Mated to My Fiancé’s Alpha King Brother

113 Chapter 113

Damien’s POV 1

The world tilted.

Those eyes. Even swollen shut, even surrounded by bruises and cuts that made my stomach lurch, I knew

those eyes. The elegant arch of her brows. The small scar on her left temple from when she’d fallen off her bike as a child.

*Sera.*

My hands went slack around her throat. She dropped back to the ground with a soft thud that seemed to echo like thunder in the sudden silence.

“No.” The word came out strangled. Broken. “No, no, no. This isn’t-this can’t be-”

I fell to my knees beside her, my hands hovering over her battered face. Afraid to touch. Afraid that if I did, she’d disappear like some cruel hallucination my desperate mind had conjured.

But she was real. The soft whisper of her breath. The familiar curve of her lips, split and swollen but still *hers*. The way her hair curled at the ends, even matted with blood and filth.

“Sera?” I whispered, my voice cracking like I was fourteen again. “Baby, is that you?”

Her only response was another barely audible murmur. “Adrian… where’s Adrian…”

The sound of her voice-hoarse, broken, but definitely *hers*-hit me like a physical blow. My chest seized. My lungs forgot how to work.

Lucas appeared at my shoulder, his face pale with shock. “Alpha, that’s not… that can’t be…”

“It’s her.” The words came out flat. Final.

I reached out with trembling hands to touch her face. Her skin was ice cold, waxy with fever. Dark circles shadowed her closed eyes. Her lips were cracked and bleeding.

How had I not known? How had I looked at her-at *Sera*-and seen nothing but a rogue?

Because she didn’t smell like herself. The realization hit me like a sledgehammer. Where her scent should

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have been-that unique blend of jasmine and rain that was pure Sera-there was nothing. Just the harsh

chemical burn of wolfsbane and the lingering stench of death.

“What did they do to you?” I breathed, my fingers tracing the air above a particularly nasty cut on her cheek.

“Oh god, baby, what did they do?”

More importantly-why couldn’t I sense Ayla? Every wolf had a distinct presence, a spiritual fingerprint that

them as clearly as any physical scent. But when I

for Sera’s wolf…

Nothing.

where Ayla should

seems like the wolfsbane,” Lucas said quietly, following my train of thought. “They poisoned

we couldn’t

my vision. Pure, incandescent rage that made my bones ache with the need to shift.

to my mate

to a register that made every

every last piece of shit who laid a finger on her, and bring me

“Yes, Alpha.”

revenge could wait. Right now, she needed medical attention.

instead of standing here drowning in

slid my arms beneath her, lifting her against my chest as gently as I could manage. She was so light. Too light. Nothing

exposing

furrowing

her matted hair. “He’s home. He’s waiting for

every day. Crying himself to sleep because she wasn’t there to read him bedtime stories. How was I going to explain this to him? How was

son and tell

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of thinking before it could take root. She was alive. Breathing. Whatever

We had to.

I barked

man jumped like I’d hit him with a cattle prod, sprinting toward

I carried Sera toward the road, his expression

“The hospital?” he asked.

jaw tight. “She needs

knows how to

a halt beside us, engine still running. I climbed into the back seat, settling

Her breathing was shallow, irregular. Her skin felt like parchment

hands.

the soldier behind the wheel. “Fast as you can without killing

the phone. “We’ve got an emergency. Alpha’s

wolf suppression. ETA ten

her response, but Lucas nodded grimly. “Understood.

stirred in my arms, her eyelids fluttering. For a moment, hope flared in my chest.

Maybe-

her voice barely audible over the engine noise. “Please

Reliving whatever hell they’d put

her forehead. “You’re safe now. No one’s going to

promise.”

was I? What kind

white walls gleaming in the afternoon sun. Dr.

with a gurney and two nurses,