Mated to My Fiancé’s Alpha King Brother

20 Chapter 20

Seraphina’s POV 1

I 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,” I groaned softly, pressing the heels of my palms against my temples.

When I tried to sit up, the world tilted dangerously to the left, and I 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 sometime during the night instead of the ruined emerald dress, I was wearing my softest cotton pajamas.

“Mommy!” Adrian’s voice made me wince, but his little arms wrapping around my neck. “You’re awake! I 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,” I managed to croak, pulling Adrian closer and breathing in his familiar scent of strawberry shampoo and something purely him. “I’m so sorry I was late last night. Mommy had some unexpected, 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 I brushed my teeth all by myself.”

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

Adrian’s expression grew thoughtful, and he glanced toward Ophelia before looking back at me. “A strange man brought you home last night. He was really, really tall, like a giant! But don’t worry, Mommy, I protected you. I stood right between you and him so he couldn’t

hurt you.”

Memories of the previous evening came flooding 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 I remembered the intensity of our encounter in his car.

strange man didn’t hurt me, baby,” I assured Adrian, though my voice came out

get home safely.”

giggled, the sound chasing away some of the tension in my chest. “Can I have pancakes

chocolate chips?”

course, sweetheart. Why don’t you go get dressed for school while

disappeared down the hallway, Ophelia

onto the edge of my bed with the determined expression of someone

the beginning. Who

09.20

113

“Ophelia,

disappeared for an entire evening, came home unconscious 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, I was terrified. When you didn’t answer your phone,

worry in her voice made guilt twist in

the apology. Just tell me what

did. Haltingly, with frequent pauses to hide my burning cheeks behind my hands, I told

Ophelia was staring at me with

you slept with your boss. Your Alpha boss. On your second day of work.”

drifted from the kitchen. “Mommy! I’m

“I need to get him to school and

else.”

climbed out of bed on

hour later, I stood outside Nightshadow Industries trying to gather the courage

mass of nerves as I rode the elevator to the executive floor. Would people

off the elevator, something unexpected happened. Instead of the

I was met with…

as usual. People nodded politely as they passed, offered their standard morning

professional focus

reached my desk, I 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

made my throat tight

computer screen, reviewing emails and preparing for the day ahead. But every few minutes, my eyes would drift toward Damien’s office

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

its usual professional tone. “I’ll