My Sister Stole My Mate And I Let Her (Seraphina) novel Chapter 549

Chapter 549: Chapter 549 THE SQUARE AND THE MENACE (BONUS Chapter 8)

AVA’S POV

My head snapped toward Daniel, who was shooting daggers at me from across the clearing.

“Excuse me?”

His gaze shifted from me and swept the clearing, taking in every pair of eyes fixed on him. Only then did he seem to realize just how jarring his outburst had been.

But instead of backing down, he held my gaze and doubled down.

“You’re not making out in the woods with anyone.” He shot Bryce a dark look that made him cower. “It’s a stupid dare.”

For a moment, I just sat there, staring at Daniel—at the deep furrow between his brows, the hard set of his jaw, the firelight flickering in his dark eyes.

And for reasons I couldn’t name, irritation flared hot and sudden inside me.

“Nobody asked you, Blackthorne,” I hissed.

He looked genuinely stunned by my reaction, as if he’d expected me to accept his declaration meekly.

“Ava—”

“How do you get off telling me what I can and can’t do?”

Daniel’s shock waned and was replaced by displeasure of his own. “You want to go make out in the woods with someone?”

No, I absolutely didn’t.

But how dare he make me run half-mad over a nonexistent relationship and then act as though he had some claim over me?

“That’s my own prerogative,” I snapped, yanking my hand away from the shots I’d been reaching for. “I’m not your subject you get to boss around.”

“Who the hell is bossing you around?” he retorted. “I’m trying to—”

“To what?” I shot to my feet.

Daniel’s eyes narrowed. “Ava, sit down.”

I scoffed, my lips pulling into a sneer. “I would ask you to make me, but we’ve established that you, Square, are not the boss of me.”

I turned toward Matt, who was sitting beside me. “Come on.”

Matt blinked. “What?”

“You heard the dare.”

I reached for his hand before I could second-guess myself and hauled him to his feet.

Daniel shot to his feet, too, and his voice was a low warning. “Ava.”

I ignored him, tugging Matt after me. I could feel Daniel’s gaze burning a hole in my back as we headed towards the tree line, but I didn’t turn back.

As soon as we slipped past the firelight, the forest swallowed us in cool, velvet darkness. The party faded behind us, replaced by the hush of leaves and the faint crackle of burning wood.

Matt laughed nervously. “You realize Daniel is going to kill me, right?”

“Daniel can go stick a fork in an electrical outlet,” I snapped.

He sighed as we took another few steps. “Listen, Ava. Daniel’s our future Alpha. I don’t want any grief.”

I rolled my eyes. “Relax. We’re not actually going to—”

Matt’s hand ripped from mine so suddenly and violently, I stumbled. And then he vanished into the darkness with a startled shout.

“What the—?”

For one terrified second, I couldn’t understand what had happened.

“Matt?”

Something darted through the trees—a blur, a rush of wind.

Before the scream clawing up my throat could escape, an arm locked around my waist.

I barely registered Daniel’s citrusy scent before the forest became a streak of shadows around us.

“Daniel!”

He didn’t answer.

The world warped around us as he moved with inhuman speed, branches lashing past my shoulders while his grip kept me anchored.

Then, almost as abruptly as it had started, the motion stopped.

My back met the rough trunk of a tree, and Daniel stood in front of me, both of us breathing hard from the sudden rush through the forest.

My pulse pounded so violently I could feel it in my throat, and adrenaline burned under my skin, leaving me reeling and breathless, unable to process what the hell had just happened.

For several seconds, the only sound was the uneven rhythm of our breathing as my heart beat dropped to a rate that wouldn’t kill me.

Then I punched Daniel’s chest.

“What the hell was that?!”

His chest heaved beneath my fist, his dark eyes locked on mine with such intensity that my anger fizzled out like a spark in the rain.

“You were actually going to do it.”

“Do what?”

“Make out in the woods with Matt.”

I stared at him in disbelief. “Are you fucking kidding me? I thought I was being attacked by a wild animal!”

His mouth twitched.

“That’s not funny,” I hissed.

“No,” he admitted, though the amusement in his eyes suggested he disagreed. “It isn’t.”

I hit his chest again, but he didn’t even flinch. “You’re such an asshole!”

“I’m the asshole?” he scoffed. “You were about to kiss someone else!”

“So?” I snapped. “It was a stupid dare. Why do you care?”

His eyes narrowed. “That’s a stupid question, Ava.”

I mimicked the action. “Humor me and answer it, asshole.”

Daniel stared at me for a long, silent moment, and his expression changed.

Anger still simmered in his eyes, but beneath it flickered something else—something almost...vulnerable.

“Why him?”

I blinked. “What?”

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