Mated to My Fiancé’s Alpha King Brother

49 Chapter 49

49 Chapter 49

Damien’s POV 1

The words hung in the air between us like a confession that had been locked away for decades. Sera’s emerald eyes widened with shock

and something deeper.

“Your parents too?” she whispered, her free hand reaching up to touch my face with exquisite tenderness. “Damien, I’m so sorry.”

I leaned into her touch, allowing myself this moment of vulnerability that I’d never shared with another soul. Not even Lucas knew the

full truth of what had happened that night.

“I was eighteen,” I began, my voice rougher than intended as memories I’d buried deep began clawing their way to the surface. “Old

enough to think I understood pack politics.”

Sera shifted carefully in the medical bed, making room for me to sit beside her. The mattress dipped under my weight as I settled against

the headboard, grateful for the solid warmth of her presence as I prepared to excavate wounds I’d spent years learning to ignore.

“My parents had what everyone called a perfect marriage,” I continued, staring at the sterile white wall across from us rather than

meeting her eyes. “Beautiful, powerful, completely devoted to each other and to our pack’s prosperity.”

The irony of those words tasted bitter now, colored by everything I’d learned in the bloody aftermath.

“What happened?” Sera asked gently, her hand never leaving my face.

affair with his assistant,” I said, the words feeling like broken glass in my throat even after all these years.

mother. It started when I was thirteen, though I didn’t learn about it until

against my cheek, offering

brutal. My father wanted to keep me as the future Alpha heir, while my mother wanted me to come with her to her family’s territory.” I closed my eyes,

loyalty and love.”

were just a child,” Sera said softly.

mother was coming for one of her scheduled visits-the court had given her every other weekend and Wednesday evenings. But

harsher as the memories became clearer, more vivid. “Instead of going home after school, I went to a friend’s house. I stayed for dinner, then convinced them to let me spend the night. I was being petulant,

mother’s visit meaningless.”

mine, squeezing tightly

came home the next morning, I found them.” The words came out flat, emotionless, because

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49 Chapter 49

falling apart. “Both of them, in my father’s study. My mother had been… she’d been

his desk, his

Sera breathed, tears beginning to spill down her

Specific files were missing from my

contained sensitive pack information.”

abruptly, needing to move as the restless energy of old rage began building in my chest. “Gabriel’s mother had vanished completely. No trace of her anywhere, like she’d never existed. The timing

think she

turned back to face Sera, seeing understanding dawn in her eyes. “Someone who knew my

who had access to pack secrets that could be sold to

“And Gabriel?”

thought about my worthless half-brother. “Gabriel was twelve years old when it happened. Too young to

the familiar weight of suspicion I’d carried for years. “I’ve never been able to trust him