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