Chapter 146
Chapter 146
FAYE
We’d been sitting for a while…long enough for my thoughts to drift from one place to another…when Sage finally spoke.
“Faye.”
Her voice was soft, uncertain. I turned my head to look at her. The moonlight caught the side of her face, highlighting the traces of tears she’d tried to wipe away earlier. She was staring at her hands, fingers twisted together like she was afraid they’d give away how nervous she
was.
“I need to say this, ” she began, and my chest tightened, instinctively preparing for words I wasn’t sure I was ready to hear.
“I’m sorry.”
Just two words, but they seemed to carry the weight of everything that had stood between
“I was foolish,” she continued, her voice trembling slightly. “And selfish. There hasn’t been a day since you left that I haven’t thought about how badly I hurt you. I tried not to, I tried to bury it, but it’s always there…right here.” She pressed a hand to her chest. “I knew I couldn’t undo what I did, and my pride… gods, my pride just wouldn’t let me come to you. But I miss you, Faye, I miss us. I want my sister back.”
For a moment, I just sat there. Watching her. Listening.
The truth was, I had imagined this moment before…her saying those exact words. I’d imagined myself turning cold, walking away, telling her she didn’t deserve forgiveness. But now that I was here, hearing her voice shake, seeing how small she looked under the moonlight, I didn’t feel anger anymore. Just a deep, aching sadness for all the time we’d lost.
“I hated you,” I said finally. My voice came out quieter than I intended, but it was steady. “For a long time, I did. I told myself that what you did broke something in me that couldn’t ever be fixed. And maybe for a while, that was true.”
Sage’s lips parted slightly, like she wanted to say something, but I shook my head.
“Let me finish.”
She nodded, eyes glistening again.
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Chapter 146
“But after a while, I just… stopped caring. Not because what you did didn’t matter, but because holding on to it was exhausting. I stopped trying to make sense of it. You loved Jason, and I thought I did too, but what I really wanted was what he made me feel…likel wasn’t invisible, like I mattered to someone. That wasn’t love. Not the kind that lasts.”
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The words felt strange coming out. Honest in a way I hadn’t allowed myself to be, even with Alexander.
Sage blinked slowly, as if she was trying to process every word. “So you’re saying you don’t-”
“No,” I said quickly, cutting her off with a faint, humorless smile. “I don’t love Jason. I haven’t for a long time. Maybe that’s the funny part…I thought losing him was what broke me, but it wasn’t. It was the betrayal from you…you broke my heart, Sage. And I lost my sister that day.”
Her breath hitched, and I looked away, staring out at the empty training field stretching ahead. The moon cast long shadows across the ground, and for a second, I could almost see our younger selves there…sparring, laughing, competing, back when life was simpler.
“But I’m over Jason. I may have been forced into mating with Alexander,” I continued quietly,” but I couldn’t have asked for a better mate. He has his flaws…gods, plenty of them…but he’s
also the one who’s made me believe in…”
I stopped. The word hung on the tip of my tongue, and it startled me how natural it felt to
think it. I didn’t even realize I was smiling until Sage tilted her head at me.
“You love him, don’t you?” she asked softly.
I let out a breathy laugh. “That’s absurd, right?” I muttered, though I could feel the warmth creeping up my neck.
“It’s not absurd,” she teased gently, a small smile tugging at her lips. “It’s just… unexpected.”
I laughed too then, shaking my head. “I didn’t plan on it, if that makes you feel any better.”
Sage chuckled, but then she grew quiet again, her gaze distant. “He’s good for you,” she said after a moment. “I can tell. You look… softer. Happier.”
“Maybe I am,” I admitted, surprising myself with how true it felt. “He challenges me in ways I never expected. He drives me insane sometimes, but he also makes me feel safe. And seen.”
“Then I’m glad,” she whispered.
We sat in silence again, but this time it felt different. Lighter somehow. Like the air between us had shifted from something thick and heavy to something calm and soft.
“You know,” I said after a moment, glancing sideways at her, “I’m okay with you and Jason
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* Chapter 146
now.”
Her head snapped toward me, eyes wide. “Really?”
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“I mean it,” I said with a small smile. “You two… you work. Seeing you together today…hosting, managing everything…it just made sense. You bring out something in each other I never could with him.”
I wasn’t sure why I said that, but it just felt like the right kind of thing to say.
Sage stared at me for a long second before she almost laughed, shaking her head. “You’re serious?”
“As serious as I can be,” I said, nudging her shoulder lightly. “He looked grounded tonight. And you looked… like you had it all together.” Another thing I wasn’t sure why I had to say, but then again…it felt right.
Sage let out a soft, almost disbelieving laugh. “You’re really something, you know that? Here I was preparing myself for a lifetime of awkward family gatherings and cold shoulders, and you’re out here giving me your blessing.”
I smiled. “You don’t need my blessing, Sage. Just don’t hurt him…and don’t hurt yourself. You both deserve a fresh start.”
She turned to me, her expression softer now, and for the first time in a long time, she reached out and took my hand. I froze for half a second, then let her fingers tighten around mine.
“I don’t deserve you, Faye,” she murmured.
“Maybe not,” I said with a small smirk, “but I’m still your sister. That has to count for something.”
We laughed quietly, and the sound felt healing in a way I hadn’t expected. Like the days of bitterness had finally found a way to melt into something gentler.
“I missed this,” Sage said after a while. “Just… sitting with you. Talking like we used to.”
“Me too.”
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