My Sister Stole My Mate And I Let Her (Seraphina) novel Chapter 434

Chapter 434: Chapter 434 COURTING DANGER

SERAPHINA’S POV

The door closed behind Celeste with a soft, final click.

I kept my gaze on the empty doorway, my thoughts catching on the image she had left behind—the way her composure had fractured before she turned away, the way her voice had faltered, the way she had looked at Mireya like she was standing on the edge of something she didn’t know how to face.

Guilt.

I had seen Celeste angry. Petty. Calculating. Cruel in ways I didn’t even know existed.

But guilt?

I didn’t even know she knew what the word meant.

I exhaled shakily, forcing my attention away from the door and back to the room.

Mireya stood where Celeste had left her, her posture still composed, her expression quiet but not shattered.

That, too, unsettled me.

When I arranged this meeting, I had expected something else entirely. Shock. Grief breaking through whatever control she had been holding onto. Some visible fracture that proved just how much Olivia had meant to her.

But Mireya hadn’t broken.

She had grieved at the news, but she hadn’t unraveled.

It spoke less to her relationship with Olivia and more to the fact that, after being forced to suppress her emotions for so long, this had become her default setting.

And I was worried.

Since we returned, she hadn’t eaten or slept, as if not trusting her new freedom or my promises of safety.

“Mireya,” I started. “I think—”

“I should leave.”

I paused, caught off guard. “What?”

“I need to leave,” she emphasized.

I took a gentle step closer. “Mireya, I don’t know what you’ve been through, but believe me when I say you’re safe here, I swear.”

Her gaze held mine, sharp and assessing, as if measuring the truth of that statement rather than simply hearing it.

“I know,” she said. “That’s exactly the problem.”

I frowned. “What do you mean?”

She exhaled, slow and controlled, as if steadying something beneath the surface before letting it show.

“If I stay any longer,” she said, “I make this place a target.”

My frown deepened. “I don’t understand.”

Her hand lifted, fingers brushing against the side of her neck, just below her ear.

I followed the movement and, for the first time, saw it.

A faint mark, barely visible beneath the line of her hair. Not a bruise. Not a scar.

“What is that?” I asked.

Mireya’s hand dropped.

“A precaution,” she said.

I stepped closer, narrowing the distance between us until I could see it more clearly.

There was a...wrongness to it. A subtle distortion in the air around it, like something unseen, something alive, was coiled just beneath the surface.

“That’s not a precaution,” I whispered. “That’s a leash.”

“Damian put it on me,” Mireya explained. “Said it would help him find me if I ever succeeded in escaping.”

A chill slid down my spine.

“Why didn’t you mention this earlier?”

She exhaled. “Honestly, part of me still can’t believe any of it actually happened.”

I swore softly, scraping a trembling hand through my hair.

“How does it work?” I asked.

“It tracks me,” she said. “Distance doesn’t matter. Time doesn’t matter. If I stay in one place too long...” She hesitated.

“He’ll find you,” I finished.

“Yes.”

“And you think leaving is the solution?”

“I think staying puts all of you at risk."

“And leaving exposes you,” I countered. “If he’s going to find you anyway, better he finds you behind a veritable fortress.”

Her brows furrowed. “I don’t understand. Why do you keep courting danger on my behalf?”

I shrugged. “When I know why, I’ll let you know.”

“You don’t understand.” She shook her head. “He won’t stop. Not just because I’m his mate.”

The word sat wrong in the air. Twisted. Contaminated. How could someone do to their mate what Damian did to her?

“But because I know things,” she continued. “About his operations. His system. His...partners.”

And suddenly, Mireya was interesting for a whole other reason.

“Then you’re not leaving,” I said.

Mireya shook her head. “That’s not your decision.”

“Need I remind you that I practically own you?”

She flinched, and my eyes widened.

“Shit, I’m so sorry,” I rushed to say. “I didn’t mean it like that. I would never try to own you or control you, I swear.”

I sighed. “I just want you safe.”

She pursed her lips, not meeting my eyes. “Yeah, well, you’ll be the opposite of safe if Damian finds me.”

“Okay,” I said. “How about this? You let us try to solve the...tracker issue. And if we can’t, then you can leave. I won’t force you to do anything you don’t want to.”

She eyed me warily. “Solve it...how?”

***

“Show me,” Alois said.

Mireya stepped forward and tilted her head, exposing the mark.

Alois moved closer, his expression sharpening as he examined it, his fingers hovering just above her skin without quite touching.

For a moment, he said nothing.

“Well?” I asked.

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