Mated to My Fiancé’s Alpha King Brother

36 Chapter 36

36 Chapter 36

Damien’s POV 1

The taxi ride to Sera’s apartment felt like the longest twenty minutes of my life. Adrian had finally stopped crying, but he remained pressed against my side like a small, warm anchor, his tiny hand clutching my shirt.

“Mr. Damien?” he said quietly as we pulled up to the modest brick building. “Is Mommy going to be okay?”

“She’s going to be fine,” I assured him, though my chest tightened with worry I couldn’t quite suppress. “Your mommy is very strong.”

Ophelia answered the door before I could even knock, her dark hair disheveled and her eyes red-rimmed with exhaustion and stress.

She looked like she’d been running on pure adrenaline for hours.

“Thank God you found him,” she breathed, immediately reaching for Adrian and pulling him into a fierce hug. “I was so scared, little man.

Are you hurt? Are you okay?”

“I’m okay, Aunt Ophelia,” Adrian mumbled against her shoulder, his voice muffled but steady. “Mr. Damien found me in the forest and

brought me home.”

Ophelia’s eyes met mine over Adrian’s head, gratitude and something deeper shining in their depths. “I can’t even begin to thank you,”

she said, her voice thick with emotion. “When I realized he was missing…”

“Where’s Sera?” I asked, scanning the small apartment for any sign of my mate.

Ophelia’s expression darkened. “Unconscious in her bedroom. I found her at the school-she’d been beaten pretty badly.”She’s running a

fever, probably from shock and exhaustion. I was just about to run to the pharmacy for antibiotics and pain medication.”

My wolf snarled at the thought of someone hurting Sera, but I forced myself to remain calm for Adrian’s sake. “Go,” I said, gently

touching Ophelia’s shoulder. “I’ll stay here with them until you get back.”

found myself alone in the tiny apartment with a four-year-old

the edge of the couch, swinging his little legs and stealing glances at me like

of having a stranger in his

absolutely no idea how to

cautious hope. “Could we have mac and cheese? That’s my

hard could mac and cheese

Sera’s tiny kitchen surrounded by what could only be described

burn water-while simultaneously overcooking the pasta until it resembled mushy

had the

Damien?” Adrian’s voice drifted from the doorway, where he’d been watching my attempts at domestic competence with the fascinated horror of someone witnessing a

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36 Chapter 36

saucepan where I’d attempted to create what the box had optimistically labeled “creamy

I said, waving a dish towel frantically at the smoke detector that was now beeping with the

plan.”

burners, opened every window in the small kitchen,

do you say

heard from him all evening.

not,” I admitted, running a hand through my hair and leaving it more disheveled than before. “I’m better at ordering

am at

we waited for the pizza to arrive, Adrian showed me his room

with a dinosaur comforter that had clearly seen

in careful block letters, along with what

crayon. 1

drawing that featured two stick figures

under the sun. I

have such a

matter-of-factly, settling onto his bed and

to death. “Mommy says maybe someday we’ll find him, but I think he might

would you think

if he wanted