Chapter 89 Things we stop running from
Sable’s POV
Dinner felt almost normal.
Jaxon cooked, if you could call what he did cooking. It involved a lot of noise, aggressive chopping, and exactly one recipe he insisted he’d perfected “back in the pack days,” which Kier immediately corrected by saying, “You set the fire alarm off twice.”
“Details,” Jaxon said, stirring something that smelled suspiciously good. “You ate it anyway.”
“That was because I was seventeen and starving,” Kier replied.
Jenna leaned against the counter beside me, wine glass in hand, watching them with a small smile. “I love that you two argue like an old married couple.”
Jaxon snorted. “Absolutely not.”
“Don’t insult me,” Kier added at the same time.
Jenna laughed, the sound light and real, and something in my chest loosened. I hadn’t realized how tight I’d been holding myself until that moment.
We ate at the long table by the windows, city lights spilling in like constellations. Jaxon talked about training schedules and how the pack had changed. Jenna chimed in with stories from work—clients, deadlines, the strange things people said when they thought no one was listening.
Kier mostly watched.
Not in a creepy way. In a checking-in way.
Every so often his eyes would flick to me, like he was making sure I was still there. Still breathing. Still okay. It should’ve annoyed me.
It didn’t.
“So,” Jenna said eventually, glancing between Kier and me, “are you two going to keep pretending there isn’t a thing happening, or should I brace myself for awkward eye contact forever?”
I choked on my drink.
Jaxon coughed. “Jenna.”
“What?” she said innocently. “I’m just asking.”
Kier cleared his throat. “We’re… figuring things out.”
“That sounds suspiciously like adult communication,” Jenna said. “Proud of you.”
I shot her a look. “Traitor.”
She grinned. “Best kind.”
Dinner ended with dishes and more laughter than I expected. At some point, Jaxon checked the time and clapped his hands together.
“Alright,” he said. “We should go. You need rest.” He looked at me pointedly. Then at Kier. More pointedly.
Jenna grabbed her coat. “I’ll walk with you.”
Jaxon raised a brow. “You don’t have to.”
“I want to,” she said, then flushed when she realized how it sounded. “I mean fresh air. Exercise.”
I bit my lip to keep from smiling.
At the door, Jaxon hugged me carefully. “You doing okay?”
I nodded. “Yeah.”
He hesitated, then pulled back. “He better not screw this up.”
Kier met his gaze evenly. “I won’t.”
Jaxon held it a second longer, then nodded and stepped out with Jenna.
The door clicked shut.
Silence rushed in.
I stood there, suddenly aware of everything, how close Kier was, the heat of him, the way the bond hummed.
“Well,” I said, breaking first. “That was… pleasant.”
He smiled faintly. “High praise.”
I moved toward the windows, needing space to breathe.
“You didn’t have to do all that,” I said quietly. “Dinner. And everything.”
“I wanted to,” he said. “I thought you might like to remember what it feels like to be… human.”
I turned to face him. “I don’t forget that.”
“I know,” he said. “But I forget sometimes. And you remind me.”
The words settled between us, soft and dangerous.
I crossed my arms, suddenly unsure where to put my hands. “Kier… this doesn’t change everything.”
He nodded. “I know.”
“I’m still scared,” I admitted. “I still don’t trust fate. Or tradition. Or the idea that something decided my life before I had a say.”
“I wouldn’t ask you to,” he said.
My breath caught.
He stepped closer. “I want you to choose me. But I won’t cage you to get it.”
The bond surged, hot and insistent, like it had been waiting for those exact words.
“I don’t know how to do this,” I whispered.
““Just… do it honestly," he said gently.
I stared at him, at the man I’d run from and run back to in equal measure.
And then I closed the distance.
I didn’t kiss him right away. I pressed my forehead to his chest, breathing him in, grounding myself in the reality of him. His arms came around me, careful at first, like he was afraid I’d vanish if he held too tight.
“I’m here,” I murmured.
“I know,” he said, voice rough. “I feel you.”
When he kissed me, it wasn’t rushed.
It was slow. Deliberate.
Everything I’d been holding back poured into that moment,the fear, the longing, the years of restraint snapping all at once. His hands slid into my hair, steady and reverent, like he was touching something sacred.
I pulled back just enough to breathe. “This doesn’t fix everything.”
“No,” he agreed. “But it’s a start.”
I nodded, resting my forehead against his again. “I choose this. Right now.”
His eyes softened. “That’s all I want.”
He lifted me and I wrapped my legs around his waist. He carried me to his bedroom and laid me gently into the bed.
"You're so beautiful," he said as he gazed down at me.
I reached up and grabbed him by his t-shirt pulling him onto me. He kissed me then pressed his forehead to mine.
"I don't want to rush this," he said. "I want to take my time and explore every part of you.
That sent a shiver down my spine.
Kier began to kiss down my neck as his hands rode up my thighs. When he go to my hips he wrapped one hand under my butt and lifted me rolling me onto him.
I looked down at him as he said. "Take off your clothes."
He placed his hands behind his head as I grabbed the hem of my shirt to begin taking it off. I rolled the shirt up slowly.
His eyes tracked every inch of skin revealed, the hunger in them visible. When the fabric cleared my head, I tossed it aside. His gaze dropped to the lace black bra I wore, then back to my face.
"Everything," he murmured.
I stood above him and my fingers went to the button on my jeans. The soft hiss of the zipper was loud in the quiet room. I wriggled the denim down my hips, past my thighs, kicking them off to pool on the floor. I was left in my underwear, black lace matching the bra, suddenly feeling exposed and vulnerable.
He made a low sound in his chest, a rumble of pure appreciation. His hands, still behind his head, clenched into fists. "Sable."
My name sounded like a plea.
I reached behind my back, unhooking my bra, and let it fall. The cool air on my skin pebbled my nipples, but the heat in his gaze was a fire. I hooked my thumbs in the sides of my panties and slowly, so slowly, slid them down.
When I was fully bare before him, I didn't cover myself. I let him look.