Chapter 12
1029 Words
Alexander:
Paperwork rarely irritated me.
People did.
Especially today.
The border expansions, the rogue patterns, the spikes in pack attacks, everything demanded attention. Focus. Precision. My thoughts were already pulled in too many directions, and the last thing I needed was…
Soft hands slid across my shoulders.
I didn’t tense.
I didn’t flinch.
I simply stopped writing.
And for a second, I had to remind myself not to push her away… at least, not physically…
Seraphina.
Her perfume, sweet, sharp, unmistakably intentional, seeped around me as her fingers began to knead the muscles at my neck.
“I thought you could use a break,” she whispered, leaning in close enough that her breath warmed my cheek. “I know that you didn’t call for me… but you’ve been in here for hours. I thought that it would be good for me to be here by your side.”
I didn’t bother turning.
“What do you want, Seraphina? Because as you can see, I have a lot to take care of. And unless it is important, I think that you should leave.”
Her hands stilled, just barely, before continuing with forced gentleness.
“I want to help you relax,” she said. “You’ve been tense. Distant. And I…” she pressed slightly harder, voice dropping, “…I want to be beside you. Like I always have. I know that you have work to do, but even work can wait when it is this late into the night. And I believe that I can ease your tension.”
I finally turned my head enough to look at her.
Her expression was soft, pleading, performative.
Her lips slightly parted as if that alone could sway me.
Her eyes warm in a way she practiced in front of mirrors.
She was trying.
I didn’t care.
“Find something else to do,” I said, pulling away from her touch. “I don’t need you to help me relax, ease the tension, or whatever it is that you want to do. Just leave the office.”
The temperature in the room dipped immediately.
“Something else?” she repeated, the sweetness slipping. “Like what? What task do you want to send me away with this time? Because it is almost midnight, and you are still stuck with paperwork. And that paperwork can be done in the morning.”
“I don’t care,” I said plainly. “Just stop hovering over me. And how I choose to do what I want to do is not for you to discuss with me.”
The crack in her composure was small, but unmistakable.
“So this is it?” she asked quietly, though her voice trembled with anger. “You push me aside for her? You barely know the girl and you are here pushing away the woman who was by your side through everything.”
“Seraphina.”
“Alexander, you can’t keep pushing me away for a stranger. And I will not stand by and watch…”
“I said a word,” I said, stopping her, tone razor-sharp, “and I will not repeat myself. Do not involve yourself in matters that do not concern you.”
Her nostrils flared. “She concerns me if you keep choosing her over me. You concern me, Alexander. I can’t just pretend like all of this is not happening, and that you are allowing a stranger to overstep me.”
I stood, not because of her, but because sitting made her believe she still had advantage.
“She is a guest under my protection,” I said steadily. “Nothing about her involves you.”
“But she’s carrying your…”
“That,” I cut in, voice dropping dangerously low, “is none of your business. And if you try to involve yourself in things that are not of your concern, you are going to end up regretting it.”
The silence between us throbbed with unspoken fury.
Seraphina’s eyes glossed with a mix of hurt and rage. “You act as if she’s special. She’s not. She’s nothing but…”
“Finish that sentence,” I warned, taking a single step toward her, “and you will leave this office and I will be sure that you stay out of my sight until I say so.”
She swallowed hard.
Her jealousy filled the room like poison.
Her resentment burned with the force of someone losing control of the life she imagined for herself.
“You’re throwing me aside,” she whispered, bitterness replacing pretense. “For someone who doesn’t even want you. She would rather leave than stay here, and you know it. Had you not saved her, had you not brought her here, she wouldn’t have come on her own… and you know it, Alexander.”
I didn’t react.
Because it didn’t matter whether Alessia wanted me.
She was my responsibility.
My priority.
My mate.
Seraphina sensed the truth even if I didn’t speak it.
She stepped closer, almost shaking. “Tell me I still matter, Alexander. Tell me I’m still yours and I’ll do anything you want. Anything. Make me feel like I matter to you. Just a little bit.”
I opened the door.
“That’s enough. I would rather I not break your heart, Seraphina. And if you don’t want to listen, then I would rather you save yourself some dignity and walk out.”
Her breath hitched.
“Leave,” I ordered. “Now.”
She hesitated, angry, hurt, humiliated.
But she left.
And as the door shut behind her, I sat back down, jaw tight, thoughts returning to Alessia uninvited.
Seraphina didn’t understand.
She never would.
This wasn’t about desire.
Or choice.
Or even politics.
It was instinct.
It was fate.
And she was never mine in the first place.
It was the scent of Alessia’s skin under moonlight and the terror I felt when she bled in my arms.
And whether I admitted it out loud or not…
Seraphina was right about one thing:
I barely knew Alessia.
But I was going to everything in my power to keep her safe…
- Writer
