“You can’t talk to me that way! Do you know who I am?”
“A bitter woman whose son doesn’t respect her enough to make his own choices.” I tilted my head. “That about cover it?”
Elizabeth’s face turned purple with rage. “You insolent bitch! How dare you-‘
“Oh, and Elizabeth?” I smiled sweetly. “You’ll be happy to know I’m leaving town soon. Breaking up with Darrell.”
She blinked, clearly not expecting that. “You… what?”
‘I’m done playing second fiddle to your son’s mommy issues and his ex-girlfriend’s drama.” I adjusted my purse strap. “So you can tell Camila she won. Congratulations.”
I headed for the door without waiting for her response.
Elizabeth’s POV
I stood frozen in the middle of the store, my hands shaking with rage as I watched that little bitch’s retreating figure through the window.
How dare she speak to me like that!
Other customers were still staring, their faces a mixture of fascination and discomfort. I forced my expression back into its usual mask of superiority, but inside I was seething.
A nobody! An orphan! Talking to me like I’m some common pack member!
I strode out of the store and to my waiting car. The leather seat creaked as I settled inside.
Where did that little nobody get the nerve? And the money for shopping in places like that?
I pulled out my phone, intending to call Darrell immediately. I needed to tell him about Sable’s disrespectful behavior, demand that he handle the situation properly.
But before I could dial, my phone rang. The name on the screen made my expression soften instantly.
‘Camila, darling!”
“Elizabeth!” Camila’s voice came through sweet and musical. “I missed you so much. How are you?’
I smiled. “My precious girl. How are you settling in? Do you need anything?”
‘Oh, you’re so sweet to me.” Camila’s laugh was like tinkling bells. “I’m wonderful now that I’m back with Darrell. Thank you for everything you’ve done.”
“Nonsense. You’re going to be my daughter-in-law. It’s my pleasure. My mood lifted considerably. “Actually, I have good news. I just saw that Sable creature.
“Oh? Camila’s voice carried just the right note of concern. “How did that go?”
“She was incredibly rude to me. Absolutely no manners or breeding.” My anger reignited as I recounted the encounter. “But the important thing is, she’s finally showing her true colors. And she said she’s leaving town soon, breaking up with Darrell.”
“Really?” Camila sounded delighted. “She’s giving up just like that?”
“Apparently even someone like her has enough sense to recognize when she’s beaten.” My voice turned smug. “Though I suppose I made it quite clear that she wasn’t welcome in our family.”
“You’re amazing, Elizabeth. I don’t know what Darrell and I would do without you.”
‘Don’t worry about anything, darling. I’ll make sure that girl doesn’t cause any more trouble.”
“Thank you so much. You’re the mother I never had.”
My heart swelled. “And you’re the daughter I always wanted.”
After we hung up, I sat back in my seat, a satisfied smile playing on my lips. Soon that troublesome orphan would be gone, and Camila would take her rightful place as the Hawthorne pack’s Luna.
Sable’s POV
I thought about the gift as I drove back to the hotel. I wondered whether Caelan would like it.
I was ten the first time I met Caelan. Dad had brought me to Blackwood manor for some official visit, and nineteen-year-old Caelan was already showing signs of the leader he’d become.
“Hello, Caelan,” I’d whispered, clutching Dad’s hand.
Caelan had looked down at me with those serious blue eyes. “Hello.” Just a curt nod.
My ten-year-old heart had shriveled. I’d hidden behind Dad for the rest of the visit.
He probably doesn’t even remember that day.
But I did. I remembered how tall he’d seemed, how the other pack members deferred to him despite his age. Even then, there was something magnetic about his presence.
The light turned green. I pressed the gas pedal, but couldn’t shake the flood of memories.
–
Mom died when I was fifteen. Dad had been devastated she was his Gamma, his partner in everything. They’d fought side by side in territorial wars, and she’d been poisoned by an enemy blade meant for him.
After the funeral, I’d turned into a nightmare. Skipping classes. Picking fights. My grades plummeted. I was angry at everyone and everything.
That’s when Caelan had shown up at our house.
“Ill tutor her, he’d told Dad matter-of-factly.
‘I don’t need it,” I’d said with teenage defiance.
He’d just smiled and ruffled my hair. “I’ll keep coming anyway.”
Twenty-four years old and running an entire pack as an Alpha, but he still made time to sit at our kitchen table three times a week. Math, science, literature – subjects he’d studied years ago but somehow still remembered perfectly.
“Why do you remember all this?” I’d asked after he’d explained biology with the patience of a saint.
“I reviewed everything before our first session. Couldn’t teach you if I didn’t know it myself.”
That’s when I’d started paying attention. Really paying attention.
He was brilliant. Not just smart – brilliant. And he’d spent hours refreshing his knowledge just to help an angry teenager who’d been nothing but rude to him.
Under his guidance, my grades shot up. More importantly, the rage that had consumed me started to fade. I discovered I had a gift for medicine – something about anatomy and physiology just clicked.
By sixteen, I’d graduated high school early and been accepted to a university as a pre-med student.
“You’re special, Sabi,” he’d said the day I got my acceptance letter.
The nickname had made me blush. No one else called me Sabi.
But even then, even at eighteen when I’d started noticing how handsome he was, how his presence made my pulse quicken – he’d always felt like family. Like the big brother I’d never had.
I’d graduated from university at nineteen and entered medical school right after. By twenty-two, I’d completed med school, and that was when Dad brought up the arranged marriage. I couldn’t handle it-I ran. I escaped to the Hawthorne Pack, started my residency.
The idea of turning that protective, familial bond into something romantic had terrified me.
How do you marry someone who’s spent years taking care of you like a little sister?
My phone’s shrill ring jolted me back to the present. The hospital.
“Dr. Crawford? We need you in the ER immediately. Multi-car accident, three critical.”
I made a U-turn toward Moonridge General.
Two hours later, I finally emerged from the trauma bay.
Gabriel’s surgery is in four days. After that…
I walked straight to Dr. Martinez’s office.
“Sable! He looked up from his paperwork. “Excellent work tonight.”
“Dr. Martinez, I’m sorry this is so sudden, but I need to submit my resignation.”
The pen slipped from his fingers.
“What? Why so sudden? Is there a problem with your work?”
I shook my head. “My work here has been fulfilling. You’ve all been wonderful.”
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