Mated to My Fiancé's Alpha King Brother Chapter 95

Seraphina’s POV

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, I could hear fragnts of their conversation—words like "complete silence" and "too quiet".

Adrian had curled up beside on 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 an to you. Not ever. Because that’s what big brothers do."

My heart clenched at his words, rembering 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 at with those perceptive silver-blue eyes. "Why does Daddy look worried when he talks on the phone? Is sothing bad happening?"

I 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. Sotis that ans he has to think about complicated things."

"Like keeping the bad wolves away?"

The simplicity of his question made pause. How much did a four-year-old need to know about the dangers that constantly threatened our world? "Sothing like that, yes."

Damien’s conversation seed 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 ant he was trying not to worry .

"Everything okay?" I 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 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 ant 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 I 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," I 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 I 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 confird rogue sighting anywhere along our borders."

I 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 I hoped initially," Damien said, running his hand through his hair in the gesture I’d learned ant he was working through a complex problem. "But rogues don’t just disappear, Sera. They regroup, they find new territory, they co back 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 t mine, and I could see the worry he was trying to hide. "The captured rogues we interrogated before they... died... they ntioned soone organizing them. A Luna figure with plans."

The mory of that horrible interrogation room made shudder. "You think she’s planning sothing 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."

I could see where this was heading, and my stomach clenched with sothing 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 I 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 I didn’t fully understand. The idea of Damien heading into potentially dangerous territory while I stayed safely at ho made every alpha instinct I possessed scream in protest.

"Absolutely not." Damien’s response was imdiate 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?"

I bristled at his tone, my own newly awakened alpha nature rising to et his challenge. "I’m pregnant, not helpless. And if there’s an ambush waiting, don’t you think having soone with healing abilities might be useful?"

"What I 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, I can’t focus on the mission if I’m worried about protecting you."

The admission hit harder than any command could have. I could see the conflict in his silver-blue eyes.

"How long?" I asked quietly, accepting that I wasn’t going to win this argunt.

"Two days, maybe three at most. Lucas will stay here to coordinate communications, and I’ll have full backup teams." Damien lifted my hand to his lips, pressing a soft kiss to my knuckles. "I promise I’m not taking any unnecessary risks."