Mated to My Fiancé’s Alpha King Brother - Chapter 253

Chapter 253: Chapter 253
Damien’s POV

The message came through at 3 AM.

I was already awake. Had been for hours. Sitting in my office. Staring at the video files on my computer.

Gabriel’s confession. Emma’s breakdown. All of it captured. All of it proof.

My phone buzzed. Marcus.

**Marcus: Alpha. Situation update. Voss has assembled at least 200 rogues. They’re not moving yet. Just waiting. He sent a message. Says he wants to challenge you directly. One-on-one combat for territory rights.**

I read it twice.

Then I understood.

This wasn’t just a border skirmish. This wasn’t random violence.

Voss wanted me. Specifically. Wanted to take my territory. My pack. Everything.

And he knew I couldn’t refuse. Not without looking weak. Not without undermining my entire position as Alpha.

Smart bastard.

**Me: Accepted. I’ll be there.**

I looked at the computer screen again. At Gabriel’s face frozen mid-confession. At Emma crying as she admitted everything.

This was it. This was the proof Sera needed. The proof that I hadn’t betrayed her. That everything had been a setup.

But would she believe it? Would she watch the videos? Or would she think I’d forced them to say it?

I didn’t know.

But I had to try.

—

The sun was rising when I finally left my office.

The house was quiet. Still. The kids wouldn’t be awake for another hour at least.

I walked upstairs slowly. My legs felt heavy. Like I was walking through water.

Adrian’s room first.

I pushed open the door carefully. Didn’t want to wake him. Just wanted to see him.

He was sprawled across his bed. One arm hanging off the edge. His favorite book lying open on his chest. He’d fallen asleep reading again.

My son. So smart. So careful. So much like his mother.

I walked over. Picked up the book. Set it on the nightstand. Pulled the blanket up over his shoulders.

He shifted slightly. Mumbled something. Didn’t wake.

“I love you, buddy,” I whispered. “No matter what happens. Remember that.”

Then Lily’s room.

She was curled up with approximately twelve stuffed animals. Her face peaceful. Innocent. Unaware that her world might be about to change again.

I sat on the edge of her bed. Smoothed her hair back from her face.

“Hey, baby girl,” I whispered. Even though she couldn’t hear me. “Daddy has to go away for a little while. But I’m coming back. I promise I’m coming back.”

She stirred. Her eyes opening slightly. “Daddy?”

“Shh. Go back to sleep.”

“Where are you going?” Her voice was thick with sleep.

“Just a work trip. Nothing to worry about.”

“When will you be back?”

“Soon.” I kissed her forehead. “Very soon.”

“Promise?”

My throat closed up. “I promise.”

She smiled. Already drifting back to sleep. “Love you, Daddy.”

“Love you too, baby girl. More than anything.”

I waited until her breathing evened out again. Then I stood. Walked to the door.

Stopped.

Looked back at both their rooms. At my children sleeping peacefully. Trusting that their father would always come home.

I had to make sure that was true. Had to survive this fight. Had to come back to them.

Because they’d already lost their mother once. They couldn’t lose their father too.

—

By 8 AM, both kids were awake.

I made them breakfast. Pancakes. Their favorite. Let them put as many chocolate chips as they wanted.

“Daddy?” Lily looked up from her plate. “Are you sad?”

“No, baby. Why would you think that?”

“You keep looking at us funny.”

Smart kid. Too smart.

“I’m just happy.” I forced a smile. “Happy to be here with you guys.”

Adrian was quiet. He’d been quiet all morning. Just watching me. Those too-observant eyes seeing more than I wanted them to.

“I need to talk to you both about something,” I said finally.

They both stopped eating. Looked at me.

“I have to go away for a few days. Pack business. Nothing dangerous. Just… important meetings.”

“Can we come?” Lily asked immediately.

“Not this time, sweetheart. But mommy will come to stay with you. Would you like that?”

Her face lit up. “Really? We can stay at Mama’s apartment?”

“If that’s what she wants. Or she can stay here with you. Whatever works.”

“When are you leaving?” Adrian asked. His voice careful.

“Tomorrow morning.”

“That’s really soon.”

“I know. But it’s important.” I reached across the table. Took both their hands. “Listen to me. Both of you. No matter what happens, no matter what you hear, I need you to know something.”

They waited.

“I love you. Both of you. More than anything in this entire world. You’re the best things that ever happened to me. Okay?”

“Okay,” Lily said. But her voice was small. Uncertain.

Adrian’s jaw tightened. “Why does this sound like goodbye?”

“It’s not goodbye.” I squeezed his hand. “It’s just… I need you to know. In case I don’t say it enough. In case you ever forget.”

“We know you love us, Dad.” His voice cracked slightly. “You don’t have to say it like that.”

“I know. But I wanted to anyway.”

We finished breakfast in silence.

—

I spent the rest of the day with them.

No work. No phone calls. No distractions.

Just us. Playing games. Watching movies. Being a family.

Lily wanted to bake cookies. So we baked cookies. Made a huge mess. Got flour everywhere.

Adrian wanted to shoot hoops outside. So we shot hoops. Even though I hadn’t touched a basketball in months.

Normal things. Simple things. Things I should have been doing all along instead of drowning in work and pack politics and marriage problems.

Things I might not get to do again.

No. I couldn’t think like that. I had to believe I’d come back. Had to believe I’d win.

But just in case…

“Hey,” I said to Adrian during a water break. “If anything ever happens to me—”

“Dad, don’t.”

“Just listen. If anything ever happens, you take care of your sister. And your mother. Okay?”

“Nothing’s going to happen.”

I pulled him close. He fought for a second. Then collapsed against me. Crying.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered. “I’m so sorry, buddy. But I have to do this. I have to keep you safe. Keep the pack safe. That’s my job.”

“I don’t care about the pack!” He sobbed into my shirt. “I just want my dad!”

“You have me. You’ll always have me.”

“Promise?”

I held him tighter. “I promise.”

A lie. Maybe. Probably.

But what else could I say?

—

That night, I waited until both kids were asleep.

Then I went to my office. Sat down at my computer. Started the real work.

First, the videos.

I copied all the footage. Gabriel’s confession. Emma’s breakdown. Every piece of evidence that proved my innocence.

Uploaded them to a secure server. Password protected. Only Sera would be able to access them.

Then I burned copies to three separate USB drives. Labeled them clearly.

*PROOF. WATCH THIS. PLEASE.*

Simple. Direct. Impossible to misunderstand.

I put one drive in an envelope. Sealed it. Wrote Sera’s name on the front.

The other two I gave to Lucas. With instructions to deliver them to the Council and Claire if anything happened to me.

Insurance. Just in case.

Then I opened a blank document.

Stared at the white screen.

What did you say to the woman you loved? The woman you’d failed? The woman who thought you’d betrayed her?

How did you put into words everything you felt? Everything you wanted? Everything you’d lost?

I started typing.

*Sera,*

Deleted it. Too formal.

*My love,*

Deleted that too. She probably didn’t want to hear that right now.

Just her name then.

*Sera,*

*I don’t know if you’ll read this. Don’t know if you’ll believe anything I say anymore. But I have to try.*

*I’m leaving tomorrow morning. There’s a situation at the northern border. Voss—the rogue Alpha—has challenged me directly. One-on-one combat for territory rights.*

*I know what you’re thinking. That I could send someone else. That I could avoid this. But I can’t. If I refuse, it makes me look weak. Makes the whole pack look weak. And then everything I’ve built falls apart.*

*I’m telling you this because I need you to know the truth. All of it. Even if you hate me. Even if you never want to see me again.*

*The USB drive in this envelope contains video evidence. Gabriel and Emma confessing to everything. The drugs. The setup. The pregnancy plan. All of it.*

*I know you might not believe it. Might think I forced them to say it. But Sera, I swear on our children’s lives—it’s real. Every word of it is real.*

*That night at the hotel never happened. Not the way you think. I was drugged. Unconscious. Emma marked herself to make it look like I’d done it. The baby isn’t mine. It’s Gabriel’s. They planned all of it to destroy us.*

*I’m not asking you to forgive me for the ways I’ve failed you. For all the times I wasn’t there. For the pain I’ve caused even unintentionally.*

*But this? The cheating? The betrayal? That never happened. I would never do that to you. Never.*

I stopped typing. My hands were shaking.

This was harder than I thought. Putting it into words. Making her understand.

*I know the last few months have been hell. For both of us. I know you’re hurt. Angry. Done with all of this.*

*I know you want a divorce. That you’ve probably already signed the papers. That you’ve moved on in your mind.*

*But I can’t move on. Won’t move on. Because you’re it for me, Sera. You always have been. From the moment I saw you at that moon ceremony ten years ago, there’s never been anyone else.*

*Not Emma. Not anyone. Just you.*

*The kids need their mother. They miss you. They love you. And they need you to be okay.*

*So even if you never forgive me. Even if you finalize the divorce and move away and build a new life without me.*

*Be okay. For them. Please.*

*But if there’s any chance—any possibility—that you could watch those videos and believe me…*

*If there’s any part of you that still feels what I feel…*

*Then wait for me. Give me one more chance. Let me prove that I never stopped loving you. That everything I’ve done—every choice, every action—has been to protect you and our family.*

*I’m going to come back from this fight. I have to. Because I have too much to live for. Too much to fight for.*

*Two beautiful children who need their father.*

*And a wife who I never stopped loving. Who I never will stop loving. No matter what happens.*

*If I don’t make it back—*

I stopped. Deleted that line.

No. I wasn’t going to think that way. Wasn’t going to plan for failure.

*When I come back, I want us to try again. Really try. No more secrets. No more distance. No more letting other people come between us.*

*I want us to be a family again. The way we were before. The way we were always meant to be.*

*Happy. Together. Whole.*

*I love you, Sera. I’ll love you for the rest of my life.*

*Please watch the videos. Please believe me. Please give us one more chance.*

*Wait for me. I’m coming home to you.*

*Always yours,*

*Damien*

I read it over three times.

Changed a few words. Fixed some phrasing. Made sure every sentence said exactly what I meant.

Then I printed it. Folded it carefully. Put it in the envelope with the USB drive.

Sealed it.

Wrote her name on the front in my neatest handwriting.

*Seraphina*

Then underneath, smaller:

*Please read this. It’s important.*