- 6 hours ago
The False Mate - FULL
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Short filmTranscript
00:00I look almost exactly like their first love, Sarah.
00:02Who made her fall in love with him first?
00:04The loser. Give up Sarah.
00:07They made a bet.
00:08Whoever could win my true heart first would be the one to mate Sarah.
00:12Evelyn, will you marry me?
00:15The Alpha King lavished me with every luxury the world had to offer.
00:20Zane, the aloof and distant Gamma Zane will grant all my wishes.
00:24Do you need me to do anything?
00:27Evelyn, please love me more.
00:32I won't let you down.
00:35They all begged for my love. They vowed they would never fail me.
00:40I never expected that the second I agreed to marry Zane...
00:44You made me lose.
00:46Look how ugly you are. Never dream of marrying me!
00:53You were just a dirty secret.
00:55Caden had his men strip me of my clothes and throw me into the deep forest.
01:02Then I reborn.
01:03The famously powerful Alpha King and Gamma actually enjoyed sharing women.
01:07It is well known that they were infatuated with a witch named Sarah.
01:11They toyed with her daily, possessing her madly.
01:14Until Sarah couldn't take it anymore and ran away forever.
01:17When they first met me, I was being bullied by several rogue wolves, barely clothed.
01:21Let's see who dares touch her.
01:23Their fragrance wafted towards me.
01:26They were my mates. I had two mates.
01:31That night, they knelt beside my bed, gently caring for me and marking me.
01:38Evelyn, marry me.
01:39Evelyn, you should have married me.
01:41They were all whispering possessively in my ear.
01:49But beautiful things never last long.
01:52Three months later, I pass by the pack house.
01:55She's just a substituted.
01:57Don't take it seriously.
01:59Hey! Sarah's coming back!
02:02But we're already sharing Evelyn now.
02:04Forget about that poor Omega.
02:06Have you forgotten how painful it was for us when we lost Sarah?
02:10Evelyn was just a bet.
02:12Fine.
02:13Anyway,
02:15I'm the one who won the bet.
02:17According to the agreement,
02:19the winner gets Sarah all to himself.
02:22So, they were pursuing me relentlessly,
02:25begging me to marry them.
02:26It was just a bet.
02:28Whoever wins my heart can mate Sarah Zane.
02:31Zane happily left to prepare for the mate pairing ceremony.
02:36I managed to sob.
02:40Kayden overheard and turned.
02:45Now,
02:48I am back.
02:52I want revenge.
02:54I am not reconciled.
02:57Still here?
02:59You heard all?
03:00He didn't even bother to explain.
03:03He looked at me like I was a trash.
03:05Whatever happens,
03:06I will never hurt you.
03:08I will protect you.
03:09I will keep you close forever.
03:12I didn't have much to say either.
03:15I swallowed the sting and turned to leave.
03:17A pack Omega stopped me at the door.
03:20Miss Evelyn,
03:22Nights my chinked guns on the blotters.
03:25Nothing from Alpha King's pack house leaves with you.
03:28I closed my eyes,
03:30reached up,
03:30and started taking it all off.
03:32Piece by piece
03:34until I was standing in nothing but a plain white undershirt.
03:37The coat,
03:38the pins,
03:39the jewelry.
03:42Enough.
03:43What do you think yourself?
03:47Do you think that the things we gave you in the past was for free?
03:51Never!
03:54I think you need to pay me for oral sex right now.
04:02You promised me one thing.
04:04Does that still stand?
04:06I once had taken an attack for him.
04:08He had made his promise in front of the whole pack.
04:11Whatever I asked for,
04:13as long as it was in his power,
04:15he would give it.
04:21Zane doesn't want you.
04:23Neither do I.
04:26Don't think any of this was real.
04:28My mate will be Sarah.
04:30No one else comes close.
04:32I only ask one thing.
04:34Let me walk out of here in what I'm wearing.
04:35I just wanted to leave with my dignity intact.
04:38That was all.
04:39That's all you want?
04:41Nothing else?
04:42He had expected screaming.
04:44Threats.
04:45A scene he could use to justify getting rid of me for good.
04:48He didn't know I had lived this before.
04:50I stopped wanting anything.
04:52Get out.
04:53He waved his hand.
04:54I stood and pulled open the door without looking back.
04:57It was just after December.
04:59The snow was still heavy.
05:01The cold swallowed me the second I stepped outside.
05:04I walked barefoot into it.
05:07My feet went numb fast.
05:08My face went white.
05:10I didn't make a sound.
05:11I just moved toward the pack gate.
05:14One step at a time.
05:16By the time I reached the gates,
05:18my feet were red and aching.
05:20I crouched down and wrapped my hands around my ankles,
05:23trying to get some warmth back.
05:25A convoy of vehicles rolled past.
05:27Sarah only came back half a month ago,
05:29and already the beta is sending her the rarest gifts to court her.
05:32He really never stopped.
05:33Didn't the beta and the alpha king both treat that omega sexoid differently?
05:37Like they actually cared?
05:38That's old news.
05:39Everyone always knew she was just something they used to pass the time.
05:42If Sarah hadn't come back,
05:43they never would have bothered finishing the game.
05:45The voices faded.
05:47I felt nothing.
05:48Just numb.
05:50So everyone had known all along.
05:52They both loved Sarah.
05:54Only I had been stupid enough to believe it was real.
05:57I didn't find out until I was already dying.
06:00I don't know how long I crouched there.
06:03Then I stood,
06:04wrapped my arms around myself,
06:05and walked out past the gates.
06:08Outside, the wind was worse.
06:10My hands and feet had gone completely rigid.
06:13At some point, my legs gave out,
06:15and I went down in the snow,
06:16darkness flooding in at the edges.
06:18But I made it back to my own family house,
06:21same as last time.
06:23One extra layer of clothing.
06:25Same stairs.
06:27I walked through it without looking at anyone,
06:29and knocked on the door.
06:31No one answered.
06:32My eyes burned.
06:34I let out a short, bitter sound,
06:36and knocked harder.
06:37The omega servant inside finally spoke,
06:40low and reluctant.
06:41Miss Evelyn,
06:43the family can't take you in.
06:46Please go.
06:46My hand froze in the air.
06:49It felt like something small and dense
06:51was pressing through my ribs,
06:53spreading out slow.
06:55I pulled my hand back.
06:56The tears came without permission.
06:58In my last life,
07:00the moment my family found out
07:02the Alpha King had cast me off,
07:04they shut the door on me.
07:06They were afraid of what my presence would cost them.
07:09Afraid of what people would say.
07:11So they put me in a vehicle,
07:13and drove me to a border outpost to be forgotten.
07:15They had me poisoned.
07:17I died somewhere.
07:18No one would find me.
07:19But I still remember.
07:21Before I was chosen by Alpha King,
07:23my grandmother and my father
07:25held my hands with tears in their eyes.
07:27Evelyn,
07:29if the Alpha King is ever cruel to you,
07:31come home.
07:34We'll always be here.
07:35They said that.
07:36And then they locked the door.
07:37I could have gone somewhere else,
07:39but I knew they wouldn't let me disappear quietly.
07:42The only way to be free
07:44was to disappear completely.
07:45So I came back.
07:47The door opened.
07:48My father stared at me with his jaw set
07:51and contempt in every line of his face.
07:53Do you have any idea
07:55what you've done to this family?
07:58Why didn't you just go?
08:00You got thrown out.
08:01Why come back
08:02and drag your sisters into this?
08:05Behind him,
08:06my half-sister's eyes
08:07were full of something vicious.
08:09My grandmother stepped forward
08:11and took my hand
08:12with practiced tenderness.
08:14Evelyn,
08:15this isn't your fault.
08:16But the family can't have a daughter like you.
08:19Let grandmother send you
08:21to the border outpost.
08:23We'll tell everyone you passed away.
08:25The past stays buried.
08:27Doesn't that sound better?
08:28Her voice was gentle,
08:30but her eyes held something sharp and ruthless.
08:33And underneath it,
08:35a sliver of guilt too faint to name.
08:37So it wasn't only Caden and Zane
08:40who wanted me dead.
08:41It was my family too.
08:42In the end,
08:43I got into the vehicle.
08:45I kept my hand wrapped around
08:47a small pin the whole way.
08:48I didn't let go.
08:50Same as last time.
08:51The estate manager at the outpost
08:54had his orders
08:54and he followed them
08:56without hesitation.
08:57He locked me in a storage room.
09:00Now he stood over me.
09:01You really thought you'd survive this?
09:03You humiliated the Alpha King
09:06and the Beta.
09:08The family can't keep something
09:10like you alive.
09:11Samey words as last time.
09:13I stared down at the floor
09:15and tightened my grip on the pin.
09:17He moved toward me
09:18with a small bottle.
09:19I raised my hand without thinking.
09:22The pin aimed at his throat.
09:24Then the door exploded inward.
09:26The estate manager went sideways
09:28as a shape moved through the room.
09:30A figure in white caught my arm
09:32and pulled me upright.
09:33Voice calm and even.
09:35I heard you make good osmangra cake.
09:38Want to come work in my kitchen?
09:40She lifted her veil as she said it.
09:42The face underneath matched the portrait
09:44Caden kept locked in his private office.
09:47Stunning.
09:48Unmistakable.
09:49One look and I knew.
09:50This was Sarah.
09:52The fated mate.
09:53Both Zane and Caden
09:55had built their whole obsession around.
09:57In my last life
09:58the poison went down
09:59and the body burned.
10:00No one came.
10:02I had planned to take
10:03the estate manager out myself.
10:06Start a fire.
10:07And let the world think I was dead.
10:09But this changed everything.
10:10She must have seen something in my face
10:13because her expression softened.
10:15And before I could speak
10:16she draped her outer coat
10:18over my shoulders.
10:19It's cold.
10:21Don't get sick.
10:23Most girls from high-ranked families
10:25smelled like powder and perfume.
10:27She smelled like green wood
10:29and clean air.
10:30I was still processing it
10:32when Zane appeared
10:33in the doorway behind her.
10:34Dropping his black coat
10:36over her shoulders
10:36before she could shiver.
10:38You matter more than anything.
10:39He looked at her
10:41with a warmth
10:41I had never seen aimed at me.
10:43Not once.
10:44Everyone said the beta was cold.
10:47That the softness he showed me
10:49had only ever been strategy.
10:51Looking at him now
10:53I could see it.
10:54Whatever was in his eyes
10:56when he looked at Sarah
10:57was something else entirely.
10:59He seemed to feel my stare.
11:01He turned.
11:02His voice was flat.
11:04Sarah wants your baking.
11:06So you'll go to her estate.
11:08You were sent here to die
11:10which means you were guilty
11:12of something.
11:13Be grateful you're still breathing
11:15and don't reach
11:16for anything more.
11:18The warmth he had shown
11:19was completely gone.
11:21This was the beta
11:22I had never been allowed to see.
11:23The boy I thought I knew
11:25dissolved out of memory
11:26and left a dull ache behind.
11:28So my real feelings
11:29had been a death sentence to him.
11:31I pulled the corners
11:33of my mouth up slightly.
11:35I'm grateful Sarah saved my life.
11:37I'll serve her well
11:38and I won't reach
11:39for anything else.
11:40I moved to follow Sarah
11:41to the vehicle.
11:43Someone caught my wrist.
11:45I looked back
11:46into Zane's warning stare.
11:47I pulled my wrist free.
11:49Voiced flat.
11:50You don't have to worry.
11:51I won't say anything to Sarah
11:53about what happened between us.
11:55Everything before this
11:56I'm burying it.
11:58As far as I'm concerned
11:59we never met.
12:01He didn't speak after that.
12:03He just got into the vehicle
12:04ahead of me.
12:05At Sarah's estate
12:06I followed them inside
12:07and watched the two of them
12:08walk side by side
12:09through the entrance hall.
12:11My chest stayed quiet.
12:12After Zane left
12:13he looked back at me once.
12:15Something unreadable
12:16moving across his face.
12:18I didn't look up
12:19then arms came around me
12:20from behind.
12:21You're okay.
12:22Thank God.
12:23Sarah held on to me
12:24and despite everything
12:25despite the softness
12:27of her face
12:27and the slender look of her
12:29she was taller
12:30than I expected.
12:31Close to Zane's height.
12:32Her arms were solid.
12:34Her voice was lower
12:35than I remembered too.
12:36I pushed her back gently
12:38keeping my voice even.
12:40Thank you for coming for me.
12:42She kept her eyes on me.
12:43I'm sorry.
12:45You got used to it
12:46because of me.
12:48That wasn't fair to you.
12:49I thought she was
12:50drawing a line.
12:51A warning dressed up
12:52as an apology.
12:53But then she said
12:54I'm not going to bond
12:55with either of them.
12:57I don't want either of them.
12:59I didn't understand
13:00what she meant.
13:01I didn't try to.
13:02I just let her set me up
13:04in a room and stayed.
13:05My family had shut the door.
13:07Right now I had no leverage
13:09and no choices.
13:11I wasn't in a position
13:12to say no.
13:13Sarah seemed to mean
13:14what she said.
13:15She never made things
13:16hard for me.
13:17And whenever Zane
13:18or Kayden sent gifts
13:19she turned them away
13:20immediately
13:21and then came to find me
13:23and explained quietly
13:24I'm not keeping them.
13:25I didn't understand
13:27why she kept doing that.
13:28I just sent her
13:29a portion of fresh
13:30Osmanthus cake
13:31every day.
13:33Zane and Kayden
13:34showed up at the estate
13:35together.
13:36In the side kitchen
13:38Zane had his hand
13:39around my throat
13:40and his eyes
13:41were pure dark fury.
13:42What did you say to her?
13:44She just pulled out
13:45her brother's copy
13:46of the late Alpha's
13:47standing order
13:47to dissolve
13:48the bonding agreement.
13:50Kayden watched
13:51from a few steps back
13:52and laughed
13:52low and sharp.
13:54Should have finished
13:54it properly.
13:56Evelyn
13:57I should have gotten
13:57rid of you
13:58when I had the chance.
13:59I hadn't done anything.
14:01The pressure on my throat
14:02made my vision blur.
14:04My back hit the wall
14:05hard and cold.
14:07It wasn't me.
14:09Something in my expression
14:10made Zane's grip
14:12loosen slightly.
14:13I used it.
14:14I swung my open hand
14:16and caught him
14:16across the face
14:17hard enough
14:18to snap his head
14:19to the side.
14:19He felt the heat
14:21in his cheek.
14:22His eyes went dark.
14:24Evelyn.
14:25I pressed my hand
14:26to my chest
14:27and pulled in
14:28long, slow breaths.
14:30Whatever Zane
14:31said after that
14:31I let it pass
14:32through me.
14:33He yanked me
14:34back up by the arm.
14:35Go tell Sarah
14:36there's nothing
14:37between us anymore.
14:38Whatever trick
14:39you pulled is done.
14:40If you don't
14:41I will take apart
14:43everything you've built
14:44and your family
14:45goes down with you.
14:47Kayden hadn't
14:48spoken yet
14:48but the intent
14:49in his eyes
14:50was already building.
14:52Two men
14:52who use someone
14:53else's feelings
14:54as a bet chip
14:56and you think
14:56you get to accuse
14:57me of playing games.
14:59I drove the pin
15:00into Zane's wrist.
15:01He pulled back
15:02with a hiss.
15:03Kayden moved
15:04toward me
15:04jaw tight.
15:06For a second
15:06I was ready
15:07to take them
15:08both down with me
15:08if that is
15:09what it came to.
15:10Then Sarah
15:11stepped between us
15:12same as the outpost.
15:14Kayden stopped.
15:15His face
15:16went complicated.
15:17Sarah
15:18don't listen
15:18to her.
15:19Whatever you decide
15:20whether you bond
15:22or with me
15:23you'll be protected.
15:24You'll have everything.
15:26He pushed hard
15:27but Sarah
15:28just let out
15:28a slow breath.
15:30I really can't
15:31bond with either of you.
15:32Then she reached up
15:33and started undoing
15:34her coat.
15:35Zane had brought guards.
15:36I stepped in front
15:37of her and grabbed
15:38her arms
15:38even if you don't
15:39want them.
15:40Don't ruin your own
15:40reputation doing it
15:41like this.
15:42I got my arms
15:43around her waist
15:44to stop her
15:45and then I felt it.
15:46No softness.
15:47Solid muscle
15:48flat and warm
15:49and very clearly
15:50not what I had
15:51been expecting.
15:53Sarah wrapped me
15:53in close
15:54and murmured
15:54into my hair.
15:55Easy.
15:57Stop touching.
15:58My brain
15:59went completely blank.
16:01Sarah was a man.
16:02He looked up
16:02at the two stunned
16:03alphas in front of him
16:04with total calm.
16:07Still want to
16:08claim me now?
16:09Both of them
16:09stood frozen.
16:10The fury drained
16:11and something ugly
16:12took its place.
16:17Warrior Asher.
16:18Why are you
16:19impersonating
16:20your own sister?
16:21They had seen
16:22the near identical
16:23faces and assumed
16:24it was some kind
16:25of prank.
16:26There has never
16:27been a daughter
16:27in my family.
16:28Anyone who looked
16:29would have found
16:30that out.
16:33Wearing women's
16:34clothing is just
16:34a preference of mine.
16:36I hope neither
16:37of you are telling
16:37me you've developed
16:38a thing for men.
16:40Zane's fist
16:41tightened slowly.
16:41He thought back
16:43over the last few
16:44days and it sat
16:44in his gut
16:45like something rotten.
16:47Caden's expression
16:48stayed perfectly still.
16:49He turned
16:50and walked out.
16:51He didn't want
16:52to stay in the room
16:53another second.
16:54The moment
16:55they were both
16:55gone Asher
16:56looked down
16:56at me,
16:57amused.
16:58Done yet?
16:59Or did you
17:00need more time?
17:01I realized my fingers
17:03were still curled
17:03against him.
17:05I'm sorry.
17:06I didn't know
17:06you were dressed.
17:07I made my exit
17:08fast.
17:09I wanted to leave
17:10the estate,
17:10leave the whole city.
17:11But Asher caught
17:12my hand and his
17:13voice when he spoke
17:14was easy and direct.
17:16I've been stuck
17:16out at the border
17:17for years,
17:17which means I've
17:18aged out of the
17:19easy options.
17:20What do you think
17:21about staying on
17:22as a warrior's mate?
17:23We had known each
17:23other for less
17:24than a week.
17:25Where was this
17:25coming from?
17:26I didn't get the
17:26chance to answer.
17:28The kitchen door
17:28exploded open again.
17:30Both men
17:30in the back.
17:31Face is dark.
17:31Caden's eyes
17:32locked on me.
17:33Cold and direct.
17:34She's not bonding
17:35with him.
17:38Evelyn,
17:39come here.
17:40Zane said nothing.
17:42His bandaged wrist
17:43said it for him.
17:45Same as inside
17:46the stronghold.
17:47Come when called,
17:48go when dismissed.
17:49A wolf they could
17:49use and discard
17:50whenever the mood
17:51shifted.
17:52What exactly
17:53are you two
17:53doing right now?
17:56Are you telling
17:57me a warrior
17:57of this pack
17:58can't choose
17:58his own mate?
18:00Evelyn,
18:02come back with me.
18:03I'll make you a
18:04ranked mate
18:04inside the stronghold.
18:07Our agreement
18:08still stands.
18:09I'll bond with you.
18:10Their fated mate
18:11had turned out
18:11to be a man,
18:12so now they
18:13reversed course
18:14and tried to
18:15pull me back
18:15into the same fire
18:16they had thrown
18:17me into before.
18:18Both of them
18:18looked at me now
18:19with that warmth
18:20I used to fall for.
18:21For a second,
18:22the image wavered.
18:23Before everything
18:24happened,
18:25two men who had
18:26seemed so sure
18:26about me,
18:27but I knew
18:27there was
18:28nothing real
18:28in any of it.
18:29I was just
18:30the new prize
18:31in a new round
18:32of the same game.
18:33My voice came out
18:34steady and empty.
18:35I believe the
18:36Alpha King
18:37and the Beta
18:37both told me
18:38not to reach
18:39for anything
18:39beyond my place.
18:41I haven't forgotten.
18:43Both of them
18:43went still.
18:44The silence
18:45stretched between them
18:46and somewhere
18:47inside it,
18:48guilt surfaced.
18:49They had assumed
18:49I would always
18:50orbit them,
18:51always react to them.
18:52Years of shared history
18:53had a weight to it
18:54and they had just
18:55started to feel it.
18:56I'm sorry.
18:57He finally understood.
18:58I was not going
18:59to trust him again,
19:00not by one degree.
19:01Zane moved in close.
19:02Please don't.
19:04Evelyn,
19:05come with me.
19:06Everything I promised you,
19:07it still counts.
19:08I was still working out
19:09how to make them leave
19:10when Asher's voice
19:11cut through the room.
19:12Five years ago,
19:13you two were ambushed
19:14at Silvermore Lodge.
19:15A girl saved you
19:16and you've held on to that.
19:18Has it occurred to you
19:19that the girl
19:19might not have been me?
19:21You mean the girl
19:22who covered our escape
19:22wasn't you?
19:23If it had been Asher,
19:24protecting the pack's
19:26leadership would have
19:26been part of his duty.
19:28But if it wasn't him,
19:29then neither of them
19:30had been unknowingly
19:31fixated on a man
19:33for years.
19:34The brief flicker
19:35of something like hope
19:36showed before
19:36they could stop it.
19:38Asher confirmed it.
19:39Neither of them
19:40looked at me again.
19:41They exchanged one glance
19:43and walked out together.
19:44I had seen that look before.
19:47Stakes.
19:48A score to settle.
19:49They didn't know
19:50the first thing
19:50about caring for someone.
19:52They only knew
19:53how to compete,
19:53how to manipulate,
19:55how to turn everything
19:56into a game.
19:57Thinking that
19:58the weight I had carried
19:59in my chest
20:00since my last life
20:01finally broke apart.
20:02These two weren't
20:03worth the grief
20:04when I turned
20:05to say goodbye
20:06to Asher.
20:07Five years ago,
20:09were you the boy
20:10whose father
20:10forced him into a dress
20:12to perform?
20:13I can't believe
20:14you still remembered.
20:15The person in front of me
20:16slowly matched the memory.
20:18A rail-thin boy
20:19covered in marks
20:20being forced
20:20into a costume.
20:22Backstage at
20:23Silver Moon Lodge,
20:24I stepped in.
20:26Blocked the knife.
20:27When I get out of this,
20:29I'm going to find you
20:30and claim you.
20:31Put on the dress
20:32and went out
20:33onto that stage.
20:34You're a ranked warrior now.
20:35That means you got out,
20:37so why keep wearing the dress?
20:40The old man's gone.
20:42He asked me before he died
20:43to be his mate's reflection
20:45a few more days.
20:47His ghost wanted to see.
20:48He told me
20:49his mother had died
20:50in labor because of him.
20:52His father couldn't kill him
20:53but couldn't forgive him either.
20:55The face was too much like hers,
20:56so from the time he was small,
20:58he was dressed
20:59and trained
20:59as the family's daughter.
21:01Forced to learn performance,
21:02music, painting.
21:03Same as five years ago,
21:04I pressed my hand lightly
21:06to his forehead.
21:07Asher, I told you then
21:08and I'll tell you now.
21:10You are a good person.
21:12You have never,
21:13not once,
21:14been anything else.
21:15In my last life,
21:16he made warrior rank
21:17and never came back.
21:18Thank you
21:20for choosing
21:21to come back for me.
21:22One sentence
21:22and he understood.
21:25How could I let my moonlight
21:27disappear from this world?
21:28His voice was barely
21:29above a whisper.
21:30You were mine too.
21:31But I heard it
21:32and I smiled.
21:33What I said before
21:34about claiming you,
21:36I was being stupid.
21:39Wherever you end up,
21:40bonded or not,
21:41just stay safe.
21:42Asher didn't try to hide
21:43how much he didn't want me to go.
21:45I was one step too slow.
21:47Zane came in fast
21:48on horseback
21:49and pulled me
21:50into his arms.
21:52Where are you going?
21:56The ground tilted.
21:58When I got my bearings back,
21:59Caden was there too.
22:02Both of them looking at me
22:03with that heat I recognized
22:04and wanted nothing to do with.
22:06I felt Zane's hand
22:07at my waist
22:07and drove my knife
22:08into his arm
22:09without pausing.
22:10He had been stabbed
22:11by me enough times now
22:12that he released me
22:13on instinct.
22:14Asher stepped between us
22:15and pulled me behind him,
22:17voice like ice.
22:18What are you doing here
22:18at this hour?
22:19I'm here for my mate.
22:21Evelyn already agreed
22:22to bond with me.
22:23What I did was wrong.
22:24I know that.
22:25But if I had known
22:27from the start
22:27that you were the one
22:28at Silvermoon Lodge,
22:29I never would have hurt you.
22:31You want to be angry at me?
22:32Fine, yell at me,
22:33hit me.
22:34Just come back.
22:35I went too far before.
22:37I shouldn't have made you
22:38leave in almost nothing.
22:40Come back to the stronghold
22:41with me.
22:42We can go back
22:42to the way things were.
22:43Voice full of the kind
22:44of sincerity
22:45he was very good at.
22:47I think the Alpha King
22:48and the Beta are confused.
22:49I'm a mid-rank wolf's daughter.
22:52Five years ago,
22:53I would have pulled anyone
22:54out of that situation,
22:55including a stray.
22:57If that's the reason
22:58you're both standing here,
22:59you can let it go.
23:00It really doesn't matter to me.
23:02I understood them now.
23:03They were unpredictable.
23:05Performative.
23:07Asher had his hand
23:08at my back
23:08and was moving me
23:09toward the estate entrance.
23:10The door shut behind us.
23:13Solid.
23:14And final.
23:15From the upper floor,
23:16I could see Zane and Caden
23:17still standing in the snow,
23:19letting it fall on them.
23:20Asher came to stand beside me.
23:22I'll find a way
23:23to get you out of the city.
23:25A few days.
23:26In the meantime,
23:27I'll teach you
23:27some defense techniques.
23:29Sound good?
23:29But he knew me well enough
23:30to understand
23:31that wasn't what
23:32I needed to hear.
23:33And I said yes
23:34without hesitating.
23:35Every woman I had ever known
23:36had been told to be soft
23:38and steady and careful.
23:39No one had ever asked
23:41what I actually wanted.
23:42I had read about fighters
23:43and wide open borderlands
23:45my whole life
23:46and never been allowed
23:47to reach for any of them.
23:49I wanted to be strong enough
23:50to protect myself,
23:52to never be at someone else's mercy again.
23:54In the days that followed,
23:55Caden and Zane seemed to understand
23:57they had lost the right
23:58to force anything.
23:59They didn't come at me directly.
24:01But every day they showed up
24:02and ran through the same performance
24:04they had used before.
24:05Rare items kept arriving
24:07at the estate.
24:07Then they finally ran out of patience
24:09and sent my family.
24:10My half-sister showed up
24:12at the gate crying.
24:13Half-sister,
24:14the things that happened
24:15at the outpost,
24:16that was father making
24:16a terrible mistake.
24:18Grandmother found out.
24:20She's been sick ever since
24:21and she only wants to see you.
24:23The tears were convincing.
24:24The calculation in her eyes wasn't.
24:27I didn't refuse.
24:28I smiled.
24:33Alright.
24:33Let's go see Grandmother.
24:36The snow had stopped.
24:38But the streets got unfamiliar fast
24:40and my smile went thin.
24:41Asking me to come back.
24:43Asking me to think of the family name.
24:45But the splinter was already in.
24:47It wasn't coming out easily.
24:48I had known since my last life
24:50exactly what my family was.
24:52They could accept me
24:53when I brought them something to gain.
24:54They could also leave me to die
24:56when I stopped being useful.
24:58I stopped being easy to manage.
25:00So they sent the half-sister
25:01who looked most like me.
25:02I watched the streets get worse
25:04and jumped out of the moving vehicle.
25:08My half-sister came after me with a knife.
25:10Before, she might have succeeded.
25:12Now I had her wrist
25:13and my other hand at her throat.
25:15Grip tightening slowly.
25:18It was father's idea.
25:20He said if you wouldn't cooperate,
25:21he'd replace you.
25:22I just didn't want to be invisible anymore.
25:23She was going for sympathy.
25:25Someone else got there first.
25:26Caden looked down at her
25:27from a few feet away.
25:29Expression flat.
25:30I asked your family to speak on my behalf.
25:32Is this what they call helping?
25:33She went pale
25:34and started shaking her head.
25:36But Caden didn't want to hear it.
25:37He had her removed.
25:39Then his attention came back to me.
25:41Evelyn, stop making this hard.
25:44Are you really done caring about your family?
25:46I moved back before he could.
25:48I am.
25:50And the Alpha King doesn't wipe out
25:52whole families without reason, does he?
25:54I turned and walked away.
25:56Everything has consequences.
25:58I didn't owe my family anything.
26:00Zane had been stationed
26:01outside the estate every day,
26:03making sure I couldn't leave quietly.
26:05But now, following Caden's lead,
26:07he was gone.
26:08I looked at the broken down buildings
26:10along the road
26:11and headed straight
26:12for the city's outer boundary.
26:13I had already told Asher
26:15I wouldn't let any exit go to waste.
26:17We didn't need to draw this out.
26:19Time to go.
26:20Everything moved smoothly.
26:21I found a vehicle heading for the coast,
26:23but something sat wrong in my stomach.
26:26We need to move fast.
26:27The city's shifting.
26:28Asher's estate just got raided.
26:30The ruling family doesn't care.
26:32Use people up and throw them away.
26:33That's what tyrants do.
26:34Three years of watching Caden,
26:36I knew how much he cared about
26:38how the pack saw him.
26:39He had never done anything
26:40this openly reckless before.
26:42I closed my eyes.
26:44Then I turned my horse around
26:46and rode back.
26:49I am very happy with him.
26:51I cannot lose him.
26:54I will find you and claim you.
26:57Evelyn, ready to come home now?
27:00Release, Ashel.
27:01Done.
27:02I went back into the stronghold.
27:05This time Caden outdid everything
27:08from those three years.
27:09He cleared out the stronghold.
27:11He overruled every council member
27:15and announced he would make me
27:17his official mate.
27:19A permanent bond.
27:20Just the two of us.
27:23He stayed close every day.
27:25Warm and obsessive and relentless.
27:28Every Omega who had watched me
27:30be humiliated was reassigned.
27:32When he found out what my family
27:33had tried to do at the outpost,
27:35he acted on it immediately.
27:36A new attendant helped me prepare
27:38one morning and shook her head
27:40in admiration.
27:41My lady, the Alpha King
27:42loves you so much.
27:44Everyone in the whole territory
27:45knows it now.
27:46He has a chosen one.
27:47Her name is Evelyn.
27:48One bond, one mate, forever.
27:50People are saying it everywhere.
27:51Through them, I found out
27:53what I needed to know.
27:54Asher was being held
27:55in the pack dungeon.
27:57Zane had been confined
27:58to his estate.
27:59Caden was loudly performing
28:00his devotion to the whole kingdom.
28:02But I had not forgotten
28:04what he looked like
28:04when he told me
28:05I was nothing but a bet.
28:07A plaything.
28:08Not worth the air between us.
28:10Every moment of my last life
28:12was still in me.
28:13So I helped Zane get out.
28:15At the bonding ceremony,
28:17he came in with a blade raised.
28:18His eyes were burning.
28:20Aiden dropped every pretense
28:22of being a patient older brother.
28:23Brother, Evelyn belongs with me.
28:25They tore the masks off
28:27for the first time
28:28and showed each other
28:29the actual hatred underneath.
28:30Everyone said they were close.
28:32That the bond between them ran deep.
28:34No one knew
28:35they had always despised each other.
28:37So they competed
28:38for the same things.
28:40Wanted the same people.
28:41Just to settle the score.
28:43While the stronghold
28:45descended into chaos,
28:46I stepped behind
28:47a dividing screen.
28:48Dropped a fire starter.
28:49And ran.
28:51I already had a mount ready.
28:53I had Caden's seal
28:54and I used it to open the dungeon.
28:56I came to the dungeon
28:57to rescue Asher.
29:02Stop!
29:03You'll kill each other!
29:04The lady.
29:04She used the alpha seal.
29:06She took the prisoner
29:06from the dungeon.
29:07After her!
29:09Caden was unconscious
29:10for two weeks.
29:11By the time he came back
29:12and gave the order,
29:13there was no trace of me
29:15or Asher left anywhere
29:16in the kingdom.
29:17In a village no one
29:18had heard of,
29:19Asher and I stayed.
29:20The people there
29:21were mostly fighters
29:22he had mustered out
29:23from the border.
29:24They had helped
29:25pull him free.
29:26He had shed the dress
29:27for good.
29:28Dark clothing,
29:29straight-backed,
29:30easy in his own skin.
29:32The village women
29:33could not stop talking
29:34about how handsome he was.
29:35And they kept looking
29:37between us
29:37and nudging each other.
29:39Little Evelyn,
29:40you two even have
29:41the same eyes.
29:42Made for each other.
29:43The way that boy
29:44watches you,
29:45his eyes are practically stuck.
29:47Why aren't you
29:48together yet?
29:49It had been because
29:50of the resemblance
29:50to Asher
29:51that I had become
29:52Caden and Zane's target
29:53in the first place.
29:54Now that all of it
29:55was finally behind me,
29:57I wanted peace.
29:59Morning training
29:59with Asher
30:00and eventually
30:01to get out
30:02and see the borderlands
30:03I had read about
30:04my whole life.
30:05After saying goodbye
30:06to the woman,
30:07I turned toward the house
30:08and walked straight
30:09into Asher's face.
30:11My cheeks went hot.
30:12Before I could speak,
30:13he said,
30:14Don't listen to her.
30:15She talks too much.
30:17I don't have feelings
30:18for you.
30:18You're my sister.
30:20There's conflict
30:21at the border.
30:22I'm going.
30:23Take care of yourself.
30:24And then he was gone,
30:26voice cold
30:26like it had never been warm,
30:27like the tenderness
30:28I had seen in him
30:29was something
30:29I had imagined.
30:30I didn't stop him.
30:32I just watched him go,
30:33and something hollow
30:34opened in my chest
30:35without warning.
30:36I thought about
30:36what the woman had said.
30:38I let out a quiet,
30:39slightly sad sound.
30:41Six months passed.
30:43I had no news
30:44from outside.
30:45Then I went into town
30:46for medicine
30:46and found out
30:47everything had changed.
30:49Six months ago,
30:50the Alpha King
30:50had turned tyrant.
30:52Asher had gone back
30:53to the capital
30:53voluntarily
30:54to end the conflict.
30:56Caden had chained him
30:56to the outer wall
30:57of the stronghold
30:58for three days in the open
30:59before exiling him
31:01to the border.
31:01These last six months,
31:03rogue forces had grown
31:04stronger than they
31:05had been in years.
31:06But Caden spent his days
31:08in a rage,
31:09locked Zane in the estate,
31:11and sent people
31:12across the whole
31:12territory looking
31:13for a girl
31:14with Evelyn's face.
31:15For reasons
31:16no one fully understood,
31:17Caden's hatred
31:18for Asher
31:19had become personal.
31:20He cut the border supplies.
31:21People were talking
31:22on every corner.
31:23The rogues are closing in.
31:25The Alpha King
31:26has lost his mind,
31:27and the pack is falling.
31:29I sent back the medicine
31:30and rode for the border.
31:32The fighters
31:32who had been with Asher
31:33saw me ride in,
31:34and the relief
31:35in their faces
31:36shifted to grief fast.
31:38Evelyn,
31:38you should say goodbye
31:40to him while you can.
31:41I gripped my reins,
31:43got off the horse,
31:44and walked into the
31:45command tent
31:46one step at a time.
31:48Asher was laid out there,
31:50barely breathing.
31:51He was worse.
31:54He's basically
31:54invincible in a fight.
31:56How did this happen?
31:58Since about six months ago,
32:00he's been coughing blood.
32:02Getting weaker.
32:05The healers couldn't
32:06explain it.
32:07He kept going out
32:08to fight anyway.
32:09Last time he had
32:10an episode mid-battle
32:11and took a blade
32:11directly to a vital point.
32:13The healer said
32:14there wasn't much time left,
32:15but he kept saying
32:16your name.
32:17We were just writing
32:18the message
32:19when you showed up.
32:22Asher,
32:24I'm here.
32:27You said you needed
32:28a mate.
32:29How are you allowed
32:30to go down like this?
32:33Asher has been
32:34through worse than this
32:34since he was small.
32:36Even what his father
32:37put him through
32:38didn't break him.
32:40The coughing blood,
32:41the weakness,
32:43that's because he went
32:43to the eclipse pack
32:44and paid with his
32:45lifestyle for something.
32:47I asked him what he got.
32:49He wouldn't say.
32:50But that same day
32:51he left the border
32:52for the first time
32:53and went straight
32:54to an outpost
32:56at the edge
32:56of the territory.
32:59Word was,
33:00you almost died
33:01I stood very still.
33:03Everyone knew
33:03about the eclipse pack.
33:05A reclusive wolf clan
33:06who could reverse
33:07fate and bend time.
33:08The cost was always
33:09the same in your life.
33:10Now I knew
33:11why I had come back.
33:12At some point
33:13the fighter left.
33:14My tears came down
33:16and my vision blurred.
33:18Asher,
33:18you absolute idiot.
33:23In my last life
33:25I loved the wrong people
33:26and I paid for it
33:27the way I deserved.
33:28This life
33:29I felt everything fully
33:30and I didn't regret
33:31a single choice I made.
33:33But now I regretted
33:34stepping in that night
33:35at Silvermoon Lodge.
33:37If we had never
33:38crossed paths
33:38he would have been fine.
33:40He would have made
33:41warrior rank
33:41without owing anything
33:43to anyone.
33:44He would have had a full,
33:45clean life.
33:46Instead,
33:47because of me,
33:48all of it changed.
33:49Another tear fell
33:50and fingers caught it.
33:52Asher's lip curved slightly.
33:53What are you crying for
33:55if not for you?
33:57I would have died
33:58back then.
34:01I don't regret it.
34:05I just...
34:06He stopped.
34:07I really wanted
34:08to claim you.
34:10I wanted to take you
34:11to the border
34:11and show you everything.
34:14All of it.
34:20I guess I can't anymore.
34:22His voice was rough
34:23and full of want
34:24but he still managed
34:25to smile.
34:26When you find someone
34:27be smart about it
34:28he needs to at least...
34:31He needs to love you
34:32more than I did.
34:33That's the only way
34:34he deserves you.
34:36Another wave hit
34:37and I couldn't hold it.
34:38Tell me where they are.
34:40Please.
34:41What happened to him
34:43was my fault.
34:43He shouldn't have
34:44to carry it.
34:45He closed his mouth
34:47and kept it shut
34:48no matter how many ways
34:49I asked.
34:50I asked every fighter
34:52close to him.
34:53No one told me
34:54anything useful.
34:55In the end
34:56I found red ceremonial clothing
34:58and I brought it back.
34:59We held the bonding ritual
35:01right there.
35:02Asher.
35:03I'm yours.
35:05Even now
35:06with no time left
35:07the tent was filled
35:08with red.
35:09Asher leaned
35:10against the frame
35:11and the light
35:12in his eyes
35:13was scattered
35:13and bright
35:14like something broken
35:15and beautiful
35:16at the same time.
35:18Evelyn.
35:19I'm so glad.
35:21He laughed
35:22and blood ran
35:23down his cheek.
35:24I reached up.
35:26Don't talk.
35:27He went quiet
35:28and then his lips
35:30pressed against mine.
35:31It lasted a long time.
35:34When I finally
35:35opened my eyes
35:36all the tears
35:37had gone.
35:39Asher wasn't
35:39breathing anymore.
35:41But the smile
35:42was still
35:42on his face.
35:43I held his hand
35:44and I didn't let go.
35:46Sometime later
35:47the rogue forces
35:48attacked again.
35:49The fighters
35:50who had nothing left
35:51stood in their gear
35:52quiet and certain
35:53ready to fight
35:54one last time
35:55for the pack
35:56they belonged to.
35:57The fighter
35:57who had told me
35:58everything offered
35:59to take me
35:59and Asher
36:00somewhere safe.
36:01I shook my head.
36:02I want to stay
36:03at the border with him.
36:05That day
36:05I put on
36:06Asher's battle armor
36:07and picked up his sword
36:08and used everything
36:09he had taught me
36:10to go out
36:10onto that field.
36:11The first kill
36:13blood everywhere.
36:14I didn't freeze
36:15because I knew
36:16he was right there
36:17beside me.
36:18I could protect myself
36:19and I could protect
36:21everything he had
36:21cared about.
36:22I wore Asher's helmet
36:23with the mask down
36:24and they thought
36:25I was him.
36:26The legend of a warrior
36:27who couldn't be killed
36:28unnerved them
36:29and they wanted out.
36:30I wore that mask
36:31and signed the agreement.
36:32After the battle
36:33Caden tried to pin
36:34the charge of betrayal
36:35on Asher's name.
36:37He had the fighters
36:37who had been with Asher
36:38hunted down
36:39and destroyed.
36:40His rule got darker
36:41by the week.
36:42For half a year
36:43we scattered and moved.
36:45Caden unable to find me
36:46or Asher grew more brutal.
36:48He taxed and squeezed
36:49the pack into misery
36:50using the search
36:52as an excuse
36:52for everything.
36:53The fighters
36:54who had followed Asher
36:55found me eventually.
36:56They looked exhausted
36:57and they looked like
36:58they were asking
36:59for something
37:00they weren't sure
37:00I could give.
37:01My lady
37:02every wolf in this territory
37:03knows what kind of man
37:05Asher was.
37:06Caden is not fit to lead.
37:08We're asking you
37:08to put on the mask.
37:10Use his name.
37:11Call the fighters together
37:12and take the stronghold.
37:13I put my hand
37:14over the pendant
37:15at my chest.
37:16I put on the mask.
37:18This time
37:19under his name.
37:21The people lined
37:21both sides of the road.
37:23Caden stood
37:24on the stronghold wall.
37:26Fury and something else
37:27tangled together
37:28in his face.
37:29Asher,
37:30you stole my mate
37:32and now you have
37:33the nerve
37:33on my territory.
37:35Our eyes met
37:36from a distance.
37:37He could always
37:38read me in a way
37:38that other people
37:39couldn't.
37:40Evelyn,
37:41you came back.
37:42Get in here.
37:43We'll finish the ceremony.
37:44You'll be my only mate
37:45forever, please.
37:46I was wrong before.
37:48Can you forgive me?
37:50His expression
37:50went strange.
37:52Open the gates.
37:53Let Evelyn in.
37:55He came down fast
37:56and moved toward me.
37:57I raised my bow
37:58and put an arrow
37:59through his chest.
38:00A tyrant falls
38:01to the people
38:01he failed.
38:06Caden looked down
38:07at the blood
38:08on his hand,
38:09completely at a loss.
38:10Evelyn.
38:11I had already
38:12walked past him
38:13and taken the fighters
38:14inside.
38:15The arrow
38:16hadn't killed him.
38:18I found a member
38:19of the ruling bloodline
38:20with a clean record
38:21and helped him
38:22take the seat.
38:23Under Asher's name,
38:24I became the pack's
38:25commander.
38:25If Asher had lived,
38:27it would have been his.
38:28Now it was his,
38:30regardless.
38:30He had earned it.
38:32The new alpha
38:33was declared
38:33in front of the whole pack.
38:35The old one
38:36was dealt with
38:36in the open,
38:37giving the pack
38:38somewhere to put
38:39its grief and anger.
38:40Zane had been
38:41let out of confinement.
38:42Not long after
38:43the new alpha
38:44took power,
38:45he walked out
38:46of the capital
38:46and was never
38:47found again.
38:48I applied to the station
38:49at the border
38:50permanently
38:50and left the capital
38:51with the fighters
38:52who had been
38:53Asher's family.
38:55Time passed.
38:56I rode across
38:57open grassland
38:58with the pendant
38:58at my chest
38:59catching the light.
39:00Asher appeared
39:01in front of me.
39:02So,
39:03what does it feel like
39:04being a warrior?
39:06I laughed
39:07and rode toward him.
39:08He drifted
39:09the way things
39:10drifted in the wind.
39:11The neighbor lady
39:12was right,
39:12you know.
39:13We really did look
39:14like we were meant
39:15for each other.
39:16Next life,
39:18we do it right.
39:19Deal.
39:20I closed my eyes.
39:22One tear
39:22disappeared
39:23into my hair.
39:24Deal.
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