My Sister Stole My Mate, And I Let Her

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?”

“Why did you choose Matt?”

“Because he was sitting beside me.”

Daniel stepped closer, and I instinctively straightened against the tree.

“You could have chosen anyone else.”

“Why. Do. You. Care?”

Daniel went quiet.

I watched him struggle with whatever answer was forming in his head, and for the first time since I’d known him, Daniel Blackthorne seemed genuinely uncertain.

“Why do you care, Daniel?” I repeated, my voice softer. “You’re not my Alpha yet. You’re not my brother. You’re not my boyfriend.”

Daniel’s eyes sharpened.

“Boyfriend?”

My eyes widened, and I shifted my gaze down to my boots. “Forget I said that.”

“No.”

His finger slid under my chin, tipping my face up until I met his gaze. His eyes were so dark, it felt like staring into night itself. I could have drowned in them.

“You’re right.”

I frowned. Those two words were rarely ever exchanged between the two of us.

“About what?”

“I don’t have the right to tell you what to do.”

My brows arched in surprise. Since when did Daniel Blackthorne yield so easily?

“So, give it to me.”

My breath hitched. “Wh-what?”

His finger was still under my chin, holding me captive. He planted his other hand on the tree beside my head and leaned in, his voice dropping to a whisper that sent a shiver down my spine.

“I don’t like seeing you with other guys.”

I opened my mouth, but no words came out.

“I don’t like you disappearing for days and pretending you don’t care that I’m there.”

“Daniel...”

“I don’t like the idea of you having other friends that aren’t me.”

A shaky laugh escaped me. “You’re ridiculous.”

He nodded, his lips curving. “Probably.”

His smile faded almost immediately. “It’s ridiculous how much I miss you when you’re not there. It’s ridiculous how much headspace you occupy. It’s ridiculous how irrational and stupid you make me.”

I let out a breathless, incredulous laugh. “I make you irrational and stupid? I’ve spent the last two weeks losing my damn mind because I thought you’d gone and gotten yourself a girlfriend when I was away.”

He shook his head, a sudden flash of anger igniting in his eyes. “I don’t know why Cindy would say all that shit when the only person I want to be my girlfriend is you.”

His words hit me like lightning, and my hand tightened on his chest just to keep myself steady.

“You...” I swallowed. My heart was pounding so loud, I could barely hear myself. “You want me to be your girlfriend?”

He nodded. “Yes.”

"You want to be my boyfriend?"

He let out a sharp breath of amusement. "Yes, Ava, that’s how that works."

I searched his face for some sign that he was joking, some hint that this was a sick, twisted attempt to get under my skin.

There wasn’t one.

“Why?”

His hand came up and covered my hand on his chest, his grip warm and gentle.

“Because you’re the first person I want to talk to when I’m mad or happy or sad. Because you make me laugh and make me want to pull my hair out at the same time. Because we’re Ava and Daniel, and we’re meant to be together.”

I choked out a laugh. “You’re always so confident, aren’t you, Blackthorne?”

“Are you kidding me?” He leaned forward and pressed his forehead to mine. “No one makes me second-guess myself as much as you do.”

“Yet, you want to be with me?”

He smiled. “There’s nothing I want more.”

A knot of emotions tangled in my throat, choking off any more words I might have said.

But Daniel, who knew me better than anyone else, understood my silence.

His eyes dropped briefly to my lips before returning to mine, and the question in his expression was unmistakable.

My answer was a tiny, almost imperceptible nod.

He exhaled a soft sigh that sounded like relief and leaned closer, slowly enough that I could have stopped him if I wanted.

I leaned up and met him halfway.

It was nothing like the dramatic first kiss I’d imagined when I was younger.

There were no fireworks, no earth-shattering clarity, no sudden understanding of the universe.

There was only warmth. A trembling softness that hushed the world for a few precious seconds.

When Daniel pulled back, we remained close enough that I could feel his breath against my lips.

Neither of us spoke.

I stared at him, reeling, trying to process that the boy I’d spent years at loggerheads with had just kissed me.

Daniel smiled.

Not the smug smile he wore when he’d won an argument. Not the teasing grin that always made me want to hit him.

Something softer, something that belonged only to this moment.

“You realize, square, that we just did the stupid dare.”

His eyebrows rose as he shook his head. “Seriously, menace? You’re still calling me that?”

I laughed, giddy and breathless. “You’ll always be a square, Blackthorne. But it’s okay...”

I wrapped my arms around his neck, pulled him closer, and said softly against his lips, “My favorite shape is a square.”