Ex-Mate Wants Me Back (Seraphina and Mortimer) novel Chapter 168

Chapter 168

Third Person’s POV

Hearing the sound of the elevator doors opening, Mortimer slowly turned his head.

The moment his deep, dark eyes landed on Seraphina, they completely lit up.

The corners of his thin lips curled upward, blooming into a gentle smile warm enough to melt ice and snow. “You’re back.”

Seeing her, Dash’s eyes lit up just as brightly. He let out an excited whimper from the back of his throat, immediately struggling to jump out of Mortimer’s arms to greet his owner.

‘Be a good boy, Dash. Don’t move around.”

Mortimer’s voice carried an unprecedented magnetism and tenderness.

The usually obsessive, germaphobic Alpha actually lowered his head in the most natural way, affectionately rubbing his sharp chin against the puppy’s fuzzy head.

Dash cooperatively stuck out his little tongue and licked Mortimer’s chiseled jawline. The man and the dog were so completely n sync, they looked like old friends who had lived together for years.

Seeing this absurd yet incredibly harmonious tableau, Seraphina instantly froze in place.

A flash of absolute, unbelievable shock crossed her eyes.

When exactly did the relationship between these two advance to this level?

Mortimer, the high-and-mighty, paranoid tyrant, was actually completely conquered by a stray dog?

Seraphina walked over. Dash was just about to squirm again when she immediately reached out, gently pressing down on his >ack to keep his injured ribs safe.

‘Be good, don’t move. Let me open the door first.”

Dash seemed to understand her perfectly. He shrank back into Mortimer’s strong arms and stopped moving.

Seraphina unlocked the door and stepped aside to let Mortimer in.

He carried Dash over to the fluffy dog bed, carefully setting him down before straightening up. He didn’t say a word; he just stood there, his intense gaze locked onto her.

Seraphina went into the kitchen, poured a glass of warm water, and handed it to him. “Thanks for taking the trouble with Dash today.” 1

Mortimer took the glass, the pads of his fingers slowly rubbing against the rim. His voice sounded a bit tight and muffled. “Do you really have to be so polite with me?”

The more polite and courteous she was, the more he felt the distance between them solidifying into an impenetrable, towering wall-impossible to push down, impossible to climb over.

Inside his massive chest, his wolf gave a soft, restless shudder.

She wasn’t actively rejecting him, but she didn’t show a single ounce of reliance, either. Her attitude was completely detached, acting as if absolutely nothing had ever happened between them.

That feeling was like something heavy lodged in his throat-he couldn’t swallow it down, and he couldn’t spit it out.

“You helped me take care of Dash. It’s only right for me to say thank you,” Seraphina replied, her voice completely flat.

“But we are mates. We’re supposed to look out for each other, aren’t we?” Mortimer looked up, his eyes dark and heavy.

1/3

Chapter

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A tiny, uncontrollable trace of heavily suppressed Alpha pheromones leaked into the air. It felt like a probe, but it also carried a deep, raw insecurity,

Mate-this word, under the witness of the Moon Goddess, was never a lightweight title.

It meant shared territory, absolute commitment, and their scents permanently intertwined in their very blood and bones.

But when Seraphina heard that/word, only a faint ace of coldness flashed in her clear eyes.

She didn’t respond. She simply turned around and walked over to the sofa, taking a seat.

The only sound left in the living room was the faint squeaking of Dash chewing on his toy, which only made the suffocating silence feel even heavier.

Mortimer loitered in place, refusing to take a single step toward the door. His massive, imposing figure actually looked somewhat lonely under the living room lights.

Finally, he took a few steps forward and squatted beside the dog bed. As he stroked Dash’s fur, he gave her instructions in a low rumble. “His diet has been switched to air-freighted raw bone meat. It’s much better for his bone recovery. I’ve already had the omegas deliver a freezer box to your place. Also, when you change his bandages, he likes to bite down on an old shirt that smells like you. It stops him from howling in pain and getting frantic, so make sure you prep one in advance.”

“Um…” Seraphina finally spoke, a trace of hesitation slipping into her tone.

“Hm?” Mortimer immediately looked up.

“You haven’t eaten dinner yet, have you?”

A brilliant light instantly flickered in Mortimer’s eyes. He nodded quickly. “Yeah. I brought Dash straight back as soon as I got off work. Traffic was brutal, so I haven’t eaten yet.”

He spoke softly, almost as if he was terrified that speaking one syllable too loudly would shatter this tiny spark of hope.

“Then you should hurry back. I already ate at the healing center, and I don’t have anything prepared here.” Seraphina’s tone suddenly carried a hint of urging-exactly like someone desperately trying to shoo out an unwelcome guest.

Mortimer awkwardly pressed his thin lips together. The hopeful smile that had just begun to form completely froze, and the bright light in his eyes died out in a split second.

He gave a self-deprecating tug at the corner of his mouth, his smile dripping with pure bitterness. “You’re kicking me out.”

Looking at his pitiful expression-he looked exactly like a massive, abandoned dog-the deepest corner of Seraphina’s usually calm heart actually gave a very faint, almost imperceptible flutter.

He was the absolute, unquestionable apex Alpha of the Blades, a man whose word was law. Yet right now, he was lowering himself to the dust in front of her. This massive, jarring contrast made her fingertips subconsciously curl inward. The cold, ruthless rejection already on the tip of her tongue actually hesitated for a fraction of a second.

In the end, she pressed her lips together and reasoned coldly, “There’s no food in the house. I can’t exactly let you starve.”

That was what she said, but those clear eyes explicitly read: You need to leave right now.

Mortimer stared at her for a few agonizing seconds. She just stood there calmly, the picture of polite, impenetrable detachment.

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