- 8 hours ago
The Alpha's Regret Her New Hero
Category
🎥
Short filmTranscript
00:02To let my mate focus on his position, I stayed behind in the old estate, caring for his ailing
00:07mother. In this 10 years, Kalen returned once a year. He never touched me. He said that if I were
00:13to carry a pup while he was away, there would be no one to look after me, and that would
00:16break his
00:16heart. Every time he left, he cursed himself for his failings, swore on the moon he would come for
00:22me once he had made something of himself. In the 11th winter, heavy snow blocked the roads. Kalen
00:27sent word that he would be delayed. I was about to bring the news to Lady Maren when I heard
00:31her
00:31speaking with my sister-in-law. Mother, you've been faking this illness for over 10 years. How much
00:37longer? What else can be done? Kalen's heart has always belonged to that sworn sister of his. They
00:42bonded in secret, behind the pack's back. Their pups are nearly grown. If we don't keep Elena here,
00:46she'll go to the city and destroy everything. Kalen's rank as Alpha of the Eastern Pack would
00:50be finished. Let it be. Keep quiet. Kalen said once his position is secure, he will make it right with
00:55Elena. My eyes burned. Kalen wasn't struggling. He was Alpha of the Eastern Pack, and he hadn't been
01:01keeping his distance to protect me. He had someone else. I went to the training grounds and found the
01:06low-ranking warrior who had watched me for years. Do you still want me as your mate?
01:11Elena, I will treat you well. Forgive me one month. I march out tonight. This time I'll return
01:16with a deed worth claiming you. I don't need glory. Just come back safe. I watched him leave,
01:24then walked home. The estate should 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.
01:41A year had passed. Kalen 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.
01:54You 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.
02:06Before I'd learned the truth, I had missed him. Had been a little cross with him, too. No mate wants
02:10to be kept so far away, for so long. But once I understood everything, I stopped wanting anything.
02:16Things became simpler. Better to part quietly than to rage and stay. I remained silent and cooked in the
02:20kitchen. Kalen followed. Elena, what's happened? Have you heard something?
02:24Out here in the backwoods, we barely see a stranger from one season to the next. What would I have
02:28heard? Don't worry yourself, Kalen. Elena, I came back to bring you all to the city.
02:33But 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
02:39of patience. You must be Elena. I'm Sarith. Kalen's sworn sister. And his mate.
02:47These are mine and Kalen's. Go on, call her Auntie Elena.
02:50Auntie Elena. Elena, let me explain.
02:55Elena, let me explain. I was ambushed by rogue wolves on the road to the city. Sarith saved my life.
03:00I only meant to take her in as a sworn sister. But she had no one, no pack, nowhere to
03:04go.
03:04I wanted to give her a home. It was gratitude, nothing more. If you're hurt, curse me, strike me,
03:08I'll bear it. I only ask that once you come to the city, you 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.
03:18Perhaps the city 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
03:27back for Christmas. Mother doesn't have much. Packing her things won't take long. I'll sort her
03:33medicines for the road. You can all leave at first light. What do you mean? You're not coming
03:37with us? I met his gaze. My voice stayed level. Kalen, if we leave for good, I need to settle
03:46the land and the estate first. Leaving it empty still means taxes to the pack. That's wasteful.
03:53Go ahead and take everyone home for Christmas. Once I've handled things here, I'll come to you
03:58in the spring. When I had first come to this estate, we lived in a borrowed den with walls that
04:02let the
04:03wind through, 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 Kalen 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
04:18it. Save yourself the trouble. I 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.
04:28Kalen hesitated. Kalen, don't waver. The council's watching you. You leave her here and they dig into
04:33it and she says the wrong thing. Your seat is gone. I wasn't slow. I heard exactly what
04:39Kareth had just said. So it wasn't a change of heart that had brought Kalen back. If the pack
04:44council confirmed it, they would report it to the High Alpha. The High Alpha was a man who made it
04:48once
04:48and meant it. If Kalen wanted to keep his rank, the most important thing was keeping me quiet.
04:55It would be a lie to say that didn't hurt. 13 years. I had given this mating everything. Kalen
05:00was pack-born but useless with his hands. Lady Marin was old and couldn't help. His brother was worse
05:05than useless. The whole family ran on my back. I never complained. I nursed Lady Marin. I had believed
05:10that kind of devotion would hold a mate for life. I had overestimated what I was worth to him. I
05:15finally
05:15understood what they say. A man who climbs always drops what carried him. I held back the burn in
05:20my eyes. Kept it from spilling. So that's what you're worried about. I can put it in writing.
05:29Whoever asks, I'll say I'm Kalen's pack-sister, his adopted blood kin. Nothing more. Lady Marin and
05:35Kareth both stared. After a long silence, Kalen said, half-believing. You would really do that
05:42for me. I smiled and nodded. For you, I would do anything. But to be safe, there's something you
05:50need to destroy first. Kalen was cautious. What? I answered without flinching. The mating scroll.
05:57Yours and mine. Out here in the back territories, we hadn't stood on ceremony when we bonded.
06:04A mating scroll. A shared cup. That was all it had taken. No pack record. No council seal.
06:11So if the scroll was gone, I was no longer Kalen's mate. I only had to wait for the warrior
06:16to come
06:16home. Then I could be claimed properly. I expected Kalen to want this without hesitation.
06:22Instead, he went quiet. Elena, you once told me that scroll was the most precious thing you owned.
06:29You've given so much for this pack. For me, if you burned the last thing you held onto,
06:35how much would that cost you? Let's leave the scroll as it is.
06:39He had seen everything I'd sacrificed. He had remembered all of it. And still, year after year,
06:45he had left me here while he built a life with someone else. If he could watch out all of
06:50that
06:50and stay, then I had no reason left to hold onto one sheet of parchment. But I knew him. He
06:56wouldn't
06:56simply let me go.
06:59Kalen, you know how much that scroll means to me. But for your future, I have to let it go.
07:07Once you take me to the city properly, you can make me a new one. Wouldn't that be enough?
07:13She's right. Your position can't afford loose threads.
07:19Burn it. Elena has done this for you. Make it up to her later.
07:25Elena. Hiding this from you. That was wrong. But trust me. I will make this right.
07:34Wait for me. I will come for you myself with the best claiming gifts I can find.
07:38I'll take you as Kalen again. Properly this time.
07:41In that moment, he looked entirely sincere. I chose not to believe it. I decided it was only
07:47something I was imagining. I lit both scrolls myself. The fire took them. That absurd mating,
07:53those wasted years. And with them, the last of what I had held onto for over a decade.
08:02After Kalen had gone in with Kareth and the children, she dropped the act entirely and sank
08:06to her knees in front of me. Elena, I failed you. I hid it from you all these years.
08:18You must hate me.
08:20Her hair had gone fully white. She was crying without restraint. I couldn't bring myself to
08:24leave her there. I helped her up.
08:29Mother, I know you love your son too much. I don't blame you. The illness was a pretense,
08:37but your body has aught its real troubles. When you reach the city, listen to the healers.
08:44Elena, how can you be so good? When I'm gone, who will ever look after me the way you have?
08:51No matter what Kalen does to you, I will always count you as my own daughter. I will never let
08:57anyone mistreat you.
09:00I understood her helplessness. I had never held it against her, but I was done trusting her too.
09:05She was still a mother. No matter what she said, her heart would always tilt toward her son. If the
09:09day came when she had to choose between Kalen and me, she would choose him without a second thought.
09:14Mother, it's fine. Whoever Kalen 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 Maren's room when Kareth was waiting in the yard.
09:27Elena, don't take anything Kalen says at face value. The truth is, he never rescued me.
09:34I had thought that Lady Maren's decade of deception and Kalen's betrayal were already the worst of it.
09:38I was wrong. There was still more they had kept from me. Serith had never saved Kalen's life.
09:43It was the other way around. Kalen had seen her, wanted her,
09:46used the blood sister bond as a way in, and destroyed the claiming she already had.
09:51Calling her his rescuer was Kalen's strategy. He knew I was soft, that I always repaid what was owed.
09:56He had spoken to Lady Maren first and built the story together, something designed to make me accept it,
10:01to make me give in.
10:02So everything he said about claiming you properly, it's nothing.
10:05Go to the city and you'll be a lesser mate, that's all.
10:08Oh, and his mother. All 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?
10:19The morning they left, I walked the family to the edge of the settlement.
10:22I unclasped the only thing of value I still wore, the Luna Elder's silver clasp, and placed it in Serith's
10:26hand.
10:27That's yours, Elena. Keep it.
10:29I 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 maid of the Pax heir.
10:38If I keep wearing it, it draws questions. Better that Serith has it.
10:41Mother, 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.
10:49When 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. Could you return it?
10:58Elena, I'm not used to you calling me that.
11:00When 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.
11:18It'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.
11:40At the last moment, he turned back.
11:42He gripped my hand once.
11:43Stay home and wait.
11:44When spring opens the roads, I'll come for you myself.
11:47There'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.
12:01The warrior I had promised myself to was somewhere in that direction.
12:04I meant to be claimed before Kaelin ever came to collect me.
12:07When 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,
12:19and moved on again when I'd saved enough.
12:21By the time the cold began to ease, I was close to the northern border.
12:25Elena, the border war is over.
12:27The 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.
12:33Your mate is a hero of this pack.
12:34Call it a gift from me.
12:35Hire a cart.
12:36Go meet him at the border city.
12:38Hired a cart, and arrived before the soldiers did.
12:41With what little silver I had left,
12:43I found the city watch captain and pressed it into his hand.
12:47Captain, my promised mate's name is Aldrich.
12:50When 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.
13:06I 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.
13:16Waiting wasn't easy.
13:17I knew what Aldrich felt for me.
13:18He had shown it for years, but 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.
13:39I started cutting fabric for a claiming dress.
13:41The best material I could find.
13:42Useful if things went well.
13:44A small pleasure for myself if they didn't.
13:46The first time I was claimed, there had been no wedding at all.
13:48The pack had nothing.
13:49No wedding dress.
13:50No feast.
13:51When I'd finally had coin to spare,
13:52the first thing I did was return two full jugs to that neighbor.
13:55She had held my hands and cried.
13:56Elena, a girl like you, why did you stay in that pack?
13:58You've suffered so much.
14:00You'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?
14:07That's your bias speaking.
14:08I trust him.
14:09He won't fail me.
14:10You 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,
14:16I 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.
14:36I'll deal with your sister-in-law.
14:38They 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.
14:44For 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 Aldrich.
14:53I ran out.
14:54It wasn't.
14:55Kaylin stood there, dust on his shoulders.
14:57Elena.
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.
15:12Why did you leave?
15:13Why come all the way out here?
15:14I spent half a month preparing.
15:16I rode to the settlement myself to bring you home, and the house was empty.
15:19I said, do you know how frightened I was?
15:21I stopped pulling against his grip.
15:23Alpha Kaylin, why waste your concern on me?
15:26The mating scroll is ash.
15:27I'm not your pack anymore.
15:29Where I go, whether I live or die, none of that is your matter.
15:32Kaylin's jaw tightened.
15:34Elena, 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.
15:45I 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.
16:11Let me make it right.
16:12Come back with me.
16:13I'll give you equal standing.
16:15You won't be beneath Kareth in anything.
16:17I promise.
16:18I couldn't stop a short, dry sound from escaping.
16:21Kaylin took it for pride over the title and frowned.
16:24Elena, equal standing is the best I can do right now.
16:27Sareth, 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.
16:50There was no rescue.
16:51You saw her.
16:52Wanted her.
16:53And used the sworn sister bond to get close.
16:55You destroyed the claiming she already had and took her for yourself.
16:59Calling her your rescuer.
17:00That was cover.
17:01Nothing more.
17:02Kaylin'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.
17:09Elena, 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.
17:17I cut him off.
17:18I 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 10 years.
17:24Alone.
17:25While 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.
17:35You'll hurt me and you'll hurt her.
17:37I wrenched my wrist free and stepped back.
17:39The Elena who existed before is gone.
17:41She died the day she found out the truth.
17:43Who I am now has no connection to you.
17:45To Kaylin.
17:46To your pack.
17:47Out 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.
17:57Kaylin's spine went rigid.
17:59He looked up at me.
18:00He said, promised mate?
18:01Who?
18:01What's his name?
18:02I said, a low-ranking warrior.
18:04No one you'd know.
18:06Please go.
18:07Kaylin'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.
18:21And 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.
18:36Don'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.
18:44Kaylin opened his mouth, then stopped.
18:46A long pause, then more controlled.
18:48Elena.
18:49You've misread all of this.
18:51I 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.
18:59The border campaign's war alpha, General Vane.
19:02He 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.
19:08I'll cover the claiming gifts.
19:12I had always been slow to anger.
19:15This was one of the few times I wasn't.
19:18Staring at Kaylin, I struggled to contain my fury as I questioned him.
19:22Asking if he had lost 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 near
19:45Aldrick, 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, his voice dropping low as he urged me to put down the sword, saying
20:11we could talk things through.
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.
20:22From that day on, if anything happened to me or my betrothed, Aldrick, he would be held
20:28fully responsible.
20:30Kaylin had spent years in pack politics, and would never willingly leave evidence that could
20:34be used against him.
20:35But as he looked at the sword pressed to my throat, his tone remained steady.
20:39He 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.
20:50But the moment my back was to him, he moved.
20:53He snatched the sword from my hand, didn't even glance at me.
20:57He ordered his escort to hold me while he went to find General Vane.
21:00His men reacted quickly, seizing me before I could respond.
21:04I couldn't even utter a curse.
21:06Just then, a deep, calm, and resonant voice came from beyond the gate.
21:12The voice asked Alpha Kaylin why he was there, and mentioned that he had heard his name,
21:16wondering if something was wrong.
21:21I 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 timing
21:30his arrival was.
21:31He added that it was nothing urgent, just a small favor he wanted to ask of General Vane.
21:37Only 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.
21:50Kaylin stepped back toward the gate quickly, respectfully saying he was willing to wait and
21:54telling General Vane to take his time.
21:56General Vane then dismounted from his horse and pointed directly at my door.
22:01He said that as it happened, his business was right there.
22:05Kaylin stopped abruptly, looking stunned.
22:08General Vane looked at him without further explanation, only stating that he had come to
22:12negotiate a claiming.
22:13Kaylin froze completely, unconsciously stepping in front of the gate.
22:18He tried to persuade General Vane, saying that his mate bond was well known, his children
22:23were nearly grown, and such a thing would be inappropriate.
22:27General 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
22:44house.
22:45General 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.
22:54Born 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?
23:23I 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.
23:37General 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
23:54in person.
23:55I stopped him quickly, telling him there was no need, that every detail he described matched
23:59Aldrich perfectly.
24:01I 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.
24:20Kalen stood in front of me, turning to General Vane and saying there was something he should
24:24know first.
24:25He 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.
24:40Then 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
24:51had 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
25:24into 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.
25:32Yet he had refused all rewards from the High Alpha, every single coin.
25:37Instead, he used his achievement to petition the Moon Council for a decree, a recognized claiming
25:43with 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
25:57for me.
Comments