All Chapters of Mated to My Ex's Brother: Chapter 31 - Chapter 40

The second I saw the figure, my pulse shot into overdrive.“Jaxon,” I whispered, gripping his arm so tight I probably cut off circulation.He followed my gaze, his shoulders immediately stiffening. “Stay here.”“Yeah, like that’s going to happen,” I hissed, already sliding off the counter. My legs wobbled from earlier, but adrenaline shoved me forward.The glass was still fogged, distorting the figure outside. I could barely tell if they were male or female, tall or average—but the way they stood, perfectly still, made my skin crawl.Jaxon stepped toward the door. I grabbed his hand. “Wait. What if—”He glanced back at me, his eyes softening just a fraction. “Then they’ll deal with me.” His voice was low, steady, in that infuriatingly confident Alpha way.I hated that it made me feel safer.The shadow moved, just a step, enough for me to catch the

I stayed where I was on the couch, my eyes locked on the black SUV at the corner. The glow from the streetlamp reflected off its tinted windows, and the engine hummed low, like it was waiting. I told myself it could be nothing. Just a random car. But my gut—the same gut that had been screaming at me for weeks—was telling me otherwise.I checked my phone again. Still nothing from Jaxon.Maybe I was being ridiculous. Maybe he’d be home any second and laugh at me for freaking myself out over a car. But as the minutes ticked by, the tension coiled tighter in my chest.I must have stayed like that for a while because eventually, my eyelids grew heavy. I pulled the throw blanket over me, curling up on the couch, telling myself I’d just close my eyes for a minute. Just until he got back.The next thing I knew, I was half-awake, surrounded by the kind of dark that felt thicker than usual. It wasn’t the sound of the fridge humming or

 When I woke again, the couch was empty.My pulse spiked instantly.“Jaxon?” I called, pushing up on my elbows.No answer.The apartment felt too quiet, the kind of quiet that made the hairs on the back of my neck prickle. I sat there for a second, trying to piece together why the air felt so… wrong. That’s when I noticed it.The front door was cracked open.My stomach sank. We never left it like that. I padded over, every step making my heartbeat louder in my ears. I pushed the door shut, and as I did, a shadow shifted in my peripheral vision. I turned sharply—and froze.Cyrus.He was standing in the hallway just outside the door, hands shoved casually into his pockets, like he hadn’t been about to knock… or like he’d been standing there long enough to think about it.“Morning,” he said, voice smooth in that way that made me uneasy now. “Is J

One month had crawled by, and even though the divorce trial had already begun, my mind kept drifting elsewhere. To survive everything—the tension, the sleepless nights, Cyrus’s looming shadow, Jaxon’s quiet but constant strength—I had forced myself not to look backward. But the past has a way of catching up with you.And mine wasn’t some faint ghost I could ignore. It was stitched into me, pressed into my skin like ink.I used to be the perfect Omega.At least, that was what I had been trained to be.When I was younger, obedience wasn’t a choice—it was a demand. My parents weren’t cruel, but they carried the weight of expectation like it was their birthright, and they made sure I carried it too.“Don’t talk too loud.”“Don’t raise your eyes when an Alpha is speaking.”“Smile. Always smile. Even if you feel like crying.”The lessons were endless, drilled into me until they became second nature. I still remembered standing in front of the mirror at thirteen, smoothing down the pale blue

If someone had told me a few months ago that I would be sitting in the lobby of one of the largest corporate towers in the city, nervously twisting the strap of my handbag while my Alpha prepared to face a boardroom full of people ready to tear him apart, I would have laughed. Or cried. Maybe both.But here I was.The lobby buzzed with quiet footsteps, the sharp click of polished shoes against marble, and the faint scent of stress—Alphas and Betas in business suits, their pheromones tightly controlled, though some leaked out with tension. Jaxon stood near the elevator, phone pressed to his ear, his jaw sharp with concentration. His suit looked immaculate, but I knew him well enough to spot the slight stiffness in his shoulders.“Uh-huh,” he said lowly into the receiver. “No. We’ll hold off until I hear it from the legal team. Keep your end airtight.”He hung up, sliding his phone into his pocket before his gaze found me. He softened just a little, enough that the tightness in my chest