Page 38 of Claimed By My Fiancé's Brother

I went to the buffet table and began to pile finger foods on my plate.

No sense in being annoyedandhungry.

“Can I just say, you’re far more stunning in person?”

I turned, shocked that anyone had spoken to me.

The lady standing next to me was a few inches taller than me, with beautiful jet-black hair, warm brown eyes, and a bone structure that was so familiar I was certain I’d seen her before.

But I couldn’t recall where.

“Sorry, do I know you?” I asked, puzzled.

She beamed at me before offering me her hand.

“I’m Seraphina Hawthorne. You’re mated to my brother.”

This was Seraphina?

She was seventeen now, but she’d been just thirteen years old when I got engaged to Dylan. I hadn’t gotten a chance to meet her back then.

Plus, she was heavily guarded since she was the only daughter of the Hawthorne family, a potential Achilles’ heel, and her extravagant bouts of mischief probably didn’t help matters.

Ignoring her hand, I pulled her into a hug.

“It’s nice to meet you,” I said. “I’m Eleanor.”

Seraphina seemed surprised, but she returned my embrace enthusiastically.

When she pulled away, she looked around me, like she was searching for someone.

“Alexander didn’t come with you?” she asked, her brown eyes wide with surprise. “I thought mated pairs were supposed to be inseparable.”

Ouch.

I wanted to make an excuse for Alexander, but Seraphina seemed so guileless that I couldn’t lie to her.

“Your brother and I…we’re different,” I began, struggling to find the right words. “Those mated pairs you hear about have love… probably even a true mate bond. We don’t have that.”

Seraphina paused and for a moment, her eyes glistened with unshed tears.

I panicked.

Shit. I didn’t know she was that sensitive. Maybe I shouldn’t have told her.

Seraphina’s jaw clenched, and a strange determination bloomed in her eyes.

“There’s something you need to know about Alexander, Eleanor. The real reason he?—”

“And what exactly does she need to know, Seraphina?”

I froze.Alexander?

CHAPTER 7

ALEXANDER

“You’re a bully,” Eleanor stated evenly, but her shoulders were tense and her green eyes flashed with barely bridled annoyance.

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