Ex-Mate Wants Me Back (Seraphina and Mortimer) novel Chapter 85

Chapter 85

Third Person’s POV

As far as this contract was concerned, Seraphina had a clear conscience.

She’d stuck to the “no interference” clause and played the part of the perfect, poised Luna whenever the cameras were rolling.

“What about you?” she asked, her voice as detached as a quarterly earnings report. “Weren’t you just checking boxes the whole time, too?”

Mortimer opened his mouth to snap back, to claim some high ground, but the look in her eyes cold, bordering on pity-killed the words in his throat.

He couldn’t deny it.

When he first slid that agreement across the table, he saw her as a strategic asset.

A way to shut up the pack elders and clear the path for his empire.

Seraphina had been the perfect mate because she was low-maintenance.

She never demanded his time, never caused a scene, never asked for his heart.

And because she was so “easy” to manage, he’d spent three years systematically ignoring her, assuming her silence was

contentment.

The rage that had been boiling in his gut just a minute ago evaporated, leaving nothing but a hollow chill.

Seraphina didn’t wait for an answer. She didn’t need one.

She let out a breath that was almost a sigh. “Look, Mortimer. There isn’t much time left on the clock. Let’s just keep it professional and finish the term with some dignity.”

His grip on her wrist went slack.

She pulled away instantly, taking three steps back.

That distance was calculated. She moved right out of the reach of his pheromones, drawing a hard line in the sand between ” mates” and “associates.”

“It’s late. Go home.”

She had a war to fight tomorrow. She wasn’t going to burn any more energy on a drunk Alpha having an existential crisis at midnight.

Mortimer just stood there, his Adam’s apple bobbing.

He should have said something-claimed her, marked her, begged her-but he was paralyzed.

He remembered the night she first asked to end the contract early.

He’d been arrogant enough to think she was just pouting over some dead flowers.

Now he realized she’d been building her exit ramp for a long time.

He didn’t even remember why he’d driven across town in the first place.

He left the room like a ghost, barely conscious of his own feet hitting the floor.

The Next Morning. 7:00 AM. Seraphina was prepping for the shift change when a nurse from the night watch burst in, face white as a sheet.

2

Chapter 2

+15 Bonus

“Seraphina, check your phone. Now. You’re being dragged-it’s going viral.”

“Me?” Seraphina frowned.

She wasn’t a celebrity or an influencer. She was a surgeon who kept her head down. Who would put a target on her?

Then, like a flash of lightning, she saw Vivian’s twisted smirk from the night before.

Her pulse spiked. A cold wave of dread washed over her.

The nurse handed over her phone.

The screen was a chaotic mess of trending hashtags.

Seraphina’s name was at the top of the US trends, a digital lynch mob in full swing.

#ShadowfangHealingCenterMalpractice

#SeraphinaHale

#MedicalEthics

#JusticeForRolf

It was everywhere. Normally, a medical complication wouldn’t ignite the internet in three hours, but this had a catalyst: the person who posted the video was a mega-influencer with millions of followers.

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