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[Hot 2026]
(2026) - FULL ENGSUB | Reelshort Hot HD
Full Chinese Movie EngSub
Chinese Drama English Sub Full HD
#shortdrama #bestdrama #actionmovie #Drama #Film #Show #Anime #Movie #cdrama #Movies #BILLIONAIRE #shortdrama #dramashort #shortfilmdrama #minidrama #shortstorydrama #webdrama #indiedrama #shortfilmseries #shortdramaseries #dramashorts #englishmovie #cdrama #drama #movieshortfull
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Short filmTranscript
00:01I was a slave. Yet every night, I had to take Luna's place and sleep with the Alpha.
00:06On the bed, I begged him to mark me and make me one of his mates.
00:09Please, make me your wife.
00:12What are you thinking?
00:15You're nothing but a slave.
00:17I close my eyes. Every wolf in the pack knows Kaelin doesn't just love Lady Vivian. He worships her.
00:24So the next morning, I walked straight to the pack matriarch and kneeled before her.
00:28I volunteered to marry her eldest son, Kaelin's dying brother.
00:32Firstly shocked, then the pack matriarch's eyes filled with tears.
00:37After the ghost marriage is done, you'll have to keep Widowsville for your mate forever.
00:42My good child, have you truly thought this through?
00:47I will have no regrets.
00:48Alpha Kaelin and Lady Vivian had gone deathly pale.
00:51On the full moon night, Kaelin came to Vivian's room again.
00:54I watched them through the crack in the door, his voice low and honeyed, her laugh like silver.
01:00Vivian left to wash up, cheeks ruined with wanting.
01:03Before she went, she killed every candle, as always.
01:07An hour later, I stepped into the dark.
01:09His scent hit me first, and my traitorous body answered.
01:13Heart slamming, skin tight.
01:15Why are you so cold?
01:17I was outside, watching the snow.
01:20Truth is, I'd been shivering at the threshold in a thin slip for an hour, waiting for her signal like
01:26a good little ghost.
01:29You smelled.
01:30A pause.
01:31My heart stopped.
01:32The tincture.
01:33So nice.
01:35His mouth found mine in the dark.
01:37His hardness reached my soul.
01:46Before dawn, I knelt at Vivian's feet and recited him.
01:50Every whisper.
01:51Every mark blooming purple on my throat.
01:53Her expression curdled.
01:55Then she walked back into his arms.
01:57Kaelin caught her hair around one lazy finger.
02:00You've been sneaking out to find yourself another wolf.
02:02She swatted him, pouting prettily, as if she were the one.
02:06Vivian was beautiful, and chronically, devastatingly fragile.
02:10Kaelin saw her at the spring hunt gathering.
02:12He fell instantly.
02:14Offered her the first mate rank before the night was over.
02:17Perfect together.
02:18Everyone said so.
02:19As her bonded handmaid, I was genuinely happy for them.
02:22Until their bonding night.
02:27Three nights in a row.
02:28No completed bond.
02:30No mating mark.
02:31Overnight, Vivian became the pack's favorite joke.
02:34Desperate, Vivian invented the switch.
02:37Every night, candles out, handmade substitutes.
02:40Masking tinctures rubbed into my skin until I smelled like her ghost.
02:44Of all her handmaids, only I was a viable double.
02:47Vivian and I were built from the same blueprint.
02:50The same narrow waist.
02:51The same pale slope of shoulder and throat.
02:54Side by side in daylight, the resemblance was unsettling.
02:57In total darkness, with the masking tinctures working through my skin,
03:01his wolf couldn't tell the difference.
03:03What Vivian hadn't accounted for, I was not fragile.
03:07She broke under Kaylin's hands.
03:09I did not.
03:10What she couldn't endure, I simply survived.
03:13Body learning the architecture of his need.
03:16Learning to anticipate it.
03:17Relax.
03:19Only three years.
03:20My body will recover.
03:22Then I will give you enough gold to live well outside the mansion.
03:25Think about it.
03:26My whole family's safety rested in her hands.
03:29I had no choice.
03:31One hour later, Vivian and Kaylin finally rose.
03:34I returned to my quarters briefly, then went in to lay out the morning meal.
03:41Why are you dressed like that?
03:42I didn't know how to answer.
03:44I pressed my lips together.
03:46Kaylin bit.
03:47Hard.
03:48Darling, you've forgotten.
03:49Selina is mute.
03:50I nodded quickly.
03:52Serving Vivian meant constant proximity to Kaylin,
03:55and she was terrified of exposure.
03:57So she declared me mute.
03:59The entire pack believed it.
04:02Your little mute is striking.
04:03Sad, almost, how pretty she is.
04:05And what exactly does my alpha mean by that?
04:08Has she caught your eye?
04:09I haven't blamed you for anything yet,
04:11and you're already turning on me.
04:14Kaylin had pushed too far last night.
04:16I'd wept myself hoarse,
04:18then bitten him.
04:19Hard.
04:20He'd walked through silver and hellfire to earn his title.
04:23Scars mapping him from throat to hip.
04:27He wouldn't care about a few teeth marks.
04:29This whole performance was foreplay.
04:32I don't know how much time passed.
04:34You insolent thing!
04:36You dared bite him?
04:37Are you challenging me?
04:38I had no time to defend myself.
04:40Vivian had me bound,
04:42dragged to the supply outbuilding.
04:44No food, no water.
04:46Kaylin had left for the border territories.
04:48However long he was gone,
04:50I stayed locked up.
04:51I was barely breathing when my sister found a way through.
04:54Briar had bribed the guard,
04:56slipped a bowl of broth under the door.
04:58She was my younger sister.
05:00Sister, what did you do to make the lady so angry?
05:02Briar, when will Kaylin be back?
05:05The guard said it tonight,
05:06and he's going straight to the lady's room.
05:09What else was happening in the mansion?
05:11The alpha-haired, his wolf spirit, is fading again.
05:13The pack healers say there's nothing left to do.
05:14They're preparing the rates.
05:16Lucian, the elder brother,
05:17cursed since birth,
05:19fading,
05:19never anchored to this world.
05:21He's never taken a mate.
05:23The matriarch doesn't want him to cross alone.
05:25She's looking for someone willing to complete a spirit bond.
05:28A spirit bond with a dying alpha heir meant grieving him forever.
05:32No high-ranking female would consent.
05:34Not even the lower-ranked handmaids.
05:37At dusk, they released me.
05:38I'd be needed that night.
05:40Selina, I was impulsive.
05:42I meant to release you hours ago,
05:44but things got away from me.
05:45Don't hold it against me.
05:47Of course not, my lady.
05:48My lady, it has been three years.
05:51When will I leave the pack mansion?
05:52You want to leave?
05:53Yes.
05:54My body hasn't healed.
05:55Kaylin still needs you.
05:57If you insist on leave,
05:58I'll simply use Briar instead.
05:59Your sisters.
06:00The voice, the build.
06:01Close enough.
06:02How old is she?
06:02Thirteen or fourteen?
06:04Then,
06:05could Kaylin at least give me a rank?
06:08Reaching for status now?
06:10If I wanted Kaylin to take a new mate,
06:13I have a hundred candidates.
06:15You would never make that list.
06:17Don't bother trying to go through Kaylin directly.
06:19You're a convenience to him.
06:23Even if you ended up in his quarters permanently,
06:26I could have you removed with a single word.
06:30But every un-mated female is supposed to be matched eventually.
06:34Eventually?
06:35Was I supposed to be her substitute?
06:38In bed?
06:39For the rest of my life?
06:40The gatekeeper's son is your age?
06:42When you turn sixteen next year,
06:44I'll arrange the match.
06:45The gatekeeper's son.
06:46A man with a child's mind.
06:49And fists like hammers.
06:51Hitting because it was the only thing he knew.
06:53Only by being bound to someone that broken
06:56would I remain useful.
06:57And too far gone to threaten her.
07:00Kaylin returned.
07:01To find me kneeling.
07:03You're home!
07:04You must be exhausted!
07:06This girl broke the crystal chalice from the Western Alliance.
07:08I've had her kneeling.
07:10Kaylin stepped over me,
07:11without a glance.
07:13What's the status on my brother?
07:15I've asked every un-mated female in the pack.
07:18A spirit bond sounds like a curse to them.
07:20None of the young wolves will agree.
07:21What's there to agree about?
07:23Find a female,
07:24threaten someone she loves,
07:25and it's done.
07:26That kind of coercion would be hard to hide from your mother.
07:29Enough gold and fear will find a willing body.
07:33And if you handle this well,
07:36my mother might finally look at you differently.
07:40N.
07:41Every time Kaylin came back from the border,
07:43he spent the whole night making up for lost time.
07:46He was an alpha who'd spent weeks at war.
07:49He came home hungry.
07:50And he made that hunger my problem.
07:54That night, I gave him everything.
07:57Pushed past my own limits to match him.
07:59Why so eager tonight?
08:00Did you miss me?
08:02I rarely initiated.
08:04He noticed.
08:05Good girl.
08:06Near dawn.
08:08I came back to myself in pieces.
08:12Trying to run again?
08:16My wolf has always been sense-sensitive.
08:22I've known about your lady's little switch since the beginning.
08:25No wonder.
08:26He grew bolder every time,
08:28which meant he never held back.
08:30It was all for me.
08:32Then why won't you give me a rank?
08:34A rank?
08:36She's the one who brought you here.
08:37I'm not going to be the one to claim her handmaid.
08:40That would fracture our bond.
08:41She was right.
08:43A she-wolf taken for free.
08:45Why give her a title?
08:46What grows in the dark stays small.
08:50Speechless with joy?
08:52Thank you for your generosities, Alpha.
08:54I'm afraid I don't have the kind of luck to deserve it.
08:56You've shared my bed for years.
08:58Don't get ideas above your station.
09:00He didn't like greedy she-wolves.
09:02He had others.
09:03Bonded females.
09:05All with bloodlines.
09:06Gifts from allied packs.
09:08And yet, since Vivian came,
09:10he never touched them.
09:12The pack praised him for devotion.
09:14And he wore that praise like armor.
09:17A handmaid, born to serve,
09:20was never meant to stand beside him.
09:22The colder I became,
09:24I was born low.
09:26I don't deserve a rank.
09:27And I don't belong in your quarters.
09:28I only hope you and the lady
09:30are devoted to each other until the end.
09:32The next morning,
09:33Briar heard of Vivian's plan
09:34to marry me off to the gatekeeper's son.
09:36We served her faithfully.
09:37How can she be this cruel?
09:40That brute would be a slow death.
09:42The thought lingered,
09:43then twisted into something darker.
09:46If I couldn't escape fate,
09:47I would choose it.
09:49I will take the spirit bond with Lucien.
09:51The matriarch stared,
09:53then broke into astonished relief.
09:55She asked my name,
09:56my birth date,
09:57my bloodline.
09:58The pack shaman consulted the moon charts
10:00and looked up, nodding.
10:01This female's spirit signature
10:03aligns with the airs
10:04in a way I have not seen in decades.
10:07She was born into hardship,
10:08which means she carries
10:09the kind of resilience
10:10that could anchor him.
10:12The bond will serve him well
10:14in the next life.
10:14Kaelin and Vivian arrived quickly
10:16once word spread.
10:17They walked in together
10:18to find me sitting at the matriarch's feet,
10:20working the tension from her ankles.
10:22Kaelin's voice came first,
10:24amused, sharp.
10:25This is the female
10:26who agreed to bond with my brother?
10:28Whoever's handmaid she is,
10:29she has a rare heart.
10:31Mother, you must reward her well.
10:33I turned and faced them.
10:34Kaelin went very still.
10:35It's me,
10:36Alpha Kaelin,
10:37Lady Vivian's.
10:40You're supposed to be mute.
10:42I can speak.
10:43My lady simply prefers I don't.
10:46Vivian's face turned to chalk.
10:47I didn't know your household
10:49contained such a loyal soul,
10:50but once this bond is sealed,
10:52you'll carry his grief
10:53for the rest of your days.
10:55Are you certain?
10:56I will never regret it.
10:57The hand hanging at Kaelin's side
10:59curled into a fist.
11:00He stared at me like I had become
11:02something he didn't recognize.
11:04tell me what you want.
11:06Silver,
11:07land,
11:07titles,
11:08anything I can grant
11:09is yours.
11:10I turned and looked at Vivian.
11:12She held her smile together,
11:13but she took half a step back.
11:15After a long pause,
11:17I dropped my eyes.
11:18I have a younger sister,
11:19Briar.
11:20I asked that she be transferred
11:21to your personal household matriarch.
11:22She's already part of this pack.
11:24I'll see to her
11:25for the rest of her life.
11:27Vivian's smile pulled thin.
11:29Mother,
11:30Briar came with my dowie pack.
11:32She's my bonded household.
11:33I'd hate to be ungenerous,
11:34but-
11:34She's a handmaid.
11:36Mother wants her.
11:37Give her over.
11:38Kaelin's voice cut across hers,
11:40flat and final.
11:41The matriarch's expression
11:42had gone stone cold.
11:43Bring the bond papers.
11:47I will find Briar
11:48a secure place
11:49before I pass.
11:51You don't have to worry
11:52about her ever again.
11:53I hadn't expected the matriarch
11:55to think about her entire future.
11:57Moved beyond words.
11:59Thank you, matriarch.
12:01I promise to care for Lucian
12:03with everything I have.
12:04When the matriarch spoke
12:05of her eldest son,
12:07she couldn't stop
12:07the break in her voice.
12:09I was pregnant with Lucian
12:11during the Dark Coven War.
12:13The fear marked him at birth.
12:16He came into the world
12:17without breath,
12:18without a wolf spirit.
12:20His father had returned victorious
12:22that same night
12:23and brought someone with him
12:24from the deep forest.
12:26A shaman.
12:27The shaman's methods
12:28were outside anything
12:29the pack had seen.
12:30He brought Lucian back
12:31from the edge of nothing.
12:32It should have been a miracle,
12:34but the shaman warned them.
12:35Pulling a spirit back
12:36across that threshold
12:37was a transgression
12:38against the laws
12:39of wolf and moon.
12:41Lucian could live,
12:42but only for 30 years,
12:43no more.
12:44And so it had been.
12:45Lucian had grown up slight,
12:47unable to shift
12:48into warrior form.
12:49But razor sharp in mind,
12:51a natural strategist,
12:52a scholar.
12:53He'd won council honors young,
12:55but the older he got,
12:56the weaker his body became.
12:58Eventually,
12:59he stopped leaving
12:59his territory altogether,
13:01retreating to a lakeside cabin
13:02at the edge
13:03of the pack mansion.
13:04Since I had agreed
13:05to the spirit bond,
13:06I was to remain at his side.
13:08Word was that he didn't
13:09allow anyone to serve him,
13:11just the shaman,
13:12who had stayed
13:13all these years.
13:14The shaman brought me
13:14into the cabin
13:15while Lucian was asleep.
13:16I looked at his face.
13:18His lashes trembled faintly
13:19with each shallow breath.
13:21He was two years older
13:22than Kaelin, 27.
13:23The brothers looked
13:24nothing alike.
13:25Kaelin was bronze
13:26and hard-edged
13:27from years of combat training.
13:29Lucian was fine-boned,
13:31pale as snow,
13:32almost startlingly beautiful
13:33in a way that made
13:34you forget to breathe.
13:35I spent the afternoon
13:36learning his preferences.
13:38When the sun touched
13:39the horizon,
13:40Lucian finally woke.
13:41It was time for his medicine.
13:43I'd spent the afternoon
13:43learning to brew it
13:44from the shaman.
13:45So you're the female
13:46who plans to bond
13:47with my corpse?
13:48Yes.
13:49Get up.
13:50He picked up the bowl calmly.
13:55I don't want it.
13:56What are you going to do about it?
13:58Lucian looked up,
13:59a thread of provocation
14:00in his gaze.
14:01The shaman had told me
14:02Lucian was a person
14:03of pure instinct,
14:04all feeling,
14:05no armor,
14:06earned honors at 15,
14:08and had the makings
14:09of something extraordinary
14:10ahead of him.
14:11Then one evening,
14:12a hunting trip
14:13with Kaelin
14:14ended with Lucian
14:15falling off the cliff
14:16and drown in the water,
14:18his wolf spirit seizing
14:19and three days
14:20of unconsciousness.
14:22The matriarch
14:22had broken every servant
14:24in his household
14:24for failing him
14:25and sold the rest.
14:27Lucian didn't treat servants
14:28like livestock.
14:29He'd read too much
14:30and thought too hard
14:31to do that.
14:33Alpha Hare,
14:36I genuinely can't
14:37force you,
14:39but since we're going
14:40to be bonded eventually,
14:41perhaps I look down
14:43at the dark liquid.
14:44Perhaps I should start
14:45exercising a mate's
14:46authority now.
14:47Either you drink this
14:49or
14:51Or what?
14:53The shaman had told me
14:54Lucian had refused
14:55medicine for six months.
14:56That was why he was
14:57hovering at the edge
14:58of nothing.
14:59At this rate,
15:00he wouldn't survive
15:01to spring.
15:15When I looked at him again,
15:17vivid color had bloomed
15:18across his face,
15:19like dawn breaking
15:20over frost.
15:21Those butterfly-winged
15:22lashes were trembling.
15:24With outrage,
15:25I thought,
15:25distantly,
15:26of every arrogant she-wolf
15:28Kaelin had ever teased
15:29into furious,
15:30helpless blushing.
15:31Lucian's expression
15:32was painfully similar.
15:34A prick of guilt
15:35moved through me.
15:36I forced my own pulse
15:37to slow,
15:38keeping my voice steady.
15:39If you won't drink,
15:41I'll be forced
15:41to do that again.
15:59alpha hair.
16:00Your color has improved
16:01over these past few days.
16:03Your skin isn't as cold
16:04as it was.
16:04That's the medicine working.
16:05Medicine is useless.
16:07The shaman works hard
16:09to brew it.
16:09If you pour it out
16:10every time,
16:11he'll be heartbroken.
16:13Watch.
16:15Testing the temperature alone
16:16takes constant checking
16:17to preserve the potency.
16:19I've only been doing it
16:20a few days
16:21and my hands already
16:21look like this.
16:23He pressed his lips together,
16:25said nothing,
16:26and drank the rest of the bowl
16:27without being asked.
16:29After that,
16:29he never made me beg him
16:31to drink his medicine again.
16:34Half a month later,
16:35the shaman gave
16:36the matriarch his report.
16:38Lucian had genuinely improved,
16:40no longer at death's edge.
16:43Could it be a final surge
16:44before the end?
16:46No.
16:46It's real healing.
16:48This one is responsible.
16:50I told you before,
16:51her wolf spirit signature
16:52is a natural compliment to his.
16:54She steadies him.
16:55The matriarch looked satisfied.
16:57When she turned to me,
16:59her eyes were almost tender.
17:00How has Selina been caring for you?
17:06She's been taking
17:07very good care of me.
17:11Alpha Lucian may not know,
17:13but when Selina was serving
17:15in my household,
17:16her skill at attending to Caelan
17:18was quite exceptional as well.
17:20Such a good servant.
17:22The air went very still.
17:25Is that how you speak
17:26to your future sister-in-law?
17:28Vivian,
17:29you are young,
17:31but that is no excuse
17:32for ignorance of PAC law.
17:35Shut up!
17:36Stop embarrassing yourself!
17:39Days later,
17:40did you hear about it?
17:42Vivian had found
17:42another substitute.
17:44She looked for a maid again?
17:45Not from the PAC's own hand-aids?
17:47She'd bought a woman
17:47from outside,
17:48trained and shaped
17:49to match her voice
17:50and build exactly.
17:51How do you know?
17:52Because Caelan lit every lantern
17:53in the room that night,
17:54and when he saw what he saw,
17:55he beat woman half to death
17:56and threw her at Vivian's feet.
17:58Vivian had fainted.
17:59And then?
18:00He said if she refused
18:01to truly share his bed,
18:02he would never come
18:02to her rooms again.
18:03They're sleeping
18:04in separate dens now.
18:05Separate dens meant
18:06every wolf in the PAC
18:07knew the bond was broken.
18:09No mate's devotion.
18:11No matriarch's approval.
18:12No pups.
18:13No wonder Vivian looked like
18:14she hadn't slept in a month.
18:21He looked fragile
18:22in the lake wind,
18:24unsteadying.
18:24I went back
18:25to get his clothes.
18:31Is it you?
18:36Was it always you?
18:39Answer me.
18:41You think you can play
18:42mute with me again?
18:49Silence won't save you.
18:52I don't need your voice
18:53to confirm it.
18:55One night,
18:56and I'd know for certain.
18:57Had he lost his mind?
19:00I spent three years
19:01with a woman
19:02and she's going to be bonded
19:04to my brother.
19:05How dare you make fools
19:07of us both?
19:08Especially me!
19:09Would a rank at my side
19:11really be worse than grieving
19:12a dead man forever?
19:14Do you actually want
19:15a bond with a corpse?
19:19I just want to survive!
19:24If I didn't do this,
19:25she'd give me to someone
19:26who'd break me!
19:28A formal bond,
19:30even a broken one,
19:31would have made me
19:32untouchable!
19:34useful to no one,
19:36forced to stay
19:37her shadow forever.
19:40Before he could recover,
19:41I stomped hard
19:42on his foot
19:42and ran.
19:43I was still stumbling
19:44when I rounded the corner.
19:46What took you so long?
19:50I smiled,
19:51walked over,
19:52and settled the cloak
19:53around his shoulders.
19:54But he simply
19:54brushed my hand away.
19:56Somehow he lost balance
19:57and fell.
19:57His chest had
19:58a severe bruise.
19:59Just leave me.
20:01I am not your burden.
20:05Lucian liked to sit there,
20:07open a book in the shade.
20:09Why did you really agree
20:10to the spirit bond?
20:12I didn't want to be given
20:13to the given
20:14to the gatekeeper's son.
20:16I thought it would be
20:17something like that.
20:19What is it to guess
20:20that it would be like this?
20:21The shaman pressed
20:23a small wooden box
20:24into my hands.
20:25Should I start calling you
20:26mate of the alpha?
20:27Please don't.
20:28My future, most likely,
20:30was a silent room
20:31in a shrine,
20:32grieving him in his name
20:33until I followed.
20:34With the shaman gone,
20:36I took on more responsibility,
20:37including helping Lucian bathe.
20:42I watched his ears
20:44and tried not to smile.
20:45Had no one ever
20:46helped him bathe?
20:47Kaelin had always kept
20:49half a dozen female attendants
20:50for bathing.
20:51A younger version of me
20:53would have died
20:53of the blush alone.
20:54But I wasn't that
20:55innocent girl anymore.
20:57There was a phrase
20:58I'd found in one of his books.
20:59A broken moon.
21:00A she-wolf
21:01who'd been claimed
21:02and discarded.
21:03The text said
21:04that's what I was.
21:06What strange things
21:07are you reading now?
21:09I tucked it behind my back.
21:11I'd memorized a passage
21:13and presented it to him
21:14like a prize.
21:15Look at you.
21:16Impressive.
21:17You sound like
21:18you're humeering a child.
21:21How old are you?
21:22Eighteen.
21:24I have almost
21:24a decade on you.
21:25To me
21:27you are a child.
21:29The shaman
21:30had introduced
21:30new compounds
21:31performed old rituals
21:33at the edge of firelight
21:34burned offerings
21:35and whispered things
21:36I didn't catch.
21:38Speak a wish.
21:40You do it.
21:42I want you
21:43to be happy.
21:44What does that look like?
21:45Your body heals.
21:46You find a mate
21:47who deserves you.
21:48A pack of your own.
21:50A life that finally
21:51goes the way it should have.
21:53Do you mean that?
21:54Our eyes met.
21:56I looked away.
21:56Did I mean it?
21:57It didn't matter.
21:58What mattered was
21:59the shaman's ritual
22:00apparently worked
22:01because Lucien decided
22:03he wanted to leave the cabin.
22:04I asked him
22:05where he wanted to go.
22:07He studied me
22:07for a long moment.
22:08There's a moon festival
22:09gathering tonight.
22:11I've heard the town
22:11lights the whole river.
22:12Festival fires
22:13were always burning somewhere.
22:15Nothing special.
22:16But since coming
22:17into Vivienne's household
22:18I hadn't been
22:19to a single one.
22:19The longing had been
22:21sitting quietly in me
22:22for years.
22:22That night
22:23a young noblewoman
22:24arrived with her escort.
22:26They said
22:26used to getting
22:27everything she reached for.
22:28In the river of lantern light
22:30and moving bodies
22:31she found Lucien in seconds.
22:32Loser buys dinner
22:33at the finest inn
22:34in the city.
22:35What do you say?
22:36And she walked straight up
22:37and challenged him
22:38to a game of darts.
22:39I've forgotten who won.
22:40I only remember
22:41the brightness in her eyes.
22:43Lucien turned
22:44to look at me.
22:45If you'd like to go
22:46I'll wait outside.
22:47I hadn't behaved
22:48like a servant
22:49in front of him
22:49in a long time
22:50but there were
22:51others watching.
22:52She didn't wait.
22:53She stepped around me
22:54cheerfully
22:54and reached for
22:55Lucien's chair.
22:56I watched them
22:57move into the crowd
22:58and I felt something
22:59leave me
22:59that I hadn't known
23:00was mine to lose.
23:01I stood in the cold
23:02for a very long time.
23:04Then I remembered.
23:05Today was my birthday.
23:06She was the regent's
23:07only daughter.
23:08Every door
23:09in the wolf world
23:09was open to her.
23:11When the regent
23:11and his mate
23:12arrived at the pack mansion
23:13to formally propose
23:14the match
23:15the matriarch looked
23:16more shaken
23:17than pleased.
23:18Through Briar
23:19I learned the truth.
23:20It wasn't love
23:21at first sight.
23:21She'd fallen for Lucien
23:23over a decade ago
23:24back when he was
23:25a young scholar
23:25with fire in his eyes
23:27and a future
23:28everyone could see.
23:29She'd been carrying it
23:30ever since
23:30refusing every other offer.
23:32Lucien's potential mating
23:34became the pack's
23:35entire focus.
23:36Even the news
23:36that Kaylin's
23:37quartermate had conceived
23:38was forgotten.
23:39If the match succeeded
23:40the matriarch
23:41would have been overjoyed
23:42but Lucien was already
23:44bound by the spirit bond.
23:45To take a living mate
23:46the bond had to be dissolved
23:48and so I knew
23:49exactly what I had to do.
23:51Just as I'd once
23:51knelt before the matriarch
23:53and volunteered
23:54I came before her again.
23:57I'm willing to step aside.
23:59I want Lucien to have this.
24:02I'd had the shaman
24:03check their spirit signatures
24:04as well.
24:05They aligned perfectly.
24:06She was born to rank
24:08polished in every art
24:09and her love for Lucien
24:11had outlasted
24:12years of silence.
24:13If he died
24:14she would grieve him faithfully.
24:15There was nothing more
24:16I could offer
24:17that she couldn't match.
24:18So, what do you want
24:20in return?
24:22Money?
24:22Is it still about status?
24:24The matriarch squeezed
24:25my hands
24:26and asked what I wanted
24:27in return.
24:28I pressed the gold
24:29I'd saved over two years
24:30into her palm.
24:31I asked to be released
24:33from the pack's bond records.
24:35I want to be a free wolf.
24:39Child, you could ask me
24:41for so much more.
24:42I held the bow
24:43and didn't move.
24:44Tears fell, one by one,
24:46onto the stone.
24:47Take me with you, okay?
24:50Outside the pack powshing,
24:52life was uncertain
24:53and hard.
24:54Inside, with the matriarch's
24:55protection, you would be safe.
24:58Stay, serve well,
24:59don't make enemies.
25:01The rest would come.
25:04Briar wept
25:05and pressed gold
25:06into my hands anyway.
25:08On the morning I left,
25:09many of the other handmaids
25:10came to see me off.
25:11The shaman also walked
25:12towards me in the crowd.
25:14May your ancestors
25:15guide your path.
25:19Patted my shoulder
25:20and then walked
25:21towards the crowd.
25:24I turned around
25:25and walked towards the door.
25:27But in the crowd,
25:27I saw Karen also there.
25:30Kaelin grabbed me
25:31to the corner.
25:31He caged me against the wall
25:33and looked at me
25:33like he wanted to devour me.
25:36Say the word
25:37and I'll take you
25:37as a formal mate.
25:41Serve me like you used to
25:43and I'll give you rank
25:44above the others.
25:45I stared at him
25:46for a long time.
25:53Don't look at me like that.
25:56What?
25:57You think Lucian's
25:58gonna come running after you?
25:59You're deluding yourself.
26:03He's probably
26:03not even thinking of you.
26:04Once his body improved,
26:06he didn't need you anymore.
26:07You were useful
26:07and now you're spare.
26:09And don't expect him
26:10to remember you in a year.
26:11He didn't even come
26:12to see you off.
26:13That tells you exactly
26:14where you rank to him.
26:17Something in my chest seized.
26:18The truth was,
26:20Lucian and I had been
26:20in a cold war for weeks.
26:22It had started on the way
26:23home from the festival.
26:24If I was happy.
26:28Yes, the warmth
26:29vanished from Lucian's face.
26:31Happy about the fireworks?
26:33No.
26:34Watching you walk with her,
26:35you look like you belong together.
26:36My wish is starting to work.
26:38That made me happy.
26:38You see me with another female
26:39and that's what makes you happy?
26:41She's extraordinary.
26:42She might become
26:43the Pax Future First Luna.
26:44Of course I'm happy.
26:45Selina,
26:47I didn't know
26:47you could be so heartless.
26:49My parents had died years ago
26:51in the household
26:51where I was born into service.
26:53I had no home to return to.
26:55I'd planned to head south,
26:56find a city
26:57where no one knew my name.
26:59But the second
26:59Kaylin's and Vivian's faces
27:01floated up behind my eyes,
27:03I was on my feet,
27:04booking passage
27:05on the first river ferry south
27:07before I'd finished the thought.
27:10Property deeds.
27:12Golds, a house,
27:13a plot of land.
27:14Somewhere in the south.
27:16I tried to remember
27:17when the shaman
27:18had touched my bag.
27:19He'd had his hands on it
27:21during the send-off,
27:22but where had he gotten this?
27:23The ferry listed suddenly.
27:25I nearly went over the rail.
27:28I scrambled upright
27:29and found boots
27:30surrounding me on three sides.
27:32Then I was bound,
27:33carried ashore,
27:34and pushed into a carriage.
27:37When the blindfold came down,
27:44Vivian, smiling,
27:46I couldn't stop
27:47the bitter laugh
27:48from escaping.
27:49Briar had been right.
27:50For all the years
27:51I'd served her,
27:52and this was still
27:52where we ended up,
27:53they brought out women
27:54with strong hands
27:55to deal with me.
27:56The blows were
27:57professional and thorough.
27:59She'd grown thinner
28:00since I last saw her.
28:01The delicate elegance
28:02that had once
28:03made her untouchable
28:04now just made her
28:05look breakable.
28:06What it didn't do
28:07was protect her
28:08inside the pack.
28:10I used your body
28:11as a convenience,
28:12and you had the nerve
28:13to find your own way out.
28:15ungrateful,
28:16traitorous.
28:17Have you forgotten
28:19what you swore?
28:20Loyal service.
28:22Always.
28:23Loyal service.
28:24She wasn't wrong,
28:25but loyalty
28:26is a two-way bond,
28:27and she had never
28:28honored her half.
28:29waited for the anger
28:30to burn out
28:31so I could leave.
28:32I overestimated
28:33her capacity for mercy.
28:35The first day,
28:36only the hitting.
28:37Look at me.
28:39The second day,
28:40she used silver-tipped
28:41needles on my hand.
28:42Ugh.
28:43The third day,
28:44she locked me
28:45in the holding den
28:46beneath the estate.
28:47I found my parents'
28:48remains there.
28:49For a moment,
28:50just one,
28:50I genuinely wanted
28:52to stop fighting.
28:53The young guard
28:53outside pulled me up
28:54before I could follow
28:55the thought all the way.
28:56Delina!
28:57Come back!
28:58Please!
28:58You saved me!
29:00Do I know you?
29:01Years ago,
29:02a bracelet went missing
29:03in the ladies' rooms.
29:04They were gonna use
29:05me as the culprit.
29:06You figured out
29:07who really took it,
29:08and you bought me
29:09enough time to prove it.
29:10I kept all my fingers
29:11because of you.
29:12You're one of the
29:13kindest people I've ever known.
29:14Why is she doing
29:15this to you?
29:17Because I wasn't
29:18loyal enough.
29:20What's happening
29:21at the pack mansion?
29:22The alpha-haired?
29:24Is he truly going
29:25to bond with
29:25the regent's daughter?
29:26The matriarch is frantic.
29:28The whole bonding is off.
29:29The regent's family
29:30pulled their daughter out
29:31the night his wolf spirit
29:32nearly went dark completely.
29:34She agreed to cancel it?
29:36She's never been
29:37this close to real death
29:38before,
29:39they say she ran.
29:40Selene,
29:41please stop thinking
29:41about them.
29:42Think about yourself.
29:43You have to survive
29:44long enough to be rescued.
29:45Will you let me help you?
29:46Please help me
29:47bury my parents.
29:48Is there anything else
29:49I can do for you
29:50after that?
29:51I need you to find
29:51a small wooden box.
29:53You buried my parents.
29:55I'll carry that gratitude
29:56into whatever comes next.
29:58On the fifth evening,
30:00Vivian returned.
30:01She examined her nails
30:02as if nothing else mattered.
30:04I could barely
30:05hold my head up.
30:06You're still alive.
30:07Heaven must want you
30:09to suffer longer.
30:10Begging me to stop?
30:12Don't bother.
30:13I wasn't begging.
30:14I was cursing her.
30:16Quietly.
30:17Steadily.
30:17The rope around
30:18my neck tightened.
30:19I let out a slow breath.
30:21Finally.
30:21A clean ending.
30:22It pulled
30:23taut.
30:24Tighter.
30:25Until the air was gone.
30:26Then,
30:27it went slack.
30:29A second cruelty?
30:30Another method?
30:31Noise poured in
30:32from every direction.
30:34Someone was calling my name.
30:35Someone was in the water.
30:37Selina!
30:37Selina!
30:43I'm sorry.
30:44I'm sorry.
30:45Please don't leave me.
30:48I was lifted.
30:49Carried.
30:50Fast.
30:51Too fast.
30:51And then I hit a cold chest
30:53and stayed there.
30:54Whoever held me
30:55dropped to their knees.
30:56Their arms locked around me
30:58like I might disappear.
31:01Lucian.
31:03Where are you?
31:04I am here.
31:05I am here.
31:06I thought I had lost you.
31:08Selina.
31:09I'm so sorry.
31:12I should have found you sooner.
31:16Lucian brought me back
31:17to the lakeside cabin.
31:19The shaman had prepared
31:19a medicinal bath.
31:21Something old.
31:22Something meant
31:22for deep wounds.
31:23Lucian washed me himself.
31:25Every new injury he found
31:27made the skin around his eyes
31:29darken.
31:29Deeper.
31:30Redder.
31:31In the blur between
31:32waking and sleep,
31:33I felt like I was drifting.
31:35Held up by careful hands
31:37in warm water.
31:38Rocking.
31:39Gently.
31:40The last thing I remembered
31:41was a soft bed rising up
31:44to catch me
31:44and my arms closing around it.
31:47I slept for a very long time.
31:57Where's Lucian?
31:59He kept watch over you for days.
32:01I added something to his tea.
32:02He's out.
32:03Is he having an episode?
32:04His wolf spirit?
32:05He's been destroying himself
32:07since you left.
32:08His wolf didn't want to be steady.
32:09I couldn't do much.
32:10You were the only person
32:12keeping him anchored.
32:13That was never me.
32:14Don't cry.
32:15He's alive.
32:16And he won't die before 30.
32:18I made sure of that much.
32:20What happens at 30?
32:22Does the bond snap?
32:23He was always going to die early.
32:25You know this.
32:26If he weren't fated for early death,
32:28you two would never have found each other.
32:29I sat very still.
32:31Something inside me
32:32was splitting apart.
32:35Lucian woke
32:35to find me staring into nothing.
32:38What's wrong?
32:38His voice came out rough
32:40with sleep.
32:41I wiped my face,
32:42said nothing.
32:43My fingers rested
32:44against his throat,
32:46feeling his pulse.
32:47I'm going to kiss you.
32:49Say yes or no.
32:51You were a lot less polite
32:53the first time.
32:58His mouth was cold
33:00and his breath against mine
33:02was like a thread of warmth
33:04in a blizzard.
33:05Brief
33:05and so easy to lose.
33:09Lucian,
33:10I love you.
33:15I love you too.
33:21I never expected
33:23to fall in love
33:23with someone
33:24within such short life.
33:28Neither did I.
33:30Then the shaman came back.
33:32He returned three nights later,
33:34moving with purpose,
33:35and sat across from us.
33:37I've been doing
33:38a great deal of thinking.
33:40That's usually ominous.
33:41The curse on you,
33:42the life debt
33:43your father made
33:44with the witch clan,
33:45it was sealed with sacrifice.
33:47Specifically,
33:47the sacrifice
33:48of a wolf spirit.
33:50Sacrifice can be answered
33:51with sacrifice.
33:53Or with something
33:54equal and opposite.
33:55A bond freely chosen.
33:57A mating bond.
33:58A true one.
33:59Not a spirit bond
34:00with a corpse.
34:01A living, breathing,
34:02voluntary mating bond.
34:04Freely given,
34:05both sides willing,
34:06under the full moon.
34:07If the bond takes hold,
34:10the original sacrifice
34:11is fulfilled differently.
34:13Life for life.
34:15But instead of taking,
34:17it gives.
34:18The curse breaks.
34:20Has this worked before?
34:21I believe it will.
34:25Yes.
34:28The next few days
34:29passed in controlled chaos.
34:30The matriarch convened
34:31a pack circle.
34:32Vivian's crimes
34:33had not gone unnoticed.
34:35The poisoning of
34:35Caelan's quartermate
34:36and the unborn pup
34:37had been confirmed.
34:39By pack law,
34:40that was grounds for exile.
34:41Vivian was removed.
34:43Quietly.
34:43Finally.
34:44The regent's daughter
34:45came to the cabin
34:46one more time.
34:47He told me at the festival,
34:49you know?
34:49The night we went to dinner?
34:50What to say?
34:52He talked about you
34:53for three hours straight
34:54without realizing it.
34:55I'm sorry I was slow
34:57to understand.
34:58Her expression unreadable.
34:59I didn't know what to say.
35:01She stepped forward
35:02and squeezed my hand once.
35:04Don't let him die.
35:05Then she was gone.
35:11Caelan came to the cabin
35:12the night before the ritual.
35:14He stood in the doorway
35:15and for the first time
35:16in the years I'd known him,
35:17he looked genuinely lost.
35:20My brother.
35:22He's going to be alright?
35:24The shaman believes so.
35:27I never saw you.
35:29Do you know?
35:30For three years,
35:32I've actually never given you
35:34a proper look.
35:35For whatever it's worth,
35:37I'm sorry.
35:38I thought about everything
35:39I could say.
35:40What I said was,
35:43Take care of yourself, Caelan.
35:46He nodded,
35:47turned,
35:48walked away.
35:49It wasn't forgiveness.
35:51Not yet.
35:53But it was a beginning.
35:55The full moon rose over the lake
35:57like a white flame.
35:58The shaman built the circle
35:59at the water's edge.
36:00Silver dust,
36:01wolf herbs,
36:02old fire.
36:03Lucian stood at the center.
36:05He'd refused the chair tonight.
36:07He was standing on his own,
36:08in the moonlight,
36:09and the sight of him,
36:10pale and slight,
36:12and stubbornly,
36:13impossibly upright,
36:15hit me somewhere
36:15I didn't have words for.
36:17The shaman's voice
36:18rose over the water,
36:19speaking old words
36:20in the witch clan's tongue.
36:22The language of the curse
36:23that had been turned,
36:24tonight,
36:25into something else.
36:26He looked at me
36:27with those moth-wing lashes
36:28and that expression
36:29that always meant
36:30he'd run out of arguments
36:31and was trying not to show
36:33how much he felt.
36:34Celine,
36:35you don't have to.
36:37I know.
36:39I might still...
36:41I know that too.
36:43Then what are you doing?
36:46Choosing.
36:47The shaman's voice peeked.
36:49The shaman's voice peeked.
36:50The circle ignited.
36:51Not fire, exactly.
36:52Something older.
36:53Silver blue,
36:54rising from the water's surface.
36:56I felt the pull of it in my chest.
36:58Not pain.
36:59Not fear.
37:00Something more like...
37:02recognition.
37:03Lucian's hand tightened on mine,
37:04and I felt the moment it happened.
37:07A snap,
37:07deep in the core of me,
37:09like a lock giving way.
37:10Like something that had been held closed
37:12for 30 years,
37:13finally opening.
37:15Lucian made a sound
37:16I'd never heard from him before.
37:17Not pain.
37:18The opposite of pain.
37:20He dropped to his knees
37:21in the silver circle,
37:22and his wolf,
37:23his wolf spirit,
37:24which I had never seen,
37:26which he had never been able to fully call,
37:28tore out of him
37:29with a howl that shook the lake.
37:31White.
37:32Enormous.
37:33Blazing like a comet above the water.
37:35He threw his head back
37:36and howled again.
37:38The sound broke over the forest.
37:40Over the pack mansion.
37:41Over every territory for miles.
37:44And from far away,
37:45from every direction at once,
37:47his howls began to answer.
37:49The shaman wept.
37:50I didn't realize it
37:51until I saw his shoulders shaking.
37:53Lucian's wolf settled around him
37:55like a second skin.
37:56The color returned to his face.
37:58Not the brief flush of fever,
38:00but real warmth,
38:01steady,
38:01and permanent.
38:02He touched his own hands
38:04like he was checking they were real.
38:05Then he looked at me,
38:06and his eyes,
38:08those beautiful,
38:09exhausted,
38:10fighting to stay open eyes,
38:12were the clearest I'd ever seen them.
38:15Selena.
38:17Just my name.
38:18The way he said it
38:19cracked something open in me.
38:21I pressed my face against his chest
38:23and stayed there for a long, long time.
38:26His heartbeat was strong,
38:27steady,
38:28warm,
38:28not borrowed time.
38:32Just him.
38:34The matriarch came to the lake the next morning.
38:36She took one look at Lucian,
38:38standing in the early light,
38:39no chair,
38:40no shawl,
38:41real color in his face.
38:43And she sat down on the nearest bench
38:44and didn't move for several minutes.
38:46How?
38:47Thanks to Selena,
38:49who sacrificed herself willingly.
38:51She was a good girl.
38:53The shaman explained what had happened.
38:56Then she reached out
38:57and drew me to sit beside her,
38:59as she'd done before.
39:00What do you want?
39:02I once hoped my sister would be safe
39:04and that I could be free.
39:06But now,
39:07all I want is for Lucian
39:09to return as leader,
39:10safe and happy.
39:12It happened at the next full moon.
39:14Briar stood beside me.
39:18It's already more than enough.
39:20You have a thread.
39:21Right there.
39:22Hold.
39:24Briar.
39:25What?
39:32Lucian was waiting at the lake's edge.
39:35He'd learned to stand like he meant it.
39:38May your life together be filled with love,
39:40laughter,
39:41and happiness.
39:42May your home always be warm
39:44and your hearts always full.
39:47I had survived every single thing
39:49and I was here,
39:51free,
39:51loved,
39:52his mate and mine.
39:59Selena,
40:01I'm not going to die.
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