Mated to My Fiancé’s Alpha King Brother

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95 Chapter 95

Seraphina’s POV 1

Damien stepped onto the bedroom balcony to take Lucas’s call, his voice dropping to the low, serious tone he

used for pack business. Through the open French doors, | could hear fragments of their conversation-words

like “complete silence” and “too quiet”.

Adrian had curled up besideon the bed, his small body warm against my side as he continued his one-

sided conversation with my belly. His innocent chatter about teaching the baby to play soccer and showing

them his favorite books created a peaceful backdrop that felt almost surreal given the tension I could sense

radiating from Damien.

“And when you're born,” Adrian was saying seriously to my stomach, “I'm gonna make sure nobody is ever

mean to you. Not ever. Because that’s what big brothers do.”

My heart clenched at his words, remembering all too clearly what it felt like to grow up without that kind of

protection. “You're going to be an amazing big brother, sweetheart.”

“Mommy?” Adrian looked up atwith those perceptive silver-blue eyes. “Why does Daddy look worried

when he talks on the phone? Is something bad happening?”

| smoothed his dark curls, marveling at how quickly children picked up on adult emotions. “Daddy has to

make sure everyone in our pack is safe. Sometimes that means he has to think about complicated things.”

“Like keeping the bad wolves away?”

The simplicity of his question madepause. How much did a four-year-old need to know about the dangers

that constantly threatened our world? “Something like that, yes.”

Damien's conversation seemed to be winding down, his responses becoming shorter and more clipped. When

he finally ended the call and rejoined us in the bedroom, his expression was carefully neutral in the way that

meant he was trying not to worry me.

“Everything okay?” | asked, though I could already sense through our mate bond that whatever Lucas had told

him wasn’t good news.

Damien sat on the edge of the bed, his hand automatically reaching out to rest on my ankle through the soft

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blanket. “The border situation is... strange.”

“Strange how?”

He glanced at Adrian, who was still lying against my side but was now listening with the focused attention

that meant he was filing away every word for later analysis.

“Adrian, buddy,” Damien said gently, “why don’t you go see if you can find that new coloring book Aunt

Ophelia brought you? The one with the dinosaurs?”

“But | want to hear about the bad wolves,” Adrian protested, his lower lip pushing out in the beginnings of a

pout.

“This is grown-up talk,” | said, pressing a kiss to the top of his head. “And besides, didn’t you want to color a

T-Rex for the baby? You could put it on the refrigerator so they'll see it when they're big enough.”

Adrian’s face lit up at this suggestion. “Oh! That's a really good idea! Maybe | should color lots of pictures so

the baby has decorations everywhere!” He scrambled off the bed with renewed purpose. “I'm gonna make this

house the most colorful house ever!”

We waited until his footsteps disappeared down the hall before Damien spoke again, his voice dropping to

the quiet tone reserved for sensitive pack business.

“Eighteen days,” he said without preamble. “Eighteen days since the last confirmed rogue sighting anywhere

along our borders.”

| frowned, shifting to sit up straighter against the pillows. “That should be good news, shouldn't it? Maybe

our trap worked better than we thought.”

“That's what | hoped initially,” Damien said, running his hand through his hair in the gesture I'd learned meant

he was working through a complex problem. “But rogues don’t just disappear, Sera. They regroup, they find

new territory, they cback stronger. This kind of complete silence... it's not natural.”

“What does Lucas think?”

“That we're looking at the calm before the storm.” Damien's silver-blue eyes met mine, and | could see the

worry he was trying to hide. “The captured rogues we interrogated before they... died... they mentioned

someone organizing them. A Luna figure with plans,”

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The memory of that horrible interrogation room madeshudder. “You think she’s planning something

bigger.”

“I think she’s regrouping after we demolished her previous strategy. The question is what she’s planning

next.” He paused, his thumb tracing circles on my ankle. “There are civilian populations near the border

zones. Small towns, farming communities, places that would be vulnerable if the rogues decided to change

tactics.”

| could see where this was heading, and my stomach clenched with something that had nothing to do with

morning sickness. “You're going out there.”

“I need to assess the situation personally. Maybe coordinate evacuations for the most vulnerable

communities, at least temporarily.” His voice carried the weight of command authority, but underneath |

could hear the reluctance. “I don’t like leaving you, especially not now, but-"

“Then I'm coming with you.”

The words were out of my mouth before I'd consciously decided to say them, driven by an instinct | didn’t

fully understand. The idea of Damien heading into potentially dangerous territory while | stayed safely at

hmade every alpha instinct | possessed scream in protest.

“Absolutely not.” Damien’s response was immediate and definitive, his alpha dominance flaring briefly before

he controlled it. “Sera, you're pregnant. You can barely keep breakfast down, and you want to go into a

potential combat zone?”

| bristled at his tone, my own newly awakened alpha nature rising to meet his challenge. “I'm pregnant, not

helpless. And if there's an ambush waiting, don’t you think having someone with healing abilities might be

useful?”

“What | think,” Damien said, his voice growing dangerously quiet, “is that I'm not risking both you and our

unborn child on a reconnaissance mission. Sera, | can’t focus on the mission if I'm worried about protecting

you.”

The admission hitharder than any command could have. | could see the conflict in his silver-blue eyes.

“How long?” | asked quietly, accepting that | wasn’t going to win this argument.

“Two days, maybe three at most. Lucas will stay here to coordinate communications, and I'll have full backup

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teams.” Damien lifted my hand to his lips, pressing a soft kiss to my knuckles. “I promise I'm not taking any

unnecessary risks.”