Chapter 12 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. 1/3 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." "Then why leave? Your residency is ending in a few days-you're about to become a fully licensed doctor. Are you sure you want to leave now?" 'I appreciate that more than I can say." I folded my hands in my lap. "But I need to go home. To where I really belong." 'Is this about personal issues? Because if you're in some kind of trouble- "This isn't an impulsive decision. It's something I've been thinking about for a while." Martinez leaned back in his chair, studying my face. "You're serious about this." 'Completely. But I want to fulfill my commitment to Gabriel William first." "Of course." He sighed heavily. "You know our door is always open if you change your mind." "Thank you. That means everything." Kate found me at my locker, packing the few personal items I'd accumulated. A framed photo of Mom and me. Some medical textbooks. A small succulent plant that had somehow survived three years of my neglect. 'Sable? What's happening?" Her voice cracked. "Dr. Martinez said you're leaving." 2/3 Chapter 12 I turned to face her. Kate's eyes were already red-rimmed, and her hands shook as she reached for me. 'I'm going home, Kate." "But this is so sudden! Does Alpha Darrell know?" I paused. Kate was the only person at the hospital who knew about my relationship with Darrell. 'He'll know soon enough." Kate's face crumpled. "No, no, no. You can't leave me. Not now. Not when I'm finally getting good at this job because of everything you taught me." She grabbed my arm, her grip desperate. "If it wasn't for you, my brother and I wouldn't be here today. You literally saved us." One year ago, Kate had been a new resident drowning in debt. Her younger brother had needed emergency surgery for acute leukemia, and the family had run out of money. I'd found Kate crying on the hospital roof, ready to quit medicine and go home to work in a factory. Without thinking, I'd given her my entire savings account. Thirty thousand dollars - everything I had. Then I'd worked overtime for a month to help cover the remaining costs. 'I only did what any decent person would do," I said softly. "No!" Kate's voice broke completely. "You gave me everything you had. You worked yourself to exhaustion. You never asked for anything back, never even let me thank you properly."