28. Seraphina
28
SERAPHINA
M y sister frowned, her brows pinched in confusion as she dusted blush onto my cheeks. She’d had that look on her face since she arrived at my dorm room two hours ago.
When I’d opened the door, Isabella had startled, like she was shocked to even find me here. She recovered quickly, though, bustling into my room, a garment bag in one hand and her makeup kit in another. She’d already spent the four hours it normally took her to get ready at home, arriving here draped in lavender organza. Her blonde hair had been professionally blown out and curled, and she wore towering five-inch heels with the same ease and confidence that I wore my combat boots.
“All right, I’m officially freaked out,” she said. Her heroic efforts to keep the mood light and happy had finally cratered ten minutes ago when she ran out of cute stories to tell me about Clarabella. “I’d certainly walked in here expecting you to be unhappy about the choosing tonight. I’d braced myself for a spirited argument with you. Hell, I’d half expected for you to be missing, and then I’d have to call and have Dad send out the search party. But this?” She waved a manicured hand at my face. “What is this? You’ve barely spoken a word. You’re like a ghost version of my sister.”
“She’s sad , Isabella,” Paige said from behind me, where she had a section of my hair wrapped around a hot curling iron. “The fighting with your parents, the threat of expulsion, the being forced into a courtship with a pack she’s never met?—”
“She has had several opportunities to meet them?—”
“—it’s just taken a lot out of her,” Paige finished. “She’s not actually invincible.”
Isa shot her an incredulous look over the top of my head.
“I know,” Paige said. “Trust me, it was a shock to me when I found out too.”
“I’m fine,” I said dully. “I’d like to just get this over with.”
Paige squeezed my shoulder. She knew that what was really eating me were the shards that used to be my heart scattered around my chest cavity. I had no energy to plan another elaborate prank to fuck with my parents and my betrotheds and extricate myself from this latest courtship event.
And I had to hand it to them. They’d done a great job putting my back up against the wall this time. I needed a pack on paper to avoid getting tossed out the OFS gates on my ass, so I was going to have to endure tonight’s gala.
So I’d grin and bear it if they wanted to parade me in front of a pack of Alphas from extremely prestigious Texas families like a prized broodmare. I’d feel their eyes on me and scent their lust, and I’d choke down the urge to vomit.
I’d figure out how to escape this nightmare later.
“Well,” Isa said, forcing a smile, “I get that. I do, Seraphina, but I am choosing to remain optimistic about tonight. I know you have this notion that you’ll find a way to just live your life without a pack, but it would be an empty one. You need to at least try .”
I didn’t reply. Not that I could’ve because she was now meticulously drawing on my lip liner.
“I don’t know what else I can say to convince you,” she went on. “You’ve seen me with my pack. Mom and our fathers. Dylan and our brothers. We are all deliriously happy. I know there are omegas out there in… bad situations, but Dad has vetted this pack inside and out. He’d never put you in danger.”
“Sure,” I said.
She huffed. “Do I need to wax poetic about the incredible experience of sex with an Alpha? Of being knotted ?”
Paige, who was now fluffing my hair, choked on a cough.
A few days ago, I might’ve laughed awkwardly while I hoped my face didn’t turn bright red and broadcast my guilt.
But now? My sister may as well have grown claws and cleaved chunks of flesh from my chest.
Isabella frowned. “I thought that would at least get a lewd comment out of you. This really is bad.”
“But you know what isn’t bad?” Paige said brightly. “This look .” She misted hairspray over me with a dramatic flourish.
“Gorgeous, yes,” Isa said, admiring her handiwork. “Go get dressed, Seraphina. Your escort will be here in ten minutes.”
I stood up and wandered to my closet. The photoshopped version of Seraphina Bryce appeared in the full-length mirror affixed to the door.
If my handiest skill was sneaking around and assassinating people on behalf of Bryce Solution’s paying clients, Isa’s was the ability to do makeup like a pro. She could enhance anyone’s natural beauty with the lightest touch. I still looked like me , just… better.
Paige had tamed my hair into soft waves that fell around my shoulders and down my back. All that was left was to slip on one of the three dresses Isa had hauled over here.
I chose the black one. Seemed fitting.
The sweetheart neckline contained my boobs, barely, and the thin straps draped comfortably over my shoulders. The bodice cinched in at my waist, and the satin skirt fell to my shins, a top layer of wispy black tulle giving it some body. The color was striking against my pale skin.
I looked amazing.
I wanted to cry.
As soon as I’d slipped on the stiletto sandals that Isa refused to hear a word against, a knock sounded at my door.
I blew out a breath and went to answer it. Isa and Paige watched me warily.
There was no need for concern. I already knew who would be on the other side.
“Hey, Jere.”
“Sera,” he rumbled. He studied me, his face serious but his eyes soft. “You look beautiful.”
“Thank you.”
Jere wasn’t one for suits, but it appeared Mom had managed to get him into a dark gray dress shirt for tonight’s festivities, and he’d paired it with black jeans and his work boots.
He was quiet for a moment. Contemplative, even. Weird, but I’d take that over threats or any other coercion he might think he needed to get me to this party.
Isa appeared at my side, clutching her tiny purse in one hand and caressing her burgeoning baby bump with the other. “Something’s wrong with her, Jere,” she announced, the traitor. “But she appears to be going willingly. You might want to pat her down for weapons, though.”
“No need.” He held his hand out to me expectantly. “But I will take your phone.”
Smart. It was a wonder no one had tried that the first two times.
I pulled my phone from my cleavage and placed it in his hand without comment. His eyes narrowed like he didn’t trust the gesture, but then he stuffed the phone into his back pocket.
Paige sat cross-legged on my bed, solemn as she watched the proceedings.
I waved at her. “I’ll call you when I’m allowed to have my phone back,” I said, then I forced a smile. “Don’t worry about me, okay?”
She returned my forced smile. “Maybe it’ll go great, Seraphina. You never know.”
I nodded absently, then I stepped into the hallway behind Isa and shut the door. Numbness was within reach, so I let it take over as I followed my father and my sister down the dorm stairs and out into the waning evening sun.
Isabella hopped out of Jere’s SUV as soon as he’d parked it in front of Bryce Manor, and I watched in mild fascination as she scaled the front staircase like a gazelle in those ridiculous heels. Her Alphas were already inside, enjoying the party along with the rest of my family, my betrotheds, and their immediate family members.
An intimate affair , indeed. I supposed I could be thankful that my parents hadn’t invited everyone they’d ever spoken to in the Palisades to witness my humiliating defeat.
Jere’s dark green eyes regarded me in the rearview mirror. “Do you trust me to take care of you, Sera?”
I startled out of my brooding. “Yes?”
“Do you trust me to always have your back?”
“Yes.” I paused. “On missions. In other things? I don’t know anymore.”
He blew out a breath. “I need you to trust me when I tell you that everything will be okay. I’ll walk you in there, you’ll hold your head up high because you’re my daughter, and everything will be okay.”
I stared at him. For some reason, his words helped.
He was right. I was Seraphina fucking Bryce, and I wasn’t going to limp into this party like a wounded baby deer.
We exited the car, and Jere offered me his arm like a gallant gentleman, which on any other day would’ve made me snicker like a loon. He led me up the stone steps to the front door of the place I’d called home for twenty-one years.
The first thing that struck me when we entered the grand living room where my parents held their largest parties was an odd sense that I didn’t hate the decor. My mother’s usual aesthetic was what I’d charitably describe as “fairytale princess,” but tonight she’d gone with a striking red and black.
The furniture had been cleared from the room, and two long banquet tables flanked the sides. A simple black tablecloth covered each, and the floral arrangements dotting the surface were understated arrangements of red roses—so unlike the tall vases of cascading pastels I’d been expecting.
Swaths of alternating red and black fabric had been draped across the vaulted ceiling, stretching from the sides and meeting in the middle at the two Spanish-style iron chandeliers that lit the room. A long rug covered the terracotta tile of the floor between the two tables, its designs swirling in muted reds, oranges, blacks, and grays.
Clusters of well-dressed people milled around the room. They quieted as soon as we stepped through the arched entrance. Isa and her Alphas were nearby, and I registered Austin, Seth, Cam, and Dylan among the sea of unfamiliar faces.
As Jere led me down the center aisle, I almost expected the string quartet set up in the corner to break into the wedding march. My vision narrowed, and I sank into calm waters with a fortifying breath, tuning out the rest of the room.
I focused on Rodrigo’s broad back ahead of us, where he stood next to Andrew, Jonathan, and my mom. Thomas Montgomery, regal as ever in a bespoke navy suit, was also with them. They all faced away from me, talking to people who were obscured by my fathers’ large frames.
“That’s far enough,” I whispered to Jere, bringing us to a stop some distance away from the rest of my parents.
He didn’t protest. We stood together, alone in the middle of the room. I clutched his arm harder than I wished was necessary, and I did as he’d said.
I held my head high.
“Oh, good,” Andrew said, turning to face us. His face lit up with relief—and something like pride—as he looked me over. “Seraphina, I’d like to finally introduce you to your pack.”