Mated to My Fiancé’s Alpha King Brother - Chapter 129

129: Chapter 129 129: Chapter 129 Seraphina’s POV
The silence stretched on for what felt like hours, though it couldn’t have been more than a few seconds.

Every face in our immediate vicinity was turned toward me, and I could practically feel their judgment crawling across my skin like insects.

“I need some air,” I said quietly, my voice sounding strange and distant even to my own ears.

Damien’s grip on my waist tightened.

“Sera-”
“Please.” I looked up at him, and whatever he saw in my expression made him release me immediately.

“I just need a minute.

Don’t follow me.”
I walked away before he could protest, pushing through the crowd of elegantly dressed guests who watched me go with poorly concealed curiosity.

Each step taking me further from the warm glow of the ballroom and deeper into my own humiliation.

The French doors leading to the terrace were mercifully unlocked.

I stepped outside into the cool night air, grateful for the relative quiet and the absence of staring eyes.

The terrace overlooked the gardens, where fairy lights twinkled among perfectly manicured hedges and fountain bubbled softly in the distance.

I gripped the stone balustrade and tried to breathe.

*Your nanny.* The words echoed in my head like a broken record.

*I always thought she was your nanny.*
God.

How many other people thought the same thing?

How many conversations had happened behind my back, people wondering why the powerful Alpha Damien Nightshadow kept some random human woman around his house?

The worst part was that Emma’s mistake wasn’t exactly unreasonable.

I was just…

ordinary.

Human.

Forgettable.

A soft breeze rustled the leaves in the garden below, carrying with it the distant sound of laughter and music from the party inside.

Riley’s engagement party.

The celebration I’d promised to attend, the night that was supposed to help me feel normal again.

Instead, I felt more isolated than ever.

I closed my eyes and tried to center myself the way I used to when Ayla was part of me.

But there was no warm presence in the back of my mind anymore, no fierce wolf spirit to lend me strength.

Just empty silence where my other half used to be.

“Pull yourself together,” I whispered to the night air.

“You’re being ridiculous.”
But the words felt hollow.

Because deep down, I knew Emma was right to be confused.

What was I doing here, playing dress-up in fancy clothes and pretending I belonged in this world?

I wasn’t a Luna anymore.

I wasn’t even a wolf.

The French doors opened again, and this time I heard multiple sets of footsteps.

Guests were starting to spill out onto the terrace, probably looking for quieter spaces to continue their conversations.

I should go back inside.

Find Damien.

Make polite excuses and leave before I embarrassed myself further.

That’s when it happened.

A young server appeared from nowhere, carrying a tray loaded with champagne flutes.

He was moving quickly, probably trying to refill glasses for the guests who’d wandered outside.

But something went wrong-maybe he caught his foot on the edge of a decorative planter, maybe he just misjudged the distance between tables.

Whatever the cause, he stumbled forward with a startled yelp, the tray tilting dangerously as he fought to regain his balance.

Time seemed to slow down as I watched twelve crystal glasses slide toward the edge of the silver tray.

If I’d still been a wolf, my enhanced reflexes would have kicked in automatically.

I would have moved faster than humanly possible, either catching the server or diving out of the way with supernatural grace.

Instead, I stood there like a statue, my purely human reaction time far too slow to save me from what was coming.

The tray hit the stone terrace with a crash that seemed to echo across the entire garden.

Crystal shattered, champagne exploded in every direction, and I went down hard, my expensive heels sliding out from under me on the suddenly slick stone.

I hit the ground with a thud that knocked the air from my lungs, champagne soaking through my carefully chosen dress and pooling around me in a puddle of humiliation.

Broken glass glittered in my hair, and the sticky liquid burned my eyes.

“Oh God!” the server gasped, dropping to his knees beside me.

“Ma’am, I’m so sorry!

Are you hurt?

I’m so, so sorry!”
But his voice was drowned out by the sound of footsteps as every guest on the terrace rushed toward the commotion.

I could hear exclamations of surprise, concerned murmurs, the rustle of expensive fabric as people gathered around to gawk at the spectacle I’d become.

I tried to push myself up, but my hands slipped on the wet stone and I went down again, this time with even less dignity.

Champagne dripped from my hair, my dress was completely ruined, and I was pretty sure I had glass embedded in my palms.

“Someone help her up!” a voice called out.

“Is she bleeding?”
“What happened?”
I finally managed to get to my hands and knees, though the position made me feel even more pathetic.

Champagne continued to drip from my clothes, forming a growing puddle beneath me.

That’s when Emma stepped forward, her voice carrying clearly across the suddenly silent terrace.

“Excuse me!” she called out to the server, her tone sharp with outrage.

“How dare you show such disrespect to the Alpha’s mate!”
My head snapped up in horror.

No.

She wouldn’t.

She couldn’t-
“I don’t care how clumsy you are,” Emma continued, her voice growing louder with each word.

“You cannot treat Damien’s partner this way, even though she’s only human now!”
The words hit the crowd like a bomb.

Only human now.

The whispers started immediately, a susurrus of shocked voices that seemed to come from every direction at once.

“Human?”
“Did she say human?”
“But how can an Alpha mate with a human?”
“That’s not possible.”
“Unless she wasn’t always human…”
I closed my eyes, wishing the stone terrace would open up and swallow me whole.

But Emma wasn’t finished.

“Everyone step back,” she commanded, moving toward me with exaggerated concern.

“Give her some space.

She’s probably hurt, and without her wolf healing…” She let the sentence hang in the air like a loaded weapon.

Without her wolf healing.

The confirmation hit the crowd like a second wave of shock.

I could hear the whispers growing louder, more incredulous.

“She lost her wolf?”
“How is that even possible?”
“What kind of mate loses their wolf?”
“Their children…” someone said, their voice dropping to a horrified whisper.

“Their children must be filthy half-breeds.”
The blood drained from my face so fast I thought I might pass out right there on the champagne-soaked terrace.

“That’s disgusting,” another voice chimed in.

“Mixing pure Alpha blood with human genetics.

What was he thinking?”
“The bloodline will be tainted forever.”
Each word was like a dagger through my chest.

I tried to stand, desperate to escape, but my legs wouldn’t support me.

The champagne had made the stone surface treacherous, and without supernatural balance or strength, I was helpless.

Emma crouched down beside me, her face a mask of perfectly performed concern that didn’t quite reach her eyes.

“Let me help you,” she said sweetly, though her voice was loud enough for everyone to hear.

“I know this must be so difficult for you.

Being human in a world of wolves…

raising mixed-blood children without the strength to protect them properly…”