Chapter Eighteen: Quiet Confessions

The Denali main house was warmer than usual—sunlight cutting through tall windows, casting golden light across the hardwood floors. Katherine stood near the back of the sitting room, a glass of wine she wasn't drinking in one hand, her gaze fixed somewhere far beyond the wide forest view.

Rosalie and Kate were seated nearby, half-listening to Irina retell a story that involved something about a snowmobile and a bear. Tanya was laughing, draped across the arm of the couch. The whole house buzzed gently with familial calm—easy conversation, teasing, shared glances—but Katherine wasn't fully there.

Carmen noticed.

She always did.

She approached quietly, her steps silent across the floor. "You're miles away," she said, stopping beside her.

Katherine smiled faintly. "Is it that obvious?"

Carmen tilted her head. "What's going on in your head?"

Katherine stared at the trees a moment longer before answering. "Everything," she said finally. "It's like my brain won't shut up."

"Let me guess," Carmen said gently. "Rosalie and Kate?"

Katherine huffed a soft laugh. "Yeah. That obvious too?"

Carmen offered a knowing smile. "You've got the look. The one between fascination and frustration."

Katherine's shoulders tensed. "They're… intense. The night we went to the bar, they lost it. They blocked me in, told me they'd bite me if I ever pulled something like that again." Her voice dropped a little. "They were furious. Possessive. Dangerous."

Carmen stayed quiet, listening.

"And I should've hated it," Katherine went on, almost in disbelief. "I should've run. I wanted to run. But I didn't."

She finally looked at Carmen, the truth right on the edge of her tongue.

"I kind of… loved it," she whispered.

Carmen didn't look surprised. "Of course you did."

Katherine blinked. "That's not weird to you?"

Carmen chuckled. "Not even a little. Before I met Eleazar, I was… well, fierce might be a gentle word for it."

Katherine raised a brow.

"I was dominant with all my lovers. In control. Passionate. Possessive, even," Carmen said, her voice nostalgic. "It was how I protected myself. How I survived."

"And then?"

"Then I met him." Carmen glanced over to where Eleazar was smiling at something Tanya said. Her expression softened. "Everything changed. I knew from the moment we touched that he was dominant to me. That the bond, if it sealed, would never be one I could steer."

Katherine tilted her head. "So what'd you do? Just accept it?"

Carmen smiled. "No. I fought it. I resisted him for a long time."

"Did he push you?"

"Hmmmm", she chuckled. "He mostly waited," she said softly. "Until one day I realized that trusting him—submitting to him—wasn't losing myself. It was choosing to be seen and loved without conditions."

Katherine looked away, her throat tight. "What if I can't do that?"

Carmen laid a hand gently on her shoulder. "Then you take your time. But I see the way you look at them. And I see the way they look at you. This isn't just about dominance and submission. It's about devotion."

Katherine nodded slowly, her voice barely a whisper. "I'm scared I won't be enough for it."

Carmen's gaze softened. "You already are."

Katherine blinked back the emotion rising in her chest. "How did you know he wouldn't hurt you?"

"I didn't," Carmen said, honest. "But I believed he could—and that he wouldn't. That's the difference."

Katherine stared at her wine glass, the firelight catching the reflection. "I've always done my best to stay away from vampires. They always seemed to get me into some kind of trouble….Rosalie and Kate…they could tear me apart, in more ways than one."

Carmen nodded. "But they won't. And someday, you'll stop being afraid of that. You'll crave the way they make you feel safe even when everything in you wants to run."

Katherine exhaled, the tension in her spine easing just a little. "You're really good at this."

Carmen smiled. "That's what big sisters are for."

Behind them, Rosalie glanced over—felt something in Katherine shift. Her posture relaxed slightly. Kate followed her gaze, watching Katherine with eyes full of something steady and waiting.