#12

Snow caught Sable's waist just as she was about to go airborne. She cried out and struggled as he brought her to his chest, holding her tight in relief. The plastic was ripped from where she prepared to jump, allowing no barriers for her escape to death. He wrapped his other arm around her and buried his face in her neck, needing the security it brought him.

"No!" she cried. "No! Let me go!"

"You are not about to jump to your death!" he hissed.

She whimpered, stopped struggling. "Then let me do it another way."

He growled, tightening his arms, ensuring she would not escape him. "Talk to me, Brave Heart. Don't do something so stupid without first talking to someone. If Inigo hadn't seen you on camera, I would not have found you!"

A hand grabbed his wrist and he stilled, waiting to see what she'd do. Sable said, "Let me go, Snow."

"Not until we talk."

"I do not want to talk. Talk does not help. Talk is good for nothing."

He stared at the back of her head, dumbfounded. "Sable, what happened? Why are you so adamant about killing yourself?"

"Let me go."

"Talk to me!"

She didn't talk. She didn't move. She didn't relax.

Snow sighed and lifted her into his arms, bridal style, then carried her to his room, where he would be able to easily stop her if he let her go and she decided to run. He didn't know what was wrong, but he would find out soon enough.

He was just outside his room when his mother appeared, looking between him and Sable. Finally, she said, "Snow, why don't you put Sable in a hot bath, then talk to me."

He shook his head. "I'm not leaving her alone. She might drown herself!"

Mazelina blinked. "Snow, that isn't funny."

"I'm not being funny, mother. I'm being serious."

Wide-eyed, Mazelina stared at Sable with shock and horror. Whatever she wanted to say was forgotten as she slipped passed and ran off. Snow slipped into his room and set Sable on the bed, then went to the bathroom and grabbed a wet cloth. Going back to her, he wiped her face gently as she stared off into space, seeming to not see or hear anything around her. Snow was startled by her behavior and called Nathan to check on her.

Five minutes later, the doctor arrived.

Twenty after that, he was frowning at Sable. "What happened between you two, Snow?"

"I don't know! She was fine the last I saw her yesterday!"

"Don't snarl at me. I'm trying to help."

Snow closed his eyes and felt tears come to his eyes. "I don't know, Nathan. She won't talk to me." A tear slipped down his face.

Sable whimpered and began to move away. She stumbled to her feet and began to the balcony doors. But Snow caught her and pulled her close. She began to cry. "No! No!"

"Snow, don't scare her. Just hold her. I want to try something," Nathan said, coming to stand in front of Sable. She looked at him with wide eyes, full of fear and guilt. "Sable, why did you jump and try to run?" he asked softly.

She gulped, went limp in Snow's arms. "He's hurt!" she gasped.

"Who?"

"White Wolf. He's hurt. I did something. I hurt him."

Snow stared at her again, shocked. "Hurt?"

Nathan put a finger up and focused on Sable again. "Sable, what do you mean you hurt him? How do you know?"

Snow lowered Sable to the ground as her feet slipped out from under her. He knelt behind her as she stared at Nathan with sorrow. "He cried."

"How do you know it's your fault?"

"She made me go away, made me stay away."

"Who, Sable?"

Sable shook her head. "It does not matter. I must stay away. White Wolf will not hurt if I stay away."

Nathan was about to ask something else, but Snow's control snapped. He spun Sable towards him and stared intently into her eyes. "Who! Who made you stay away from me?" he demanded.

Sable just stared back.

"Brave Heart!" He shook her a little. "Sable! Please!"

"Snow, stop!" Nathan ordered, grabbing Sable's shoulders from behind.

"Why won't she talk to me?" he asked him, nearly mad with fear that Sable was wishing she was dead, that he didn't want her.

"Why don't you lay her down and we can talk," Nathan suggested. Snow gently brought Sable to the bed and let her curl up, hugging herself. He sat and watched her a moment before turning to the doctor again. Nathan sighed and rubbed his nose with two fingers. "Snow, whatever she saw or heard, it made her think she's hurt you."

"But how?" Snow demanded. "She can't hurt me!"

Nathan held his hands up, a calming gesture for him. "Don't ask me. That's something between you two. I'm just saying she's afraid of hurting you again and is trying to take herself out of the picture. She won't talk to you because anytime she sees your face, it reminds her of whatever she saw or heard."

"How do I get her to talk to me?"

"That's the hard part. She may not talk to you. She might talk to someone else, which might be the only way you'll get any information, but she won't talk to you. It's her defense mechanism at work."

"She's my mate, Nathan!" Snow cried. Again, a tear slipped down his face. Again, Sable began to try and move. "No!" he cried and held her close. "Please, don't go! Don't leave me!"

"Snow, stop crying!" Nathan hissed quickly.

Snow looked up at him. "What?"

"Stop crying!"

Snow wiped his face, took a deep breath. "Why?"

"It's what's making her act," the doctor said and knelt before Snow and Sable. "She saw you crying at some point. Something or someone was with her and made her think it was her fault."

Snow kissed Sable's head and rocked her back and forth. "I was crying yesterday, with my mother. But it wasn't because she hurt me."

"Do you know who might have warned her away from you?"

Snow shook her head. "No. I didn't even know she came by."

In his lap, Sable was murmuring under her breath. Snow could just barely make out the words, "Can't hurt him. Must protect. Can't hurt him. Must protect. Can't stay here. Must leave. Can't stay here. Must leave."

"Just let her calm down. Let others in and see if she interacts." Nathan paused, then looked at Sable. He gestured to her. "Because even if she doesn't talk to you, she still finds you the safest wolf around. She won't want to be alone with anyone."

Nathan was right. Sable was clutching at Snow's shirt, knuckles white as if she was using all her strength to keep him close, from getting away.

"She may think she wants to go away to protect you, but her heart knows better. She knows she can't run far."

"But she has already tried to kill herself."

"Was that before you showed up or after?"

Snow blinked. "After?"

Nathan smiled. "She knew you'd protect her. She didn't try to jump until you arrived because she didn't truly want to jump. Whatever she says, what you see now is the truth."

Nathan left soon after their talk and Snow held Sable a little longer. She fell asleep in his arms, whimpering whenever he moved away. But he had to keep the pack away, had to let her sleep. He promised to inform them when she awoke. She slept through the night, only curling into Snow when he pulled her into his arms again.

In the morning, Snow awoke to find Sable already awake and standing near the balcony doors, staring out into the forest. He sat up slowly, watching her closely. But she did not look ready to bolt. She just looked exhausted. "Sable?"

She didn't look at him, but said, "I'm sorry, Snow. I don't know what happened yesterday."

"It's alright." He stood and began to walk to her, but she stiffened. He stopped, took a step back. His heart broke. "If you get dressed, we can leave in three hours."

Finally, she turned to look at him, smiled a little. "Sounds good." She grabbed clothes, then locked herself in the bathroom.

Snow wanted to rip his hair out, but a knock on his door made him realize that he wasn't the only one who was worried about Sable. Inigo was waiting on the other side, a grim expression on his face. "How is she?"

"I don't know. She's not about to kill herself, so I guess that's a plus," Snow said with a harsh laugh. He rubbed his face. "Can you stay here? I need to go do something."

Inigo nodded and Snow ran out into the hallway and disappeared.

Sable exited the bathroom and found not her mate, but Inigo playing with a Hydra bug. He smiled when he saw her and kept playing with the thing as she slipped on shoes and did her hair. She did not ask about Snow. He was his own person. She had a plan now, a plan to keep him safe. A plan to keep the pack safe. She would feel better once she knew they were protected from her.

"Are you hungry?" Inigo asked.

"No."

"Want to play a game?"

"No."

Inigo raised a brow. "Want to talk?"

"No."

He shrugged and held out his hand. "Then come on. Let's go walk. It'll do us both good."

She took his hand, watching him carefully, however he didn't pry her for anything else, just walked as promised. They traveled outside and began to stroll along the trees with houses in their branches. She saw many, including the one she had spent her first few days here at. She was awed by them, wondered which was Snow's. She didn't ask, but kept silent as Inigo led her deeper into the forest until they came to a stream and he sat. She sat with him, stared at the water.

"Sable, Snow is worried about you. We all are."

"I'm fine."

He chuckled. "When a female says she's fine, it means the complete opposite."

Sable scowled at him, but sighed. "I think I hurt him, Inigo. I don't know how, but I saw him crying in his mother's arms. She saw me and gave me a look. It was clear that she didn't want me around."

"So you went to the tenth floor and then tried to jump?"

"It wasn't my intent at first," she admitted. "But when Snow appeared, when he tried to get me to talk, I knew it was either that or escape out the broken wall."

"Or, you could have asked him to let you talk to one of us?" Inigo suggested. "Pack looks out for one another. Just because Mazelina is protective does not mean the rest of us are like her. As for Snow, you aren't protecting anyone by jumping out that wall. He would be out of control if he saw your body."

She gulped. "I hadn't realized how high I was until he told me. It scared me, but I didn't want to hurt him again."

Inigo was silent for a while. When he spoke, it was softly and thoughtfully. "Snow doesn't talk much. Never has. He didn't play much either. When you came here, he changed. Everyone saw it. You made him come out of his shell and become the male who laughs and plays as he does. I have never seen him laugh as he does with you."

"But I hurt him, Inigo."

"So what?" She snapped her head towards him, shocked. Inigo shrugged. "Everyone gets hurt, Sable. You're going to hurt someone because you make mistakes. It doesn't mean you jump off a mountain because of it."

"What about his mom?"

"What about her?"

"She doesn't want me around Snow."

"Sable, you're his mate. She's not capable of keeping you away from Snow if he is going to glue himself to your side. The only way to separate you two is to kill one or the other, and Snow would never allow that, nor would Turk."

Sable bowed her head. "He cried when I was about to jump out his doors. He begged me to stay with him."

"Is that a male who never wants to see you again? Is that a male who's so hurt, he'd rather have you dead?"

"No."

Inigo stood and stretched. "Then stop thinking and start using your instincts, Sable. Use your eyes and ears. Use your heart, not your head. Snow can't take his mind off you. Unless he knows exactly where you're at and who you're with, he's frantic."

"Oh," Sable gasped.

"Oh," Inigo agreed. They walked back to the den in silence, just as they had left. However, this time, Sable was not holding onto Inigo's hand, but stayed behind him, thinking hard.

Snow was saying goodbyes when the elevator opened and Inigo and Sable appeared. The male looked smug while the female looked nervous, however not terrified. She stayed in a corner of the room and watched, but Snow noticed how she would try to walk towards him, then change her mind and stay in the corner. Whatever Inigo said to her, it seemed she was trying to talk to him.

He made anyone not his family go away, said goodbye to his siblings and parents quickly, then went to her. Sable looked scared at first, then shy. He didn't mind shy. Shy he could deal with. Shy was better than any kind of fear she might have had of him. He put both hands on the wall behind her and looked down into her eyes. "Are you ready?"

She nodded slowly.

"Sable?" She looked up quickly, then bowed her head again. "Do you want to say goodbye to anyone?"

She shook her head.

He didn't question her, but held out a hand. She took it carefully, glancing up at him nervously. But a blush appeared on her cheeks and he led her back into the elevator.