Reclaimed By My Alpha (Natalia and Andrei) novel Chapter 144

Chapter 144

“And you’ve always been too blind to appreciate what you had,” Damon shot back, landing a solid hit to my ribs. I shoved him hard, sending him stumbling back against the desk. “I loved her! I mourned her for years!” “You just mourned the idea of the perfect, obedient mate who would sit around waiting for you to love her while you could do whatever you wanted.” Damon straightened, wiping blood from his split lip. “You never really saw her, Andrei. Not for who she really was.”

“And you did?” I sneered.

“Yes,” he said simply. “I did. I do. And unlike you, I don’t expect her to give me anything in return for my kindness. Not anymore.”

Something in his gaze made me pause. What did that even mean, that he didn’t expect her to give him anything in return? I couldn’t quite place it, not before he looked away, but I thought I saw a flicker of guilt in his eyes before it was gone.

“I know you’re hurting,” Damon muttered. “I know finding out she’s alive after all this time has been… complicated. But taking it out on her isn’t the answer. And for the record, no, Natalia and I didn’t have an affair, nor did we fake the accident. I only found Natalia out of sheer luck. It was her decision to fake her death and start fresh.”

Damon met my gaze head–on, a silent challenge. His eyes were hard and serious, two green orbs that seemed to absorb the light around them.

I stared at him, really looked at him for the first time in years.

And for a moment, I saw… My brother.

The boy who used to follow me around as kids, and I never complained, not even when I wanted him to leave me alone. The boy who I used to let copy my homework so he wouldn’t fail his classes. The boy I always gave the last bite of food to, even when I was still hungry, because I hated to hear him cry.

Fuck…

He wasn’t lying, was he?

I ran a hand through my hair as I sank down into my chair.

When did things change between us? When did I stop being the brother Damon could rely on?

When did I stop being the man Natalia could rely on? Or… had I ever even been that man? Had that version of me died years ago, when Lilith disappeared, or long before that?

Was that why she had run to him and birthed his children instead of mine? Because I had been unreliable and cold and had chosen Lilith over her, time and time again?

And now here I was, taking my anger out on both of them… And Damon had not only supported her for five years, but was now even trying to see eye–to–eye with me. With the brother who had failed everyone and just punched him in the fucking face.

Chapter

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Maybe Damon was right. Maybe I had pushed Natalia away throughout our marriage, just as I was pushing her away now. If I wanted to know anything about what had happened, why she ran or hid those children or any of it, I wouldn’t get information by frightening her.

“I’ve been an ass, haven’t I?” I muttered.

“Understatement of the century.” Damon flopped into the chair across from me with a huff.

Despite everything, I felt the corner of my mouth twitch. “Runs in the family.”

A brief, reluctant smile flashed across Damon’s face before disappearing.

But whatever he was about to say next was cut off by the sound of running footsteps in the hallway. The door burst open, revealing Damon’s Beta.

“Alpha,” he panted. “You need to come quickly.”

And then I saw them–two small figures pushing past the Beta’s legs and into the office. The twins. The boy and girl I’d seen at the cottage, the ones with my brother’s green eyes.

“Jane! Max!” Damon shot to his feet. “How did you get here? Where’s-”

“They showed up in pup form,” the Beta panted. “Their first shift. Must have run off.”

Their first shift. They couldn’t be more than five years old–extraordinarily young for a first transformation. It must have been triggered by something extreme. Fear. Danger.

“Daddy!” the girl cried, rushing to Damon. “You have to help!”

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