Chapter 82 The Hollow Between Us
Sable's POV
The first thing I felt was weight.
Heavy. Suffocating. Like waking up under wet sand. My chest burned with every inhale, my pulse sluggish, uneven. For a moment, I couldn’t tell if I was still dreaming or if this was another layer of whatever hell Sam had built for me.
Then his scent hit me.
Kier.
That scent alone was enough to drag me toward the surface, toward consciousness. My eyes fluttered open, blinking against light that felt too bright. A ceiling I didn’t recognize swam into focus—smooth, high, modern. I shifted, and pain lanced through my wrists where the silver had burned me.
A groan escaped before I could stop it.
“She’s awake,” someone said. A man’s voice, low and familiar.
I blinked again. The blur sharpened into faces. Kier was there, sitting in a chair beside the bed, elbows on his knees, eyes dark with exhaustion and something else—something I couldn’t name. Behind him stood Jaxon, arms crossed, the usual smirk gone, replaced by something closer to worry. And Jenna hovered him, her face pale but soft.
“You guys look like shit,” I rasped. My voice sounded like gravel dragged over stone.
"Oh Sable," a sob tore from Jenna as she ran to my bedside. "You had me worried sick."
Kier was up in an instant, in a protective stance as if Jenna would hurt me. “Don’t move,” he said quietly. “You’re safe. You’re at Ironclad.”
My throat ached. “How long have I been out?”
“Two days,” he said. “You’ve been in and out since we found you.”
“Found me…” I trailed off, the memories returning in jagged flashes. The warehouse. The chains. Sam’s face as he plunged that needle into my chest. The way the world went black around me.
I flinched, and Kier’s hand stilled where it rested on my arm. “Easy,” he murmured. “You’re okay now.”
“Am I?” The question came out sharper than I intended. My body trembled, my pulse skipping. I could feel my wolf inside me—but faintly. When I tried to reach her, she didn’t answer.
Panic clawed up my throat. “Something’s wrong,” I whispered. "I can't reach my wolf."
Kier’s jaw tightened. “The healer said the wolfsbane hasn’t fully left your system yet. Your wolf will need time.”
Time. The word felt like a cruel joke. “I can feel her,” I said, voice breaking. “ But it's like she’s… fading.”
“She’s not fading,” Jaxon said gently. “She’s fighting. You are too.”
I met his eyes, trying to hold onto the warmth in them. “He—Sam—he did this. He wanted to make me his.”
Kier’s growl was low, dangerous. “You don’t have to talk about him.”
But I did. Because I needed to say it out loud to make it real. “He told me he could fix me,” I said. “He said you didn’t deserve me. That the mate bond was a curse.”
Kier’s eyes darkened, for half a heartbeat, then back to storm-gray. “He’s going to regret every word that came out of his mouth.”
“Where is he? Were you able to catch him?”
Jaxon shifted beside the chair, muttering, “Let’s just say he’s not exactly enjoying his current accommodations.”
I processed what he was telling me. They have Sam. I felt a little better knowing Sam was not out there waiting to harm me again.
Kier sat back down beside me. The tension in his body was a live wire. “He dosed you with wolfbane,” he said, voice low. “He used enough wolfsbane to kill a lesser wolf.”
“Then why didn’t it?”
His gaze met mine, steady and unflinching. “Because you’re not a lesser wolf.”
The words sank into me. For a moment, I couldn’t breathe—not from pain, but from the way he said it. I was not a lesser wolf because I was destined to be his Luna.
Jenna came closer, a small smile tugging at her lips. “The healer said your vitals are stronger today. She’ll be back tonight to finish the purge.”
“The purge,” I muttered. “That sounds comforting.”
Jaxon chuckled softly. “Trust me, it’s not. But it’ll work.”
Kier shot him a look. “You’re not helping.”
“What? I’m managing expectations.”
Jenna rolled her eyes. “Both of you, stop.”
I wanted to smile at them—the strange, fractured family we’d become—but the exhaustion was already pulling at me again. My body was weak, heavy, useless.
Kier noticed. “You need to rest.”
I shook my head. “No. If I sleep, I’ll dream again. I can’t—”
He leaned forward, his hand finding mine. His skin was warm, grounding. “You won’t,” he said softly. “Not this time. I’m here.”
Something in me unclenched at that. My wolf stirred faintly, like a heartbeat far away.
I nodded, eyes stinging. “Don’t leave.”
“I won’t,” he promised.
Jaxon muttered something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like sappy, but I barely heard him. The edges of my vision were going soft again.
Before the darkness pulled me under, I heard Jenna whisper, “She’s strong. She’ll come back.”
And Kier’s quiet answer: “She has to.”
When I woke again, the room was dim. Night had fallen. The monitors beside me hummed softly. My mouth was dry, my limbs heavy.
The seat beside the bed was empty. For a second, panic flared—until I saw Kier standing at the window, phone to his ear, voice low and cold.
“I don’t care what he says,” he was saying. “I want every piece of footage pulled within ten miles of that warehouse. Someone helped him. Find them.”
He hung up and turned. The exhaustion in his face was carved deep now, but when his eyes met mine, something lighter broke through. Relief.
“You’re awake,” he said, crossing to me.
“Barely,” I rasped. “Who were you threatening?”
He smirked faintly. “Everyone.”
“Sounds like you.”
He sat back down, leaning forward, elbows on his knees. “Jaxon and the team are chasing down the rogue connections Sam might’ve used. Rhea’s in holding. She hasn’t said much, but she will.”
The name made me tense. “Rhea. Do I know her?”
“She was the one who led us to you,” he said carefully. “For a price.”
“And you paid it?”
“No.”
I studied him, the way his jaw tightened, the storm behind his eyes. He was holding something back—rage, guilt, maybe both.
“You can’t save me and destroy yourself in the same breath,” I said quietly.
He blinked, like he hadn’t expected me to speak that way. “Who said I’m destroying myself?”
“When is the last time you slept,” I murmured.
His hand came up, brushing a thumb across my cheek. The touch was gentle, hesitant. “I'll sleep when I know you're safe.”
"I am safe," I said. "You saved me."
I wanted to laugh, to cry, to pull him closer and push him away all at once. My body was too tired for any of it.
“Rest,” he said again, softer this time.
I nodded, but I didn’t let go of his hand.
As I drifted, the bond between us flickered. My wolf’s voice was faint, far away, but it was there.
I’m here, she whispered.
I exhaled.
For the first time since the warehouse, I believed her.