Mated to My Fiancé’s Alpha King Brother

19 24 Chapter 24

Damien’s POV 1

The woman standing before me reeked of cheap perfume and desperation, a cloying mixture that made my wolf recoil instinctively. She clutched my golden pendant like a lifeline, her artificially enhanced breasts practically spilling out of a dress so tight it looked painted on. Everything about her screamed fake-from her bleached blonde hair to her surgically plumped lips to the calculating gleam in her

eyes.

“Anna Blackwood,” she’d introduced herself with a sultry smile that felt as genuine as her hair color. “I’ve been looking for you, Alpha Nightshadow. I have something that belongs to you.”

The pendant was real-I’d examined it thoroughly, traced the familiar engravings with my fingertip, confirmed that the craftsmanship matched the half I kept in my desk drawer. But everything else about this woman was wrong. Completely, utterly wrong.

“I remember the woman I’m looking for having dark hair,” I said carefully, my voice neutral despite the frustration clawing at my chest. “And her… figure… wasn’t quite so…” I gestured vaguely at her enhanced proportions.

Anna’s laugh was like breaking glass, high-pitched and grating. “Oh, that! I went blonde especially for you, darling. And I got these done too,” she pushed her chest forward shamelessly, “because I thought you might appreciate the upgrade. Men always do, don’t they?”

She pressed closer to me, her manicured nails trailing down my arm with predatory intent. The contact made my skin crawl, every instinct I possessed screaming that this woman was wrong, wrong, wrong. But the pendant… how did she have the pendant? 2

“Tell me about that night,” I said, stepping back to put distance between us. “Five years ago. The Lunar Assembly celebration. What do you remember?”

Her eyes darted away for just a fraction of a second before meeting mine again. “Oh, it was magical,” she sighed dramatically. “You swept me off my feet, literally. We danced all night, and then you took me to your suite…” She trailed off with what was probably meant to be a

seductive smile.

My phone buzzed in my pocket-Lucas, finally returning my increasingly frantic calls about the search. I’d been contacting him every

hour for days, driving him to the edge of his patience with my desperate need for answers.

“Excuse me,” I told Anna, stepping away to take the call. The distance couldn’t come fast enough; her cloying perfume was making my head pound.

“Damien here.”

“Finally!” Lucas’s voice carried through the receiver, tinged with exhaustion and frustration. “I’ve been calling you back for the past hour.

her-or rather, she found

grip tightened on the phone.

matches the description from the pawn shops. She tried to

the past month. Same woman, same pendant. The shop owners all gave

“But here’s the thing-she never went through

со

1/3

then left.”

in my stomach. “And

started circulating through the community. Word about the

at three different shops

fraud,” I said

think so, actually. The timeline matches up perfectly. The pendant is definitely

against your half. And she knew details about the Assembly that weren’t publicized. She’s

what you were expecting.”

stared across the lobby at Anna, who was now using her phone’s camera as a

checked her makeup.

Damien, we’ve exhausted every

not the woman from that night, then that woman doesn’t

breathed, the word barely

know this isn’t

tight I thought my teeth might

make the

hung up without another word, shoving the phone back into my pocket with enough force that

this was wrong. But the evidence was undeniable, and my word was my bond.

approached, her face

recoil in disgust.

news, I hope?” she purred,

my wolf