All Chapters of The Deaf Alpha’s Unexpected Mate : Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

SERAPHINEAlly didn't let me finish a single sentence without interrupting."Wait, wait, back up." She sat cross-legged on her bed, the last of the grilled chicken forgotten on a scrap of cloth between us. "He said what, in front of the entire council?""That I was his mate." I said it quieter the second time, like the walls might repeat it back to Calista if I wasn't careful. "He threw Draven Cole into a wall for touching my chin.""Sera." Ally's hand came up to her mouth. "Sera, that is not a business arrangement.""I know.""That has never once in the history of business arrangements been a business arrangement.""I know, Ally."She studied me for a long moment, the kind of look she only gave me when she was deciding whether to say something I didn't want to hear. "And has he said anything to you? About it? Alone, not in front of nine Alphas trying to save face?"I picked at the hem of my new dress, the fabric still unfamiliar under my fingers. "No.""Nothing.""Nothing."Ally exha

SERAPHINE"Fine." The word came out clipped and brittle. She turned on her heel so fast her skirt snapped around her legs. "Ally, get over here. At least you've got two good legs; make yourself useful and grab those baskets."She stalked off without looking back, her heels striking a rhythm that sounded, to my ears, exactly like someone trying very hard not to run.Ally sidled up beside me the moment Calista was out of earshot, a strange, bright little smile tugging at her mouth despite the tension still hanging thick in the air."I think the alpha's feeling generous today." She bumped my shoulder with hers. "Might be a good time to ask him for that favour.""Ally,""Just saying." She was already backing toward the storehouse, hoisting a basket of oranges onto her hip like it weighed nothing. "Generous men don't stay generous forever. You should strike while the iron's hot.""Ally, wait," I reached for her sleeve and missed. "This isn't the time for that conversation.""There's never

KAELI felt her before I heard the carriage wheels on the gravel.Not Seraphine. My mother's arrival announced itself the way weather fronts do, a pressure change moving through the entire manor, servants straightening their spines two full minutes before her carriage cleared the gates, as though her authority preceded her by scent alone. I'd have known she was coming even without the note Mohan slid across my desk that morning.Lady Isolde has requested an audience. She did not specify a reason.She never did. Isolde Thorne had spent thirty years mastering the art of arriving unannounced and letting the silence that followed do her explaining for her. I knew, reading that single line, that the house wasn't going to be the same by nightfall.I was in the study when her voice, sharp and cultured, carried up from the entry hall, already interrogating some unfortunate servant about the state of the front hedges. I didn't need to hear the words to know their shape. My mother's disapproval

SERAPHINEIt was almost time for roll call, and I still hadn't woken. I pulled the blanket over my face, shutting out the thin morning light creeping through the shutter slats, and let myself lie there a moment longer than I had any right to. Somewhere behind me I could hear Ally moving fast, the rustle of fabric, the soft thud of her sandals against the floorboards. There was too much to do this week, the renovation had every hand in the orphanage stretched thin, and you dared not stand still for long or Calista would find a reason to make an example of you."You've got to be kidding me." Ally's voice cut through the fog of half sleep. "You better get your ass up and start your morning duty before you even think about heading to work. There's no entourage coming to pick you up today."I didn't answer. I was too busy trying to hold onto the last few threads of sleep, the only place my mind wasn't circling back to a pair of kohl rimmed eyes."Sera?" Calm this time, testing. Nothing. "S

KAELI found my mother pacing my study when I finally escaped the wreckage of the sitting room, her heels tracking a hard, restless line across the carpet, back and forth, back and forth, the way she used to pace when I was a boy and something hadn't gone her way. The candles along the far wall had burned low, wax pooling in thick amber ridges down the brass holders, and the fire in the hearth had settled to embers that pulsed faint orange light across the room every few seconds, like the house itself was holding its breath along with me.I took one long breath before I crossed the threshold, rubbing a hand over my face, already certain this was going to be fire before a single word passed between us. My jaw still ached faintly from where Isolde's palm had nearly landed in the sitting room, and some part of me, some old, tired part, had known the moment I stepped between her and Seraphine that this conversation was inevitable. My mother did not absorb humiliation quietly. She stored i