My Sister Stole My Mate, And I Let Her

Chapter 540: Chapter 540 AFTER (BONUS Chapter 7)

SERAPHINA’S POV

Night had fully settled by the time we left Nightfang behind, the celebration disappearing in the rearview mirror as Kieran guided us along moonlit roads.

I managed to be patient for all of ten minutes.

”Kieran.”

”Hm?”

”Where are we going?”

”You’ll see.”

Five minutes later, I tried again.

”Are we there yet?”

”Almost.”

I couldn’t fold my arms because our hands were intertwined on the center console, so I settled for a pout.

”The curiosity is eating me alive.”

He raised our joined hands to his lips, and I felt his smile against the back of my hand.

”I know, baby.”

”You’re enjoying this.”

This time he turned and gave me a full-on grin.

”Quite a lot.”

His mirth was so infectious, I couldn’t help laughing.

Giving up on prying the answer out of him, I turned my attention to the moonlit scenery drifting past the window instead.

The farther we drove, the quieter everything became, until Nightfang’s bustle gave way to peaceful streets lined with mature oak trees and elegant homes tucked behind stone walls and flowering hedges.

Finally, Kieran slowed before turning through wrought-iron gates that opened onto a curved driveway.

He parked before a house unlike any I’d ever seen.

The three-story home had been built from pale stone and warm cedar, with floor-to-ceiling windows that reflected the moonlight like still water.

Climbing roses framed a wide front porch where a pair of wooden rocking chairs overlooked carefully tended gardens, while soft lights illuminated pathways winding through flowering shrubs toward what looked like a small glass greenhouse at the back of the property.

Everything about it felt peaceful. Welcoming.

Lived in, despite being obviously new.

I looked from the house to Kieran, and my heart seemed to pause, as if it needed to hear the answer to the question I was about to ask.

”Where are we?”

He switched off the engine and turned toward me, his expression suddenly uncharacteristically nervous.

”Our home.”

For a moment, I simply stared at him.

”Our...”

”My wedding gift to my new bride.”

”I...” My voice disappeared altogether. ”You built...this?”

He nodded, smiling softly. ”I wanted us to have somewhere that belonged only to us. No ghosts from the past. No memories of old mistakes. Just...a new beginning.”

My heart swelled so painfully with love that I thought it might burst and splatter blood over my perfect white dress.

”You built us a home,” I breathed.

”Do you like it?”

A disbelieving laugh escaped me as I closed the distance between us and wrapped my arms around his neck.

”I love it,” I whispered, the words feeling woefully inadequate for everything swelling inside my chest.

He gathered me against him, burying his face in my hair and exhaling heavily as though my answer had lifted a weight he’d been carrying for weeks.

”I haven’t even shown you inside,” he murmured with a soft laugh.

I drew back just enough to meet his eyes, shaking my head. ”I don’t care. The fact that you built this for us is enough. Fuck, Kieran, you could have built a mud house with a thatched roof, and I would love it.”

His smile deepened as he reached for my hand again. ”I appreciate the sentiment, but I think you’ll appreciate this a little more when you see it.”

I let him lead me through the front door, feeling like I was floating.

Before I’d taken more than a few steps, I realized the house wasn’t simply beautiful—it was everything I’d been longing for, a place that already felt less like a building and more like the home I’d spent my entire life searching for.

Sunlight would pour through enormous windows during the day, warming polished wooden floors and cream-colored walls accented with natural stone.

Bookshelves stretched from floor to ceiling in the living room, already partially filled, while a fireplace occupied one wall beneath a painting of the ocean that instantly reminded me of the island.

The kitchen was bright and spacious, its large island and solid oak table promising lazy breakfasts, family dinners, and countless ordinary moments together.

Beyond the glass doors, a garden bloomed with white roses, pink carnations, lavender, and climbing jasmine, while a winding stone path led to a quiet pergola tucked beneath flowering vines.

Everything felt peaceful. Intentional. Ours.

Then Kieran opened one final door on the last floor.

”I saved this for last.”

I stepped inside and stopped.

It was an office.

A broad oak desk stood beside a window overlooking the gardens, where morning light would undoubtedly spill across its surface.

Shelves waited patiently for books that hadn’t yet been written, while comfortable reading chairs nestled beside another smaller fireplace.

Fresh notebooks, beautiful fountain pens, and a vintage typewriter occupied one corner, and tucked against the far wall stood a cozy bay window seat overflowing with cushions.

”I thought...” Kieran rubbed the back of his neck, suddenly looking uncertain. ”If you ever wanted to start writing again...”

Tears blurred my vision all over again, though this time I let them fall in surplus.

”It’s perfect,” I whispered.

Relief softened the lines of his face as his shoulders relaxed. ”You really think so?”

I smiled through the tears and closed the distance between us, cupping his cheek in my hand.

”I know so.”

For a long moment I simply looked at him, overwhelmed not only by the home he’d built for us, but by the life he had quietly imagined within its walls.

Every room carried pieces of us, every thoughtful detail spoke of a future he’d been planning long before I’d been ready.

And now it was time to give him my own wedding gift.

A smile tugged at my lips. ”Speaking of new beginnings and wedding gifts...”

My hand drifted to my stomach, and confusion flickered across Kieran’s face as his gaze followed the movement.

”What do you—”

I reached inward with my psychic senses and lowered the delicate barrier I’d been maintaining around the tiny life growing safely inside me.

It was never meant to hide our child for long; I’d simply wanted to wait until the moment felt right, and standing in the home he’d built with such love and hope, I knew there would never be a more perfect one.

Kieran fell completely still, his expression shifting from confusion to concentration as his heightened senses reached beyond the silence of the room.

His head tilted, and then I saw the exact instant he heard it: the rapid rhythm of a little heartbeat.

His eyes flew back to mine, impossibly wide, already glistening with tears.

”Sera...”

My own smile trembled as I nodded.

”We’re having a baby.”

For a long moment, he simply stared at me, as though his mind couldn’t quite keep pace with the joy flooding through it.

Then he gathered me into his arms with such overwhelming happiness that I couldn’t help squealing as he lifted me carefully off the floor and held me as though I were the most precious thing he’d ever known.

”We’re having a baby,” he repeated, his voice breaking into an incredulous laugh as he buried his face against my hair.

”We are,” I whispered, wrapping my arms around his neck.

He kissed my forehead first, then my cheeks, lingering at each touch as though he wanted to memorize the moment forever before finally finding my lips.

Every ounce of joy, gratitude, relief, and love he’d carried through the impossible journey that had brought us here poured into that kiss.

Our wedding day had already marked the beginning of a new Chapter, but the tiny heartbeat echoing between us promised something even greater.

It promised laughter filling rooms yet to be lived in, the chorus of little footsteps racing across polished wooden floors, bedtime stories written in the office Kieran had built for me, and a lifetime of ordinary moments that suddenly felt more extraordinary than any miracle we’d ever witnessed.

As the moon climbed higher beyond the windows of our new home, we retreated to the bedroom that would be our first as husband and wife and celebrated every beginning waiting on the horizon.