Mated to My Fiancé’s Alpha King Brother

Chapter 181

Damien’s POV 1

The drive home was silent except for Lily’s soft sniffling in the backseat.

I gripped the steering wheel tight enough to make my knuckles ache. My jaw was clenched so hard I thought my teeth might crack.

*She was here.*

Maybe.

Probably not.

And if she was–if Sera was really here, in this city, close enough for Lily to see her–then what?

What did that mean?

That she’d been here all along? That she’d watched us from a distance but never bothered to make contact? That she’d moved on with

her life while we fell apart without her?

The anger hit me like a freight train. Hot and ugly and completely unwelcome.

Three years.

Three fucking years of searching. Of lying awake wondering if she was safe. Of telling my children bedtime stories about their mother so

they wouldn’t forget her face.

And she’d just… what? Been living her life somewhere? Happy? Content?

While I raised our children alone?

“Daddy?” Lily’s small voice cut through my thoughts. “Are you mad at me?”

The question was like ice water down my spine.

I pulled into our driveway and killed the engine, turning to look at her in the backseat. Her face was streaked with tears. Her pigtails

were a disaster. Those mismatched shoes broke my heart.

“No, baby. I forced my voice to gentle. “I’m not mad at you. Not even a little bit.”

“But you look scary: Her bottom lip trembled. “Like you want to hit something”

She wasn’t wrong, I did want to hit something. Preferably whatever circumstances had kept Sera away for three years.

“I’m just tired,” I lied. “Come on. Let’s get you inside”

The house was chaos within minutes.

“Adrian!” I called up the stairs. “Come help me with dinner!”

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His voice drifted down from his room. “I’m at a really

“Now, please.”

eight–year–old appeared at the top of the

sliding

we having?” he

throw together in twenty minutes.” I headed toward the kitchen. “You’re on salad

followed, dragging his feet. “Why

had pizza

“Pizza is nutritious!”

is not a

appeared in the kitchen doorway, still

set the table,” I told her.

nodded seriously and ran off to grab the dishes. I heard a crash.

Deep breath.

okay!” Lily’s voice rang out. “It was just a cup! A

snorted with laughter.

nice to

am being nice. If I wasn’t being nice, I’d tell her she’s been crying about that

froze on the refrigerator

drawer. “Lily won’t shut up

impossible because Mom left three years ago

“Adrian-”

fine, Dad” He started washing lettuce with mechanical efficiency. “I’m over it.

anyway?

“That’s not true”

up at me, and the anger in his eyes was devastating “She didn’t even

my mouth. Closed it. What was I supposed to say

Adrian

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that choice was to

finally. “We’ll talk about this

about.” Adrian grabbed the salad bowl and

in the kitchen, surrounded by half–prepared food, and

The anger.

ago, I would have defended Sera to anyone. Would

But now?

Made our pack safe. Built a

hadn’t come back. Hadn’t even tried to

really

made something dark and bitter twist

Dinner was tense.

occasionally sniffling. Adrian ate in aggressive silence. I pretended everything

school today?”

Adrian shrugged. “Fine.”

“Learn anything interesting?”

“Not really

Lily announced suddenly. “She was

some random lady who looked vaguely like the pictures Dad has

Defensive. “She had forest eyes and night hair

a million