My Sister Stole My Mate And I Let Her (Seraphina) novel Chapter 526

Chapter 526: Chapter 526 A SECOND CHANCE (BONUS Chapter 4)

LUCIAN’S POV

Werewolf healing was a miraculous thing.

It was also deeply inconvenient for anyone trying to wallow properly in existential despair.

Most of my injuries had healed when I was unconscious, and by the following morning, the worst of the weakness had eased enough for me to stand without feeling as though my skeleton had been assembled by an enthusiastic amateur with a personal vendetta against structural integrity.

All I had as proof of what I’d gone through were my memories, and unfortunately, werewolf healing didn’t reach psychological wounds. Go figure.

By early afternoon, I had been relocated from the medical wing to one of the guest rooms in the packhouse.

The room itself was pleasant enough. Large windows overlooked the training grounds, where wolves moved through drills beneath the pale afternoon sun.

The furniture was simple but comfortable, and the muted earth tones made the room feel warmer than the sterile white room I’d woken up in yesterday.

There were fresh clothes folded on the dresser. Tea on the bedside table. A vase of moonflowers on the windowsill.

My gaze lingered on the flowers longer than necessary.

White petals curled softly around silver centers, their blossoms open despite the daylight filtering through the windows.

A witch’s flower.

Evelyn probably liked them.

A knock sounded against the door, and my heart skipped a beat.

"Come in."

The door opened, and Sera stepped inside carrying a folder tucked beneath one arm.

I kept my face straight so as not to betray the disappointment I felt that she wasn’t who I most wanted to see right then.

“Is it to your liking?” she asked, gesturing around the room.

I nodded. “Thank you.”

I didn’t add that I wouldn’t stay long enough to truly appreciate the room.

“If you need anything, I—”

“What’s that?” I interrupted, nodding to the folder.

I was exhausted from dwelling on my needs, and I just wanted something that wasn’t about me for a moment.

“A welcome-back gift, you could say,” Sera said, crossing the room and holding the folder out to me.

I took it cautiously, a little concerned by the pleased smile on her face.

I opened the folder and pulled out a fat legal document.

I flipped through the first page. Then the second. Then the third.

My eyes moved over transfer clauses, ownership agreements, and official recognitions, and by the fourth page, understanding settled heavily in my chest, and disbelief tightened my throat.

“Sera,” I managed to choke out, “what am I looking at?”

She leaned one shoulder against the wall near the window, and her smile widened.

"Following the collapse of Marcus and Jack’s operations, the allied forces seized all assets connected to the Draven network."

My eyes moved back to the papers.

Seized assets. Transferred ownership.

My heart skipped.

“OTS?” I asked quietly.

Sera nodded.

“Jack’s ownership claim was invalidated as proceeds derived from criminal activity and conspiracy charges piled up faster than lawyers could process them.”

I looked back down at the documents, but the words had blurred.

“The members who left are already moving back into the building,” she continued. “Those who stayed behind did an amazing job holding down the fort. Judy and Roxy are taking point to make sure everything runs as smoothly as possible.”

She walked towards me and stretched out her hand. My breath caught as I stared at the object in her palm.

The OTS insignia on the seal caught the afternoon light spilling through the windows, and suddenly I was back on Sera’s porch, entrusting my legacy to her, unsure if I would come back to reclaim it.

Slowly, I looked up at her.

"Sera..."

Her expression softened as she pressed it into my hand.

"You trusted me to hold onto it until you came back," she said softly. "Now you’re back."

My legs gave out beneath me, and I sat down heavily on the edge of the bed as the full weight of what she was saying finally caught up with me.

My gaze dropped to the papers in my hands, to the signatures and official seals stamped across the pages.

My throat tightened painfully.

“I thought...” The words faltered before they could fully form, and I swallowed against the pressure building beneath my ribs. “I thought I’d destroyed it. I spent years building a place where people who didn’t belong anywhere else could feel safe, and then I handed the keys to the very people they needed protection from.”

Sera didn’t answer.

Maybe because there wasn’t anything she could say that wouldn’t feel dishonest.

Because I had destroyed it, hadn’t I?

Maybe not intentionally. Maybe not maliciously. But consequences had never cared much for intentions, and the damage my choices caused remained the same.

The only thing I’d done right for OTS was placing it in Sera’s care.

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