Mated to My Fiancé’s Alpha King Brother

17 Chapter 17

Damien’s POV 1

The moment Valerie’s venomous words left her lips, I felt like my brain was being consumed by a toxic mixture of jealousy and rage. The scent of fear and tension radiating from my mate hit me like a physical blow, making Alex snarl with protective fury in my mind.

Valerie had always been a repulsive creature. Ever since her wedding to my half-brother Gabriel-a pathetic excuse for a wolf who was nothing more than my father’s bastard son-she’d pursued me relentlessly. Gabriel himself was utterly worthless, a man I barely acknowledged beyond providing him with enough money to stay out of my way and out of trouble.

But Valerie’s appearance today, first insulting my mate in my own office and now this public humiliation, ignited something murderous in my chest. Her words were like poison injected directly into my bloodstream. Sera-my mate-had been with that useless waste of

space Gabriel? The brilliant, beautiful child she’d spoken of with such fierce love… was he Gabriel’s?

I watched security drag Valerie away, her shrieks echoing through the restaurant like the cries of a banshee.

Standing there with every eye in the restaurant fixed on us, I stared into Sera’s face-those magnificent emerald eyes now blazing with hurt and fury-and waited for her to deny it. All she had to do was say no, and I would have believed her without question. I would have

torn Valerie apart for even suggesting such filth.

Instead, Sera’s face went through a series of expressions-shock, pain, and finally, a rage so pure it made my wolf whimper with regret.

When she turned her back on me and walked away with her head held high, every instinct I possessed screamed at me to follow her, to

beg her forgiveness.

“You’re an idiot,” Lucas said quietly, appearing at my shoulder as the crowd began to disperse with obvious disappointment at the end of

the show. “A complete and total idiot.”

“I didn’t ask for your opinion,” I growled, my eyes still fixed on the spot where Sera had disappeared.

“Well, you’re getting it anyway.” Lucas’s voice carried the particular tone he used when he was about to deliver harsh truths I didn’t want

to hear. “That woman just organized a flawless dinner party in under twenty-four hours, handled your impossible demands without

breaking, stood up to your sister-in-law’s public humiliation with more grace than most alphas could manage, and you repaid her loyalty

by immediately believing the worst.”

Each word hit like a physical blow, and I knew he was right. The moment Valerie had started spewing her poison, I should have shut her

down completely. Instead, I’d let jealousy and possessiveness cloud my judgment.

The other dinner guests were beginning to disperse. I could already imagine how this story would spread through the werewolf social

networks.

“I need to go after her,” I said, finally breaking free of whatever paralysis had gripped me.

“About damn time,” Lucas muttered, but there was relief in his voice.

through the restaurant’s revolving doors into the cool night air, my eyes scanning the street

but discernible-vanilla and jasmine tinged with

114

district. I followed the trail on foot for several blocks, my wolf growing increasingly

reached my car, I was

when I caught a glimpse of emerald fabric getting into

ice. Even from this distance, I could see that it wasn’t a taxi. I gunned the engine, weaving through traffic with reckless abandon as I tried to keep the sedan in sight. My

followed the car through increasingly

urged, his mental voice tight with panic. “Something’s wrong. Can’t you smell

modest house on a quiet side street. Through my windshield, I watched the

the passenger side. Even from a distance, I could see that Sera’s

from his grip, the motion

The bastard had drugged my

pure and intense that my vision

and tear this pathetic excuse for a wolf into pieces

her stumble and nearly fall, watched

was

house, I was out of my car and shifting before

human consciousness merged with Alex’s primal fury until we were

single, burning purpose.

*Protect. Mate.*

to wolf form took less than ten seconds, but it felt like an eternity

form hit the ground running, powerful legs eating up the

in great

glimpse of movement-Sera slumped on a couch, the bastard’s hands

corner. The sight sent such a surge of murderous rage through me that I actually saw

and howled—a sound that carried every ounce of

well have been paper. I hit it at full speed with my shoulder, and

twisted metal. The frame cracked, the hinges tore free from the wall, and

room to crash into the

a wolf-Michael, spun around with terror written across his face. Up close, I

dress had been partially torn, her hair disheveled, her beautiful emerald eyes glazed with whatever drug he’d used

incapacitate her.

That was all

his hands raised in a gesture of surrender that would have been laughable if

09.19

2/4

the shoulder, my silver coat rippling with muscle and my eyes burning with supernatural fire. My lips pulled

designed for

wall as if he could somehow disappear into it. “I didn’t know she was your

swear I didn’t know!”

my expensive suit somehow