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Short filmTranscript
00:06Hero saves helpless Omega. Omega gives herself to her hero. That was how the old stories always
00:12went. It was the night of my mating ceremony with Alpha Dominic. His beta burst into our chamber.
00:19Alpha! Ms. Lara's father just passed. She's collapsed from grief. The words had barely
00:24landed before Alpha Dominic froze, his lips inches from my neck. The mark unfinished.
00:29He abandoned our mating ceremony without a word, shifted, and disappeared from the pack. He didn't
00:34come back until morning. The sacred bonding wreaths hadn't even been taken down yet when he returned,
00:38and he brought with him a woman in a black lace dress, a stripper from the edge of pack territory.
00:43Lara is the Omega I rescued. Her father just died. She has no one, and there are wolves out there
00:48who
00:48want to force mark her. I want to mark her, bring her into our pack, give her somewhere she belongs.
00:55Sarah, if you can't accept that, I'll send her away and never speak of her again.
00:58He looked at me with those deep, devoted eyes, every word carefully, respectfully placed. Everyone
01:04expected me to lose it, to scream, to shift, to make a scene. Instead, I smiled, slow and easy.
01:11The story of how Alpha rescued a stripper is already legend in this pack. To mark her as nothing more
01:16than a mistress would cheapen everything that story stands for. Why not mark her as your Luma? That would
01:21be a love worth remembering forever. My bonding arrangement with Alpha Dominic had been decreed by
01:27the Lycan King himself. Before we were formally bonded, word had already spread through the pack.
01:31He had once stepped in to protect a rogue Omega named Lara, a stripper being harassed by other
01:35wolves. Lara was the kind of Omega you couldn't look away from. Slender, almost fragile, but with curves
01:41that made every wolf in the room forget what they'd been saying. A rogue, technically, as she danced at the
01:46lowest tavern on the edge of pack territory. And yet wolves came from all over just to watch her move
01:51from across the room. Someone had wanted more than a look. A wolf had tried to force mark her.
01:56Alpha Dominic had put a stop to it. The story became the kind of thing had to repeat around fires.
02:01We're a serious helpless Omega. Omega gives herself to her hero. That was how the old stories always went.
02:07There is no Luna in this pack yet.
02:09But Alpha Dominic had said publicly,
02:11I will not mark her friends. I will not mark a mistress carelessly. Lara deserves better than to
02:17be seen that way. Lycan Luna asked me herself. If I felt wronged by any of this, the arrangement
02:22could be dissolved. My father, my brothers, my mother, all of them had died in the war against
02:28the witch clans. Lycan Luna had taken me in out of gratitude for everything the Calloway family had
02:33given. And when my wolf finally awakened, she had granted me the Alpha title, an honor almost no one in
02:38my
02:39position had ever received. She loved me the way she loved her own children. Maybe more. But becoming
02:44the Luna of North Moonpack was a decree from the Lycan King. It couldn't simply be undone. I didn't
02:49want to put her in a difficult position. I knelt before her and said,
02:52Sarah is not troubled by this. I've heard Alpha Dominic is one of the most powerful Alphas of his
02:57generation. This is the bonding wise all the Andersterat. This is the kind of bonding Sarah has
03:03always wanted. There's nothing to dissolve. What I hadn't counted on was Lara appearing on the very
03:08night of our ceremony. Alpha Dominic's lips hadn't even reached my neck yet when his beta crashed
03:13through the door. Alpha! Ms. Lara's father just passed. She's collapsed from grief. He yanked back
03:19from me, shredded his ceremonial clothes, restricted mid-moon, and poured through the pack gates as a
03:24massive black wolf. Through the beta link, his Alpha command rolled through the air behind him.
03:29Get the pack's best healer. Lara is fragile. Bring Moonstone, blessed by the moon goddess. Gods know what
03:35state she's in. I stood there and stared at the overturned table, the food scattered across the
03:40floor, the doors hanging off their hinges from where he'd shifted and charged through them.
03:44Amanda, of the beta my mother had left me, the one who had been with our family since before the
03:48war,
03:49a her eyes went red. Miss Sarah, the Alpha has gone too far. Tonight is your mating ceremony.
03:59He's left an Alpha to spend her bonding night alone. All for a stripper. This is nothing short of a
04:06humiliation. The entire pack knew it. The entire werewolf world knew it. That the great Alpha Dominic's
04:12heart had always belonged to an Omega who danced in a low-end tavern. Tonight I had lived it myself,
04:17and I understood now that the reality was even worse than the rumors. The moon goddess blessed bonding
04:23candles burned in silence through the whole night. Alpha Dominic never came home. The next morning I
04:29went to pay my respects to Alpha Dominic's mother, the former Luna of North Moon pack, Lady Larian.
04:34Dominic was already there, standing in front of his mother with Lara at his side, dressed head to toe
04:39in a black mourning gown. The entire pack was still draped in the sacred white decorations of a new
04:44bonding. Against all of it, her black lace stood out like an open wound. The dress was the kind other
04:49she-wolves rarely wore. Thin, barely there, black chiffon that skimmed her thighs. She pressed
04:54herself behind Alpha Dominic's shoulder, all wide, frightened eyes when she saw me. Like a deer that
04:59had just caught a predator's scent. Her body swayed like she might fall, and then right in front of me,
05:04she dropped to her knees with a soft thud. Lara greets the Luna. Yesterday was entirely Lara's fault.
05:11Lara ruined the Luna and the Alpha's bonding night.
05:15Please, I punish Lara however you see fit.
05:19Her forehead touched the floor. Alpha Dominic looked at me with an expression pulled tight
05:23between guilt and pleading. Lara's the Omega I rescued.
05:29Her father just died. She has still just died, and she has no one left, and there are wolves already
05:35circling who want to force-mank her. She has nowhere to go. I want to, after completing my bond with
05:41you,
05:42mark her. Let her stay in the pack as my sanctioned mistress. Give her a place. If you can't accept
05:49that, I'll drive her out of the pack and never see her again. Lara's tears fell in silence. She
05:54looked up at me, all Omega softness and helplessness. Please, Luna, show mercy. Lara has nowhere left to
06:02go. If there's no place for Lara here, Lara would rather die.
06:10Lady Larian watched with a pained, sympathetic expression, then turned to me.
06:14Sarah, you are the Luna of North Moon Pack now. This is your decision to make. But this pack has
06:22always been known for its kindness and generosities. As it's Luna, I hope you'll lead with an open heart.
06:30Accepting her as a sanctioned mistress costs you nothing. She cannot outrank you. That was Lady
06:35Larian's closing line. Refuse, and I was the villain. Accept, and I was a fool. The story had
06:41been written before I walked into the room. Lara lifted her face from the floor. My lord saved
06:46Lara's life. Lara swore to repay that debt. If Luna fears, Lara will compete for the Alpha's attention.
06:53She pressed a hand to her chest. Lara is willing to take suppresses.
06:57Lara will never challenge Luna's position. Alpha Dominic's jaw tightened.
07:02Sarah, Lara doesn't scheme. You don't need to be this hard on her.
07:06Then Lara's attending beta. A silent on the floor beside her has slammed her forehead down.
07:12Luna, please. My mistress cannot take suppresses. She is already carrying the Alpha's pup.
07:17The room went still. Lady Larian shot upright.
07:20Get her off the floor. You never kneel when you're carried.
07:23Dominic pulled Lara up in one motion, his face moving through guilt and protectiveness in the span
07:28of a second. Why didn't you tell me? How long have you been carrying this alone?
07:33I didn't want to make things harder for you. I already ruined your bonding night.
07:38I felt so guilty. I thought if I did just... Her hand moved to her stomach.
07:43If I quietly ended it, you'd never have to choose.
07:46Lady Larian turned to me, measured and deliberate.
07:48Sarah, even if the pup is born, it remains a lesser heir. It cannot supersede yours.
07:55But it is still Dominic's blood. We cannot let it be cast out.
07:59A careful pause.
08:00When the pup arrives, it will call you mother.
08:03I looked at all three of them. The rehearsed timing, the tears landing at exactly the right
08:07moment. The pup revealed only after every other move had failed. I smiled.
08:12The story of how Alpha rescued a rogue Omega is already legend in this pack. To mark her
08:18as a mere mistress would cheapen that legend entirely.
08:21Dominic relaxed the moment he heard the first half.
08:24If his feelings are everything the pack believes them to be, he should mark her as his Luna.
08:31That would be a love worth howling about for generations.
08:35Then the second half reached him, and his expression went hard and cold.
08:38Mark her as Luna. Sarah, Lauren, I never...
08:42I stepped back.
08:44Never what? Never loved each other? Or just that the pup she's carrying isn't yours?
08:50Every wolf in this pack knows the story. Hero saves Omega. Omega gives herself to her hero.
08:56And now there's a pup.
08:57I held his gaze.
08:58You said publicly, I will not mark a mistress carelessly. I understand now exactly what that
09:03meant.
09:03Not a mistress. Just a rogue lover. Kept on the side. Is that right?
09:09The color left Lara's face.
09:11Luna!
09:12She whispered.
09:13Lara was never that. Lara only... Lara only loves him. Lara never asked for anything more.
09:19Not even a sanctioned mistress?
09:21I said pleasantly.
09:22That's worse. At least a mistress has a title. Without one, what does the pup she's carrying
09:28enter this world as? A rogue born with no standing in any pack?
09:32She stumbled back, shaking her head.
09:34That isn't what Lara meant.
09:36I nodded once.
09:37Whatever you meant, I will give you exactly what your love deserves.
09:40My lady, the bonding rites were never completed last night. Alpha Dominic spent his bonding
09:44night with Lara. My entire household witnessed it. Every wolf in this pack can confirm it.
09:49Therefore, I... This bond is void.
09:51Dominic moved fast, stepping directly into my path.
09:53What do you mean? Void?
09:55I know last night was wrong. But Lara's father died. I had no choice. It won't happen again.
10:01His voice dropped.
10:02We start over. I'll spend the rest of my life making it up to you, Sarah.
10:06Then harder.
10:07If you dissolve this bond, you're throwing the Lyman King's decree into the dirt. Do you
10:12understand what that means?
10:14I looked up at him.
10:15Dominic, this bonding arrangement was the Lion King's to give. You're the one who buried
10:19it on the very first night by leaving your luma alone to comfort a rogue Omega.
10:24If the Lycan King wants someone to answer for it, it won't be the Alpha's daughter who
10:29was simply left behind.
10:31You want to talk about what I'm supposed to do?
10:34Did you think about me even once while you were deciding what she needed?
10:39The color shifted in his face. He knew every word was true.
10:43If this reached the Lycan Council, the humiliation landed entirely on him.
10:46Lara rushed forward, voice cracking.
10:48Luna, please. It's all Lara's fault. Lara will leave the pack right now.
10:56You'll never have to see Lara again. Even if those powerful Alphas try to mark me and put
11:01me in their pack, I'd rather die than let them succeed. But I'll never let an Alpha cause
11:06me trouble again.
11:07She closed the distance and dropped her voice to where only I could hear.
11:10Miss Calloway, he has always chosen me. He always will. You never stood a chance.
11:18Then she turned back, her eyes wide and glistening, voice raised for the room.
11:22Luna, if you leave, the Lycan King will punish the Alpha. Please, if anyone should go, let
11:29it be me.
11:29I raised an eyebrow.
11:31You truly want me to stay? Then understand this. If I stay, you will never set foot in this
11:39pack again. Not once.
11:42Lara doesn't know what to do. Please, Luna, I tell Lara. Alpha.
11:47She turned to Dominic.
11:48Did Lara do something wrong? Lara just wanted to repay you. Lara would be a servant. Lara
11:53would ask for nothing. Just please ask Luna to let Lara stay.
11:58She pressed herself against his arm, a vine finding its wall. Dominic drew her close and
12:03looked at me over her head.
12:05Sarah, let her stay. She defers to you in everything. You have my word.
12:10He still believed he was worth bargaining with. I pulled my hand free.
12:13Alpha Dominic, my answer stands. The bond is dissolved. From this day forward wide, your
12:19life is your own. It has nothing to do with me.
12:22Lara clutched her black mourning dress and turned as if to leave.
12:25Then Lara will go. You don't have to ask twice.
12:29You're not going anywhere.
12:29Dominic caught her arm.
12:30I'm the alpha of this pack. Would I just say you men here?
12:33Then he turned on me. A and every trace of warmth vanished from his face.
12:37I'm taking one sanctioned mistress. One. What kind of Luna makes a scene over that?
12:41Which pack in this entire kingdom doesn't have secondary arrangements?
12:44Lara has had a hard life. Nothing like yours. You lost your family, yes, but Lylan Luna took
12:48you in. Gave you a title. Gave you everything. Lara has had no one. I was only protecting her.
12:54Do you think everyone has what you have? A Lycan Luna who loves them? A pack that honors
13:00their bloodline?
13:02The last word barely left his mouth before my hand connected with his face.
13:05Sharp.
13:06Clean. His head turned with it.
13:09Dominic Ashvale.
13:10My voice didn't waver.
13:11What gives you the right to speak of my family to me? The Lycan King himself does not raise
13:15their names lightly in my presence. What exactly are you?
13:19He had always known I was an orphan with nowhere to go. That was precisely why I had said it.
13:23Because he believed I had no move left to make. He straightened slowly. Something burning behind
13:28his eyes. You hold a title, Sarah, but it was given to you. You are not Lycan born. If you
13:34walk
13:34out of this pack, what are you walking back to? Do you really think the Lycan King and Luna will
13:38go
13:38to war with North Moon Pack over you? He thought he had me cornered. My father was the Alpha of
13:44Iron
13:44Moon Pack. My mother stood beside him until the Witch Clan War took them both. My brothers fell
13:49with their wolves howling. I was shaped in that bloodline long before Lycan Luna ever took my
13:53hand. An Alpha Blood. A real Alpha Blood. A does not kneel.
13:57Amanda!
13:58My voice carried across the room.
13:59Pack everything. Lift the Kalawal crest. We're going home.
14:03The room stopped breathing. Iron Moon Pack had been sealed for over a decade. I was reopening
14:07it.
14:08Stop this.
14:09Dominic's voice cracked like a command.
14:11You think you're still the Iron Moon Alpha's daughter, free to do whatever you want?
14:15That life is over.
14:16Lady Larian stepped between us.
14:17Sarah, I know what kind of she-wolf you are. You have my word. If Dominic ever dishonors
14:24you again, I will not stand beside him.
14:26A bonding is sacred. A Lycan decreed bonding most of all. We cannot simply undo it. Let me
14:32arrange for you both to complete the REITs tonight, properly, with no interruptions. I'll
14:37see to it myself. And if you truly cannot accept Lara's presence, she need not be a mistress
14:42at all. She can serve in the pack. Nothing more.
14:44They had forgotten what I was. Even without a bloodline, I carried the Alpha title, granted
14:48by the Lycan Luna herself, something that had never been given to an orphan before. My father's
14:53name still carried weight in every corner of this territory. His brothers in arms, his
14:58allies, the wolves who had bled beside him. None of them had forgotten the Calloways. Did Dominic
15:03truly believe that I, are the last blood of the Calloway line, I would simply absorb every
15:07humiliation and stay? There's no need. I met Lady Larian's eyes directly. The bond
15:12is dissolved. Alpha Dominic is free to mark Lara, freely and completely. The pup she carries
15:17will be born as the legitimate first heir of North Moon Pack. That is right and proper.
15:22Otherwise, the Alpha's firstborn enters this world as a rogue born with no standing. What
15:27kind of life is that for a pup?
15:28The shadow that crossed Dominic's face was almost satisfying. And in Lara's eyes, just
15:33for a moment, something lit up.
15:35Sarah.
15:36Dominic's voice dropped into something dangerous.
15:38If you walk through that gate, you will not be walking back through it. This pack does
15:42not open twice for the same wolf. She stepped back, eyes glistening, voice raised for the
15:46room. Luna, if you leave, the Lycan King will punish the Alpha. Please, if anyone should
15:53go, let it be Lara. You truly want me to stay? I said softly.
15:58Then know this. If I stay, you never enter this pack again. Not once.
16:04Lara bit down on her lip. The axe slipped.
16:06Lara doesn't know what to do. Please, Luna, tell Lara.
16:10She turned to Dominic, voice going small.
16:12Alpha, did Lara do something wrong? Lara just wanted to repay you. Lara would sweep floors.
16:18Lara would ask for nothing. Just please ask Luna to let Lara stay close to you.
16:24She pressed herself against his arm like she had always belonged there.
16:27Dominic held her and looked at me over her head.
16:30Sarah, she defers to you in everything. That's my word.
16:33He still believed he was an offer worth taking. I stepped back.
16:37Alpha Dominic, my answer stands. The bond is void.
16:40I turned toward the gate.
16:41From this day forward, live however you choose. It has nothing to do with me.
16:47Iron Moon pack had been sealed for over a decade.
16:49The day after my mating ceremony, dowry crates loaded on carts, my household walking behind me.
16:54I brought it back to life. Word traveled ahead. Within days, every hall was swept, every hearth relit.
17:00The keep smelled of pine and open air instead of dust and loss.
17:03Lycan Luna's summons arrived before the week was out.
17:05I knelt before her, red-eyed, composed.
17:08My Luna, I cannot bond with Alpha Dominic. His heart was given long before I arrived, and the Omega he
17:14gave it to as she carries his pup.
17:16Amanda knelt beside me and delivered every detail of the bonding night.
17:19Voice raw, tears running openly. Lycan Luna listened. Her expression went very still.
17:25I knew that wolf had a wandering eye, she said at last.
17:28But on the bonding night itself, with a tavern dancer, she exhaled slowly, I wouldn't have believed it of him.
17:36Sarah, if you walk away from this bond, the pack will whisper. You know how they treat she-wolves who
17:41leave.
17:41I lifted my chin.
17:43My Luna, the one who behaved wrongly was not me. I'm not afraid of whispers.
17:48My father and brothers were warriors. My mother stood beside them until the end.
17:53I carry that same blood. I will hold the Calloway name up myself. I don't need anyone to hold it
18:00for me.
18:01Lyman Luna was quiet for a long moment. Then something flickered in her eyes.
18:06Something that looked almost like pride. You are exactly your father's daughter, she said.
18:12The Calloway name will stand again.
18:14The Lycan King sent gifts to Iron Moon Pack within the week.
18:17The pack's winds shifted overnight. Invitations arrived.
18:20She-wolves came to the gate. Allies of my father's old pack.
18:24Wolves who had bled beside my brothers. They came one after another and stayed.
18:28Lady Harwick, whose mate had fought at my father's side, took both my hands in hers.
18:34Sarah, our families go back too far for distance. You're home now.
18:39Come to us whenever you need anything.
18:42A sound of elegant contempt.
18:44As for that taverness, for that tavern dancer, don't waste a thought on her.
18:48When the time is right, I'll find you a match that actually deserves the Callum bloodline.
18:54Dominic had assumed I was posturing.
18:56That in a few days, once my temper cooled, he could come to me with the right expression.
19:00And I would return quietly to North Moon Pack.
19:04Then the Lyman King's gifts arrived at my door.
19:07And he understood I had no intention of going back.
19:10The dissolution reached the Lycan Council.
19:12The Lycan King addressed it in open session.
19:14His voice carrying the particular dryness of a man stating the obvious.
19:16It seems Alpha Dominic finds the match I arranged less to his dike than a rogue Omega from a tavern.
19:20Very well.
19:21I won't force a wolf to honor what he's already dishonored.
19:23Mark your dancer.
19:24Consider the matter settled.
19:25One sentence.
19:26That was all it took.
19:27The pack understood.
19:28The Lycan King was not angry at Sarah Calloway.
19:31He was done with Dominic Ashvale.
19:33Dominic returned to North Moon Pack looking like a wolf who had walked into a trap he'd built with his
19:37own hands.
19:38The King's words had closed the only door that might have reopened.
19:41If he bonded now, it would be with Lara.
19:43That was the shape of his future, and every wolf in the territory could see it.
19:47What Alpha family with any standing would accept a rogue tavern dancer as their Luna?
19:52Lara's belly grew.
19:53Dominic ran out of options.
19:55He chose the least bad one and set a date.
19:57Lara was overjoyed.
19:58She had walked into that pack expecting to be a mistress at best, and somehow she was going to be
20:02its Luna.
20:03The bonding day arrived.
20:04The great hall filled with guests.
20:06Many came out of old loyalty to the Ashvale bloodline.
20:09Others came simply because they wanted to witness it themselves.
20:12Lara had commissioned her ceremony gown from the finest atelier in the territory, cut wide, draped cleverly, so the curve
20:18of her belly wouldn't show from a distance.
20:20Ceremony master called the hall to order.
20:22Luna, approach for bonding.
20:25An attendant stepped forward to arrange the ritual offering at Lara's feet.
20:28The girl wore a scented sachet at her hip.
20:30In the warm, packed hall, the fragrance bloomed thick and sharp and drifted straight into Lara's face as she leaned
20:36close.
20:36Lara's stomach turned.
20:38She couldn't hold it back.
20:39A small, involuntary sound escaped.
20:41Half gasp, half wretch.
20:43The attendant lurched upright.
20:44My lady, are you unwell?
20:47The scent hit again.
20:48Lara swayed.
20:49The ceremonial veil slipped.
20:50Her face had gone the color of bone.
20:52She pressed her hand over her mouth.
20:54A. Too late.
20:56She pitched forward and was sick, right there in the center of the hall, in front of every witness North
21:01Moonpack had gathered.
21:03The hall erupted.
21:04Guests stumbled back, hands over their mouths, the neat rows of witnesses dissolving into something between horror and dark fascination.
21:11The sharper-eyed she-wolves had already drawn their conclusions.
21:14She's carrying.
21:16She was carrying before the last bonding fell through.
21:19No wonder Alpha Calendee dissolved the arrangement.
21:21Who could blame her?
21:22The Alpha of North Moonpack tangled up with a rogue tavern dancer and now marking her as Luna?
21:27This is what binding ceremonies look like now?
21:29She danced at that border tavern. How many wolves bought a private show and we're supposed to call her Luna?
21:34We don't even know it's his. Half the men in this hall have probably tipped her at something.
21:39Lara stood white-faced at the center of it all, one hand pressed to her ribs, searching for Dominic through
21:44her tears.
21:45Alpha!
21:48Lady Larian sat rigid in the front row.
21:50The expression on her face was the particular blankness of a wolf absorbing a humiliation too large to process in
21:55public.
21:55She turned to the nearest attendant, voice flat and cold.
21:58Take the Luna inside. Now she is not to remain in this hall.
22:03The Luna who cannot stand through her own ceremony.
22:05She said quieter to herself.
22:07What kind of blood is this bringing into our line? A tavern stripper!
22:10As our Luna!
22:11Her jaw tightened.
22:12I should have put my foot down the moment Dominic carried her through the gate, a mystery I could have
22:15tolerated.
22:15But this, he threw away the Lycan King's fated match.
22:19For this?
22:20The ceremony ended before it properly began.
22:23Guests dispersed in a wave of polite horror and barely suppressed gossip.
22:26And Dominic Asheville, once the pack's great romantic hero, became its most discussed cautionary tale.
22:31Lara, for her part, was triumphant by the time the healers cleared her and the private rites were quietly completed.
22:37She was Luna Asheville.
22:39Not a mistress.
22:40Not a rogue lover.
22:41Luna Asheville.
22:43She had climbed from a border tavern floor to the highest seat in the pack.
22:46She let herself feel every inch of it.
22:49The morning after, she went to pay her respects to Lady Larian.
22:52She found the former Luna deep in easy laughter with a young she-wolf.
22:55Lady Larian's hand wrapped warmly around the girls.
22:59Cousin.
23:00When Dominic and Lara entered, the girl rose with an unguarded smile and reached for Dominic's arm.
23:05Lady Larian's expression warmed in a way it never had for Lara.
23:08This is Viviane, Dominic's cousin.
23:11They ran together as pups before her father took the family east.
23:14Her father has returned to the pack now, and she with him.
23:17Light and easy.
23:18Viviane tells me she'd rather be here than anywhere else, so I've told her the keep was her second home.
23:23Her father is the new minister of pack-rilds, a significant appointment.
23:27A meaningful pause.
23:28Viviane, since Lara is carrying and can't manage the household just now, I'd like you to oversee it.
23:34You know this pack better than almost anyone.
23:36I trust you completely.
23:38Viviane smiled at Lara with the ease of a wolf who had never needed to perform warmth, because she simply
23:43had it.
23:52The color left Lara's face. She understood the message precisely. She laughed carefully.
23:58Mother, Viviane comes from a good family. Wouldn't it be beneath her to manage a household as staff?
24:05Please. You know what I'm asking. Don't do this.
24:10Oh, I see exactly what you mean. You're absolutely right. It would be beneath her.
24:14That's why I'm proposing she come in as a co-mate. Equal standing.
24:18It would honor her rank properly, and give this pack a lunar who can actually represent us at formal summits
24:24while you recover.
24:25Dominic needs a mate who can stand beside him in public, after all.
24:29Lara turned to Dominic.
24:30For the first time since the ceremony, she let him see what was underneath.
24:34You told me your heart was only mine.
24:35It is. Viviane is family, nothing more. This is a formality.
24:39Whatever title she holds in the pack, you are the one I come back to.
24:42Focus on the pup. Let her handle the work. Isn't that easier?
24:45You're new to this world. High-pack households have ways you haven't learned yet.
24:48I'll put the household back in your hands. I promise.
24:50Three days after the bonding ceremony, Viviane Crane moved into North Moon Pack as co-mate.
24:56When word reached me at Iron Moon Camp, I laughed.
24:59Dominic had played it cleverly.
25:01Vivadian's father, the new Minister of Pack Rights, was exactly the Alliance and Alpha in his position needed.
25:06Lara couldn't hold a formal summit. Vivadian could.
25:09Now the pack had something new to whisper about.
25:11Two Lunas behind one set of gates, waging a quiet war between them.
25:16Whose room Dominic slept in.
25:18Whose table he sat at longest.
25:20Whose name the pack members said with more weight.
25:22Every morning brought a new skirmish.
25:24Every night reset the board.
25:25Vivian called Lara a border dancer who didn't know which fork belongs at her own bonding table.
25:30Lara said Vivian was no better than the Omega she looked down on, crawling after another she-wolf's mate with
25:34less dignity than the tavern ever required.
25:36Dominic stopped going inside when he came home.
25:40It was like in Luna's commission that brought me back into the same room as Dominic and Lara.
25:44I was hosting the spring charity gathering at Iron Moon Keep, a formal occasion, and I had dressed accordingly.
25:49Dominic saw me across the hall and went still.
25:52Then his gaze drifted to Lara, standing not far off, her face carrying the specific grey-yellow exhaustion of a
25:57she-wolf deep in a difficult pregnancy.
25:59Her silhouette nothing like what it once was.
26:01And something moved behind his eyes.
26:03He came to find me.
26:05Sarah, are you well?
26:07Careful, deliberate.
26:08I've been meaning to come to the keep.
26:11To apologize properly.
26:12I was afraid you wouldn't see me.
26:14To anyone who didn't know better, he looked like a wolf carrying genuine regret.
26:17I stepped back.
26:18He followed.
26:19Sarah, I had a jewelry suite commissioned at the Silver Quarter.
26:24A full set.
26:26I'd like to send it before your birth moon.
26:28Consider it...
26:29Alpha Dom.
26:30I smiled pleasantly.
26:30We have no bond and no arrangement.
26:32You are another she-wolf's mate.
26:34If you send jewelry to my keep and someone notices, what exactly do you expect them to think?
26:37I am an unbonded she-wolf with a clean name.
26:39I intend to keep it that way.
26:40Please conduct yourself accordingly.
26:42Lara had already spotted us.
26:44She crossed the room fast, tucking herself against Dominic's arm with the practiced ease of something territorial.
26:49Alpha Calloway.
26:50Her eyes were bright with a very specific kind of pleasure.
26:53I heard the Lycan King may be arranging another match for you.
26:56I do hope this time you won't run from it.
26:59I looked at her.
27:00At the triumphant expression.
27:01At the careful grip on Dominic's sleeve.
27:03And I smiled.
27:05Luna Ashvale.
27:06Before you worry about my future, perhaps tend to your own.
27:10I kept my voice effortlessly light.
27:12I hear your co-mate made quite an impression at the last council summit.
27:15Her tea ceremoniae.
27:17Exceptional, apparently.
27:19The kind of performance that turns heads.
27:21Your alpha seemed very proud of her.
27:24She's been sleeping in the East Wing for the better part of a month now, hasn't she?
27:28Once she's carrying, the first legitimate air of North Moonpack comes from her.
27:32You and your pup.
27:33I let the pause settle, like a stone dropped into still water.
27:36You have very, very little ground left to stand.
27:39I turned and walked away before she could answer.
27:42Behind me, I heard Lara's voice rise.
27:43A low and sharp aimed at Dominic.
27:45She had your attention for three minutes.
27:46Are you already regretting?
27:48Dominic's tone came back flat and tired.
27:50I marked you, didn't I?
27:52If I wanted her, I wouldn't have brought you to this pack.
27:54Lara stood very still.
27:55One hand resting on the swell of her belly.
27:57Running the numbers on everything I'd said about Vivian.
28:00She thought about the last summit.
28:02Vivian's tea ceremony, the whole room murmuring in admiration,
28:06Dominic's face lighting up with the specific pride of an alpha,
28:08made to look good in public.
28:10He had slept in Vivian's wing for most of the following month.
28:14Word had reached her that Vivian was now consulting pack healers
28:17about conception rituals.
28:19Lara had to do something.
28:21She had to take the room back.
28:23She looked around the hall, guests sipping tea, low-polished conversation,
28:27and rose to earth, she announced, to the nearest cluster of guests.
28:29Just sitting here sipping tea is so dale.
28:32Lara has been working on something new.
28:35Her voice sliding back into that warm, easy register
28:37she had carried through years in the tavern.
28:39Give you all something worth remembering.
28:41I'll see you soon.
28:44A look crossed Dominic's face that Lara didn't see.
28:47The males in the room began to clap and call out.
28:49But Axel, you lucky wolf!
28:52Aluna who performs!
28:54Yeah!
28:55We haven't seen her dance since she bonded.
28:58What a treat!
29:00Best offering of the evening, I'd wager.
29:03Lara rose to it.
29:04This A, this was the sound she had grown up with.
29:07The warmth of a room turning toward her.
29:09She had missed it more than she'd ever let herself admit.
29:12She moved to the center of the hall without a veil,
29:14without hesitation, and she performed.
29:17She performed beautifully.
29:18The room went quiet.
29:19When she finished, the applause was genuine and full.
29:22I raised my fan to cover my smile
29:24and spoke quietly to the nearest attendant.
29:26Luna Ashevale performed magnificently.
29:30Please, offer her a token of appreciation.
29:32I started it.
29:33The room followed as rooms always follow someone of standing.
29:36A gold pin from one she-wolf.
29:39A bracelet from another.
29:40Silver coins from a lord who used to visit the border tavern
29:43on his mate's free evenings.
29:45Small tokens from others, placed on a tray
29:47with the easy generosity of an audience
29:49rewarding a show they had enjoyed.
29:51The tray came to Lara piled high.
29:53Her attendant presented it with a bright smile.
29:55Luna Ashevale, awe from the guests in appreciation.
29:58Lara looked at the tray.
29:59At the silver coins, the scattered pin money,
30:02the small denomination tokens pressed into the palm of a performer
30:05at the end of a good night.
30:06She looked up at the room.
30:08Dominic's face had gone somewhere past anger
30:10into something colder.
30:11He crossed to her in four strides.
30:13The sound of his hand connecting with her cheek
30:15cut through the hall like cracking ice.
30:17You are Luna Ashevale.
30:18He said, low and vicious.
30:19Not a border dancer.
30:21You just performed at a charity gathering
30:23and accepted tips in front of every titled wolf
30:26in this territory.
30:28Is the pack not providing for you?
30:30Do you need the coin that badly?
30:32Take her out.
30:33He turned to the nearest attendant.
30:35Back to the keep.
30:37Confined to her rooms until she understands
30:39what her rank requires of her.
30:41Lara stood frozen, one hand pressed to her face.
30:44Then her voice came back, a high and unraveling.
30:48She made me do this.
30:51Alpha Calloway said if I didn't prove I was worth more than Vivienne,
30:55you'd hand the pack to her.
30:57She told me.
30:59I pressed a hand to my mouth in exaggerated shock.
31:03Alpha Dominic Luna Ashevella,
31:06I beg your pardon?
31:08What am I supposed to have said?
31:09My voice carried.
31:10The room turned.
31:10I am an unbonded she-wolf hosting a charity event.
31:13I have not spoken privately with Luna Ashevilles today.
31:16I let the bewilderment sit for one precise beat,
31:19then let it soften.
31:20You dissolved my bonding arrangement
31:22and caused me considerable embarrassment
31:24before the Lycan King and Luna.
31:27I have never held that against you.
31:29I ask only that you not damage my name
31:32with accusations you cannot support.
31:35You know what you did.
31:36Lara's eyes went red with fury.
31:37You brought me here on purpose.
31:39You made them tip me like I was still on that stage.
31:44I turned to the hall.
31:45My voice was calm and clear.
31:46Every gathering I have hosted this season
31:48has been a fundraiser.
31:50The format is always the same.
31:52Guests offer a token in response to any talent they enjoy,
31:56and every item on that tray
31:58goes in the donor's name
31:59towards supplies for the border pack units.
32:02Food, winter gear,
32:05healing herbs for the wolves protecting our borders.
32:08I let my gaze move across the room.
32:10Several guests performed before Luna Asheville arrived.
32:14They all wore veils,
32:16as is customary for a charitable showcase,
32:19to keep the focus on the cause
32:20rather than the performer.
32:22A gentle pause.
32:23Luna Asheville chose not to wear one.
32:26That is entirely her right.
32:28But the tray is the same tray,
32:30and the cause is the same cause it has always been.
32:33A murmur of confirmation moved through the crowd.
32:35She arrived late.
32:36We'd already donated twice before she came in.
32:40I didn't realize she hadn't been briefed with the other guests.
32:44Dominic was already steering Lara toward the gate,
32:46one hand at her elbow,
32:47both of them wanting to be anywhere else in the territory.
32:50Lady Larian heard the full account
32:52before they cleared the pack border.
32:54That wretched creature.
32:56She said to no one in particular.
32:57He had a Lycan appointed alpha,
32:59a general's daughter,
33:00a royal title,
33:02the king's direct favor,
33:03and he threw all of it away for that.
33:06She pressed the back of her hand to her mouth.
33:07Strip her rank.
33:09Give it to Vivianna.
33:10One Luna who can actually function
33:13is worth more than two useless ones
33:15fighting over the same sleeping quarters.
33:17Lara heard what Lady Larian had said
33:19before the day was out.
33:20She pressed both hands flat over her belly
33:22and walked straight to Dominic.
33:25You promised me the Luna's seat.
33:27You promised this pup would be your first heir.
33:32Now your mother wants to strip my rank
33:35and hand it to Vivianna?
33:36Her voice was quiet, precise.
33:38Which lie would you like to start with?
33:39If you demote me,
33:40She said, quieter still.
33:41I will put my head through that pillar.
33:43Right now.
33:45In front of everyone.
33:46Dominic grabbed her.
33:47Stop.
33:47Nobody is taking anything from you.
33:49An attendant came running in from the courtyard,
33:51breathless and beaming.
33:52Alpha, congratulations.
33:54Luna Vivian has just confirmed a pregnancy.
33:56The healer says she's strong.
33:58My lord, she's asking for you.
34:00Dominic's grip loosened.
34:02Lara, still braced against a resistance that had vanished,
34:04had nothing left to push against.
34:06She went sideways and temporarily herself.
34:08The sound was solid and terrible.
34:10She slid down to the floor,
34:11blood running from her temple,
34:13both hands clutching her abdomen.
34:14The pup.
34:15She gasped.
34:16Something's wrong.
34:18Help.
34:19Lara's labor came too early.
34:21She had hit her head hard enough
34:22to drain most of her strength before it began.
34:25The healers kept her conscious,
34:26through roots and ritual,
34:27but she fought through a full day and night.
34:29What she finally delivered was a girl.
34:31Small, early, thin as thread,
34:33a pup that hadn't been ready to arrive.
34:34Lara passed out.
34:35When she woke,
34:36she took one look and screamed.
34:38It's not right.
34:39I was carrying a son.
34:40Where is he?
34:41Someone switch them.
34:43Give me back my son.
34:45It's Vivian.
34:46She raged and wept and accused
34:47until the walls of the keep rang with it.
34:49She was absolutely certain.
34:50Give my son back.
34:51Give him back.
34:52Vivian didn't bother to engage.
34:54She was too pleased.
34:55The first legitimate heir of North Moon Pack
34:57would come from her now.
34:58That was the only number that mattered.
35:00She celebrated too early.
35:02At the daughter's full moon naming ceremony,
35:04the traditional sweets were laid out for the guests.
35:06Vivian, wanting the occasion's good fortune,
35:08helped herself to a bowl of honey lotus porridge.
35:10She was back in her rooms before the cramps began.
35:13By the time her attendance reached her,
35:15she was doubled over,
35:15soaking through her robes,
35:17calling for anyone who would come.
35:18The healers arrived.
35:19Too late to stop what had already started.
35:21The pregnancy, barely two months along, was gone.
35:25The healer examined the remaining porridge and went still.
35:28He asked to speak with Dominic privately.
35:29There is red clover extract in this,
35:32at a concentration I have never seen
35:34outside of deliberate preparation.
35:36A pause.
35:36There is also something else.
35:38Something that will prevent Luna the Vivian
35:41from carrying again.
35:45Vivian's voice, when they brought Lara to her rooms,
35:48Bring her here! Now!
35:50was the sound of a wolf, with nothing left to lose.
35:53Lara walked in, carrying her daughter.
35:55She did not look frightened.
35:56She looked like someone who had made her decision
35:58long before this moment.
36:00Yes.
36:00She said, before anyone asked.
36:02I put it in the porridge.
36:04The red clover, and the other one.
36:07And I would do it again.
36:09She looked at Dominic.
36:10Really looked at him, for the first time in months.
36:12With nothing performing behind her eyes.
36:14You claimed me under false pretensions.
36:18You brought me into this pack, under false pretensions.
36:21And three days after our bonding,
36:25you tried to hand my rank to your cousin.
36:27Her voice was flat and even.
36:28You lied to me more times than I can count.
36:30I lied to you once.
36:31I think that's fair.
36:32You dishonored me first, Dominic.
36:35Don't act surprised that I stopped pretending to be good.
36:39The minister of pack rights arrived at North Moonpack before sunrise.
36:43He wanted Lara handed over to pack justice.
36:45Formal charges.
36:46Real consequences.
36:48Lara said simply that if anything happened to her,
36:51she would tell the Lichen Council everything she knew
36:53about certain private arrangements involving North Moonpack.
36:56Things that had never been made public.
36:58She named nothing specifically.
36:59She didn't need to.
37:01Dominic intervened.
37:02The minister agreed to stand down on conditions.
37:04Lara would be exiled to the pack shrine.
37:06The old stone den at the edge of the territory.
37:09Used for the disgraced and the penitent.
37:11She would not return to the pack.
37:12She would not raise the daughter she had nearly died to deliver.
37:15The pup would go to Vivian.
37:18Dominic would take no further mates.
37:19No mistresses.
37:20No arrangements of any kind.
37:23Vivian Crane would hold the Luna's seat of North Moonpack
37:25for the rest of her days.
37:27Barren.
37:27Childless.
37:28Raising another she-wolf's daughter.
37:30Despising her for it.
37:31The conditions were accepted.
37:32North Moonpack went quiet after that.
37:34Not the quiet of peace.
37:36The quiet of a place that had used itself up entirely.
37:37The quiet of a place that had used itself up entirely.
37:37The quiet of a place that had used itself up entirely.
37:38The quiet of a place that had used itself up entirely.
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