Ex-Mate Wants Me Back (Seraphina and Mortimer) novel Chapter 53

Chapter 53

Third Person’s POV

After dropping that textbook line of “cold-war gaslighting,” Seraphina tried to walk away.

It hit Mortimer like a physical punch to the solar plexus.

He didn’t let go of her arm. He just stood there, staring at her, his eyes turning a darker, more dangerous shade of red. “You can’t even be bothered to come up with a decent lie anymore?”

Seraphina stopped. She cut him a look, genuinely confused by the freak-show he was putting on.

“Alpha Mortimer, what is your point?”

Mortimer choked.

He wanted to scream at her. He wanted to know which male wolf’s scent was all over her.

He had every right to demand an answer, but the words felt like broken glass in his throat. He was terrified that if he asked, the answer would be something he couldn’t take back.

Finally, his voice came out in a shredded rasp. “You used to call me by my name. Why did you stop?”

Seraphina’s brow hit a hard knot. “That’s what this is about? A name?”

Mortimer wanted to deny it, but he just went silent.

“It’s just a title, Mortimer,” she said, her voice dry. “Why are you obsessing over something so trivial?”

But he wouldn’t back down.

The Alpha who’d spent all day telling himself to ignore her was gone. In his place was someone stubborn and desperate.

“If it’s just a title, then change it back. Call me what you used to call me.”

Right then, Seraphina realized something was seriously off.

Mortimer was the king of “composed.” Even when Vivian was falling apart, he stayed level.

But now? The raw, bloodshot obsession in his eyes was starting to freak her out.

“Seraphina, we are still mated. We stood before the Moon Goddess,” he reminded her, his voice booming through the quiet

۴

room.

He looked like he’d been betrayed-like she was the one stepping out.

If there wasn’t a pre-nuptial contract sitting in a safe somewhere, Seraphina might have actually believed he cared.

But looking at the clock-seeing less than two months left-she just gave a tired nod.

“Fine. Whatever you say.”

She tried to say it. She tried to force out a “Morty” or a “Mortimer,” but the love was gone, and the words felt like lead in her mouth. She couldn’t do it. 1

Mortimer’s face softened, just a fraction.

But the smell of that patchouli cologne was still clawing at his senses, poking at his Alpha pride.

He rubbed his temples, trying to shove down the violent, jagged energy vibrating under his skin.

He looked at her again, his voice tight. “Let me hear it. Say it once.”

2

Chapter 5

+15 Bonus

Seraphina’s patience finally snapped.

She was exhausted. She didn’t have the bandwidth for these mind games. She looked him dead in the eye. “Do you have a problem with me, Mortimer? Because if you do, just spit it out. Stop picking fights over nothing.”

Mortimer blanked. His pupils contracted, his dark brown eyes turning sharp. “What?”

“If you’re sick of looking at me, just say so,” she continued, her voice taking on that formal Luna aura. “You don’t have to keep baiting me like this.”

That hit him. Hard.

He stared at her for a long beat, then let out a sharp, joyless laugh.

A second later, his Alpha aura exploded. It wasn’t a nudge; it was a full-blown predatory strike, designed to pin a subordinate to the floor. The air in the room turned heavy enough to crush bone.

“You think me wanting to hear my own name is ‘baiting’ you?”

Seraphina realized he was actually seeing red now.

She didn’t want a brawl over a name, so she swallowed her own irritation and let her voice go soft. “I just… it feels weird to force it, okay?”

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