<h4>Chapter 743: What I was born to be</h4>


    Karmen’s face lit up the moment he saw him. "Carlos!" he eximed warmly as the two men stepped forward and embraced each other.


    "Finally, I get to see you again," Karmen said as they pulled apart. "How have you been? And tell me, did you find the answers you were searching for when you left so suddenly?"


    Carlos turned his gaze toward the neatly trimmed bushes lining the garden. "Yes," he replied.


    Karmen nodded slowly, as if sensing that there was much more behind that simple answer. Then a small smile returned to his face.


    "There’s something I wanted to tell you as well," he said, shifting slightly to Carlos’s left. "I finally asked Aisha out. We’re dating now."


    Carlos turned his head toward him, the corner of his lips lifting faintly. "So you finally did what you should have done a long time ago."


    Karmen chuckled softly and nodded. "You’re right. And honestly... I should thank you for pushing me to take that step." His voice softened as he spoke about her. "I’ve never been in love before, so this feeling ispletely new to me. But every day I see her, it’s like feeling butterflies. I keep thinking about her constantly, about how to make her smile, how to make her happy. I feel... lighter all the time."


    Carlos listened quietly, a faint smile resting on his face as he watched his friend talk so openly.


    After a moment, Karmen’s curiosity returned. "Now tell me," he said. "What exactly were you searching for? Did you truly find what you were looking for? And if you need help, you know I’m always ready."


    Before Carlos could respond, a hand suddenlynded on his shoulder.


    Gabriel had appeared behind them.


    "He’s not nning to take help from any of us," Gabriel said with mild annoyance in his voice. "He doesn’t even bother telling us what’s going on in his head or his heart."


    He stepped forward to stand beside Carlos, Noah restingfortably in the baby carrier strapped to his chest.


    Karmen nced at the little boy and then back at Gabriel with a curious smile. "Are you going somewhere?"


    Carlos also looked at Gabriel with mild amusement.


    "Yeah," Gabriel replied casually. "Noah is growing fast. Keeping him inside the house all the time isn’t good for him." He adjusted the carrier slightly. "So Amelie and I are taking him out for a while. Tomorrow we’ll have to head back to the pce anyway."


    Gabriel’s gaze remained fixed on Carlos as he spoke again, his tone more serious now.


    "Are you still not going to tell me what’s going on?" he asked. "You weren’t in the house the entire night, and then you came backte in the morning."


    Karmen turned toward Carlos as well, the smile fading from his face. It was clear now that something far more serious was weighing on him.


    For a moment, Carlos remained silent. His eyes drifted toward the garden path before he finally spoke.


    "If I don’t follow the path I was chosen for... I will die."


    Both Gabriel and Karmen froze at his words.


    Shock spread across their faces as they tried to process what he had just said.


    Noah, however, remained blissfully unaware of the tension around him. He was happily ying with the pendant that hung loosely from Gabriel’s shirt, tugging at it with tiny curious fingers.


    Carlos continued speaking, his voice calm but heavy with the weight of long-hidden truths.


    "I was born into the Ashfall family," he said. "The family destined to lead the witches, the sorcerers... all those who belong to our kind. But I’ve been defying that destiny ever since my powers began to appear."


    His eyes darkened slightly at the memory.


    "The visions... They were something I could never stop. I studied everything I could about them for the sake of my parents." He paused briefly. "But they died too soon."


    Carlos swallowed before continuing.


    "The ident that took their lives... I saw it before it happened. I wasn’t there physically, but I still felt the pain when it happened. For years I couldn’t escape that pain. I tried to numb it, tried to pretend life could go on normally. And eventually... it did."


    He nced toward Gabriel and Karmen.


    "A lot has happened since then. My grandmother passed away too. And along the way I met people like you... werewolves. Creatures our kind was taught to see as enemies but it wasn’t true."


    He looked down at his hands slowly, lowering his head.


    "And yet here I am again," he murmured. "Standing at the same crossroads."


    After a brief pause, he added, "I have to ept what I was born to be."


    "Then follow your destiny," Karmen said, stepping closer so he could look directly into Carlos’s face. "Why are you still holding back? You’re the one who always gives us advice. Why can’t you follow your own?"


    Carlos exhaled slowly, his eyes drifting for a moment before answering.


    "Because I was always scared," he admitted. "Afraid of feeling that same pain again... the pain I felt when my parents died."


    He paused, the memory clearly weighing on him.


    "That moment changed everything for me," he continued. "It made me suppress these powers, stop them from growing. But no matter how much I tried... They never truly stopped."


    At that moment, Noah tilted his little head toward Carlos. A bright smile spread across his face.


    "Unu," he babbled happily, stretching his tiny hands out toward him as he wriggled slightly in the baby carrier.


    Carlos’s expression softened immediately. He reached forward and gently ced his hand on Noah’s head.


    "Don’t worry about me," he said softly.


    Then he looked back at Gabriel and Karmen.


    "I met Glenice yesterday," he exined. "I spoke to her for a long time. I’m preparing myself to walk the path that was meant for me."


    His voice grew more serious.


    "There is a fate tied to the sorcerers of my bloodline. If I keep running from it, the people I love will start disappearing one by one."


    He looked down briefly before continuing.


    "I’m not afraid of death itself. Deathes for everyone eventually." His gaze lifted again. "What frightens me now is the thought that the people I care about might suffer because of me."


    Gabriel frowned slightly as he tried to process his words.


    "So you’re saying that you’ll go back and—"


    Carlos gently interrupted him.


    "Yes," he said firmly. "I have to return to my homnd. There are things I refused to learn long ago... and now I must learn them if I want to truly help others."


    Gabriel studied him carefully before asking one final question.


    "Everything in life muste from the heart," he said. "Is this decisioning from yours as well?"


    Carlos nodded slowly, a small but sincere smile appearing on his face.


    "Yes," he said. "This time it’s from my heart. If Grandma were alive, she would be happy hearing my words. After attending Katelyn’s marriage, I will leave."


    "Alright. I won’t stop you. Go where your destiny lies, Carlos. But remember that, you’re not alone. We may be living far from each other, we still are a family," Gabriel affirmed.