Mated to My Fiancé’s Alpha King Brother - Chapter 248

Chapter 248: Chapter 248
Gabriel’s POV

The text came through while I was three drinks deep.

I stared at my phone screen. Emma’s message glowed in the darkness of this shithole apartment.

**Emma: hide. lucas asking where i am. they might be looking for us**

I read it twice. The typos were obvious. She’d been panicking when she typed it.

Good. She should panic.

I leaned back against the stained couch. Took another swig of cheap whiskey. Let it burn down my throat.

They were looking for us. Finally. Took them long enough.

I’d been expecting this. Planning for it actually. The second Sera found out about the pregnancy, the clock started ticking. Damien wasn’t stupid. Eventually he’d put the pieces together.

But by then? By then it would be too late.

I looked around my current hiding spot. A run-down apartment in the worst part of the city. The kind of place where gunshots were background noise and the police didn’t bother showing up.

The walls were water-stained. The carpet smelled like mold and something worse. The single window overlooked an alley full of garbage and rats.

Perfect.

Nobody would think to look for me here. Not Damien with his mansion and his fancy cars. Not Lucas with his pristine pack house.

This was beneath them. Way beneath them.

Which made it the perfect place to hide.

I set down my phone. Poured another drink. The bottle was almost empty. I’d need to make a supply run soon.

But not yet. Not while they were actively looking.

Emma’s message had said Lucas was asking questions. That meant Damien had probably sent him. Probably told him to bring Emma in for questioning.

I smiled.

Emma could handle Lucas. She’d been handling men her whole life. One concerned cousin wouldn’t break her.

And even if he did? Even if Lucas somehow got her to talk?

I’d be long gone by then.

I’d planned for this contingency. Had three different exit strategies. Cash stashed in various locations. Fake IDs ready. Contacts in other packs who owed me favors.

The second things went south, I could disappear. Completely. Like I’d never existed.

Leave Emma to deal with the fallout. Leave Damien to pick up the pieces. Leave everyone behind while I started fresh somewhere else.

Maybe Canada. Maybe Mexico. Somewhere far away from this pack and its suffocating rules.

My phone buzzed again.

Another text from Emma.

**Emma: where r u? need to know ur safe**

I didn’t respond. Let her sweat it out.

She was useful. Had been very useful actually. But I wasn’t about to give away my location. Not to anyone.

The fewer people who knew where I was, the better.

I stood up. Walked to the window. Looked down at the street below.

Empty. Dark. A few homeless people huddled in doorways. A stray dog digging through trash.

No black SUVs. No pack security. No Lucas coming to drag me back.

Good.

I could stay here for weeks if I needed to. Had enough cash for food. Enough alcohol to keep me entertained. Enough space to plan my next move.

Because this wasn’t over. Not by a long shot.

Damien thought he’d won? Thought he’d figured everything out? Thought he could just hunt down everyone involved and fix his precious marriage?

Wrong.

The real game was just beginning.

Emma’s pregnancy would explode publicly soon. Couldn’t hide a seven-month baby bump forever. And when it did? When the whole pack found out their Alpha had knocked up his assistant while his wife was training warriors?

The scandal would be massive. Devastating. Career-ending.

The Council would have questions. Lots of questions. About Damien’s judgment. About his ability to lead. About whether someone so reckless deserved to be Alpha.

And who would they turn to? Who would step up when Damien inevitably fell?

Me.

The only other Nightshadow. The only other option.

Sure, I wasn’t a pure-blood Alpha like my brother. Sure, I didn’t have the silver eyes or the natural authority.

But I had something better. I had patience. Planning. The willingness to do whatever it took.

And right now? That was worth more than any bloodline.

My phone buzzed a third time.

**Emma: gabriel please answer. im scared**

I picked up the phone. Typed slowly.

**Me: I’m safe. Don’t worry. Stick to the plan.**

I deleted my side of the conversation. Cleared the cache. Made sure nothing remained.

Then I powered off the phone completely. Pulled out the battery. Wrapped both pieces in foil and stuck them in different hiding spots.

No tracking. No GPS. No way for them to trace me through cell towers.

I was a ghost now. Invisible. Untouchable.

I poured the last of the whiskey into my glass. Held it up to the dim light filtering through the dirty window.

“To my dear brother,” I said to the empty room. “May you get everything you deserve.”

I drank. The alcohol burned. But it was a good burn. A cleansing burn.

Everything was falling into place. Emma would hold under questioning. Damien would spiral further. Sera would finalize the divorce.

And when the dust settled? When Damien had nothing left?

I’d emerge from the shadows. The concerned brother. The only family Damien had left. The one person willing to help pick up the pieces.

And then I’d take it all.

The pack. The company. The power. Everything.

I set down my empty glass. Walked back to the couch. Lay down on the lumpy cushions.

The ceiling had water stains. Brown and spreading. Like disease eating away at the building.

I stared at them. Let my mind wander through possibilities. Through scenarios. Through all the ways this could play out.

Most of them ended with me on top. With Damien broken. With everything I’d ever wanted finally in my grasp.

A few scenarios went wrong. Emma cracked under pressure. Lucas found evidence. Damien somehow proved his innocence.

But those were unlikely. I’d been too careful. Too thorough.

No, this would work. Had to work.

Because I’d put too much into this plan. Sacrificed too much. Risked too much.

There was no going back now. No undoing what I’d done. No making peace with the brother I’d betrayed.

This was it. The endgame. Winner take all.

And I wasn’t planning on losing.

My eyes felt heavy. The alcohol was kicking in. Pulling me toward sleep.

I let it happen. Let myself drift. Let the darkness claim me.

Tomorrow I’d figure out the next steps. Tomorrow I’d plan the next phase. Tomorrow I’d decide how to turn this situation even more to my advantage.

But tonight? Tonight I’d rest. Safe in my shithole apartment. Hidden away where nobody would think to look.

I smiled as I fell asleep.

Damien could search all he wanted. Could send Lucas and his security team and whoever else he thought might find me.

They wouldn’t. Couldn’t.

Because I’d chosen this place specifically because it was beneath them. Because they’d never think to look here. Because their privilege and their status made them blind to places like this.

And that blindness? That was my greatest advantage.

I was invisible. A shadow. A ghost haunting the edges of their perfect lives.

And when the time was right? When everything was perfectly positioned?

I’d strike.

Hard.

Final.

Devastating.

My last thought before sleep took me completely was simple:

Let them come. Let them search. Let them waste their time and energy looking for someone they’d never find.