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