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00:00To let my mate focus on his position, I stayed behind in the old estate, caring for his ailing
00:04mother. In this ten years, Kalen returned once a year. He never touched me. He said that if I
00:10were to carry a pup while he was away, there would be no one to look after me, and that
00:14would break
00:14his heart. Every time he left, he cursed himself for his failings, swore on the moon he would come
00:19for me once he had made something of himself. In the eleventh winter, heavy snow blocked the roads.
00:25Kalen sent word that he would be delayed. I was about to bring the news to Lady Maren when I
00:29heard her speaking with my sister-in-law. Mother, you've been faking this illness for over ten years.
00:34How much longer? What else can be done? Kalen's heart has always belonged to that sworn sister of
00:39his. They bonded in secret, behind the pack's back. Their pups are nearly grown. If we don't keep Elena
00:44here, she'll go to the city and destroy everything. Kalen's rank as Alpha of the Eastern Pack would be
00:48finished. Let it be. Keep quiet. Kalen said once his position is secure, he will make it right with
00:53Elena. My eyes burned. Kalen wasn't struggling. He was Alpha of the Eastern Pack, and he hadn't been
00:59keeping his distance to protect me. He had someone else. I went to the training grounds and found the
01:04low-ranking warrior who had watched me for years. Do you still want me as your mate?
01:09Elena, I will treat you well. Forgive me one month. I march out tonight. This time I'll return
01:14with a deed worth claiming you. I don't need glory. Just come back safe. I watched him leave, then walked
01:23home. The estate should have been dark. Mother, you should have gone to bed by now.
01:29A tall figure stood against the candlelight. A familiar voice cut through the wind and snow.
01:34Elena, I'm home.
01:38A year had passed. Kalen carried himself differently now, steadier, with the quiet authority that comes
01:45with rank. He opened his arms, waiting for me to go to him the way I always had. I didn't.
01:51You haven't eaten, have you? Let me make you something.
01:55What's wrong? A year apart and you're not glad to see me? Are you angry with me?
02:01Go sit with Mother. I'll call you when the food is ready.
02:03Before I'd learned the truth, I had missed him. Had been a little cross with him, too. No mate wants
02:08to
02:08be kept so far away, for so long. But once I understood everything, I stopped wanting anything. Things became
02:14simpler. Better to park quietly than to rage and stay. I remained silent and cooked in the kitchen.
02:19Kalen followed. Elena, what's happened? Have you heard something?
02:22Out here in the backwoods, we barely see a stranger from one season to the next. What would I have
02:26heard?
02:26Don't worry yourself, Kalen. Elena, I came back to bring you all to the city.
02:30But there's something I need to tell you first. My chest tightened. I already knew what was coming.
02:35After ten years, he had finally run out of patience. You must be Elena. I'm Sarith, Kalen's sworn
02:41sister, and his mate. These are mine and Kalen's. Go on, call her Auntie Elena.
02:48Auntie Elena. Elena, let me explain.
02:53Elena, let me explain. I was ambushed by rogue wolves on the road to the city. Sarith saved my life.
02:58I only meant to take her in as a sworn sister, but she had no one, no pack, nowhere to
03:01go. I wanted
03:02to give her a home. It was gratitude, nothing more. If you're hurt, curse me, strike me, I'll bear it.
03:06I only ask that once you come to the city, you and she can find some people.
03:10Going to the city is a good thing. I'm not upset. Mother hasn't recovered in all this time. Perhaps
03:16the city healers will do what ours couldn't. Really? You forgive me? Elena, start packing
03:22tonight. We leave in two days and we'll make it back for Christmas. Mother doesn't have much.
03:28Packing her things won't take long. I'll sort her medicines for the road. You can all leave at first
03:32light. What do you mean? You're not coming with us?
03:38I met his gaze. My voice stayed level.
03:41Kaelin, if we leave for good, I need to settle the land and the estate first. Leaving it empty
03:47still means taxes to the pack. That's wasteful. Go ahead and take everyone home for Christmas.
03:53Once I've handled things here, I'll come to you in the spring. When I had first come to this estate,
03:58we lived in a borrowed den with walls that let the wind through, funding his studies, saving coin,
04:03until I had bought this house and these two fields. It had ended the family's hunger. It had given Kaelin
04:09a place to become what he was. Elena, I'm Alpha of the Eastern Pack now. Silver is not the problem.
04:14Give the land to whoever needs it. Save yourself the trouble. I earned it with my own hands. I'm not
04:19ready to let go. Trust me. Once it's done, I'll come to you. I won't be long.
04:26Kaelin hesitated. Kaelin, don't waver. The council's watching you.
04:29You leave her here and they dig into it and she says the wrong thing. Your seed is gone.
04:34I wasn't slow. I heard exactly what Kareth had just said. So it wasn't a change of heart that had
04:39brought Kaelin back. If the pack council confirmed it, they would report it to the High Alpha. The High
04:44Alpha was a man who mated once and meant it. If Kaelin wanted to keep his rank, the most important
04:51thing was keeping me quiet. It would be a lie to say that didn't hurt. 13 years. I had given
04:56this
04:57mating everything. Kaelin was pack-born but useless with his hands. Lady Maren was old and couldn't
05:01help. His brother was worse than useless. The whole family ran on my back. I never complained.
05:06I nursed Lady Maren. I had believed that kind of devotion would hold a mate for life. I had overestimated
05:11what I was worth to him. I finally understood what they say. A man who climbs always drops what
05:16carried him. I held back the burn in my eyes. Kept it from spilling. So that's what you're worried about?
05:24I can put it in writing. Whoever asks, I'll say I'm Kaelin's pack-sister, his adopted blood-kin.
05:31Nothing more. Lady Maren and Kareth both stared. After a long silence, Kaelin said, half-believing,
05:38nothing. You would really do that for me? I smiled and nodded. For you, I would do anything.
05:44But to be safe, there's something you need to destroy first. Kaelin was cautious. What?
05:51I answered without flinching. The mating scroll. Yours and mine.
05:57Out here in the back territories, we hadn't stood on ceremony when we bonded. A mating scroll,
06:03a shared cup. That was all it had taken. No pack record. No council seal. So if the scroll was
06:09gone,
06:10I was no longer Kaelin's mate. I only had to wait for the warrior to come home.
06:14Then I could be claimed properly. I expected Kaelin to want this without hesitation.
06:19Instead, he went quiet.
06:22Elena, you once told me that scroll was the most precious thing you owned.
06:27You've given so much for this pack. For me. If you burned the last thing you held onto,
06:32how much would that cost you? Let's leave the scroll as it is.
06:37He had seen everything I'd sacrificed. He had remembered all of it. And still, year after year,
06:43he had left me here while he built a life with someone else. If he could watch out all of
06:47that and
06:48stay, then I had no reason left to hold onto one sheet of parchment. But I knew him. He wouldn't
06:54simply let me go.
06:57Kaelin, you know how much that scroll means to me. But for your future, I have to let it go.
07:04Once you take me to the city properly, you can make me a new one. Wouldn't that be enough?
07:11She's right. Your position can't afford loose threads.
07:17Burn it. Elena has done this for you. Make it up to her later.
07:23Elena, hiding this from you, that was wrong. But trust me, I will make this right. Wait for me.
07:32I will come for you myself with the best claiming gifts I can find. I'll take you as Kaelin again,
07:37properly this time.
07:38In that moment, he looked entirely sincere. I chose not to believe it. I decided it was
07:44only something I was imagining. I lit both scrolls myself. The fire took them. That absurd mating,
07:51those wasted years. And with them, the last of what I had held onto for over a decade.
08:00After Kaelin had gone in with Kareth and the children, she dropped the act entirely and sank to her knees
08:04in front of me.
08:08Elena, I failed you. I hid it from you all these years.
08:16You must hate me.
08:17Her hair had gone fully white. She was crying without restraint. I couldn't bring myself to leave her there. I
08:23helped her up.
08:26Mother, I know you love your son too much. I don't blame you. The illness was a pretense, but your
08:35body has ought its real troubles.
08:37When you reach the city, listen to the healers. Elena, how can you be so good? When I'm gone,
08:44who will ever look after me the way you have? No matter what Kaelin does to you, I will always
08:52count you as my own daughter. I will never let anyone mistreat you.
08:57I understood her helplessness. I had never held it against her, but I was done trusting her too.
09:02She was still a mother. No matter what she said, her heart would always tilt toward her son. If the
09:07day came when she had to choose between Kaelin and me, she would choose him without a second thought.
09:11Mother, it's fine. Whoever Kaelin takes as his mate, she'll be half a daughter to you.
09:17You don't owe me anything.
09:20I had barely stepped out of Lady Meryn's room when Kareth was waiting in the yard.
09:24Elena, don't take anything Kaelin says at face value. The truth is, he never rescued me.
09:31I had thought that Lady Meryn's decade of deception and Kaelin's betrayal were already the worst of it.
09:36I was wrong. There was still more they had kept from me. Serith had never saved Kaelin's life.
09:40It was the other way around. Kaelin had seen her, wanted her, used the blood sister bond as a way
09:45in, and destroyed the claiming she already had. Calling her his rescuer was Kaelin's strategy.
09:50He knew I was soft, that I always repaid what was owed. He had spoken to Lady Meryn first and
09:55built the story together. Something designed to make me accept it, to make me give in.
09:59So everything he said about claiming you properly, it's nothing. Go to the city and you'll be a lesser
10:04mate, that's all. Oh, and his mother. All that talk about treating you like a daughter,
10:08do you believe it? When it comes down to you or her own grandchildren, who do you think she picks?
10:13Are you done?
10:16The morning they left, I walked the family to the edge of the settlement. I unclasped the only thing
10:20of value I still wore, the Luna Elder's silver clasp, and placed it in Serith's hand.
10:24That's yours, Elena. Keep it. I shook my head and pinned it to Kareth's collar myself.
10:30I said, Everyone in the settlement knows this clasp is the Luna Elder's piece, passed to the
10:34maid of the Pax heir. If I keep wearing it, it draws questions. Better that Serith has it.
10:38Mother, Elena is right. When we're together again, I'll give it back.
10:41Elena, what I give you belongs to you. In my heart, you are the only true mate this family has
10:45had.
10:46When you come to the city, I will get it back for you.
10:49Foster brother, that pendant was my grandmother's. The only thing she left me. Could you return it?
10:55Elena, I'm not used to you calling me that. When there's no one listening, call me what you always have.
11:03Better to be careful. We can't hand anyone a thread to pull.
11:07Fine. Once I've claimed you properly, you can go back to it.
11:12Let me keep the pendant for now. It was your gift to me. It's what we have between us.
11:16I never understood that. He used to resent the pendant, said a grown male wearing something
11:20like that looked ridiculous. Now that I was willing to take it back, he had found reasons to keep it.
11:24Foster brother, Christmas is almost here. I'll be alone, and I'd like something to hold on to.
11:29When I come to the city, I'll make you another.
11:32Kaylin gave it up without warmth, pressing the pendant and a folded stack of silver
11:36notes into my hands. At the last moment, he turned back. He gripped my hand once.
11:40Stay home and wait. When spring opens the roads, I'll come for you myself.
11:44There's one more thing I haven't told you yet.
11:46All right.
11:46I watched them go, then walked back inside. I reached to the top of the cabinet and took
11:51down the pack I had already prepared. I left the silver notes on the table. Then I turned north
11:57and didn't look back. The warrior I had promised myself to was somewhere in that direction. I meant
12:01to be claimed before Kaylin ever came to collect me. When that day came, I would be someone else's.
12:06There would be nothing left to untangle, nothing left to demand of me. Winter roads are slow,
12:10I had little silver, and I was too careful with it to hire a cart. I walked when I could,
12:15stopped to take work in whatever town would have me, and moved on again when I'd saved enough.
12:18By the time the cold began to ease, I was close to the northern border.
12:22Elena, the border war is over. The northern campaign won.
12:25Once they've processed the captured forces, they'll be heading back through the territory.
12:28You'll see your promised mate before long. Your mate is a hero of this pack.
12:31Call it a gift from me. Hire a cart. Go meet him at the border city.
12:34Thank you. Hired a cart, and arrived before the soldiers did. With what little silver I had left,
12:40I found the city watch captain and pressed it into his hand. Captain, my promised mate's name is Aldrich.
12:47When he arrives, please tell him I'm waiting in the second house east of the city gate.
12:52You're Aldrich's promised mate?
12:56He smiled a little awkwardly. Keep it, just put in a word for me if you ever get the chance.
13:03I had no idea what he meant. Aldrich was a low-ranking warrior. What good would a word
13:07from him do? The captain had probably mistaken him for someone else. Still, silver saved was
13:11silver saved. Waiting wasn't easy. I knew what Aldrich felt for me. He had shown it for years.
13:17But I had been made it before. I wasn't sure whether he had said yes out of true wanting,
13:21or out of something that would fade. Then again, I thought it through, and it settled. If he had
13:26changed his mind, I would manage on my own. I had two hands and enough stubbornness. I wouldn't
13:31starve. Once I was at peace with that, everything felt lighter.
13:36I started cutting fabric for a claiming dress. The best material I could find. Useful if things
13:40went well. A small pleasure for myself if they didn't. The first time I was claimed,
13:44there had been no wedding at all. The pack had nothing. No wedding dress. No feast.
13:48When I'd finally had coin to spare, the first thing I did was return two full jugs to that neighbor.
13:51She had held my hands and cried. Elena, a girl like you? Why did you stay in that pack? You've
13:56suffered so much. You're strong and you're lovely. You could have had an elder son and it wouldn't
14:00have been reaching. Why tie yourself to a scholar who can't lift his own pack and grind your life
14:03away? That's your bias speaking. I trust him. He won't fail me. You are such a fool. Now I understood.
14:09She was the one who had seen clearly. The day I slipped away from the settlement, I had nearly walked
14:14into Kaylin's sister-in-law. It was that neighbor who spotted her first. She held the woman back,
14:20then sent her husband to pass me word. Move. Now. Elena, that pack was never worthy of you.
14:27Go. Live freely. Stop letting them keep you caged. I'll deal with your sister-in-law. They won't know
14:35you're gone for a while. I never found out what she said to buy me the time, but it had
14:40worked. For an
14:41entire month, no one had come looking. People, though, have a way of undoing themselves. On the
14:45third day, a cart stopped outside my door. I thought it was Aldrich. I ran out. It wasn't.
14:52Kaylin stood there, dust on his shoulders. Elena. His voice worn down to gravel.
14:58Kaylin said, Elena, you have no idea how long I've been looking for you. He was across the yard in
15:03a
15:03few strides, his hand locking around my wrist hard enough to grind. Kaylin said, Elena, you promised me.
15:08Why did you leave? Why come all the way out here? I spent half a month preparing. I rode to
15:13the
15:13settlement myself to bring you home, and the house was empty. I said, do you know how frightened I
15:18was? I stopped pulling against his grip. Alpha Kaylin, why waste your concern on me? The mating
15:23scroll is ash. I'm not your pack anymore. Where I go, whether I live or die, none of that is
15:28your
15:29matter. Kaylin's jaw tightened. Elena, I know you're hurting, but this kind of recklessness doesn't suit
15:34you. You told me you would come to the city. You gave me your word. How can you break it
15:38like this?
15:39Something in me gave up trying to stay composed. I said, when we were claimed, you gave me your word
15:44too. You swore on the moon you would never take another mate. You broke that one first. So between
15:50the two of us, I'd say we're even.
15:55Kaylin saw that I meant it. His eyes went red at the edges. He pulled me close until there was
16:00almost
16:01no space between us. Thirteen years. You think that just cancels? Elena, I know I've wronged you.
16:07Let me make it right. Come back with me. I'll give you equal standing. You won't be beneath
16:12Kerith in anything. I promise. I couldn't stop a short, dry sound from escaping. Kaylin took it for
16:18pride over the title and frowned. Elena, equal standing is the best I can do right now. Serith,
16:24what she did for me, what she did for you. Are you still going to use that story? I cut
16:29him off.
16:30Kaylin, your apology has no effort in it at all. Kaylin went still. His eyes shifted. What do you mean
16:36by
16:36that? I watched the change move across his face and I took it apart, piece by piece.
16:43Terith already told me everything. There were no rogue wolves. There was no rescue. You saw her,
16:49wanted her, and used the sworn sister bond to get close. You destroyed the claiming she already had
16:54and took her for yourself, calling her your rescuer. That was cover, nothing more. Kaylin's face went
16:59pale. He opened his mouth. Nothing came out. I was done wasting time. I moved to see him out.
17:04He found his voice. Elena, listen to me. Karith is possessive. She said all of that to drive a wedge
17:10between us. You know how it is. No mate wants to share. I cut him off. I felt nothing in
17:15my chest
17:16anymore. It had all gone numb. You understand that. Which is why you kept me out here for 10 years,
17:21alone, while your mother faked an illness to hold me in place. Isn't that right?
17:28I said, if you care about her so much, stop chasing me. You'll hurt me and you'll hurt her. I
17:33wrenched my
17:34wrist free and stepped back. The Elena who existed before is gone. She died the day she found out the
17:39truth. Who I am now has no connection to you. To Kaylin. To your pack. Out of whatever feeling I
17:45once had, I won't say a single word against you. I'm only asking you to leave. My promised mate is
17:50returning with the army. I don't want him to misread this. Kaylin's spine went rigid. He looked up at me.
17:56He said, promised mate? Who? What's his name? I said, a low-ranking warrior. No one you'd know.
18:02Please go. Kaylin's expression curdled. Elena, have you lost your mind? You'd pass up an alpha
18:08of the eastern pack for some common soldier with a border stipend. He said, he could be dead by next
18:17season. And even if he's not, what does he earn? You'd go back to going hungry. You're not young
18:22anymore. Do you really want that kind of life again? I looked at him steadily. I wasn't afraid
18:28of hardship when I chose you. I'm not afraid of it now. Don't speak about my promised mate like that.
18:35He may not have your rank, but what he feels for me is real. Unlike you. Kaylin opened his mouth
18:41and stopped. A long pause, then more controlled. Elena, you've misread all of this. I never stopped
18:48carrying you. He seemed to decide that words weren't enough and cut himself off. Come back
18:53with me. I'll show you. Give me the chance. The border campaign's war alpha, General Vane. He and I
18:59go back. I'll speak to him. As long as that warrior is reasonable, I'll find him a proper match myself.
19:04I'll cover the claiming gifts.
19:09I had always been slow to anger. This was one of the few times I wasn't.
19:14Staring at Kaylin, I struggled to contain my fury as I questioned him, asking if he had lost his
19:20mind. He didn't put it plainly, but I understood perfectly. He intended to use his status as the
19:26alpha of the Eastern Pack to pressure Aldric into stepping aside. Aldric was just a foot soldier,
19:31with no standing to resist an alpha of the Eastern Pack. In desperation, I grabbed the sword from Kaylin's
19:37side. I pressed the blade firmly against my own throat, warning him that if he dared to go near
19:42Aldric, I would end my life right then and there.
19:47I told Kaylin that my life was not worth much, but if a pack alpha drove a free woman to
19:52her death,
19:52his own fate would not be better. Kaylin had always thought of me as cautious, and someone
19:57who valued her own life. He had never imagined I would resort to threatening my own life.
20:02He froze instantly, his voice dropping low as he urged me to put down the sword,
20:07saying we could talk things through.
20:09I didn't move an inch, firmly telling him there was nothing to talk about. If he didn't want me
20:14dead, he had to write down his promise immediately. The promise was simple. From that day on,
20:20if anything happened to me or my betrothed, Aldric, he would be held fully responsible.
20:26Kaylin had spent years in pack politics, and would never willingly leave evidence that could be used
20:31against him. But as he looked at the sword pressed to my throat, his tone remained steady. He agreed to
20:36write it down, but said he had come in a hurry and had nothing to write with, asking me to
20:40go inside
20:41to find him ink and parchment. I didn't think ahead, turning toward the house at once. But the moment my
20:47back was to him, he moved. He snatched the sword from my hand, didn't even glance at me. He ordered
20:54his escort to hold me while he went to find General Vane. His men reacted quickly, seizing me before I
21:00could
21:00respond. I couldn't even utter a curse. Just then, a deep, calm, and resonant voice came from
21:07beyond the gate. The voice asked Alpha Kaylin why he was there, and mentioned that he had heard his
21:12name, wondering if something was wrong. I didn't recognize that voice, but moments later, I heard
21:21Kaylin's tone shift to one of deference as he greeted the man, addressing him as General Vane and saying
21:26what perfect timing his arrival was. He added that it was nothing urgent, just a small favor he wanted
21:31to ask of General Vane. Only then did I realize that the man before me was General Vane, the War
21:37Alpha of the Northern Territory. General Vane smiled and readily agreed to help, but asked Alpha Kaylin
21:43to wait a moment while he finished a piece of business first. Kaylin stepped back toward the gate
21:48quickly, respectfully saying he was willing to wait and telling General Vane to take his time.
21:53General Vane then dismounted from his horse and pointed directly at my door. He said that as it
21:58happened, his business was right there. Kaylin stopped abruptly, looking stunned. General Vane
22:05looked at him without further explanation, only stating that he had come to negotiate a claiming.
22:10Kaylin froze completely, unconsciously stepping in front of the gate. He tried to persuade General
22:16Vane, saying that his mate bond was well known, his children were nearly grown, and such a thing would
22:21be inappropriate. General Vane laughed heartily, shook his head, and told Kaylin he had misunderstood.
22:28This claiming was not for himself, but on behalf of his sworn son, who had been injured and couldn't
22:34come in person. I was just as confused as Kaylin, even starting to wonder if General Vane had come to
22:40the wrong house. General Vane himself looked a little uncertain as he walked past Kaylin into the yard.
22:45His escort, not wanting to get into trouble, let me go. Born in the north, General Vane was
22:52straightforward and didn't notice anything amiss. He looked straight at me and asked if I was Elena.
22:58I nodded slowly. He immediately looked satisfied, confirming he had come to the right place.
23:03He told me that his sworn son was my betrothed, Aldrich.
23:09Upon hearing General Vane's words, my thoughts went sideways. Aldrich was just a low-ranking
23:15soldier. How had he ended up as General Vane's sworn son? I rubbed the back of my neck and
23:21explained to General Vane that I thought there must be a mistake. My betrothed was indeed named
23:26Aldrich, but he could never be General Vane's sworn son. I even wondered if there might be two people
23:31with the same name. General Vane seemed less confident as he described his sworn son's
23:36features. Born in the eastern settlement of the southern territory, with a small mark near the
23:41corner of his left eye. He asked if these features matched my betrothed. He added that if it would
23:47help, he would have his sworn son carried over for me to confirm in person. I stopped him quickly,
23:53telling him there was no need, that every detail he described matched Aldrich perfectly.
23:57I begged him not to move the injured Aldrich, saying that since he was hurt, I would go to
24:02see him myself. With that, I walked toward the gate, distracted. But Kalen, who had been silent
24:09for a long time, suddenly reached out and grabbed my arm, stopping me in my tracks.
24:16Kalen stood in front of me, turning to General Vane and saying there was something he should know first.
24:21He told General Vane that I was his pack sister, that he had raised me, and that he had never
24:26heard me mention the name Aldrich once. He added that if Aldrich and I had made promises to each
24:32other without the family's knowledge, their bond could not be recognized. Then he lowered his voice,
24:38leaned close to me, and warned me not to say anything foolish. He said that Aldrich was now
24:43General Vane's sworn son, and if General Vane found out I had been mated before, I would not only lose
24:50this claiming, but also ruin Aldrich's reputation. Those words hit home. Aldrich had only just found
24:56his footing in the north. If I cost him everything because of my past, I would never forgive myself.
25:01I was still trying to figure out how to respond when General Vane's expression shifted. He told Kalen
25:07firmly that his approval no longer mattered, because it was not I who had come to them, but they who
25:13had
25:13sought me out. General Vane then spoke of Aldrich's deeds, saying that in this campaign, Aldrich had
25:20charged into the thickest of the fighting. He had taken out the enemy's left flank and brought back
25:25the enemy commander's banner, earning the first honor of the war. Yet he had refused all rewards from
25:30the High Alpha, every single coin. Instead, he used his achievement to petition the Moon Council for a
25:37decree, a recognized claiming with me. General Vane finally warned Kalen that if his family dared to
25:44object, they would be opposing the High Alpha's own ruling. I stood there for a long time, never having
25:51imagined that Aldrich would fight so fiercely for me.
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