Binge the viral, dangerously steamy, and highly addictive dark romance "Whispers in the Dark Alpha's Bed" full movie with English subtitles.
🔥 Synopsis:
"She was a captive in his pack. He made her the Queen of his nights."
Given to the most terrifying, bloodthirsty Alpha in the region as a peace offering, an innocent Omega expects to be destroyed. But behind the closed doors of his grand estate, the ruthless beast turns out to be fiercely gentle, entirely captivated by her presence. Watch the high-tension, incredibly steamy romance unfold as the possessive Alpha King drops his cruel facade, addicted to the late-night whispers of the only woman who can tame his inner monster.
👉 Drama Details:
* Title: Whispers in the Dark Alpha's Bed
* Genre: Werewolf Romance, Dark Romance, Possessive Alpha Male, Fated Mates, Captive Romance, Sweet and Steamy
* Format: Full Miniseries (Vertical Drama)
* Status: All Episodes Completed
#WhispersInTheDarkAlphasBed #ShortDramaFull #MiniSeries #WebDrama #FullMovie #ReelShort #DramaBox #ShortTV #EnglishSubtitles
🔥 Synopsis:
"She was a captive in his pack. He made her the Queen of his nights."
Given to the most terrifying, bloodthirsty Alpha in the region as a peace offering, an innocent Omega expects to be destroyed. But behind the closed doors of his grand estate, the ruthless beast turns out to be fiercely gentle, entirely captivated by her presence. Watch the high-tension, incredibly steamy romance unfold as the possessive Alpha King drops his cruel facade, addicted to the late-night whispers of the only woman who can tame his inner monster.
👉 Drama Details:
* Title: Whispers in the Dark Alpha's Bed
* Genre: Werewolf Romance, Dark Romance, Possessive Alpha Male, Fated Mates, Captive Romance, Sweet and Steamy
* Format: Full Miniseries (Vertical Drama)
* Status: All Episodes Completed
#WhispersInTheDarkAlphasBed #ShortDramaFull #MiniSeries #WebDrama #FullMovie #ReelShort #DramaBox #ShortTV #EnglishSubtitles
Category
🎥
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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