction.

*Just like before,* I thought bitterly. *Still the same entitled princess who thinks she can destroy people for sport.*

“You know, Gabriel has been telling you for months that I’d make a perfect assistant,” Valerie continued, her voice dripping with false sweetness as she tried to cozy up to Damien. “I’m family, after all, and I certainly wouldn’t spend my first day crawling around on the floor in inappropriate dresses, flashing my underwear at anyone who walks by.”

That did it. My hands clenched so tightly my nails bit into my palms, and I could feel heat rising in my cheeks-not from embarrassment this time, but from pure, unadulterated fury. How dare she? How dare she waltz in here and try to humiliate me the same way she had five

years ago?

just gathering the courage to turn around and face her-consequences be damned-when Damien’s voice exploded

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office like thunder.

such raw Alpha power that I actually staggered, my wolf immediately submitting

in his tone. “GET OUT OF MY OFFICE NOW,

command was so intense that Lucas visibly flinched, and I could hear other

Valerie, for all her entitled

Damien-” she started to protest, her voice suddenly much

windows rattle, and the sheer fury radiating from him was

indignation, and finally wounded pride

remembered all too well. “But don’t come crying to me when

as

making sure to swing her hips dramatically, and threw Damien one last sultry

hallway. The

I should probably go

He shot me an apologetic look. “Rain check on that dinner,

too shaken to form coherent words. After Lucas left,

found myself

settling into his leather

in his expression now-a knowing intensity that made my skin prickle with

was casual, almost conversational, but there was an undercurrent of something dangerous beneath the

I

Ayla practically spit fire

that familiar alpha superiority right back into his tone. That subtle little inflection that said *omega* like it was

arms and tilted my head, giving him my sweetest smile. “Yes, absolutely fascinating. Though I have to say, I’m still weighing my options on whether to accept you.

look of pure shock that crossed his face was absolutely delicious. Clearly, Mr. High-and-Mighty Alpha