Mated to My Fiancé’s Alpha King Brother

82 Chapter 82

82 Chapter 82

Damien’s POV 1

I returned to my vigil by Sera’s bedside, settling into the chair that had become my second home. Her hand

lay motionless on the white hospital blanket, and I reached out to cover it with mine, desperately searching

for some sign that she was still fighting to come back to me.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered into the silence, the words scraping my throat raw. “God, Sera, I’m so fucking sorry.

This is all my fault.”

The confession spilled out of me like poison from a wound. Every fear, every regret, every moment of self-

loathing I’d been carrying for the past week.

“I never gave you a chance to just be happy, did I?” I traced my thumb over her knuckles, memorizing the feel

of her skin. “From the moment you walked into my office, there was always some crisis, some danger, some

fucking emergency that put you at risk.”

My voice broke on the last word, and I had to stop talking before the emotion completely overwhelmed me.

But the silence was worse than my rambling confessions, so I forced myself to continue.

“You wanted to prove you were worthy of being Luna,” I said, laughing bitterly. “As if there was ever any

question. You’ve been more Luna than I deserved since the day you told me off over the phone.”

The memory of that first conversation brought a ghost of a smile to my face. Sera, righteously indignant and

completely unimpressed by my alpha authority, had been exactly what I’d needed even when I was too stupid.

to realize it.

“You should have told me to go to hell,” I continued, lifting her hand to press it against my cheek. “Should

have taken Adrian and run as far away from me as possible. You’d both be safer, Happier.”

A soft knock at the door interrupted my self-recrimination. I looked up to see Lucas entering with someone I

hadn’t expected-Ophelia, her usually bright demeanor subdued by worry, and a small figure I recognized as

Adrian.

My son looked impossibly young in the sterile hospital environment, his silver-blue eyes wide with confusion

the sight of his mother surrounded by

AC

YJA

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82 Chapter 82

Adrian’s voice was so small it barely qualified as

physical blow. How did you explain to a five-year-old that his mother might never wake up? That she’d sacrificed herself to save strangers while her own

with emotion. “The doctors

up.”

to her?” Adrian moved closer to the bed, his small hands

form. “Maybe if I tell her about my day at school, she’ll want

the edge of the hospital bed. She’d been crying, I realized. Probably more than I had, since I’d been too numb

properly process

to her, sweetheart,” Ophelia said softly, her voice

hear everything you say.”

settling himself next to Sera with the careful reverence

the situation even if he didn’t fully understand

they weren’t as good as yours. She forgot to make

watched my son’s small hands gently stroke Sera’s hair, the gesture so tender it nearly shattered what was left of

the unshakeable faith that his mother was listening to

voice dropped to an excited whisper. “Mrs.

I’m gonna tell them

person in

don’t you and Aunt Ophelia go get some dinner from the cafeteria? I’ll stay

Mommy”

I want to stay here,” Adrian protested, his small jaw setting with

and I’m not here?”

tasted

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82 Chapter 82

solemnly. “Okay. But tell her I love her

that I’m being good for Aunt

“I will, buddy.”

left, the room fell back into its familiar, oppressive silence.

gathering Sera’s limp

you hear him?” I whispered against her hair, breathing in

the world. And he’s right. You are. So why won’t you fight your way

to us?”

medical

constant, grinding fear that each breath might be her last

the sterile room with his

be

as I was beginning to accept that this liminal state might be