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