Ex-Mate Wants Me Back (Seraphina and Mortimer) novel Chapter 61

Chapter 61

Third Person’s POV

“Be my guest,” Seraphina said, her voice dropping to zero degrees.

“You… you just wait!” Vivian spat the words through gritted teeth, turning on her heel and stomping off.

She was so blinded by her own theatrical rage that she seemed to have forgotten she actually came to the clinic to see her brother.

Seraphina watched her silhouette vanish at the end of the hall, the small smirk on her face fading into something tired.

She thought about Vivian’s little boast-that Mortimer had promised to mate with her.

Suddenly, the puzzle pieces clicked.

She finally understood why Mortimer, who treated Vivian like a fragile glass doll, had signed that contract with her instead.

Vivian was stuck overseas, recovering. Mortimer needed a female wolf to shut the pack elders up and kill the pressure from the Alpha families.

He needed a placeholder. Someone low-maintenance, polite, and professional.

Someone who would occupy the “Luna” seat just long enough for Vivian to return, and then walk away like an old piece of furniture-no drama, no clinging, no mess.

Seraphina took a slow, deep breath. The sterile hospital air felt heavy, but the dull ache in her chest actually started to numb.

“You really thought of everything, didn’t you, Mortimer?” she whispered, looking out at the skyline.

In the back of her mind, Lily let out a long, weary sigh.

The clouds outside were twisting into a black bruised mass. A storm was coming.

The humidity was suffocating, making everything feel jagged and restless.

Before the first drop hit, Seraphina broke into a run toward the admin wing.

She had two back-to-back high-intensity surgeries. By the time she scrubbed out, it was officially quitting time.

“Sera, I set up the house viewing with my friend. Change quick and let’s go,” Trista said, meeting her at the lockers.

Seraphina nodded. “On it.”

୮

She changed out of her scrubs, but before leaving the building, she made one quick stop at the security office.

Meanwhile, Mortimer was rotting alone in the Alpha villa.

He felt sick, and it wasn’t just the flu.

It felt like a total systemic collapse.

Every time he pictured the way Seraphina looked at him-like he was just some guy she passed on the street-his heart skipped a beat.

Realizing she didn’t care enough to even ask if he was alive was a new kind of pain.

As an Alpha, this kind of unanchored anxiety was a foreign language.

He’d been coughing all morning. His lungs felt like they were packed with hot coals.

The meds were wearing off, and the fever was clawing its way back up.

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Chapter 61

+15 Bonus

But he didn’t care about the heat; he cared about the hollow, freezing draft blowing through the center of his chest.

He’d stared at his phone for ten hours straight.

From the second she walked out that morning to this grey twilight, she hadn’t sent a single character.

No “is the fever down?” No “did you eat?”

The irony hit him hard. He was sitting there like a starving wolf waiting for a scrap of attention.

Since when did the Great Mortimer Craig waste his time waiting for a “check-in” from anyone?

The absurdity of it turned his mood into a toxic, acidic mess.

The doorbell rang.

Something sparked deep in Mortimer’s eyes. The dark weight in his chest lifted instantly.

He didn’t even realize how fast he was moving toward the door, a small, involuntary smile tugging at his mouth.

“Did you seriously forget the entry code?” he asked, his voice light as he pulled the door open.

The smile died the second he saw who was standing there.

“Vivian? What are you doing here?” Mortimer’s mood bottomed out.

A second later, Vivian was sobbing and throwing herself into his arms.

The contact made Mortimer go rigid.

The sharp, cloying scent of her perfume mixed with her omega pheromones hit his fever-sensitized nose like a physical punch. It was nauseating.

Inside his head, Barton let out a feral, disgusted roar. The wolf hated the intrusion.

“GET HER OFF US.” Barton’s instinct overrode Mortimer’s politeness.

He reached out and shoved Vivian back with a raw, blunt force.

The look on Vivian’s face froze.

Mortimer had always been distant, but he’d never looked at her with actual revulsion.

What scared her even more was the flash of panic in his eyes-as if he was terrified that someone, anyone, would see her there.

The air around Mortimer turned ice-cold. Even sick, his Alpha aura was a crushing weight.

The sheer, silent violence of his mood made Vivian shiver. She took two steps back, her survival instincts finally kicking in.

“Is there a reason you’re here?” Mortimer managed to choke back Barton’s rage. He turned and sat heavily on the sofa.

Vivian swallowed her fear, replacing it with a fresh wave of tears. “Morty… Seraphina… she hates me. I didn’t know where else to go.”

At the mention of her name, Mortimer’s glazed eyes snapped into focus. “What about her?”

His voice was a shredded rasp.

Vivian sniffled, her eyes darting to his face. “She humiliated me today at the clinic… in front of everyone. She called me a ‘home- wrecker.’ People were staring, saying horrible things to me because of her.”

She kept crying, peeking through her fingers to check his reaction.

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Chapter 61

Seeing his face go deathly dark, she felt a surge of triumph. “Checkmate, Seraphina. Let’s see you crawl out of this one.”

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