Mated to My Fiancé’s Alpha King Brother

27 Chapter 27

Seraphina’s POV 1

For five years, my adoptive parents had vanished from my life completely-no calls, no letters. It was as if I’d never existed in their world,

which was exactly what they’d wanted when they threw me out.

The phone kept ringing. I let it go to voicemail, but immediately another call came in from a different number. Then another. My phone

buzzed with a text message, then another, the notifications piling up faster than I could dismiss them. 1

*Answer the phone, you little bitch.*

*I know where you work.*

*Nightshadow Industries. Don’t make me come there.*

My blood turned to ice. She was using different phones, probably borrowed from neighbors or friends, making sure I couldn’t just block

her number. And now she was threatening to show up at my workplace. I couldn’t let Elizabeth Knight storm into Nightshadow

Industries and cause a scene.

The phone rang again. This time, I answered.

“Hello, Elizabeth.”

“Don’t you ‘hello Elizabeth’ me, you ungrateful little bitch!” Her voice exploded through the speaker with such venom that I had to hold

the phone away from my ear. “Where the hell have you been for five years? Do you have any idea what you put us through? Disappearing

like some common criminal, embarrassing our family name!”

The familiar torrent of abuse washed over me like acid rain. Same Elizabeth, same vicious tongue, same complete inability to take

responsibility for her own cruelty.

“I’ve been building a life for myself and my son,” I said quietly, proud of how steady my voice sounded despite the way my hands were

trembling. “What do you want, Elizabeth? We haven’t spoken in five years. I assumed that meant you were done pretending to care about

my existence.”

But a harsh laugh that sounded like breaking glass. “Trust me, if I had a choice, I wouldn’t be calling you at all. But you need to come

home. This weekend. There are… arrangements to be made.”

“Arrangements?” I repeated, my voice rising slightly. “Elizabeth, I’m not coming back to Whispering Valley. Ever. I have a life here, a job,

responsibilities-”

her voice reaching that familiar pitch

my childhood

did for you, after taking in an unwanted omega

Owe us!”

firmly, surprising myself with the steel in my voice. “You made it very

chose Valerie. You got exactly what you wanted-me gone, out of your life forever.

00

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someone

changed, dropping to something low and dangerous that made my wolf pace

Nightshadow Industries, Elizabeth continued, her tone taking on a calculated quality that made my skin crawl. “I know about your little apartment in the Riverside district. Most

breath caught in my throat. “What did you just

Such a sweet little boy,

were

slipped from my suddenly nerveless fingers, clattering onto my desk with a sound that seemed

couldn’t do anything except stare at the device as Elizabeth’s

threats in that same calm,

shaking so badly I could barely keep

go anywhere near my son-” I started, but Elizabeth cut me off with a laugh that chilled

you’re forgetting exactly who you’re dealing with here.”

ten times more terrifying. “I’m the respected wife of

they’ll believe

it was being crushed in a

Friday evening.” Elizabeth’s voice was brisk now, businesslike, as if we were discussing dinner plans rather

child. “And Seraphina? If you even think about running, if you consider taking that

just say I have friends in many places.

phone in complete silence. The office around me felt surreal, like I was looking

The familiar sounds of the building-air conditioning, distant conversations,

and far

Knight better than that. She’d raised me, after all, taught me exactly how far she was willing to go to get

pregnant eighteen-year-old

capable of far worse things.

week in a state of barely controlled anxiety, jumping every time my phone rang, checking on Adrian

barely sleeping.

both endless and far too short. Every mile that passed on the

gravel driveway of the Knight house, my hands were shaking and my

house looked exactly the same-small, neat, perfectly maintained on the

I’d expected, Elizabeth was waiting on the front porch, her arms open in what appeared to be a welcoming

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makeup applied

voice warm and bright. “Oh, darling, look

what felt like a genuine hug, her arms wrapping