My fingers touched my lips unconsciously.
I… I… The words wouldn’t come.
I grabbed at my hair, needing something to do with my hands.
“I need to have a goodbye dinner with Kate The words tumbled out fast. Since we’re going back to Blackwood tomorrow.”
My eyes darted everywhere except his face.
Carlan smiled. Go ahead. I’ll wait at the hotel.
He paused, his expression growing serious. I’m going to investigate who tried to frame you today. Someone deliberately poisoned Gabriel to make you look incompetent.
The Cozy Harbor restaurant sat two blocks from Moonridge General. Jazz music drifted from the speakers as Kate and I settled into a corner booth.
Kate cradled her latte between both hands. Her dark eyes held that familiar mix of concern and barely contained curiosity
“Sable, I heard about what happened at the hospital yesterday.”
How did you-
Honey, there are no real secrets in a hospital. Kate’s grin was knowing. Especially when a Lycan King suddenly appears. The man who kicked Alpha Darrell across the lobby like a soccer ball.”
My water glass slipped in my grip. You know?
“This morning someone definitely passed along instructions from certain high-ranking individuals.” Kate made air quotes. ‘Everyone got very good at keeping their mouths shut officially.”
Her voice softened. “But privately… Sable, he’s your fianc?, isn’t he?”
I let out a long breath and nodded slowly. “Yes… it’s him. We have an arranged marriage.”
Then why do you look so miserable?” Kate set down her latte. “Leaving Darrell to marry him aren’t you happy about that?”
I propped my chin in my hand, staring at the foam patterns in my untouched coffee. “I’m not unhappy about it… It’s just, he confessed to me a few days ago. I’m confused now. I don’t know how to face him.”
Kate’s expression grew more serious. She leaned forward, her voice soft but penetrating. “Sable, I need to ask you something very direct.
My stomach tightened. Here it comes.
“Why did you agree to this marriage? She paused, letting the weight of her question settle. Is it because you’re using Caelan as an escape from Darrell?
The words hit like ice water.
Or are you treating him like a backup plan? A safe choice?”
I opened my mouth to protest, but she wasn’t finished.
“Because if that’s the case, it’s not fair. Worry flickered in her eyes. ‘I heard about what happened during Gabriel’s surgery today. A Lycan King giving his blood for a complete stranger…”
She stopped, letting the implications hang in the air. ‘You know what that means, don’t you? You realize he did it for you, not for Gabriel?”
My coffee cup froze halfway to my lips. My eyes went wide.
The truth of her words crashed over me like a wave. I’d been so focused on Gabriel’s recovery that I hadn’t fully processed what Caelan had done. What it meant.
Silence stretched between us. I stared at the table, my thoughts spinning.
Finally, I spoke. “At first… maybe it was like that.”
My voice dropped to almost a whisper. “When Darrell betrayed me, it felt like my whole world collapsed.”
I looked up to meet Kate’s concerned gaze. “Going back to Dad, accepting this marriage – it seemed like the only way out.”
“I thought I could maintain a… friendly partnership with Caelan.” The words felt hollow as I said them. “Like political marriages are supposed to be.”
“I thought we’d be respectful roommates, living separate lives. We’ve known each other for years, and I always saw him as a brother, family.”
Tears pricked my eyes. “I never imagined… never thought he could actually love me. And I just came out of a failed relationship. I wasn’t ready to enter another one.”
Kate’s voice remained gentle but insistent. ‘What about now? Do you still think that way?”
1 shook my head firmly. “No…”
But then the guilt crashed back in. Tears spilled down my cheeks. “Kate, I feel so selfish.”
“I’m bringing a broken heart to accept his love.”
Is that fair to him?
I wiped my nose with a napkin. I’m even scared of him…”
Kate frowned. ‘Scared? Why?”
‘I’m afraid I don’t know the real him. My voice trembled. “Yesterday at the hospital, when Darrell tried to hurt me…
“Caelan kicked him. Kate, I’d never seen him like that.”
“That violence, that killing intent… it terrified me.”
7.20 pm
Kate’s eyes filled with tears too She gripped my hands tightly Honey, let me tell you a story
Her voice grew softer When my brother was sick.
You gave me all your savings
“Do you know what I was most afraid of then?
I looked up, confesion in my eyes.
“I was afraid to accept your help because it meant admitting I was powerless. Kate’s voice broke slightly. ‘I was afraid of owing you, afraid that someday yunk for payback.”
7 was afraid to believe that unconditional kindness really existed in this world.”
Tears shid down her cheeks. But you know what? Accepting your help was the best decision of my life.”
“Because real kindness doesn’t expect returns. Real love doesn’t demand you become someone else.”
She wiped her eyes, her voice growing stronger. “Just now at the hospital, I saw how His Majesty looked at you.”
Like you were his entire world.”
Kate’s expression grew serious but warm. “Do you remember what I told you before your first surgery?”
I shook my head.
The biggest medical tragedy isn’t surgical failure.” Her voice carried the weight of experience. “It’s refusing to try to save a life because you’re afraid of failing.
“Love is the same way, Sable.”
“Don’t refuse to be loved because you’re afraid of getting hurt.”
“Don’t let past shadows steal your future happiness.”
I stopped crying, really considering her words for the first time.
Maybe she’s right. Maybe I’ve been so focused on protecting myself that I forgot how to accept something real.
Kate reached across the table again. Whether you’re Dr. Sable or Queen Sable…”
“You’ll always be my dearest friend.”
Vie stood simultaneously, meeting in a fierce hug. I breathed in her familiar lavender perfume, memorizing this moment.
“Take case of yourself, I whispered against her shoulder.
“You too. And table? She pulled back to look at me. Be brave. You deserve to be happy.”
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