Ex-Mate Wants Me Back (Seraphina and Mortimer) novel Chapter 34

Chapter 34

Mortimer’s POV

I’d barely cracked the door to my office when Tade, my beta assistant, trailed in behind me.

“Alpha Mortimer, here’s the proposal for the North Territory expansion. Take a look.”

I took the folder, but I didn’t even have the urge to flip it open. I tossed it onto the mahogany desk.

I was fighting to keep my head straight, my eyes boring into Tade like a laser.

He’s a solid guy, usually unflappable, but under my stare, he started to fidget, checking his tie like he’d dressed in the dark.

“Alpha… Mortimer?” He swallowed hard, his voice tight.

I pulled back the predatory glare and tried to sound casual. “When you mess up and piss off your mate, how do you fix it? How do you… get her back?” 1

Tade froze. A look of deep, professional concern flashed across his face.

In a pack, the Luna is the heartbeat. Lose the Luna, and you lose the Moon Goddess’s favor. The pack frays at the edges, members drift, and eventually, the whole thing rots from the inside out.

I’d bet my life he was already projecting my domestic drama into a full-blown tribal apocalypse.

After a beat, he shook his head. “Alpha Mortimer, I don’t fight with my mate.”

I gave him a dead-eyed stare, my voice dropping an octave. “So? Do I need to give you a medal for ‘Pack Contribution’ or something?”

He cleared his throat, straightening his back. “Look, Alpha. My mate has a heart of gold. If I slip up, I man up, admit I was wrong, and make it up to her. She’s quick to forgive.”

He paused, his tone turning grave. “But then again, I never screw up the big things. The ‘deal-breakers.’ There’s no coming back from those.” 1

I went quiet.

Seraphina had a heart of gold, too. She’d always been the softest person I knew.

In the past, no matter how much I’d pushed it, I didn’t even have to apologize. She’d just settle herself down, find a way to make it okay, and adapt to me.

And honestly, I hadn’t broken any ‘rules.’ I hadn’t violated the mating bond.

So why did it feel like she was miles away?

Like she’d unilaterally cut the cord that kept us tethered.

I used to feel her devotion like a constant hum in the background. Now? Total radio silence.

Tade looked like he was looking for the nearest exit.

I arched a brow and let a fraction of my aura leak out. He immediately bowed his head. “Alpha… is everything okay with Luna Seraphina?”

“It’s fine,” I snapped. The lie tasted like ash.

The silence turned awkward.

I chewed on my lip, hesitating before the words finally forced their way out. “She’s… acting out. Being difficult.”

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Chapter 34

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The words felt hollow.

Seraphina was being anything but difficult. She was being perfect-clinical, polite, and completely unreachable.

That was the problem. It made me felt uneasy inside.

Used to be, if I got close, her scent was all sweet devotion and ‘look at me.’

Now, she treated me like some rogue she was tolerating at the border

Tade thought it over, probably calculating if the mating was worth a damn.

“Alpha Mortimer, women need to feel like they’re the priority. If Luna Seraphina is unhappy, maybe you just… drop the ego for a second. Try to win her back.”

Win her back?

Give me a break. I didn’t have the bandwidth to play games.

But instead of shutting him down, what came out was, “How?”

“Flowers, bags, diamonds. Works every time. It’s the safe bet.”

Tade started to roll with it, then stopped, looking cautious. “Wait-is Luna Seraphina allergic to pollen?”

I froze. I drew a total blank. “I don’t know,” I grunted.

Tade’s face went through an entire cycle of ‘you’ve got to be kidding me.’

The air in the room turned into a solid block of ice.

I opened my mouth to defend myself, but then I pictured Seraphina’s cold, dead eyes from this morning. My hand went to the bridge of my nose. I felt a rare, stinging jolt of guilt.

I thought back to the terrace, remembering her tending to those plants, the smell of green things and soil clinging to her. She’d looked fine. “No,” I said, sounding more certain than I felt. “She’s fine.”

Tade took that as a green light. “Then order her favorite flowers. Book her favorite restaurant. Do the candle-lit dinner thing. Bring a piece of jewelry-something she’s had her eye on. Make an effort. She’ll come around.”

I’d never handled anything this tedious in my life. Just listening to the list ruade my head ache.

Tade saw my face darken and practically shrank into his shoes.

“That’s it?” I asked, skeptical.

Tade nodded, looking dead serious. “That’s it. Look, the ‘stuff’ is just a prop. It’s the effort that counts. She needs to feel like she actually matters to you. If she feels that, the rest is easy.” 1

Effort?

I’d been practically begging her to eat with me for two days, and she’d shot me down with every polite excuse in the book. She wouldn’t even give me five minutes. My effort was fine. My patience was the thing that was running thin. 1

I shoved the frustration down and waved him off. “Fine. Get out.”

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Chapter. 2

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