Ex-Mate Wants Me Back (Seraphina and Mortimer) novel Chapter 39

Chapter 39

Third Person’s POV

Seraphina tapped her screen, and a second later, Mortimer’s phone buzzed on the table

For a split second, a flicker of genuine anticipation lit up his dark eyes. The tight line of his jaw relaxed; the corners of his mouth twitching upward into a microscopic, hopeful smirk he didn’t even realize he was wearing.

“What could you possibly need to text me that you couldn’just say to my-” His voice abruptly cut off.

He got a clear look at the screen. It was a P*F file. The title read: Rolf – Medical Analysis Report

“That’s the latest data the Healing Center just forwarded to me,” Seraphina explained, her tone completely flat and professional.

“His vitals are back to normal. As long as he gets proper aftercare, his next shift will be perfectly fine.”

As she spoke, the faint trace of a smile on Mortimer’s lips died completely, turning into a hard, cold line.

He grabbed his phone and slammed it down onto the table. The force of it made the silverware clatter sharply against the plates.

“You really put your heart into this, didn’t you?” Mortimer said, his voice dripping with heavy sarcasm.

Seraphina didn’t even blink at the hostility.

She just gave a brief nod. “It’s my job. Besides, I pulled Rolf back from the edge myself. I owe his family a proper update.”

Mortimer felt like he’d been punched in the throat. The slow-burn anger in his chest flared into a sharp, physical ache.

Damn it.

When did Seraphina get so incredibly good at finding his exact sore spots and twisting the knife?

“I told you, I am not his family,” he corrected her, biting the words out through gritted teeth.

Seraphina just let out a dismissive hum. “Same difference.”

“Seraphina!” Mortimer snapped, his voice suddenly spiking in volume.

In that split second, his volatile aura leaked out, spiking with pure frustration.

Across the private dining room, the hired violinist flinched so hard his bow screeched off-key.

But Seraphina was already grabbing her bag and standing up.

Outside the window, a massive wall of black storm clouds was rolling in over the Los Angeles coastline, accompanied by the low,

intermittent rumble of thunder.

“It’s going to pour. We should head out early. L.A. traffic gets miserable in the rain,” she said.

Mortimer looked at her perfectly calm, unbothered face, feeling that same suffocating, exhausting sensation of throwing punches at a brick wall.

He let out a heavy sigh and signaled the waiter for the check.

Pushing open the heavy restaurant doors, a blast of freezing, damp wind hit them. Seraphina instinctively shivered.

Catching the movement, Mortimer instantly shrugged off his long trench coat and draped it over her shoulders.

The heavy, masculine scent of her mate immediately enveloped her. For any other mated wolf, it would have been a source of deep comfort and safety. To Seraphina, it just felt like a heavy, suffocating shackle.

Chapter 28

+15 Bonus

She reached up, about to hand the coat back, when a phone buried deep in the coat pocket suddenly started ringing.

“Morty, pick up! V’s calling”;

It was Vivian’s custom ringtone a recorded voice note that dragged out the syllables with a deliberate, whiny, sickeningly

sweet tone. 1

The second the audio hit the air, every single muscle in Mortimer’s body locked up.

It was as if, for the very first time in his life, he realized exactly how incredibly fake, cringey, and grating that ringtone actually sounded.

A flash of absolute, unprecedented panic crossed Mortimer’s eyes.

Driven by pure instinct, his head whipped around, his gaze locking dead onto the side of Seraphina’s face.

He saw her looking at him. Her eyes were completely cold. Detached.

Mortimer stared back, his eyes practically begging her not to look at him with that ‘none of my business’ expression.

But Seraphina just offered a polite, helpful suggestion. “Aren’t you going to answer that? Miss Davis might have an emergency.”

She pointed toward the taxi stand down the block. “Go handle your business. I’ll just grab an Uber back.”

She started to shrug the heavy coat off her shoulders, but Mortimer’s hand shot out, locking around her wrist like a vice.

“A storm is hitting. I’m driving you.”

He gripped her wrist tight, terrified that if he let go for even a second, the woman in front of him would vanish into the rain

forever.

Taking a deep, ragged breath, he pulled the phone out and hit answer-right in front of Seraphina.

“Morty! It’s thundering… I’m so scared…”

Vivian didn’t even get to finish her sentence before Mortimer cut her off.

There wasn’t a trace of his usual coddling warmth. Instead, his voice was coated in a layer of absolute, freezing ice. “Call your primary care doctor. I am not your personal bodyguard.”

His words hit the freezing wind, sounding as ruthless as a complete stranger.

Seraphina was genuinely surprised. She had fully expected Mortimer to drop everything and sprint to the rescue.

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