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True Luna's Second Chance - FULL | DramaReel
#shortdrama
#heartstringshub
#shortdrama
#heartstringshub
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00:02I was born with a scent that drove Alpha's feral, true Luna bloodline, rarest in three centuries.
00:10At my naming ceremony, I crawled past sacred objects and grabbed the crown prince between his legs.
00:17The Alpha King howled with laughter.
00:19She'll be a clingy little mate someday.
00:21They were wrong.
00:22Caleb and I became sworn enemies.
00:25For 17 moons, I watched his golden eyes learn to flinch from my scent.
00:31On my 18th moon, the king summoned me.
00:34Tell me who you want, little wolf.
00:36Any Alpha in this kingdom, I will grant it.
00:38Before I could speak, Caleb's voice cracked like a whip.
00:42I'd rather be torn apart by rogues than take her as my Luna.
00:45Something in me snapped.
00:47Fine, I'd mate him out of spite.
00:50Then I'd choose him.
00:51Then go die a lot.
00:53I thought he was joking.
00:54The mating ceremony was beautiful.
00:56But Caleb didn't look at me once.
00:59That night...
01:00Sleep on the floor.
01:02Your scent makes me want to vomit.
01:04Moons passed.
01:05My womb stayed empty.
01:07The pack stopped bowing.
01:09She-wolf spit in my food.
01:11Tore my dresses.
01:12Whispered, barren.
01:14Caleb watched and smiled.
01:16Then I overheard him.
01:18She forced this bond.
01:21She deserves everything she gets.
01:22You feel nothing?
01:26A moon later, Caleb threw me to the rogues.
01:30A harlot belongs in the pleasure dems.
01:33I died there.
01:34Beaten.
01:35Discarded like meat.
01:36My last thought was his face.
01:39Never looking back.
01:40Then, light.
01:42I gasped awake on cold marble.
01:44Tell me who you want, little wolf.
01:46I will grant it.
01:48The throne room.
01:49The gala.
01:50The scent of moon blossoms.
01:52I was 17 again.
01:54I would not waste it on Caleb Ironforge.
01:57Everyone knows Alara is obsessed with Prince Caleb.
02:00She's practically in heat for him.
02:03Every eye pinned me.
02:05I inhaled.
02:06Your majesty.
02:08The crown prince and I grew up together.
02:10I respect him only as a brother.
02:12I've never desired him.
02:14Caleb's head snapped toward me.
02:16His scent roared.
02:19My heart has always belonged to Alpha Silas.
02:22If I may mate with the blood moon Alpha,
02:25I will die content.
02:27The throne room exploded.
02:28I chose the king's own brother.
02:31The legendary blood moon Alpha.
02:33The wolf who had crushed the rogue uprising
02:36and put his brother on the throne.
02:40Alpha Silas was struck down one year ago
02:43on the northern front by an unseen blade.
02:45Comatose ever since.
02:47The healers said he'd never wake,
02:49but I knew better.
02:50Last life, Silas woke in my third year of misery.
02:54When the Ironforge she-wolves cornered me in the kitchens,
02:57a broken, half-crippled Alpha dragged himself
03:00out of his wheeled chair to stand between us.
03:03Little one, this would waste you.
03:06Let me choose another Alpha.
03:08One who can stand beside you.
03:10Speak back to you.
03:12I didn't lift my head from the stone.
03:14Your majesty,
03:16I swore before the moon goddess herself.
03:18It is Alpha Silas.
03:20Or no one.
03:21I slammed my forehead into the marble.
03:23A wet crack of bone on stone.
03:26If the Ashfield girl has truly set on our brother-in-law,
03:29let her have him.
03:31The moon goddess guides us in strange ways.
03:33The king looked at his mate,
03:34looked at me,
03:36So be it.
03:37Your house is gone.
03:40Silas cannot speak for himself.
03:42The mating will be arranged by the queen herself.
03:45I pressed my forehead to the stone a third time.
03:48I am grateful beyond words.
03:51I rose on shaking legs.
03:52I did not look at Caleb.
03:54I could feel him, though.
03:56Sent violent.
03:58Let him burn.
03:59I would not make Caleb again.
04:01I would not die in the rogue territories again.
04:04Silas was my answer.
04:06Last life,
04:07he spent his days in a wheeled chair.
04:12I slept for three days after the gala.
04:19I slept for three days after the gala.
04:34Deep.
04:34Dreamless.
04:34Moon blossoms perfumed the stone corridors.
04:38My heart beat slow and careful.
04:40Then Madam Boss rose and bowed.
04:42Your highness, the crown prince.
04:44I lifted my head and the king looked.
04:47His face dropped into my vision like a blade.
04:51Sharp.
04:51Cold.
04:52Beautiful in that cool ironforge way.
04:55His scent hit me before his eyes did.
04:58Iron and jealousy spiking hot.
05:01He stared.
05:01Golden eyes raking me from crown to feet.
05:05Crown prince.
05:06May the moon favor you.
05:08He knew my old pattern.
05:10Last life,
05:11I tracked his schedule.
05:13Baked him honey cakes.
05:14Engineered accidental meetings
05:16just to press them into his hands.
05:19He used to throw them to the hounds.
05:21Alara,
05:22stop this pathetic chase.
05:24You're mating my uncle.
05:26Have some dignity.
05:27You make me sick.
05:29Your highness,
05:30I'm not chasing anything.
05:32At the gala,
05:33I told your father the truth.
05:35I have no feelings for you.
05:37Then you wandered into the royal wing
05:38by coincidence?
05:41The queen summoned me.
05:43Ask Madame Vos.
05:46It's true, your highness.
05:49Caleb's scent turned volcanic.
05:51So she really wasn't here for him?
05:53My uncle is a corpse that breathes Alara.
05:56You'll be a widow before the moon sets
05:57on your bonding night.
05:59Then I'll be the happiest widow in the kingdom.
06:01His pupils blew black.
06:02I've loved Alpha Silas for years.
06:05Awake or sleeping.
06:07I want only to be at his side.
06:08Caleb's face went black.
06:10The queen is waiting.
06:11I walked away and felt his stare burning into my back.
06:15The queen greeted me in her chamber
06:16with a smile that never reached her eyes.
06:19Elora, darling.
06:20Come sit.
06:21Your grace.
06:22May the moon bless you eternally.
06:25So formal.
06:27And you came alone?
06:29Your grace.
06:32There's no one left in the Ashford den to walk me anywhere.
06:35Good.
06:36Two dates were inked on silk before her.
06:38The third of the sixth moon.
06:40The nineteenth of the tenth moon.
06:42My blood iced.
06:44The nineteenth of the tenth moon was my mating date with Caleb.
06:48Last life.
06:48Auspicious, the packs had called it,
06:51until the sky split open and drowned the ceremony in rain.
06:55The bonding procession arrived, soaked to the bone.
06:58The pack whispered for years.
07:00Cursed.
07:01Ill-omened.
07:02A wolf who would bring ruin to the royal line.
07:05I think the nineteenth is perfect, the queen said gently.
07:09It's very kind, your grace.
07:11But I prefer the third of the sixth moon.
07:14That's only two months away.
07:16Too rushed, surely.
07:17I can't wait to be at Alphacelus's side.
07:20Behind me, the chamber door opened.
07:22Caleb had followed.
07:24He heard every word.
07:26His teeth ground loud enough that I caught the sound.
07:29Caleb, come help me reason on her.
07:32The queen trilled.
07:33Caleb's eyes raked me, cold as the northern wastes.
07:37If she's so desperate to mate my uncle, why stop her?
07:41Drug it to autumn and she'll have the whole court howling rumors.
07:44The crown prince speaks wisdom.
07:47The third of the sixth moon, then.
07:49You must attend the ceremony, your highness.
07:53I have matters to attend.
07:55Excuse me.
08:00Oh, Ilara.
08:02Silas can't perform the escort himself.
08:04Tradition requires an unbonded royal alpha to fetch the bride from her den.
08:07I thought Caleb would be perfect.
08:08The crown prince is far too important.
08:10Lord Torrin, the Riverstone heir, is unbonded.
08:12Nineteen.
08:12Perfectly suited.
08:14As you wish.
08:15The trap was so obvious, I almost admired it.
08:18If Caleb escorted me, he'd have every excuse in the kingdom to humiliate me on my mating day.
08:25Spill the sacred bonding wine.
08:28Arrive late.
08:29Dress in mourning colors.
08:31Last life, I'd have walked into it eyes shining.
08:35This life?
08:36Never.
08:37The carriage rattled home through twilight streets.
08:41Old memories surfaced like bodies in a river.
08:45My grandfather had been the royal claw, Caleb's mentor.
08:49He'd dragged me into the royal den from the time I could walk.
08:53Caleb and I had been inseparable once.
08:56Sneaking past guards.
08:58Running wild through the human city below the mountain.
09:01One day, a runaway cart came thundering down the cobblestones.
09:06I shoved Caleb out of its path.
09:09The wheel caught my left knee.
09:11Bone met stone with a sound I still hear in nightmares.
09:16Caleb's face was wet with tears and sweat.
09:19He gripped my hand so hard my fingers went numb.
09:23I'll take care of you forever, Alara.
09:25I swear it on the moon.
09:27When had that boy died?
09:29I didn't know the answer.
09:31I'd never find out, either.
09:32And this life?
09:33I'd stopped caring.
09:35The moons flew.
09:36The royal den, Blood Moon Manor, and the Ashford estate prepared feverishly.
09:41Crimson banners, silver lanterns, moonblossom petals raining from every beam.
09:47Caleb sat in his chambers, surrounded by his uncle's bonding colors.
09:51His cousin Torrin arrived with news.
09:53The queen had chosen him, not Caleb, to escort me from the Ashford gates.
09:58Since she had refused him.
10:01Maybe she thinks you're overworked.
10:03I've got nothing to do.
10:05Easier for me.
10:07About what happened back then, Alara was innocent.
10:10You know it was never her fault.
10:12Hating her for that was never fair.
10:13Torrin, didn't you have somewhere to be?
10:15Torrin fled.
10:17That night, Caleb fell ill.
10:20He dreamed he was the groom.
10:22He dreamed rain lashed his procession.
10:25That his cloak and boots were drenched through.
10:28He dreamed of walking into the bonding chamber and finding me, sitting on the bed.
10:33Dark hair coiled high.
10:35Silver coronet woven with moonblossoms.
10:38Crimson mating gown stitched with silver phoenixes.
10:42Dream me smiled at him.
10:44Caleb couldn't look away.
10:45Only the hammer of his own heart.
10:47He woke, drenched in sweat.
10:49Fever raging.
10:51What day is it?
10:52The third of the sixth moon, my prince.
10:54Alpha Silas mates the Asheville girl tonight.
10:56Something carved a hole in his chest.
10:59The queen swept into Caleb's sick room.
11:01She sat beside his bed.
11:03Cool hand on his forehead.
11:05Thank the moon that messes off my hands.
11:08Now we can focus on your mate choosing, my darling.
11:12That Asheville pup was trouble from the day she was born.
11:15Always dragging you into danger.
11:17I never liked her.
11:19After her house fell, she clung to you like a leech.
11:22If the Asheville name hadn't still held weight, I'd have driven her out years ago.
11:27Now her whole pack is dead.
11:28She's nothing.
11:29Mating Silas was her smartest move.
11:31Blood Moon Manor is a nest of vipers.
11:33Silas's cousins circle his come over his body like carrion.
11:36Without me smoothing this mating through, she'd never have survived the approval.
11:40She'll suffer enough there.
11:41Trust me.
11:42Rest my love.
11:44I'll choose properly this time.
11:46With me as Lunar Queen, no one takes your crown.
11:50She swept out.
11:52Caleb stared at the ceiling.
11:54Somewhere across the capital, at that exact moment, I was being carried out of the Ashford gates on Torrin's back.
12:03Drums.
12:04Silver horns.
12:05A procession vast enough to make the crown prince's own mating last life look like a funeral, as if Blood
12:13Moon Manor had waited years for this day.
12:16Luna and Lara.
12:18Luna and Lara.
12:46Silver horns.
12:46He's thinner, but otherwise whole.
12:49A separate chamber is prepared for you across the hall.
12:54No.
12:55He is my mate.
12:56Where would our bond rest?
12:58Sleeping in separate rooms?
13:01Starting tonight, I share his bed.
13:04Across the manor, on the mating bed, Silas's fingers twitched.
13:09Neither of us saw.
13:13I walked into the bonding chamber, where the candles burned low and gold.
13:19He lay where they had placed him, sharp-boned, fierce, even in sleep.
13:24A sheathed blade of a man.
13:26Too pale.
13:27Too thin.
13:28His scent filled my lungs.
13:31Cedar, blade oil, a storm over the mountains.
13:35A warrior's scent.
13:36Hot-blooded.
13:37His pulse running high, the way my fathers and brothers always had.
13:42I'm sorry I mated you while you slept.
13:45But I swear on the moon goddess, I'll take care of you.
13:49I'll be a Luna worth waking up to.
13:52And across the kingdom, Caleb dreamed of me again.
13:57Caleb, go on, climb higher.
14:00Not in the mating chamber this time, but in a garden.
14:05Laughing, he woke, sobbing.
14:07And didn't know why.
14:10Luna, you didn't sleep?
14:15I'm not used to the bed.
14:18And there's a very large alpha next to me.
14:21Luna, Madam Thorne sends for you.
14:24New Luna tradition.
14:26Present yourself to the alpha's aunt on your first morning.
14:29I went still.
14:31Blood Moon Manor was a nest of vipers, and I had just slid into the middle of them.
14:37The matron at my door reeked of jasmine and condescension.
14:41I knew Blood Moon Manor's politics well.
14:44Silas and the king were full-blooded brothers, born of the great Luna Seraphine.
14:49Her younger brother had died fighting beside Silas in the north.
14:53Out of guilt, Silas had moved his uncle's widow and children into his manor.
14:58Aunt Thorne, the dead warrior's mate, had seized the household keys.
15:04She had tried to mate her youngest daughter to Silas.
15:08Silas had refused.
15:09Now I had arrived in her place.
15:11She hated me before she met me.
15:14The Luna just woke.
15:16Why such urgency?
15:17Of course.
15:18A general's daughter, the king's own pick, wouldn't stoop to greet a humble widow.
15:24I never said that.
15:25If you can't keep your mouth straight, shut it.
15:28Well, Luna?
15:30So Madam Thorne wanted first blood on day one.
15:37Of course I should pay respects to Madam Thorne.
15:40Luna misunderstands.
15:43Not respects.
15:44Just a visit.
15:46Her husband died, saving my mate.
15:49His widow deserves deep honor.
15:51My visit to her is a sacred duty.
15:54So, please go to the royal den and inform the king.
16:02The royal den?
16:05Yes.
16:06Tell his majesty that I must pay respects to a fallen warrior's widow before I present myself at court.
16:11She apparently outranks the king in my morning's duties.
16:18Luna jokes.
16:20Of course the king and queen come first.
16:27Then tell Madam Thorne I'll visit when my schedule permits.
16:32Luna, are we really going?
16:36Of course.
16:37She's an elder.
16:39But I choose when, not her.
16:42I ordered the carriage.
16:44As I stepped into the courtyard.
16:50Not drunk.
16:51Old Damien could do three more barrels.
17:00Do you know who I am?
17:02Silas is my cousin.
17:04Silas is my cousin.
17:04The great Luna raised me.
17:07I've looked the king in his face.
17:10That's Simus' cousin?
17:13Yes.
17:14Luna.
17:15Damien Thorne.
17:16Known in every brothel in the capital.
17:19Pleasure dems, moonshine, gambling pits.
17:23Your mating ceremony was last night.
17:25As the royal relative, he didn't show up and slept in some she-wolf's bed.
17:30Silas.
17:31What kind of kin did you take into your manor?
17:33I climbed into my carriage without acknowledging him.
17:38Who is that?
17:39Why haven't I seen her before?
17:41That's the new Luna, my lord.
17:43Right.
17:44Cousin Silas had made it yesterday.
17:47Cousin's still asleep.
17:49She'll be sleeping empty sheets for years.
17:52I didn't see any of it.
17:54I went to the royal den to pay my respects to the king and queen.
17:57I timed it perfectly.
17:59The concubines would have finished their morning bow.
18:01The dawn council would nearly be over.
18:03I'd sip tea with the queen until the king appeared.
18:06I missed one calculation.
18:09At the royal gates, I walked straight into Caleb.
18:16Torrin had said Caleb was ill.
18:18That's why he wasn't at council.
18:20None of my concern.
18:21Crown Prince.
18:24A bonded Luna in crimson silks.
18:28Last night's dream.
18:30Alara, does it feel good?
18:33Mating my uncle?
18:37No.
18:38You should address me as Aunt Alara.
18:41Caleb stared.
18:42The delay before his brain caught up was almost funny.
18:46Calling me by my given name is a breach of protocol.
18:49Show some manners.
18:52You are happy, aren't you?
18:54This mating is what I asked for.
18:56Of course I'm pleased.
18:58Why do you ask what you already know?
19:01The crown princess is still ill.
19:04Rest.
19:05Medicate.
19:06I have the king and queen to greet.
19:09That morning in the royal den, I sipped tea with the queen.
19:12The king arrived from council in shockingly high spirits.
19:16The first time in years, the civil wolves and warrior wolves had agreed on something at council.
19:22They had praised my mating.
19:24In the courtyard, I saw Zane leading two servants into Silas' chamber.
19:29What are you doing?
19:32Luna, it's time to dose the alpha.
19:34A clay medicine jar steamed on her tray.
19:37Luna, please wait outside.
19:38It takes time.
19:40The alpha is hard to dose.
19:42I'll come too.
19:43Luna, with us?
19:45Yes, I'm his mate.
19:46Caring for him is my duty.
19:47Show me today.
19:48From tomorrow, I do it.
19:50Luna.
19:52The alpha cannot swallow willingly.
19:54He forced the drape down.
19:56He vomits half of it.
19:58It's not pleasant.
20:14Zane.
20:15You're wasting most of it.
20:17Let me.
20:18Give me the bowl.
20:19All of you, step back.
20:21Luna, we'll wait outside.
20:23Why?
20:23Luna, surely you'll want to feed the alpha mouth to mouth.
20:28Don't be absurd.
20:30There's no such custom.
20:31I took the bowl.
20:32Felt the warm clay ground me.
20:34I remembered a technique my sister-in-law had taught me.
20:37In deep unconsciousness, pressing the philtrum can trigger a brief reflex opening of the mouth.
20:42I slipped the spoon between his lips, tilted his chin with my free hand, stroked his throat until the reflex
20:49carried the draft down.
20:51It worked.
20:52A little still escaped, but most of it stayed inside.
20:55By the time I emptied half the bowl, my hairline was damp with sweat.
20:59I set the bowl down.
21:01Silas' throat worked.
21:03His brow creased.
21:05My heart lurched.
21:06I leaned in close.
21:08His lashes trembled.
21:09He didn't open his eyes.
21:11But something had moved.
21:13Luna, that was incredible.
21:16I didn't answer.
21:17My own stomach was still fluttering.
21:20Last life, Silas woke fragile.
21:23Years of botched dosing had hollowed him.
21:25He'd never fully recovered his strength.
21:28This life, if I was his mate, he wouldn't suffer that again.
21:32Every day, I fed him the draft myself.
21:35I bathed him, massaged his wasted calves, his sword-calloused hands.
21:41The manor whispered.
21:43A general's daughter doing servants' work.
21:46She shames the Ashfield name.
21:49Let them whisper.
21:50One afternoon, Aunt Thorne came herself.
21:53Found me kneading the cords of Silas' thighs.
21:57Alara, darling, let the servants do this.
21:59You're the Luna.
22:00What will the Pax say if you grind yourself down like a maid?
22:05Aunt, forgive me.
22:08Caring for my mate is my honor.
22:10Alpha Silas fought all his life on those legs.
22:14They're his foundation.
22:15Only I can be trusted to tend them.
22:20But, Aunt, you must be exhausted, managing the whole mansion on top of visiting me.
22:26Let's go over the household ledgers together soon.
22:28I noticed a few entries lift, tangled.
22:32Her scent curdled.
22:35She had run those ledgers for years.
22:37I knew she had skimmed.
22:39She knew I knew.
22:41She made an excuse and fled.
22:43No need to trouble the Luna.
22:46I'll have them cleaned up.
22:47She never sent another matron.
22:49But Damien Thorne?
22:51He was another problem.
22:53Damien began haunting the manor.
22:55Visiting his cousin, he said.
22:58His eyes lived on me.
23:00Oily.
23:00Lingering.
23:02Appraising.
23:03One afternoon, he caught me alone in the garden.
23:06Moon wine thick on his breath.
23:08Aunt Alora.
23:09Cousin's been asleep forever.
23:11You must be so lonely.
23:14Lord Damien.
23:15Mind yourself.
23:17The Luna is your elder by rank.
23:20Speak with respect.
23:22Elda.
23:23Cousin might never wake.
23:25Shall Aunt Alora waste her whole life as a breathing widow?
23:29My business is not yours.
23:31If you have nothing to do, leave.
23:33You're cluttering the view.
23:34His face flushed purple.
23:36He slunk off.
23:37I marked him.
23:38Damien was a viper.
23:40I would need to watch him.
23:41That night, I set guards on every corridor that touched my chambers.
23:46Every day.
23:47Draft.
23:47Bath.
23:48Massage.
23:48Reading aloud.
23:50I read Silas his own annotated war treatises.
23:53Poetry.
23:54The old histories of the Blood Moon pack.
23:56I talked to him like he could hear me.
23:59Some nights, I thought he could.
24:00Caleb recovered from his fever and began asking, quietly, constantly, about Blood Moon Manor.
24:07About me.
24:08He heard I fed Silas by my own hand.
24:11That I ran the household.
24:12That I'd broken Aunt Thorne to heal in under a month.
24:15The news poisoned him in ways he couldn't name.
24:18A royal feast came.
24:20As Luna of the Blood Moon, I had to attend.
24:23I wore the deep crimson of a bonded Luna.
24:26Hair up, no blush, no trembling hands.
24:29A different woman entirely from the girl who'd chased him with honey cakes.
24:33Caleb crossed the hall to me.
24:35His voice was rough.
24:36Alara, be honest.
24:39Is life in that manner truly good?
24:41By the Crown Prince's grace.
24:43And very well.
24:44Well?
24:45Nursing a corpse.
24:47Doing servant work.
24:48You call that well?
24:49Your Highness misunderstands.
24:50I chose Alpha Silas willingly.
24:53He is asleep, but he is a good man.
24:55He deserves my care.
24:56Unlike some who wear fine silks and carry cold blood in their veins.
25:00I let a pause land between us like a blade.
25:05Unlike some who wear fine silks and carry cold blood in their veins.
25:10His face went bloodless.
25:12He knew exactly who I meant.
25:14Enough, enough.
25:15Family feast.
25:16No grim faces.
25:18Alara, I've heard you tend my brother with your own hands.
25:22It moves me.
25:25Your Majesty is too kind.
25:27It is only my duty.
25:29The King patted my shoulder and moved on.
25:32Caleb stared after me like he'd been struck.
25:35I didn't look back.
25:37Moons rolled on.
25:38The autumn deepened.
25:40That afternoon, I sat by Silas' bed.
25:42Reading from his own annotated war treatise.
25:45The handwriting in the margins?
25:47Fierce and sloping.
25:49Something brushed my palm.
25:51I jerked my head up.
25:52Silas' fingers had curled.
25:55His eyelids trembled.
25:56Alpha.
25:57My voice shook.
25:59I reached for his pulse.
26:01His eyes opened.
26:02Those eyes.
26:03The eyes I had imagined in every quiet hour.
26:07Alara.
26:09Doctor!
26:10I've heard everything.
26:14My blood froze.
26:17Heard?
26:17Silas had been conscious inside his body this entire time.
26:21He had heard Zane tend him.
26:23Heard Aunt Thorne's scheme.
26:26At the gala.
26:27You said you wanted me as your mate?
26:29I froze.
26:30What?
26:31I never knew.
26:33Silas spoke slowly.
26:35The words I prayed for.
26:38I heard them while I couldn't move.
26:41Seven years ago, at a royal garden feast, a ten-year-old Ashford girl had slipped on the
26:47mossy stones and fallen into the lotus pond.
26:50A wounded warrior on leave, him, had fished me out.
26:54Ashford she-wolves aren't afraid of water.
26:57I had stood, soaking wet, chin up, snarled.
27:01That stubborn, electric little creature had burned herself into him.
27:05He'd shipped out to the northern front soon after.
27:08But he'd sent wolves to watch over me every year since.
27:12He knew I liked riding, archery, sword work.
27:16He knew I'd stitched a mating gown dreaming of Caleb.
27:20He knew what the Ironforge pack did to me in the life before this one.
27:25Because when he finally woke that life, he'd searched the whole kingdom for me.
27:30And found my body in a rogue territory pleasure den.
27:34I stopped breathing.
27:35I asked for the northern front to prove myself worthy before your 18th moon.
27:39I meant to return and ask the king for you.
27:42But I was struck down the night before victory.
27:44Not in battle.
27:46Betrayed.
27:48Betrayed? By who?
27:50Kale's inner circle.
27:52He feared I'd eclipse him at court.
27:55Feared worse that I'd return and take you.
27:58Alara.
28:00Your father's death.
28:01Your brother's deaths.
28:03That was not simply a lost battle.
28:05Someone leaked the Silver Vanguard's march route to the rogue warbands.
28:10That someone was the Queen Bloodkin.
28:14The world tilted.
28:15Caleb believed, wrongly, that your father's death was my doing.
28:19Some poisoned whisper in his ear in the ear of the morning.
28:21He turned that hatred on you.
28:24And he hated me more for loving you.
28:26Last life's venom rushed back.
28:29You make me sick.
28:30You harlot.
28:32You cursed thing.
28:34All of it rooted in a lie.
28:36A lie soaked in conspiracy.
28:38A lie his own mother had fed him.
28:41Last life.
28:42When I finally woke.
28:43Two years after your maiden, I searched for you.
28:45I found your body in the rogue territories.
28:47I dragged myself to the throne and laid every truth before the king.
28:51The Queen's kin were hunted down to the last place.
28:53Caleb was stripped of the kingdom.
28:55Caged in the royal den until he rotted.
28:57But I couldn't save you.
28:58His voice broke.
28:59This life, Alara.
29:01This life, I will never fail you again.
29:03Two lifetimes of pain broke open inside me.
29:07Tears fell silently.
29:09Soundless.
29:10The healers.
29:10Let me hold you first.
29:12He pulled me down against his chest.
29:14His heart beat slow and strong beneath my ear.
29:17Alive.
29:19Alive.
29:19Alive.
29:20For the first time in two lifetimes, I let myself cry.
29:25The healers flooded the chamber within the hour.
29:27The blood moon Alpha had woken.
29:29And the blood moon Alpha had talked.
29:31He told the king everything.
29:34The betrayal on the northern front.
29:36The blade that had come from his own side.
29:38The leaked march route that had slaughtered the entire silver vanguard.
29:42The old case was reopened.
29:44Every court wolf who had ever touched the Queen's bloodline was dragged before the royal tribunal.
29:50Ledgers pulled.
29:51Messengers tortured.
29:52War pigeons traced back through three years of smuggled correspondence.
29:57The evidence was overwhelming.
29:58The Queen's uncle, the war minister, had sold the march route to a rogue warlord for a chest of northern
30:05gold and a promise to weaken Silas' influence.
30:09My father.
30:10My three brothers.
30:12Eight hundred silver vanguard wolves.
30:15Sold.
30:16The Queen's bloodline was condemned.
30:19Exposed.
30:20Tried.
30:21Executed to the last pup within seven days.
30:24The Queen herself was stripped of her crown and locked in the high tower to await trial.
30:29And Caleb.
30:31Caleb learned that his hatred of me, his disgust at my scent, his cruelty across two lifetimes, had been built
30:39on his mother's lies.
30:41That I had never betrayed him.
30:43That I had never had anything to do with the northern front disaster.
30:47That the girl who'd shoved him away from a runaway cart at eight years old and broken her own knee
30:53doing it, had been the one wolf in the whole kingdom who'd ever loved him with nothing asked in return.
31:00And he had thrown her to rogues.
31:02In one life, anyway.
31:05In this one, he had only destroyed her with words.
31:08But words, in the end, had destroyed him too.
31:13He shattered.
31:13He ran for Blood Moon Manor.
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