Ex-Mate Wants Me Back (Seraphina and Mortimer) novel Chapter 35

Chapter 35

Mortimer’s POV

After Tade cleared out, I tried to hit Seraphina up through the mind-link. No surprise-she’d dead-bolted the connection.

My heart was actually thumping.

“Where are you? Free for dinner tonight?”

I sent it. Then I waited.

Five seconds felt like an hour. No ping.

Thinking about how ice-cold she’d been lately, I rubbed the bridge of my nose. I actually felt a jolt of stage fright-the Alpha of the Blades was genuinely afraid of being left on ‘read.’

I gritted my teeth and quickly sent a follow-up to bait the hook.

“I wanted to pick your brain about Rolf’s condition.”

That did it. The reply came back almost instantly.

“I’m at the pack. If it’s about Rolf, I can call the ICU for an update, but he should be stable.”

I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding and started typing fast.

“I booked a table. I’ll pick you up. We can talk while we eat.”

It was officially the fastest I’d ever replied to a text in my life.

I stared at the simple “Okay” on the screen, and my mood went into a weird tailspin.

On one hand, she said yes. On the other, that one-word answer felt like a slap.

I scrolled up through our history.

The old Seraphina was a talker. She used to fill the screen trying to keep me engaged, while I was the one giving the one-word brush-offs. “Mhm.” “Got it.” “Busy.”

Now, the roles were flipped.

The irony was a bitter pill to swallow. I let out a dry laugh. If I hadn’t used Rolf as an excuse, she probably wouldn’t have given me the time of day.

I’d officially reached the point where I had to lie just to get my own mate to grab a burger with me.

Whatever. Leaving her in Alaska for two weeks was a trash move, even if I had a reason. 2

Tade was right-mates need maintenance. Seraphina was always easygoing; a nice meal should patch things up.

I drove back to the main villa at the heart of the compound.

The biometric lock clicked open, and the second I stepped inside, I ran right into her coming out of the bedroom.

She’d ditched the stiff doctor’s shirt for a soft, cream-colored cashmere knit.

Her hair, usually pinned up tight for the OR, was gathered loosely at the back of her head.

A few stray strands framed her neck. The evening sun was hitting the floor-to-ceiling windows, catching her in profile and giving her this soft, golden glow.

I stood there in the foyer and, for the first time in three years, I just… looked at her.

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Uur group’s clubs are packed with top tier models, and the pack has plenty of high-ranking she-wolves, but they all smell like desperation that cloying omega scent designed to bait an Alpha. It usually just gives me a headache.

But Seraphina? Standing there in the light, she looked like a piece of fine art. Cold, quiet, and impossible to look away from.

When she caught me staring, my heart did a weird double-tap.

I felt the heat rise to my face-pure, unadulterated embarrassment. I’d never felt so out of my depth.

“Ahem…”

I faked a cough to kill the awkwardness and let my voice go stiff. “I made a reservation. We’re eating out.”

She just gave me a flat nod. She grabbed her camel wool coat from the rack and swung it over her shoulders-smooth, efficient, and totally unbothered. “Let’s go.”

As I started the car, I felt her eyes on me for a second.

Look, I’m not humble-I know I look better than most. In the tight space of the SUV, I was hoping for even a shred of a reaction.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her looking at my hands on the wheel.

But then she just looked away, staring out the window at the blurred traffic like I wasn’t even there.

The silence in the car was deafening. I turned up the radio just to drown out the sound of my own thoughts.

I glanced at her, trying to find a way in. “I booked a French place. That okay with you?”

She didn’t even turn her head. “Sure. I’m not picky.”

Right then, her phone chirped.

She pulled it out, her entire focus shifting to the screen.

For the next ten minutes, the thing wouldn’t stop pinging. It was like a goddamn machine gun.

She was hunched over the phone, typing away with a look of intense concentration-the same look she’d given me a thousand times before.

Now, I was just the guy driving the car. The hired help.

“Seraphina,” I growled, my patience hitting a wall.

She finally looked up, meeting my glare with a blank expression.

す

“Who the hell is that? And why do they have so much to say?” I was barely holding back the rage.

She pressed her lips together, giving me a look that was technically an ‘apology’ but felt like a dismissal. “Just a friend. They need something. Is the noise bothering you?”

Before I could even launch into a lecture, she pointed to a turnout up ahead. Her voice was so calm it actually scared me. “Just pull over and drop me there. Text me the address of the restaurant. I’ll catch an Uber and meet you there.”

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