Chapter 231 - Stolen Mate of My Sister (Seraphina & Kieran) Novel Free Online

“Yeah,” he mumbled. “He helped me beat Dad and Uncle Ethan.

“Well,” I whispered, “that practically makes him a superstar.”

He laughed weakly, a small sound that soon faded into the rhythm of his slow, even breaths. He’d finally drifted off.

I lay there for a long while, just holding him, tracing tiny circles over his back.

Even now, after all that had happened, I still couldn’t quite believe this moment was real-my baby, back in my arms. My wolf, alive inside me.

And there was something beautifully poetic about Daniel being the one to sense Alina first.

Though I’d accepted her decision, it had bummed me out a little that I couldn’t share her existence with anyone.

But tonight, as my son’s words echoed in my head, I realized I didn’t need to share her with the world. It was enough that Daniel knew.

After all, he was my world….do you think Lucian’s gonna join our family someday?’

His words rang in my mind. My world was expanding. Maya, Judy, Roxy, Finn, Talia…Lucian.

I’d caught the end of their video game tournament earlier. It had filled me with warmth to see Daniel and Lucian getting along great.

I didn’t think synergy with my son was going to be a problem. But…

‘Lucian once had a mate he actually loved…’

I’d pushed the revelation out of my mind when Roxy first mentioned it, brushed it away as a tactic to unsettle me.

But now that I was no longer in survival mode, I was free to worry and overthink and fret.

Luckily, this time, I didn’t have to do it alone.

“Alina,” I whispered into the dark, “what do you think of him?”

‘Him?’ she echoed.

I exhaled softly. “Lucian.”

There was a pause-long enough that I began to think she might not answer. Then, slowly, her tone shifted into thoughtful caution.

‘He carries an enigmatic aura,’ she said. ‘Something mysterious. But not tainted. I sense no malice in him. Only shadows that haven’t decided what they want to be yet.

“Shadows,” I repeated softly. That seemed to be the running theme when it came to Lucian. “That’s…comforting”

You’re disappointed, she observed gently.

“I don’t know,” I admitted.

Truthfully, I’d expected a different answer. I wanted her to say she felt a connection between me and Lucian. Something…more.

‘Alina, I started hesitantly, ‘If…if we came in contact with our destined mate, would you be able to sense him?

Another long silence. The kind that fills with too much meaning.

When she finally spoke, her voice was softer than ever. “Tell me, Sera. Do you still want a destined mate?’

The question hit deeper than I expected. I looked down at Daniel, his face peaceful in sleep, his hand still gripping the edge of my sleeve.

‘I used to, I answered honestly. ‘When I was younger, I used to dream about it. About what it would feel like to belong to someone completely. To be loved so deeply and unconditionally.’

‘And now?’

‘Now…’ I sighed. ‘After everything that’s happened-after being bound to someone who wasn’t truly mine-I think I’ve learned to be okay without it.’

‘You don’t sound like you’re okay with it, she murmured. ‘You sound sad.

‘I’m…not.

Was I?

‘I’ve made peace with it, I continued quietly. ‘I’m not that girl anymore-the one who kept trying to earn her worth by being perfect. If I don’t have a destined mate, it doesn’t mean I’m incomplete.’

There was warmth in this silence. Then: ‘You’ve grown stronger, Sera!’

‘I have, I agreed. I’d overcome the Trials. The world had seen me not as the ex-wife of an Alpha or the stigmatized, discarded daughter of the Lockwoods-but as a leader. A champion.

‘I’ve come this far already. I’ll be fine.’

Alina was quiet for a moment longer before she said, almost hesitantly, ‘You can’t feel the bond yet because you can’t Shift. When the time comes-when your body and my soul are one again-you’ll see what fate has in store. The truth doesn’t hide forever!

Her words should have soothed, but they only elicited an ache in my chest.

I smiled faintly anyway. “That sounds like something you’d say to make me feel better!’

‘Maybe it is, she admitted, amusement flickering. ‘But that doesn’t make it untrue.’

I closed my eyes; the room was silent except for Daniel’s soft breathing and the faint hum of night beyond the window. I let thoughts still, let the steady rhythm of his heartbeat calm me. my scattered

CATE

I must have dozed off for a moment because the sudden vibration of my phone on the nightstand startled me.

I reached over, blinking against the glow of the screen. Kieran.

I hesitated, thumb hovering above the answer button as my insides knotted. Why would he be calling me this late at night? What could he possibly want?

‘Well, you won’t know until you answer, Alina nudged, her tone indecipherable.

The phone kept buzzing, and somewhere inside me, a pulse of old, familiar electricity responded.

I exhaled slowly, trying to steady my heart before pressing accept.

SERAPHINA’S POV

If someone had told me three months ago that I’d end up at a family amusement park with Kieran Blackthorne, I would’ve laughed them straight into the next moon cycle.

And yet here I was-surrounded by shricking laughter, spinning rides, and the sugary, buttery scents of cotton candy and popcorn- watching my ex-husband and our son argue over how many rounds they would go on the roller coaster.

It was surreal. Almost painfully so.

This wasn’t something I would have agreed to normally, but last night, after I answered Kieran’s call, he’d sounded so…soft, his voice lightened by something I couldn’t name.

And then he’d given me the best news I could have asked for: Daniel didn’t need to return to the private island anymore. He could stay here with me indefinitely.

I’d been so ecstatic on hearing the news that I hadn’t even hesitated before saying yes to celebrating.

Somehow, that had turned into this-a family outing. The first in…ever, I think.

Now, instead of giving myself over to the experience, I found myself debating the wisdom of my decision.

Gods knew what Kieran and Celeste’s relationship was like now, after what had happened, and Lucian and I still hadn’t had a moment to sit down and talk.

But Daniel’s grin-the pure, unfiltered joy lighting up his whole face-made all those doubts quiet down.

For him, I could endure anything.

Kieran, on the other hand, looked infuriatingly at ease.

He was wearing a navy and grey button-up shirt, rolled casually at the sleeves. The wind continually swept through his hair, playing with his curly strands.

He looked…different. Carefree. Lighthearted.

Meanwhile, I was here, overthinking everything, while he radiated a calm as deep as a monk’s. The contrast irked me.

So I resolved to be the same. I would stop worrying and just let things unfold. I could be carefree too, dammit.

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