- 10 hours ago
Whispers In The Dark Alpha's Bed
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Short filmTranscript
00:00I was a slave. Yet every night, I had to take Luna's place and sleep with the Alpha.
00:05On the bed, I begged him to mark me and make me one of his mates.
00:08Please, make me your wife.
00:11What are you thinking?
00:14You're nothing but a slave.
00:16I close my eyes. Every wolf in the pack knows,
00:19Kaylin doesn't just love Lady Vivian, he worships her.
00:23So the next morning, I walked straight to the pack matriarch and kneeled before her.
00:27I volunteered to marry her eldest son, Kaylin's dying brother.
00:31Firstly shocked, then the pack matriarch's eyes filled with tears.
00:35After the ghost marriage is done, you'll have to keep Widowsville for your mate forever.
00:40My good child, have you truly thought this through?
00:45I will have no regrets.
00:47Alpha Kaylin and Lady Vivian had gone deathly pale.
00:50On the full moon night, Kaylin came to Vivian's room again.
00:53I watched them through the crack in the door, his voice low and honeyed,
00:57her laugh like silver.
00:58Vivian left to wash up, cheeks ruined with wanting.
01:01Before she went, she killed every candle, as always.
01:05An hour later, I stepped into the dark.
01:07His scent hit me first, and my traitorous body answered,
01:11heart slamming, skin tight.
01:13Why are you so cold?
01:15I was outside, watching the snow.
01:18Truth is, I'd been shivering at the threshold in a thin slip for an hour,
01:22waiting for her signal like a good little ghost.
01:26You smelled.
01:28A pause.
01:29My heart stopped.
01:30The tincture.
01:31So nice.
01:32His mouth found mine in the dark.
01:35His hardness reached my soul.
01:44Before dawn, I knelt at Vivian's feet and recited him.
01:47Every whisper.
01:48Every mark blooming purple on my throat.
01:51Her expression curdled.
01:52Then she walked back into his arms.
01:54Kaelin caught her hair around one lazy finger.
01:57Been sneaking out to find yourself another wolf.
01:59She swatted him, pouting prettily, as if she were the one.
02:03Vivian was beautiful, and chronically, devastatingly fragile.
02:07Kaelin saw her at the spring hunt gathering.
02:09He fell instantly.
02:11Offered her the first mate rank before the night was over.
02:14Perfect together.
02:15Everyone said so.
02:16As her bonded handmaid, I was genuinely happy for them.
02:19Until their bonding night.
02:24Three nights in a row.
02:25No completed bond.
02:27No mating mark.
02:28Overnight, Vivian became the pack's favorite joke.
02:31Desperate, Vivian invented the switch.
02:33Every night, candles out, handmade substitutes.
02:37Masking tinctures rubbed into my skin until I smelled like her ghost.
02:41Of all her handmaids, only I was a viable double.
02:44Vivian and I were built from the same blueprint.
02:46The same narrow waist.
02:48The same pale slope of shoulder and throat.
02:50Side by side in daylight, the resemblance was unsettling.
02:54In total darkness, with the masking tinctures working through my skin,
02:58his wolf couldn't tell the difference.
02:59What Vivian hadn't accounted for.
03:01I was not fragile.
03:03She broke under Kaelin's hands.
03:05I did not.
03:06What she couldn't endure, I simply survived.
03:09Body learning the architecture of his need.
03:12Learning to anticipate it.
03:14Relax.
03:15Only three years.
03:16My body will recover.
03:18Then I will give you enough gold to live well outside the mansion.
03:21Think about it.
03:22My whole family's safety rested in her hands.
03:25I had no choice.
03:26One hour later, Vivian and Kaelin finally rose.
03:30I returned to my quarters briefly,
03:31then went in to lay out the morning meal.
03:36Why are you dressed like that?
03:38I didn't know how to answer.
03:39I pressed my lips together.
03:42Kaelin bit.
03:43Hard.
03:44Darling, you've forgotten Selena is mute.
03:46I nodded quickly.
03:48Serving Vivian meant constant proximity to Kaelin,
03:51and she was terrified of exposure.
03:53So she declared me mute.
03:55The entire pack believed it.
03:57Your little mute is striking.
03:59Sad, almost, how pretty she is.
04:01And what exactly does my alpha mean by that?
04:03Has she caught your eye?
04:04I haven't blamed you for anything yet,
04:06and you're already turning on me.
04:36Kaelin had pushed too far last night.
04:38No food, no water.
04:41Kaelin had left for the border territories.
04:43However long he was gone, I stayed locked up.
04:46I was barely breathing when my sister found a way through.
04:49Briar had bribed the guard,
04:51slipped a bowl of broth under the door.
04:53She was my younger sister.
04:55Sister, what did you do to make the lady so angry?
04:57Briar, when will Kaelin be back?
04:59The guards say tonight,
05:00and he's going straight to the lady's room.
05:03What else was happening in the mansion?
05:05The alpha-haired, his wolf spirit, is fading again.
05:07The pack healers say there's nothing left to do.
05:09They're preparing the rates.
05:10Lucian, the elder brother,
05:12cursed since birth, fading,
05:14never anchored to this world.
05:15He's never taken a mate.
05:17The matriarch doesn't want him to cross alone.
05:19She's looking for someone willing to complete a spirit bond.
05:22A spirit bond with a dying alpha heir
05:24meant grieving him forever.
05:26No high-ranking female would consent.
05:29Not even the lower-ranked handmaids.
05:30At dusk, they released me.
05:32I'd be needed that night.
05:34Selina, I was impulsive.
05:36I meant to release you hours ago,
05:38but things got away from me.
05:39Don't hold it against me.
05:41Of course not, my lady.
05:42My lady, it has been three years.
05:44When will I leave the pack mansion?
05:46You want to leave?
05:47Yes.
05:48My body hasn't healed.
05:49Kaelin still needs you.
05:50If you insist on leave,
05:51I'll simply use Briar instead.
05:53Your sisters.
05:54The voice, the build.
05:55Close enough.
05:55How old is she?
05:56Thirteen or fourteen?
05:58Then...
05:58Could Kaelin at least give me a rank?
06:01Reaching for status now?
06:04If I wanted Kaelin to take a new mate,
06:06I have a hundred candidates.
06:08You would never make that list.
06:10Don't bother trying to go through Kaelin directly.
06:13You're a convenience to him.
06:16Even if you ended up in his quarters permanently,
06:19I could have you removed with a single word.
06:23But every un-mated female is supposed to be matched eventually.
06:27Eventually?
06:28Was I supposed to be her substitute?
06:30In bed?
06:32For the rest of my life?
06:33The gatekeeper's son is your age.
06:35When you turn sixteen next year, I'll arrange the match.
06:38The gatekeeper's son.
06:39A man with a child's mind.
06:41And fists like hammers.
06:44Hitting because it was the only thing he knew.
06:46Only by being bound to someone that broken would I remain useful.
06:50And too far gone to threaten her.
06:53Kaelin returned.
06:54To find me kneeling.
06:56You're home!
06:57You must be exhausted!
06:58This girl broke the crystal chalice from the Western Alliance.
07:01I've had her kneeling.
07:03Kaelin stepped over me, without a glance.
07:06What's the status on my brother?
07:08I've asked every un-mated female in the pack.
07:10A spirit bond sounds like a curse to them.
07:13None of the young wolves will agree.
07:14What's there to agree about?
07:15Find a female, threaten someone she loves, and it's done.
07:18That kind of coercion would be hard to hide from your mother.
07:21Enough gold and fear will find a willing body.
07:26And if you handle this well,
07:28my mother might finally look at you differently.
07:33Every time Kaelin came back from the border,
07:36he spent the whole night making up for lost time.
07:38He was an alpha who'd spent weeks at war.
07:41He came home hungry,
07:43and he made that hunger my problem.
07:46That night, I gave him everything.
07:49Pushed past my own limits to match him.
07:51Why so eager tonight?
07:52Did you miss me?
07:54I rarely initiated.
07:55He noticed.
07:57Good girl.
07:58Near dawn.
08:00I came back to myself in pieces.
08:04Trying to run again?
08:08My wolf has always been scent sensitive.
08:13I've known about your lady's little switch since the beginning.
08:16No wonder.
08:17He grew bolder every time,
08:20which meant he never held back.
08:22It was all for me.
08:23Then why won't you give me a rank?
08:26A rank?
08:27She's the one who brought you here.
08:29I'm not going to be the one to claim her handmaid.
08:31That would fracture our bond.
08:33She was right.
08:34A she-wolf taken for free.
08:36Why give her a title?
08:37What grows in the dark stays small.
08:42Speechless with joy?
08:43Thank you for your generosities, Alpha.
08:44I'm afraid I don't have the kind of luck to deserve it.
08:47You've shared my bed for years.
08:49Don't get ideas above your station.
08:51He didn't like greedy she-wolves.
08:53He had others.
08:54Bonded females.
08:56All with bloodlines.
08:57Gifts from allied packs.
08:59And yet, since Vivian came,
09:01he never touched them.
09:03The pack praised him for devotion.
09:05And he wore that praise like armor.
09:07A handmaid, born to serve,
09:10was never meant to stand beside him.
09:13The colder I became,
09:15I was born low.
09:16I don't deserve a rank.
09:17And I don't belong in your quarters.
09:19I only hope you and the lady are devoted to each other until the end.
09:22The next morning,
09:23Briar heard of Vivian's plan to marry me off to the gatekeeper's son.
09:26We served her faithfully.
09:28How can she be this cruel?
09:30That brute would be a slow death.
09:33The thought lingered,
09:34then twisted into something darker.
09:36If I couldn't escape fate,
09:38I would choose it.
09:39I will take the spirit bond with Lucian.
09:42The matriarch stared,
09:43then broke into astonished relief.
09:45She asked my name,
09:46my birth date,
09:47my bloodline.
09:48The pack shaman consulted the moon charts and looked up,
09:51nodding.
09:51This female's spirit signature
09:53aligns with the heirs in a way I have not seen in decades.
09:57She was born into hardship,
09:58which means she carries the kind of resilience that could anchor him.
10:02The bond will serve him well in the next life.
10:04Cailin and Vivian arrived quickly once word spread.
10:07They walked in together to find me sitting at the matriarch's feet,
10:10working the tension from her ankles.
10:12Cailin's voice came first,
10:14amused,
10:15sharp.
10:15This is the female who agreed to bond with my brother?
10:18Whoever's handmaid she is,
10:19she has a rare heart.
10:21Mother,
10:21you must reward her well.
10:22I turned and faced them.
10:24Cailin went very still.
10:25It's me,
10:26Alpha Cailin,
10:27Lady Vivian's.
10:30You're supposed to be mute.
10:32I can speak.
10:33My lady simply prefers I don't.
10:35Vivian's face turned to chalk.
10:37I didn't know your household contained such a loyal soul,
10:40but once this bond is sealed,
10:42you'll carry his grief for the rest of your days.
10:44Are you certain?
10:45I will never regret it.
10:46The hand hanging at Cailin's side curled into a fist.
10:49He stared at me like I had become something he didn't recognize.
10:52Cailin,
10:53tell me what you want.
10:55Silver,
10:56land,
10:56titles,
10:57anything I can grant is yours.
11:00I turned and looked at Vivian.
11:01She held her smile together,
11:02but she took half a step back.
11:04After a long pause,
11:06I dropped my eyes.
11:07I have a younger sister,
11:08Briar.
11:08I asked that she be transferred to your personal household matriarch.
11:11She's already part of this pack.
11:13I'll see to her for the rest of her life.
11:16Vivian's smile pulled thin.
11:18Mother,
11:19Briar came with my dowie pack.
11:21She's my bonded household.
11:22I'd hate to be ungenerous,
11:23but...
11:23She's a handmaid.
11:25Mother wants her.
11:26Give her over.
11:27Cailin's voice cut across hers,
11:29flat and final.
11:30The matriarch's expression had gone stone cold.
11:32Bring the bond papers.
11:35I will find Briar a secure place before I pass.
11:39You don't have to worry about her ever again.
11:42I hadn't expected the matriarch to think about her entire future.
11:46Moved beyond words.
11:48Thank you, matriarch.
11:49I promise to care for Lucian with everything I have.
11:52When the matriarch spoke of her eldest son,
11:55she couldn't stop the break in her voice.
11:57I was pregnant with Lucian during the Dark Coven War.
12:01The fear marked him at birth.
12:04He came into the world without breath.
12:06Without a wolf spirit.
12:08His father had returned victorious that same night
12:11and brought someone with him from the deep forest.
12:14A shaman.
12:14The shaman's methods were outside anything the pack had seen.
12:18He brought Lucian back from the edge of nothing.
12:20It should have been a miracle,
12:21but the shaman warned them.
12:23Pulling a spirit back across that threshold
12:25was a transgression against the laws of wolf and moon.
12:28Lucian could live,
12:29but only for 30 years,
12:31no more.
12:32And so it had been.
12:33Lucian had grown up slight,
12:35unable to shift into warrior form,
12:37but razor sharp in mind,
12:38a natural strategist,
12:40a scholar.
12:41He'd won council honors young,
12:42but the older he got,
12:44the weaker his body became.
12:45Eventually,
12:46he stopped leaving his territory altogether,
12:48retreating to a lakeside cabin
12:50at the edge of the pack mansion.
12:52Since I had agreed to the spirit bond,
12:54I was to remain at his side.
12:55Word was that he didn't allow anyone to serve him,
12:58just the shaman,
12:59who had stayed all these years.
13:01The shaman brought me into the cabin while Lucian was asleep.
13:04I looked at his face.
13:05His lashes trembled faintly with each shallow breath.
13:08He was two years older than Caelan,
13:1027.
13:10The brothers looked nothing alike.
13:12Caelan was bronze and hard-edged from years of combat training.
13:16Lucian was fine-boned,
13:18pale as snow,
13:19almost startlingly beautiful in a way that made you forget to breathe.
13:22I spent the afternoon learning his preferences.
13:25When the sun touched the horizon,
13:27Lucian finally woke.
13:28It was time for his medicine.
13:29I'd spent the afternoon learning to brew it from the shaman.
13:32So you're the female who plans to bond with my corpse?
13:34Yes.
13:36Get up.
13:37He picked up the bowl calmly.
13:41I don't want it.
13:43What are you going to do about it?
13:44Lucian looked up,
13:45a thread of provocation in his gaze.
13:48The shaman had told me Lucian was a person of pure instinct,
13:51all feeling,
13:52no armor,
13:53earned honors at 15,
13:54and had the makings of something extraordinary ahead of him.
13:58Then one evening,
13:59a hunting trip with Caelan,
14:01ended with Lucian falling off the cliff and drown in the water,
14:04his wolf spirit seizing,
14:06and three days of unconsciousness.
14:08The matriarch had broken every servant in his household for failing him,
14:11and sold the rest.
14:13Lucian didn't treat servants like livestock.
14:15He'd read too much and thought too hard to do that.
14:24I looked down at the dark liquid.
14:30Perhaps I should start exercising a mate's authority now.
14:33Either you drink this,
14:36or...
14:37Or what?
14:38The shaman had told me Lucian had refused medicine for six months.
14:42That was why he was hovering at the edge of nothing.
14:44At this rate,
14:45he wouldn't survive to spring.
15:00When I looked at him again,
15:02vivid color had bloomed across his face,
15:05like dawn breaking over frost.
15:06Those butterfly-winged lashes were trembling.
15:09With outrage,
15:10I thought,
15:11distantly,
15:11of every arrogant she-wolf
15:13Cailin had ever teased into furious,
15:15helpless blushing.
15:17Lucian's expression was painfully similar.
15:19A prick of guilt moved through me.
15:21I forced my own pulse to slow,
15:23keeping my voice steady.
15:24If you won't drink,
15:25I'll be forced to do that again.
15:44Alpha hair.
15:45Your color has improved over these past few days.
15:47Your skin isn't as cold as it was.
15:49That's the medicine working.
15:50Medicine is useless.
15:52The shaman works hard to brew it.
15:54If you pour it out every time,
15:56he'll be heartbroken.
15:58Watch.
15:59Testing the temperature alone
16:01takes constant checking
16:02to preserve the potency.
16:04I've only been doing it a few days
16:05and my hands already look like this.
16:08He pressed his lips together,
16:09said nothing,
16:10and drank the rest of the bowl
16:12without being asked.
16:13After that,
16:14he never made me beg him
16:15to drink his medicine again.
16:18Half a month later,
16:20the shaman gave the matriarch his report.
16:22Lucian had genuinely improved,
16:24no longer at death's edge.
16:27Could it be a final surge before the end?
16:30No,
16:30it's real healing.
16:32This one is responsible.
16:34I told you before,
16:35her wolf spirit signature
16:36is a natural compliment to his.
16:37She steadies him.
16:39The matriarch looked satisfied.
16:41When she turned to me,
16:43her eyes were almost tender.
16:44How has Selina been caring for you?
16:50She's been taking very good care of me.
16:55Alpha Lucian may not know,
16:57but when Selina was serving in my household,
17:00her skill at attending to Caelan
17:01was quite exceptional as well.
17:03Such a good servant.
17:05The air went very still.
17:08Is that how you speak to your future sister-in-law?
17:12Vivian,
17:13you are young,
17:14but that is no excuse
17:16for ignorance of pack law.
17:18Shut up!
17:19Stop embarrassing yourself!
17:22Days later,
17:24did you hear about it?
17:25Vivian had found another substitute.
17:27She looked for a maid again?
17:28Not from the pack's own hand-aids.
17:30She'd bought a woman from outside,
17:32trained and shaped
17:32to match her voice and build exactly.
17:34How do you know?
17:35Because Caelan lit every lantern
17:36in the room that night,
17:37and when he saw what he saw,
17:38he beat woman half to death
17:39and threw her at Vivian's feet.
17:41Vivian had fainted.
17:42And then,
17:43he said if she refused
17:44to truly share his bed,
17:45he would never come to her rooms again.
17:46They're sleeping in separate dens now.
17:48Separate dens meant
17:49every wolf in the pack
17:50knew the bond was broken.
17:52No mate's devotion.
17:53No matriarch's approval.
17:55No pups.
17:56No wonder Vivian looked like
17:57she hadn't slept in a month.
18:04He looked fragile in the lake wind,
18:06unsteadying.
18:07I went back to get his cloak.
18:14Is it you?
18:18Was it always you?
18:21Answer me.
18:23You think you can play mute with me again?
18:31Silence won't save you.
18:34I don't need your voice to confirm it.
18:36one night,
18:38and I'd know for certain.
18:39Had he lost his mind?
18:42I spent three years with a woman,
18:45and she's going to be bonded to my brother.
18:48How dare you make fools of us both?
18:50Especially me!
18:51Would a rank at my side
18:53really be worse than
18:54grieving a dead man forever?
18:55Do you actually want to bond with a corpse?
19:00I just want to survive!
19:05If I didn't do this,
19:07she'd give me to someone
19:08who'd break me!
19:10A formal bond,
19:11even a broken one,
19:12would have made me
19:13untouchable!
19:15Useful to no one.
19:18Forced to stay her shadow forever.
19:20Before he could recover,
19:22I stomped hard on his foot
19:24and ran.
19:24I was still stumbling
19:26when I rounded the corner.
19:27What took you so long?
19:31I smiled,
19:32walked over,
19:33and settled the cloak
19:34around his shoulders.
19:35But he simply brushed my hand away.
19:37Somehow he lost balance and fell.
19:39His chest had a severe bruise.
19:41Just leave me.
19:42I am not your burden.
19:46Lucian liked to sit there.
19:48Open a book in the shade.
19:50Why did you really agree
19:51to the spirit bond?
19:53I didn't want to be given
19:54to the given
19:55to the gatekeeper's son.
19:57I thought it would be
19:58something like that.
19:59What is it to guess
20:01that it would be like this?
20:02The shaman pressed
20:03a small wooden box
20:04into my hands.
20:05Should I start calling you
20:06maid of the Alpha?
20:07Please don't.
20:09My future,
20:10most likely,
20:11was a silent room
20:12in a shrine,
20:13grieving him.
20:13him in his name
20:14until I followed.
20:15With the shaman gone,
20:16I took on more responsibility,
20:18including helping Lucian bathe.
20:23I watched his ears
20:24and tried not to smile.
20:26Had no one ever
20:27helped him bathe?
20:28Kaelin had always kept
20:29half a dozen female attendants
20:31for bathing.
20:32A younger version of me
20:33would have died
20:34of the blush alone.
20:35But I wasn't
20:36that innocent girl anymore.
20:37There was a phrase
20:38I'd found in one of his books,
20:39a broken moon,
20:41a she-wolf
20:41who'd been claimed
20:42and discarded.
20:43The text said
20:44that's what I was.
20:46What strange things
20:47are you reading now?
20:49I tucked it behind my back.
20:51I'd memorized a passage
20:53and presented it to him
20:54like a prize.
20:55Look at you.
20:56Impressive.
20:57You sound like
20:58you're humeering a child.
21:01How old are you?
21:02Eighteen.
21:03I have almost a decade on you.
21:05To me,
21:07you are a child.
21:09The shaman had introduced
21:10new compounds,
21:11performed old rituals
21:12at the edge of firelight,
21:14burned offerings
21:15and whispered things
21:16I didn't catch.
21:17Speak a wish.
21:19You do it.
21:21I want you to be happy.
21:23What does that look like?
21:25Your body heals.
21:26You find a mate
21:27who deserves you.
21:27A pack of your own.
21:29A life that finally
21:30goes the way it should have.
21:32Do you mean that?
21:34Our eyes met.
21:35I looked away.
21:36Did I mean it?
21:36It didn't matter.
21:37What mattered was
21:38the shaman's ritual
21:39apparently worked
21:41because Lucian decided
21:42he wanted to leave the cabin.
21:44I asked him
21:44where he wanted to go.
21:46He studied me
21:46for a long moment.
21:47There's a moon festival
21:48gathering tonight.
21:50I've heard the town
21:50lights the whole river.
21:52Festival fires
21:52were always burning somewhere.
21:54Nothing special.
21:55But since coming
21:55into Vivienne's household,
21:57I hadn't been to a single one.
21:59The longing
21:59had been sitting quietly
22:00in me for years.
22:01That night,
22:02a young noblewoman
22:03arrived with her escort.
22:04They said,
22:05used to getting
22:06everything she reached for.
22:07In the river of lantern light
22:08and moving bodies,
22:09she found Lucian in seconds.
22:11Loser buys dinner
22:12at the finest inn
22:13in the city.
22:14What do you say?
22:14And she walked straight up
22:16and challenged him
22:16to a game of darts.
22:17I've forgotten who won.
22:19I only remember
22:19the brightness in her eyes.
22:22Lucian turned to look at me.
22:23If you'd like to go,
22:25I'll wait outside.
22:25I hadn't behaved
22:27like a servant
22:27in front of him
22:28in a long time,
22:29but there were others watching.
22:30She didn't wait.
22:31She stepped around me cheerfully
22:33and reached for Lucian's chair.
22:34I watched them move
22:35into the crowd,
22:36and I felt something leave me
22:38that I hadn't known
22:38was mine to lose.
22:39I stood in the cold
22:40for a very long time.
22:42Then I remembered.
22:43Today was my birthday.
22:44She was the regent's
22:45only daughter.
22:46Every door
22:47in the wolf world
22:48was open to her.
22:49When the regent
22:49and his mate
22:50arrived at the pack mansion
22:51to formally propose the match,
22:53the matriarch looked more shaken
22:55than pleased.
22:56Through Briar,
22:57I learned the truth.
22:58It wasn't love at first sight.
22:59She'd fallen for Lucian
23:01over a decade ago,
23:02back when he was a young scholar
23:03with fire in his eyes
23:05and a future everyone could see.
23:07She'd been carrying it ever since,
23:08refusing every other offer.
23:10Lucian's potential mating
23:11became the pack's entire focus.
23:14Even the news that
23:14Caelan's quartermate
23:15had conceived was forgotten.
23:17If the match succeeded,
23:18the matriarch would have been overjoyed,
23:20but Lucian was already bound
23:21by the spirit bond.
23:23To take a living mate,
23:24the bond had to be dissolved,
23:25and so I knew exactly
23:27what I had to do.
23:28Just as I'd once knelt
23:29before the matriarch
23:30and volunteered,
23:31I came before her again.
23:34I'm willing to step aside.
23:37I want Lucian to have this.
23:39I'd had the shaman
23:40check their spirit signatures as well.
23:42They aligned perfectly.
23:44She was born to rank,
23:45polished in every art,
23:47and her love for Lucian
23:48had outlasted years of silence.
23:50If he died,
23:51she would grieve him faithfully.
23:53There was nothing more
23:53I could offer
23:54that she couldn't match.
23:56So, what do you want in return?
23:59Money?
24:00Is it still about status?
24:01The matriarch squeezed my hands
24:03and asked what I wanted in return.
24:05I pressed the gold I'd saved
24:06over two years into her palm.
24:08I asked to be released
24:10from the pack's bond records.
24:12I want to be a free wolf.
24:15Child,
24:16you could ask me for so much money.
24:19I held the bow
24:20and didn't move.
24:21Tears fell,
24:22one by one,
24:23onto the stone.
24:24Take me with you, okay?
24:27Outside the pack,
24:28Paution,
24:28life was uncertain and hard.
24:30Inside,
24:31with the matriarch's protection,
24:33you would be safe.
24:34Stay,
24:35serve well,
24:36don't make enemies.
24:37The rest would come.
24:40Briar wept
24:41and pressed gold
24:42into my hands anyway.
24:44On the morning I left,
24:45many of the other handmaids
24:47came to see me off.
24:48The shaman also walked
24:49towards me in the crowd.
24:50May your ancestors
24:51guide your path.
24:55Patted my shoulder
24:56and then walked
24:57towards the crowd.
25:00I turned around
25:01and walked towards the door.
25:03But in the crowd,
25:03I saw Karen also there.
25:06Kaylin grabbed me
25:07to the corner.
25:07He caged me against the wall
25:09and looked at me
25:09like he wanted to devour me.
25:12Say the word
25:13and I'll take you
25:13as a formal mate.
25:17Serve me like you used to
25:18and I'll give you rank
25:19above the others.
25:21I stared at him
25:22for a long time.
25:29Don't look at me like that.
25:32What?
25:32You think Lucian's
25:33gonna come running after you?
25:35You're deluding yourself.
25:38He's probably not even
25:39thinking of you.
25:40Once his body improved,
25:41he didn't need you anymore.
25:42You were useful
25:43and now you're spare.
25:44And don't expect him
25:45to remember you in a year.
25:47He didn't even come
25:48to see you off.
25:49That tells you exactly
25:50where you rank to him.
25:52Something in my chest seized.
25:54The truth was,
25:55Lucian and I had been
25:56in a cold war for weeks.
25:57It had started on the way
25:58home from the festival.
25:59If I was happy.
26:03Yes, the warmth vanished
26:05from Lucian's face.
26:07Happy about the fireworks?
26:08No.
26:09Watching you walk with her,
26:10you look like you belong together.
26:11My wish is starting to work.
26:13That made me happy.
26:14You see me with another female
26:14and that's what makes you happy?
26:16She's extraordinary.
26:17She might become
26:18the Pax Future First Luna.
26:19Of course I'm happy.
26:20Selina,
26:21I didn't know
26:22you could be so heartless.
26:24My parents had died years ago
26:26in the household
26:26where I was born into service.
26:28I had no home to return to.
26:30I'd planned to head south,
26:31find a city
26:32where no one knew my name.
26:33But the second
26:34Cailin's and Vivian's faces
26:36floated up behind my eyes,
26:37I was on my feet,
26:39booking passage
26:40on the first river ferry south
26:41before I'd finished the thought.
26:45Property deeds.
26:46Golds, a house,
26:47a plot of land.
26:49Somewhere in the south.
26:51I tried to remember
26:52when the shaman
26:53had touched my bag.
26:54He'd had his hands on it
26:55during the send-off,
26:56but where had he gotten it?
26:57The ferry listed suddenly.
26:59I nearly went over the rail.
27:02I scrambled upright
27:04and found boots
27:05surrounding me
27:05on three sides.
27:06Then I was bound,
27:08carried ashore,
27:08and pushed into a carriage.
27:11When the blindfold came down,
27:18Vivian, smiling.
27:20I couldn't stop
27:21the bitter laugh
27:22from escaping.
27:23Briar had been right.
27:24For all the years
27:25I'd served her,
27:26and this was still
27:26where we ended up,
27:27they brought out women
27:28with strong hands
27:29to deal with me.
27:30The blows were
27:31professional and thorough.
27:33She'd grown thinner
27:34since I last saw her.
27:35The delicate elegance
27:36that had once made her
27:37untouchable
27:38now just made her look
27:39breakable.
27:40What it didn't do
27:41was protect her
27:42inside the pack.
27:44I used your body
27:45as a convenience
27:46and you had the nerve
27:47to find your own way out.
27:49Ungrateful.
27:50Traitorous.
27:51Have you forgotten
27:52what you swore?
27:54Loyal service.
27:55Always.
27:56Loyal service.
27:58She wasn't wrong.
27:59But loyalty
27:59is a two-way bond
28:01and she had never
28:02honored her half.
28:03Waited for the anger
28:04to burn out
28:04so I could leave.
28:05I overestimated
28:06her capacity for mercy.
28:08Let's do it.
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