Mated to My Fiancé’s Alpha King Brother

Damien’s POV

The quarterly reports blurred together on my computer screen. Numbers that should have meant something, Profit margins. Projected

growth. Territory expansion.

None of it fucking mattered.

I rubbed my eyes, the ache behind them pulsing in time with my heartbeat. Three months. Three months since Sera had walked out that

door, and I still couldn’t concentrate for more than five minutes without my mind drifting to her.

*Where is she? Is she safe? Is she eating enough?*

I slammed the laptop shut harder than necessary. The sound echoed through my empty office like a gunshot.

“Alpha?”

I looked up to find Lucas standing in my doorway, concern etched across his face. When had he knocked? How long had he been

standing there?

“What?” The word came out sharper than I intended.

“Board meeting in ten minutes.” Lucas stepped inside, closing the door behind him. “You forgot, didn’t you?”

Had I? I glanced at my calendar. Tuesday, 2 PM. Quarterly review with the pack’s business council.

“I didn’t forget,” I lied.

Lucas’s expression said he knew better, but he was kind enough not to call me on it. Instead, he settled into the chair across from my

desk with that easy confidence that used to irritate me. Now it was just… familiar. Comforting, even.

“You look like shit,” he said bluntly.

“Thanks for the pep talk.”

He leaned forward, his elbows on his

jaw clenched.

scream when you

blow. My son. My five–year–old son was listening to his father break down in the middle

it,” I said, but even

where I’m standing, you’re barely functioning. You’re running the pack on

us like

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172 Chapter 172

not falling apart,” I said

you call this?” Lucas gestured at me, at my office, at everything, “You come in before dawn. You leave after midnight. You barely eat. You don’t shift anymore. When’s the last time you let

couldn’t remember. Weeks? Maybe

needs me

pack needs their Alpha to not

my best,” I

held my gaze for a long moment. Then he shook his head slowly, disappointment radiating from every line

find me when you’re ready to stop being an

door closed with a soft

slam.

the closed door, feeling something crack deeper inside my

a blur of voices and presentations I didn’t care about. I nodded at the right times.

and rejected

while feeling like

ignoring Emma’s surprised expression

light another moment to think about Sera.

about traffic or

made my

as always. Grand. Beautiful.

pasta that Adrian picked at and Lily smeared across her high chair–I put both kids to bed. Stories for Adrian. A bottle for Lily. The usual routine that felt anything

staring out at the moon rising over the trees. Full and bright

closing my eyes. Somewhere out

Probably sleeping better than I had