Mated to My Fiancé's Alpha King Brother Chapter 22

Damien’s POV

The past few days had been absolute torture. Every morning, I’d called Lucas before my coffee had finished brewing. Every lunch break, I’d summoned him to my office with increasingly desperate demands for updates. Every evening, I’d texted him the sa question: *Any news?*

The answer was always the sa infuriating response: *Still searching. These things take ti.*

anwhile, Sera worked at her desk just outside my office, completely oblivious to the storm raging inside . She’d settled into her role with impressive efficiency, anticipating my needs before I voiced them, managing my impossible schedule with grace that would have impressed even Claire. But every ti she leaned over to place docunts on my desk, every ti her vanilla and jasmine scent wafted toward , Alex would snarl with barely contained hunger.

*Claim her,* my wolf demanded for the hundredth ti that day. *She’s ours. Stop this foolish waiting.*

But I couldn’t. Not until I knew for certain. Not until I had proof that she was the woman who’d haunted my dreams for five years.

Today had been particularly brutal. Sera had worn a fitted black dress that hugged every curve, and when she’d bent to retrieve a dropped file, the sight of her perfect ass had nearly made lose all control. I’d spent the afternoon with my hands clenched into fists, fighting the urge to pull her into my office and finish what we should do.

By five o’clock, I was wound tighter than a spring ready to snap.

"Alpha," Lucas’s voice crackled through the intercom for what had to be the tenth ti that day.

"Tell you have sothing," I growled, not looking up from the quarterly reports I’d been staring at without actually reading for the past hour.

"I have twenty-three pawn shops still to check, forty-seven jewelry stores, and a list of online auction sites that would make your head spin." His voice carried the particular tone of soone whose patience was wearing thin. "For the love of the Moon Goddess, Damien, I’ll call you the mont I find anything. Asking every hour isn’t going to make it happen faster."

I hung up without responding and slamd my palm against the desk hard enough to make my coffee cup jump. The sharp sound echoed through my office, and I saw Sera’s head turn toward my door through the glass partition. Her erald eyes t mine for a brief mont, concern flickering across her features, before she quickly looked away.

This was insane. I was behaving like a love-struck teenager instead of a powerful Alpha who commanded respect from wolves across my territories. But the uncertainty was eating alive. Every night, I lay awake imagining what it would an if Sera truly was my mystery woman. Every morning, I convinced myself I was chasing shadows.

*You’re driving yourself crazy,* Alex observed with uncharacteristic gentleness. *And you’re making everyone around you miserable in the process.*

He wasn’t wrong. I’d snapped at three departnt heads this morning, reduced my secretary to near tears over a minor scheduling conflict, and growled at the building’s security guard for having the audacity to greet with his usual cheerful "Good morning, Alpha."

I stood abruptly, grabbing my suit jacket from the back of my chair. "I’m going out," I announced to the empty office, not caring that Sera couldn’t actually hear through the soundproof glass.

I strode past her desk without making eye contact, afraid that if I looked into those erald eyes for more than a second, I’d do sothing spectacularly unprofessional. Like pin her against the wall.

"Good night, Mr. Nightshadow," she called softly as I passed, her voice carrying that particular note of concern that made my chest tighten.

I paused at the elevator, my finger hovering over the call button, every instinct screaming at to turn around and go back to her. Instead, I stepped into the elevator and let the doors close between us.

Twenty minutes later, I was seated at the bar of *Moonlight & Shadows*, the upscale establishnt where Silver Moon Harbor’s supernatural elite went to drink expensive whiskey and pretend their lives weren’t infinitely more complicated than their human counterparts’. The bar was dimly lit, all mahogany and brass fixtures, with enough ambient noise to drown out the restless pacing of my thoughts.

"The usual, Alpha?" The bartender had been working here for years. He knew better than to make small talk when I was in this particular mood.

"Make it a double," I said, loosening my tie and trying to force my shoulders to relax.

The whiskey burned pleasantly down my throat, but it did nothing to ease the tension coiled in my chest. I was contemplating ordering a third drink when a commotion near the bar’s entrance caught my attention.

"Sir, I’m sorry, but you can’t just demand to see soone without an appointnt," the hostess was saying, her voice strained with the particular politeness of service workers dealing with difficult custors.

"You don’t understand!" The voice was female, shrill with desperation and just loud enough to carry over the ambient conversation. "I need to speak with Alpha Nightshadow! I have sothing that belongs to him!"

Every muscle in my body went rigid. I turned slowly on my barstool, following the sound of the voice to its source.

Standing near the entrance was a woman. Her blonde hair was brassy and over-processed. She wore a tight red dress that had probably been expensive once but now looked cheap under the bar’s harsh lighting.

But it was what she was holding that made my blood turn to ice.

Clutched in her perfectly manicured fingers was a golden wolf pendant, catching the light as she waved it frantically at the hostess.

"I’m his lover!" she was saying, her voice rising to a pitch that made several nearby patrons turn to stare. "This is his pendant! He gave it to five years ago! I have proof of our relationship!"