Il film Alfa | Fuoco scelto (41 E.p.}
â–¶ The Unchosen Alpha | Fu|| Movie (41 E.p}
Il film Alfa | Fuoco scelto (41 E.p.}. episodi completi in italiano. #FilmCompleto #DramaItaliano #SerieCompleta
#FilmCompleto #DramaItaliano #SerieCompleta #ShortDrama #ReelShort
🔤 Attiva i sottotitoli / Enable subtitles (CC)
â–¶ The Unchosen Alpha | Fu|| Movie (41 E.p}
Il film Alfa | Fuoco scelto (41 E.p.}. episodi completi in italiano. #FilmCompleto #DramaItaliano #SerieCompleta
#FilmCompleto #DramaItaliano #SerieCompleta #ShortDrama #ReelShort
🔤 Attiva i sottotitoli / Enable subtitles (CC)
Categoria
🎥
CortometraggiTrascrizione
00:00I threw my body into the woods. No funeral, no grave, just crows. And that was the second time I
00:05died for him. In my world, being blind is a defect. Without a wolf, you are nothing. I am an
00:11omega, the very bottom of the pack. No strength, no shifting, no healing.
00:16A normal wolf book style. Heels and meats. Give me a paper cut, and I'll bleed for days. But I
00:23have something no one needs to do. I don't see faces, I see souls. Jealousy, toxic green, hate, deep oily
00:30black. In my last life, I used it to build a king. Lucian, a forgotten fifth son. I picked him.
00:36I made him. I put him on the throne.
00:39And the day my sister Celeste died, he grabbed my jaw so hard I heard it crack. He forced a
00:46wolf's vein tincture down my throat.
00:48You blind freak. You knew I never wanted you. Celeste should have been mine from the start. And because of
00:54you, she ended up with Marcus. They tortured her to death. It was your fault.
01:01I died in agony. He gave Celeste's corpse a royal burial. He gave me the woods. But the hate, his
01:09hate, it was so consuming it dragged me right back from the dark.
01:13It opened my eyes. Seventeen again. Night of the mating hell. Lucian walked straight past me and took Celeste's hand,
01:21like he was afraid someone might stop him.
01:23The bastard came back too. And he remembered everything. He is terrified I'll choose him again. Honestly, I couldn't care
01:30less.
01:30I swept my blind gaze across the back of the room. In a sea of dark, rotten souls of sand.
01:36A soul so pure it glowed like liquid gold. The man in the wheelchair. The true alpha.
01:42I choose Celeste as my mate. Lucian's voice cracked through the hall like a whip. She is my one and
01:48only Luna.
01:48He walked toward my sister with eyes full of a tenderness I knew was performance. The room went silent. Then
01:54the whispers hit me like a wall.
01:56No air in their right mind would want her.
01:58A blind Omega who couldn't even shift? What a joke. Why is she even here?
02:04Trash like her should be in the kitchen, not at a mating ball.
02:08I am an alpha's daughter born blind. When I came of age, my wolf had a fall.
02:13The world was my teeth and claws. That is not just weakness. That is a death sentence.
02:19Being wolf-less, that makes you a joke.
02:22My sister Celeste is the golden child. Born with a siren song.
02:27A voice that can calm even the most violent alpha in the world.
02:30The family treats her like a goddess. They treat me like a mistake they can't take back.
02:35Lucian dropped to one knee in front of her.
02:38Accept my mark, Celeste. I will make you the most powerful woman alive.
02:44And as he spoke, he threw one look back at me. Not an apology. A warning.
02:49He thinks he can take the throne without me this time. He thinks I was what held him back.
02:54He has no idea what he just threw away.
02:56I didn't awaken a wolf when I came of age. I got something much more dangerous. The soul line.
03:05Jealousy is toxic green. Hate is a bottomless black.
03:09Love is pink. And the deeper the feeling, the darker it burns.
03:13In my last life, I kept him alive with this.
03:16I spotted assassins before they moved. I told him who to trust. Who to kill.
03:21This time, I am going to let him have exactly what he wanted.
03:24and watch him realize too late that without me, he is nothing.
03:29And I really hope, for his sake, he doesn't end up crawling back to me,
03:34begging for a mercy on the long run.
03:36The moment Lucian's announcement landed, every eye in the room found me.
03:40I'm just a blind girl. I'm not worthy of a man like Lucian.
03:45Celeste is the perfect match for him.
03:47At least you know your place.
03:49He stepped closer.
03:50An Omega with no wolf?
03:51I wouldn't choose you if you were the last woman breathing.
03:55Not even if you crawl to me on your knees.
03:58My mother Marilyn made a sound beside me.
04:00A sharp inhale, like she was about to say something she shouldn't.
04:04I squeezed her hand.
04:05She went quiet and swept the room with my soul wide.
04:08Marcus, murky charcoal, cruel underneath the surface.
04:12The other airs, muddy swirls of greed and want.
04:15In my last life, I chose Lucian because his soul looked cleaner than anyone else's in the room.
04:20It was a mask.
04:21I didn't see what was underneath until the day he killed me.
04:24A rotten, pink, purple, black.
04:26He didn't just hate what he was.
04:28He hated me.
04:28I was blind in my last life in more ways than one.
04:32Never again, Celeste glided toward me.
04:34Face arranged into the perfect picture of a loving older sister.
04:38Don't be sad.
04:39Go ahead.
04:40I'll let you have whoever you want.
04:42Her soul was churning, toxic green, edge to edge.
04:46Pure jealousy, barely holding its shape.
04:49Since no one's going to claim you anyway, you can always beg me for work.
04:53Celeste will need a personal maid.
04:55If she has best smitchy floors, scrubbing floors all a wolfless Omega is good for.
04:59I didn't blink.
05:00I didn't even bother.
05:01None of them were worth the energy.
05:03And then, the sound of wheels.
05:05The chatter died.
05:07Then the room shifted.
05:09Kyle Ravenscroft had arrived.
05:12Uninvited.
05:13Unannounced.
05:14And completely unmoved by the spectacle.
05:16He sat in that wheelchair like a predator at rest.
05:19And then I saw.
05:20My breath caught.
05:22His soul was gold.
05:23Pure.
05:23Shimmering, blinding gold.
05:26The mark of the moon goddess herself.
05:28The mark of a true king.
05:30I clenched my fists so hard my nails broke the skin.
05:34Last life, I picked the wrong man.
05:36I defied the moon goddess.
05:38Put a monster on the throne.
05:40And everyone paid for it.
05:41Not this time.
05:43I stood up.
05:45I walked past Lucian without a glance.
05:47Past every arrogant alpha heir in the room.
05:49I stopped in front of Kyle's wheelchair.
05:51I choose him.
05:53The hall went dead silent.
05:55Then it exploded.
05:56Laughter.
05:57From every direction.
05:59All at once.
06:00The blind girl and the cripple.
06:02Neither of you has a wolf.
06:04You really are a perfect match.
06:09Laughter.
06:09Xayah.
06:10You can't see.
06:12You don't understand.
06:14He's in a wheelchair.
06:16She glanced at the crowd.
06:17Milking every second of it.
06:20I'll pretend I didn't hear that.
06:22Choose again.
06:24And if you truly can't find an alpha willing to have you, you're welcome to follow our caravan.
06:30Serve Lucian and me.
06:33At least you won't go hungry.
06:35I'm not anyone's servant.
06:36And I'm not a stray you take in out of pity.
06:39Kyle hadn't said a word through any of it.
06:41He just pulled his chair forward until he was right in front of me.
06:45He took my hand.
06:46His palm was large and rough.
06:48Thick with calluses.
06:50A pound you only get from yours of hard use.
06:56He took my hand and guided it to his knee.
06:59No flinching.
07:00No excuses.
07:01If he was lying.
07:02He didn't want pity for it.
07:04I left my hand there.
07:06I could feel the heat of him through the fabric and tents, alive.
07:09Then a jolt.
07:11It shot through my fingertips, raced up my arm, and hit my chest at the waist.
07:15This wasn't the soul line.
07:17It was something else entirely.
07:19My blood was screaming.
07:21I don't have a wolf.
07:22I was never supposed to feel a mate bond.
07:25But there it was.
07:29Kyle's whole body locked up.
07:31I looked into his soul.
07:32Warm pink threading through shimmering gold.
07:35I leaned in close and smiled.
07:37I can fix your legs.
07:38Lucian's face went ugly.
07:40The mating ball isn't over.
07:42And you're out here making promises you can't keep?
07:45If you fail to heal him, the Alpha Council will have your head.
07:48Can you actually do it?
07:50I didn't answer right away.
07:52I let my fingers trail slowly along his tensed five.
07:55I can.
07:57But it'll require a very specific kind of contact.
08:00He understood immediately.
08:02The tips of his ears went red.
08:04He turned his head away.
08:05Couldn't quite bring himself to look at me.
08:08In my peripheral vision, Lucian's soul ignited.
08:11A roaring wall of green fire.
08:14Jealousy.
08:14A cold laugh rose in my chest.
08:17Jealous of what?
08:18Except Lucian.
08:18You are the one who poured poison down my throat.
08:21The moment I stepped outside the hall, the world tilted.
08:24White hot pain detonated behind my eyes.
08:29Like something was being driven through my skull from the inside.
08:33That is the cost.
08:34Every time I used the soul eye on that many people at once, it cost me.
08:38I pressed my freezing fingers to my temples.
08:41The cold always came after.
08:42After the ball, Lucian got to work.
08:44He pulled up everything from our past life.
08:47Her favorite flowers.
08:48Her secret hiding spots.
08:50Every word she'd been waiting her whole life to hear.
08:53He played her like he'd been practicing for years.
08:56That same day, a mating contract arrived at my door on heavy old parchment.
09:03I accept you as my mate.
09:05I will hold and protect you in this life and the next.
09:08Not even death will part us.
09:09The handwriting was deep and certain.
09:11No hesitation in a single stroke.
09:13It felt exactly like him.
09:15Both weddings were set for the same morning.
09:18The night before, Celeste walked into my room like she owned it.
09:21She didn't knock.
09:22Her maid tossed something at my feet.
09:24A tattered gray shawl.
09:26A kind worn by the lowest ranking omegas.
09:29A mark of total submission.
09:31You're a blind freak, Zara.
09:37No real alpha will ever claim you, she leaned in, voice honeyed and vicious at the same time.
09:45Lucian and I are being generous.
09:46We're keeping you on as a servant.
09:49But on the day of the ceremony, no carriage for you.
09:53You'll wear that and walk behind the caravan.
09:56Servant sentience.
09:57Don't embarrass us.
09:58The morning came.
10:00I left the shawl on the floor where it landed.
10:03I put on the dress Kyle had sent instead.
10:05White silk, thousands of diamonds sewn into the fabric.
10:09Small enough to look like starlight.
10:11At the estate gate, two carriages waited.
10:14One was extraordinary, draped in thumb-sized pearls, built like a throne that happened to have wheels.
10:21The other was plain standard blue, nothing alive.
10:27Celeste didn't hesitate for a second.
10:29She walked straight to the pearl carriage and stepped inside.
10:34The headguard turned.
10:36His expression didn't waver.
10:38You're in the wrong carriage.
10:40This was commissioned by Alpha Kyle for his Luna and no one else.
10:45He didn't get the time to argue.
10:47The guards took her by the arms and came to run.
10:49She caught her heel in her skirt and went down hard, face-to-face into the dirt.
10:56Lucian arrived just in time to see it.
10:59Celeste scrambled up and threw herself at him, already crying.
11:05It's Zahra!
11:06She planned this!
11:09She can't stand that I'm the one becoming a Luna!
11:13She turned to the crowd gathering around them, eyes blizzling.
11:16Please, don't hate her.
11:18She's struggling.
11:20I know we're in love, Lucian.
11:23But I begged you to keep her safe.
11:25I cheated for months just so she could be our servant and I not starve on the street.
11:31She's a blind Omega.
11:33She should be grateful anyone even bothered to take her in.
11:36To pull a strunt like this on her sister's wedding day?
11:39It's fetic!
11:40The crowd was vicious.
11:42They always are when they smell wetness.
11:45Lucian's soul was drowning in black.
11:47Thick, suffocating.
11:48Ink dark.
11:49He pulled Celeste against his chest and turned on me.
11:53You're an Omega, Zahra.
11:56You have no right to wear white.
11:58Take that dress off right now or I'll shred it off your back myself!
12:04Celeste buried her face in his chest.
12:06But I could see her soul.
12:08She was smirking.
12:10Lucian, you don't have me watching your back this time.
12:14What's coming for you tonight isn't a wedding.
12:18It's a funeral.
12:21It's the rest we foiled like I'd struck her.
12:23How can you curse him like that?
12:25Just because he didn't choose you?
12:28You dare curse an Alpha heir?
12:31Guards!
12:32Seize her!
12:34The soldiers started moving in.
12:36Think carefully.
12:38You're laying a hand on Alpha Kyle's mate.
12:41Make sure that's a consequence you're ready to live with.
12:44Lucian laughed.
12:45Jagged.
12:46Ugly.
12:46Kyle?
12:47The cripple isn't even here.
12:49Probably hiding in his chambers, too embarrassed to show his face.
12:53He's using you for sport, Zahra.
12:54Nothing more.
12:55He stepped forward, close enough that his shadow fell over me.
12:58Neil.
12:59Beg Celeste's forgiveness.
13:02And maybe, maybe, I'll still find a use for you.
13:05Then a voice cut through everything.
13:07Who is threatening my mate?
13:08The crowd split.
13:10Kyle moved through them like they weren't there.
13:12Sharp black suit.
13:13Not a single piece out of place.
13:15Even seated.
13:15His presence was suffocating.
13:17The moment he appeared, the street went silent.
13:20Beside him, Lucian suddenly looked like a boy wearing his boots.
13:25Kyle came straight to me.
13:26He took my hand and folded it inside his large, warm, unhurried...
13:31Sorry, legs.
13:33Then he looked up.
13:35Now.
13:35His eyes fixed on Lucian like a blade finding its mark.
13:38Let's try that again.
13:39Who was it that told my mate to me?
13:42The temperature in the street seemed to drop.
13:44No one walked.
13:46No one breathed.
13:47He didn't shout.
13:48Didn't signal his men.
13:49He just watched Lucian the way a predator watches something it has already decided to deal with later.
13:55I'll remember that.
13:56I'm an alpha heir.
13:58Same as you.
13:58Who the hell do you think you are?
14:00Who the hell do you think you are?
14:02A forgotten fifth son?
14:04Trying to give orders to my mate.
14:06You're not a rival, Lucian.
14:08You're a Fipnote.
14:10The color drained from Lucian's face.
14:12This isn't over.
14:14Low and mean.
14:15You'll both regret tonight.
14:18I gave you a chance, Zara.
14:20When you come crawling back, and you will, don't expect mercy.
14:25I looked at his soul, muddy breathing, murky and small.
14:28He genuinely believes he is the chosen one.
14:30He thinks the throne is already his, and that I was just dead weight holding him back.
14:35He has no idea what is waiting for him.
14:37Without me clearing his path, he won't last the season.
14:41He'll be lucky to still be breathing by the time the leaves turn.
14:44Oh, our first night as mates was quiet.
14:46Just the two of us, and the fire crackling low between us.
14:50We shared whiskey, amber and slow burning on the way down.
14:56I could feel his eyes, heavy and silver warm against my skin.
15:00My pulse wouldn't settle.
15:02Even sitting across from me in that chair, his presence filled the entire room.
15:06You said you could fix my legs.
15:10How?
15:12Help me with something first.
15:15I've never seen this room.
15:18Describe it to me.
15:20Then he started talking.
15:22The fires glow.
15:23The oil paintings.
15:25He told me their textures, not just their subjects.
15:28The velvet curtains.
15:29Deep and heavy.
15:30On the shelf above the nightstand, there's an old book.
15:36The cover is faded.
15:38My hand stilled around the glass.
15:40That shelf was high, nearly at the ceiling.
15:43From a wheelchair, the top of that book was completely out of sight.
15:47There was no way he could know the cover was faded.
15:50I didn't say a word.
15:51I just took another sip and filed that detail away somewhere.
15:55I wouldn't forget it.
15:56I stood up with my glass in hand, then let it slip.
16:00It hit the carpet with a dull thud and rolled toward the sofa.
16:04Kyle's body moved before his mind could stop it.
16:08His chest surged forward.
16:09The muscles in his thighs locked and coiled, dense as iron cables.
16:14For a single, unguarded second, he was about to stand.
16:18Then he caught himself and settled back into the leather as if nothing had happened.
16:21But I felt it.
16:23That reflex was all the confirmation I needed.
16:26I didn't say anything.
16:28Not yet.
16:29There's one more way to be sure.
16:33I stepped in close.
16:35And I straddled his lap.
16:37Kyle stopped breathing.
16:40The heat from his hands soaked straight through the silk.
16:43It burned against my skin like a brand.
16:46My heart was slamming.
16:48I ignored it.
16:50I raised my hand and let my fingertips trace from his jaw down to his chest.
16:55Hard as stone beneath the shirt.
16:57Not the body of a man who hadn't used his legs in seven years.
17:00I looked into his soul.
17:02A storm, deep crimson, soft pink.
17:05Something more tender than he'd admit.
17:07And threading through both.
17:08A sharp streak of dark green panic.
17:11He knew I was getting close.
17:14I leaned down.
17:19My lips barely grazed the corner of his mouth.
17:22Not a kiss.
17:23A question.
17:24His breathing came apart.
17:26And then I took his hand and pressed his palm flat against my chest.
17:30The silk between us was nothing.
17:32My face was burning.
17:34Because in that moment, his body gave me the most honest answer I had.
17:38His body reacted before his mind could stop it.
17:41I felt the shift in his balance.
17:44The sudden brace through his thighs.
17:46The instinctive drive upward.
17:47A man who hadn't used his legs in seven years wouldn't move like that.
17:52I pulled back just enough.
17:53Let the smile come slowly.
17:55Your legs are fine.
17:57That much, I know.
17:58Kyle closed his eyes.
18:00His throat moved as he swallowed.
18:02Then he stood up.
18:03One hand stayed at my waist.
18:05The other still pressed against my chest.
18:08He lifted me and I felt just how much of him there was.
18:11Nearly six foot long.
18:13All of it muscle.
18:14My whole world was suddenly just him.
18:16How did you know?
18:18I just smiled and gave him something vague enough to pass.
18:21He set me down gently on the edge of the bed.
18:24Then stepped back.
18:25The hand that had touched my chest was shaking.
18:28I'm sorry, I shouldn't have...
18:29Don't.
18:30I'm the one who put your hand there.
18:32He looked at me for a long moment.
18:34And he laughed.
18:35A real laugh.
18:37Warm and unguarded.
18:38Like seven years of tension finally giving way.
18:41Seven years.
18:42Seven years fooling everyone.
18:44The whole damn world.
18:47And my blind mate catches me on the very first night.
18:50We didn't go any further that night.
18:51We ended up on the rug in front of the fire.
18:54The bottle of whiskey between us.
18:55And we just...
18:57Talked.
18:57He told me about the night his parents were killed.
19:00They called it a rogue wolf attack.
19:03Everyone knew what it actually was.
19:05The Alpha King had ordered it.
19:07He was 15 years old.
19:09Standing at their funeral.
19:10And he made a decision.
19:12He would become the cripple.
19:14Invisible.
19:16Unthreatening.
19:17Off the king's list entirely.
19:19It was the only way to stay alive.
19:21I told him about Lucian.
19:23All of it.
19:24What he was underneath.
19:26I didn't choose you because I had no other options.
19:29I chose you because you were the only one worth choosing.
19:33I watched his soul begin to shift.
19:36The gold bleeding slowly into a deep and glowing lake.
19:40Late into the night, it came back.
19:42The splitting pain behind my temples.
19:44Like an axe working its way through bone.
19:47I tried to keep my hands still.
19:49They were shaking anyway.
19:51Kyle stopped mid-sentence.
19:53Your head.
19:53Before I could deflect, his thumbs were already at my temples.
19:58The pressure.
19:59Exact like he'd mapped the pain before he touched it.
20:02My mother used to get them.
20:03I've known what to do since I was a boy.
20:05The pain didn't ease.
20:07It vanished.
20:08We shared the same bed.
20:09His arm lay heavy and warm across my waist.
20:12My head settled against his chest.
20:14I listened to his heartbeat through my soul eye.
20:16I watched his soul settle.
20:18The gold softening, deepening into a rich and quiet pink.
20:22For the first time in two lifetimes, I felt safe.
20:25Lucian's wedding day was long and hard.
20:27In my last life, a maid tried to spike his wine with wolf's bane.
20:31I caught her before she could get close.
20:33I read the murder in her soul, swapped the glasses,
20:36had her detained before he'd taken a single seat.
20:39This time, I did nothing.
20:41Celeste wouldn't notice.
20:42She wouldn't know a threat if it sat down beside her and introduced itself.
20:46The next morning, Kyle and I arrived at the Alpha King's estate.
20:50No sign of Lucian.
20:52No sign of Celeste.
20:53The corridors were alive with hushed, urgent voices.
20:56The shit there was poisoned in his own chambers.
20:58He hasn't woken.
21:00The healers say the dose was enough to drop a grizzly.
21:03I kept my face perfectly still.
21:05But underneath me, I was smiling.
21:07Lucian's fall had started.
21:09I missed him that he wasn't going to stop it.
21:11The carriage had barely rolled to a stop when Celeste appeared at the gates.
21:15She looked like she hadn't slept in days.
21:18Zara!
21:19You poisoned him!
21:21Give me the antidote right now!
21:25I felt the temperature inside the carriage shift.
21:27Kyle went very still beside me.
21:29I placed a hand on his arm.
21:31I've got this.
21:33I leaned in and pressed a quick kiss to his cheek.
21:36Then I stepped out into the morning air.
21:38Antidote?
21:40I don't have one.
21:42Whatever happened to Lucian has nothing to do with me.
21:46Liar!
21:48Then how did you know he'd be dying on his wedding night?
21:51I tilted my head.
21:53That's a serious accusation.
21:56Where's your proof?
21:58Did you catch the killer?
21:59Did you find the poison?
22:01I already knew she hadn't.
22:02The spy Marcus sent was a professional.
22:05Without my soul eye, she was a ghost.
22:07By now she was likely across the border, untouchable.
22:11Celeste stood there, mouth open, nothing coming out.
22:14If you keep causing a scene on my land, my warriors will remove you.
22:20Her eyes dropped to my neck.
22:22She saw the red mark Kyle had left there.
22:25You actually slept with him?
22:27A blind girl and a broken man?
22:30I suppose trash finds its own level.
22:32I suppose trash finds its own level.
22:34I thought about last night, the fire, the whiskey,
22:36the long silence after he finally stood up
22:39and I felt the full weight of him for the first time.
22:41Kyle wasn't broken.
22:42He was 10,000 times the man Lucian would ever be.
22:45I laughed.
22:48What is so funny?
22:49I stopped, looked at her.
22:51We're close enough to it.
22:52I'm laughing at how blind you are.
22:54Lucian is going to die.
22:57And when he goes down, he'll take you with him.
23:00If you want to survive what's coming,
23:02sever the bond now, while you still can.
23:05That was it for her.
23:06She swung at my face.
23:08Wide, furious, telegraphed from a mile away.
23:11I shifted my weight and stepped aside.
23:13She hit nothing but air.
23:14The momentum carried her forward and she went down hard.
23:16Palms and knees in the dirt.
23:18I looked down at her.
23:19Remember this.
23:20Because the next time you raise a hand to me,
23:23I won't step aside.
23:23She stared up at me from the ground, trembling.
23:26For the first time in her life, she was actually afraid of me.
23:29The blind girl she used to torment wasn't there anymore.
23:32Someone else had taken her place.
23:35Kyle was waiting when I stepped back into the carriage.
23:37He just watched me with those gray eyes.
23:39And in them, not worry, not pity.
23:42Admiration.
23:42He trusted me to handle my own affairs.
23:44That respect landed heavier than any shield he could have raised.
23:47He turned to his lead guard and spoke low.
23:50No one from Lucien's pack crosses onto my land again.
23:54For any reason.
23:56Ever.
23:59After Celeste was escorted out,
24:01we turned to the business of leaving.
24:02We were heading for Thorn Harbor.
24:04The courtyard filled with people and supplies controlled chaos.
24:07And through all of it,
24:08my soul, I found a single target.
24:10A guard named Vaughn.
24:12His soul was a muddy, treacherous gray.
24:14I leaned close to Kyle's ear.
24:16Who is that man?
24:18Vaughn.
24:20He's been with me since I was 15.
24:22Saved my life twice.
24:23I pulled back and looked at him.
24:25Kyle, do you trust me?
24:26His soul flushed deep, dark pink all at once.
24:30You're my mate.
24:30Of course I do.
24:32He's a traitor.
24:33We changed the route to Thorn Harbor.
24:36And we tell no one.
24:38In my last time,
24:39this was where it ended with Kyle.
24:41Ambushed on the road to the harbor.
24:43Wounds that never healed.
24:44He died defending the city walls.
24:46I finished speaking.
24:48Let my lips brush his cheek.
24:50Kyle's arm came around my waist immediately.
24:53Pulling me in.
24:54Across the yard,
24:55I felt Vaughn watching us.
24:57He clocked how close we were
24:58and looked away fast.
25:00Kyle pressed his face into the curb of my neck.
25:02His breath was warm against my skin.
25:04Are you trying to fix my legs again?
25:06Because I'm happy to wait until tonight.
25:09Or we could start now.
25:11The next morning,
25:12Vaughn was gone.
25:13Kyle sat beside me at breakfast,
25:15cutting my steak into careful pieces
25:17without being asked.
25:18You were right.
25:20Vaughn was Marcus's man.
25:22Buried so deep,
25:23I never suspected him once
25:24in seven years.
25:26It took some...
25:29persuasion to get him to talk.
25:31He looked at me.
25:32How did you know, Zara?
25:34I looked into his soul,
25:36golden pink.
25:37Wound together.
25:37No suspicion.
25:38No fear.
25:40Lucky guess.
25:41The words were barely out
25:42when the pain hit.
25:43White.
25:44Hot behind both temples at once.
25:46My hand went to my head
25:47before I could stop it.
25:48Kyle didn't say a word.
25:50He just moved his chair
25:51flush against mine.
25:52Un-in-hand kept cutting my food.
25:53The other reached up
25:54and wrapped around the back of my neck.
25:56The pain dissolved.
25:56He has stopped asking
25:58why it happens.
25:59He just makes sure
26:00he is there when it does.
26:01Thorn Harbor.
26:02Kyle's territory.
26:04The land was rough.
26:05Resources thin.
26:07The kind of place
26:08the Alpha Council
26:09never bothered to look at twice.
26:11The wolves here
26:12were loyal to Kyle.
26:13The way wolves are loyal
26:15to someone they've chosen.
26:16Out of true devotion.
26:17When I went to the market,
26:19they called me Luna
26:20and refused my coin.
26:21Every stall,
26:22every vendor.
26:23I had to set the money down
26:24and walk away
26:25before they touch it.
26:26I came back
26:27to the estate breathless
26:28and my maid watched me
26:30come through the door.
26:32The Luna is blind
26:34but she moves faster
26:35than any soldier
26:36I've trained with.
26:39Kyle heard her.
26:40That night,
26:40his fingers found
26:41the edges of my eyes.
26:44Zara,
26:45is it really just
26:47nothing?
26:49I nodded.
26:50He pulled me in
26:51against his chest
26:51and held me there.
26:53It doesn't matter.
26:54I'll be your eyes.
26:56every sunrise,
26:57every star.
26:59Whatever you want to see,
27:00I'll find the words for it.
27:01I watched his soul
27:03through all of it.
27:03The gold was shifting,
27:05becoming something warmer,
27:06deeper.
27:06The more time we spent together,
27:08the deeper the gold grew.
27:09Every shared meal,
27:11every quiet evening
27:12beside him,
27:13it only became richer.
27:14But then something strange
27:15started happening.
27:16When I was away from him,
27:17even briefly,
27:18I got restless,
27:19not just missing him.
27:20It was physical,
27:20a deep,
27:21pulling ache
27:21I couldn't reason away.
27:23The further I walked,
27:24the worse it pulled,
27:25until it hurt.
27:26I told myself
27:26it was the intensity
27:27of a new bond,
27:28but I knew that wasn't it.
27:30I don't have a wolf.
27:31I was never supposed
27:32to feel this.
27:33That night when he kissed me,
27:34his soul shifted
27:35into something
27:35I'd never seen before,
27:37a pink so saturated
27:38and alive.
27:39It looked like the first day
27:40of spring breaking open
27:41all at once,
27:42the most beautiful thing
27:43I had ever seen.
27:44It didn't last.
27:45The next morning,
27:46a piece of encrypted
27:47intelligence arrived.
27:48Lucian is awake,
27:50but the damage is permanent.
27:51Intermittent mania.
27:52He has lost control
27:53of his wolf.
27:54A slow smile touched my lips.
27:55This was just the beginning
27:56of what was coming for him.
27:58But then,
27:58the catch.
27:59The Alpha Council
28:00had issued a mandatory summons.
28:01Marcus was hosting a banquet.
28:03Every heir was required
28:04to attend.
28:05No exceptions.
28:06Kyle had no choice.
28:07We were going back.
28:08Marcus's estate
28:09reeked of bad intentions
28:10before we even stepped inside.
28:12I swept the ballroom
28:13with my soul eye
28:14the moment we crossed
28:14the threshold.
28:15Oily green for greed,
28:17thick in every corner
28:18of the room.
28:18A deep,
28:19sickening crimson for lust.
28:20And underneath all of it,
28:22something flat and purposeful
28:23that made my skin crawl.
28:24I found Kyle's hand
28:25under the table
28:26and held it.
28:27Don't eat.
28:28Don't touch the wine.
28:29And don't leave my side.
28:30Not for a second.
28:31Kyle glanced at me.
28:32As you wish,
28:33my Luna.
28:34I couldn't explain.
28:35Not here,
28:36but I remembered this night.
28:37In my last life,
28:38this banquet ended in blood.
28:40Their souls were
28:40a flat,
28:41professional gray.
28:42The color of people
28:43who had killed before
28:44and slept just fine after.
28:46Last time,
28:46when the blades came out,
28:48I didn't think.
28:48I just threw myself
28:49in front of Lucian
28:50and took a poison silver dagger
28:52to the ribs.
28:53Carried that scar for years.
28:54Anse,
28:55when Lucian was already king,
28:56I mentioned it.
28:57He looked at me
28:58with something close to boredom.
29:00Protecting your mate
29:01is your duty, Zara.
29:02You're already Luna.
29:03What more do you want?
29:05I don't make the same mistakes
29:06twice.
29:06It happened fast.
29:07The three dancers
29:08reached into their silks.
29:10Short blades,
29:11jagged,
29:11silver,
29:12and they lunged.
29:14Kyle moved
29:14before I could blink.
29:16He didn't care
29:16about the secret anymore.
29:18He came half out
29:19of his chair,
29:20one arm sweeping
29:21me behind him,
29:22and his guards
29:22materialized from the dark
29:24like they'd been part
29:25of the shadows all along.
29:26A wall of bodies
29:27between us and everything.
29:28We were safe.
29:29I looked past them
29:30toward Lucian.
29:31No one moved
29:32to cover me.
29:33The moment the first blade
29:34flashed,
29:35Celeste screamed and rang.
29:36Straight for the exit,
29:38he didn't look backwards.
29:39Lucian was surrounded.
29:41A silver dagger,
29:42soaked in concentrated
29:43wolfsbane,
29:44buried itself
29:45into his thigh.
29:46Dark blood hit the floor.
29:48He went down hard,
29:49gasping.
29:49Through the screaming,
29:51the overturned chairs,
29:52the crush of bodies
29:53trying to flee.
29:55His eyes found mine.
29:56He was begging.
29:58His soul was a wreck.
29:59Terror and pain
30:00and underneath it all.
30:02a dark green tide
30:03of regret.
30:04I held his face.
30:06Kept my face
30:06completely still.
30:08Didn't move a single muscle.
30:09I am blind,
30:10after all.
30:11I can't see a thing.
30:12I didn't make it
30:13two steps
30:13into the carriage.
30:14The spike hit the moment
30:16the door closed,
30:17red hot.
30:17Straight through the center
30:18of my skull.
30:19It was the worst backlash
30:20I'd ever suffered.
30:22I scanned the entire ballroom,
30:23every soul,
30:24every shadow,
30:25every blade
30:26before they struck.
30:27It cost me everything.
30:29The world went black.
30:30My knees folded.
30:32Kyle caught me
30:32before I hit the floor.
30:34His arms locked
30:35around my waist
30:35like on me,
30:36pulling me hard
30:37against his chest.
30:38Zara.
30:39I'd never heard that
30:40in his voice before.
30:41Fear.
30:42My head.
30:42It was all I could get out.
30:43He didn't wait.
30:44He pulled me in against him
30:46when he pressed both palms
30:47to my temples
30:48and something happened
30:49that I still can't explain.
30:50It wasn't just pressure.
30:52It wasn't just warmth.
30:53It felt like a hand
30:54reaching through the pain
30:55and pulling it out
30:55from the root.
30:56Gone completely.
30:57In seconds.
30:58I lay against his chest,
31:00dazed,
31:01listening to his heart pound.
31:02Why does his touch do that?
31:04This isn't comfort.
31:05This is something older.
31:06Something that runs deeper
31:07than either of us understands.
31:09And it is starting to frighten me.
31:11While I recovered
31:12in Kyle's arms,
31:13everything is learning
31:14what that blade actually felt like.
31:16The wolf's bane
31:16on those daggers was pure.
31:18It doesn't just wound.
31:19It destroys whatever
31:20the body would normally heal.
31:22It shredded his body's ability
31:23to heal from the inside out.
31:25In my last life,
31:26I took that blade from him.
31:27I felt the silver
31:28eat into my flesh.
31:29I felt the poison
31:30dissolve everything I had.
31:32I survived it barely.
31:33And he never once
31:34mentioned it again.
31:35He treated my body
31:36like a shield
31:37he was entitled
31:37to stand behind.
31:38This time,
31:39he got to find out
31:40what it actually costs.
31:41The healers
31:42couldn't do a thing.
31:43the damage was permanent.
31:44Lucian would never walk again.
31:46The man who spent
31:46his whole life
31:47looking down at everyone
31:48from a great height
31:49was never going to stand again.
31:51The intelligence reports
31:52kept arriving,
31:53one after another,
31:54like a slow collapse.
31:56Lucian confirmed
31:57permanently disabled.
31:59Celeste began her exit strategy
32:00the moment he lost his strife.
32:03She spent months
32:04petitioning the Alpha Council
32:05to dissolve their bond.
32:07Six months later,
32:08the Alpha King
32:09had seen enough.
32:10He stripped Lucian
32:11of his inheritance.
32:11no title,
32:13no claim,
32:14no future.
32:15In the werewolf world,
32:16no one pledges their sword
32:17to a man
32:18who can't lead
32:19from a taunt.
32:20In our last life,
32:21Lucian thought
32:22seizing the throne
32:23was simply a matter
32:24of wanting it badly enough.
32:25He had no idea
32:27what was actually
32:27holding him.
32:28He thought those allies
32:30followed him by choice.
32:31I made sure
32:32they were worthy
32:32long before they
32:33ever pledged themselves.
32:35The traitors he feared
32:36never had the chance
32:37to strike.
32:38I silenced them first
32:39and the commanders
32:41he trusted with his army
32:42were placed there
32:42by my hand,
32:44one by one
32:44paid for in blood.
32:46Without me,
32:47he couldn't have held
32:48a border crossing,
32:49let alone throne.
32:51Celeste didn't mourn.
32:53She stripped his estate
32:54clean,
32:55jewelry,
32:55gold,
32:56every coin she could find.
32:58Then she was gone.
32:59She went back
33:00to Marcus,
33:00but the terms
33:01had changed.
33:02He didn't want
33:03a Luna this time.
33:04He took her
33:05as a mistress.
33:06I ran into her yesterday,
33:07a high-end perfume shop
33:09near the harbor.
33:10I was holding a bottle,
33:11a rare blend,
33:12when she reached over
33:13and plucked it
33:13straight out of my hand.
33:15I'll take all of these,
33:16she told the clerk.
33:17She was draped
33:18in diamonds.
33:19Her soul was the same
33:20toxic green
33:21I've always been.
33:22She looked me over.
33:24Oh, Zara,
33:24she said.
33:25Perfume seems a bit
33:26pointless for you,
33:27doesn't it?
33:28She leaned in.
33:29expensive wine
33:30on her breath.
33:31It's not as if
33:32your man can stand up
33:33to get close enough
33:34to smell it.
33:35A little gasp.
33:36A hand over her mouth,
33:37eyes wide
33:38with performed regret.
33:40That was awful of me.
33:41You don't mind,
33:43do you?
33:43I smiled.
33:44Not at all,
33:45I said.
33:45Take them all.
33:47The clerk looked baffled.
33:48I didn't explain.
33:50There is no point
33:51arguing with a woman
33:52who's already
33:53walking toward her own end.
33:55She just doesn't know
33:56the road she is on yet.
33:57It was late.
33:58Thorn Harbor
33:59was in a hard rain.
34:00My headguard
34:01appeared in the doorway,
34:03his face tight.
34:04Lupin is at the front gate,
34:05Luna.
34:06He has been dragging
34:07himself through the mud
34:08for the better part
34:09of an hour.
34:09He won't leave.
34:11I walked out
34:12to the entrance
34:12and looked through
34:13the iron bars.
34:14He was there,
34:15soaked in the air,
34:17shaking,
34:17holding the belt
34:18in the road.
34:19When he saw me,
34:20something desperate
34:21ignited in his eyes.
34:23It lurched forward
34:24and the guards
34:25rode from the back.
34:26He went down
34:27into the frozen mud.
34:28Why?
34:29The word tore out of him
34:30like it had been
34:30caught on something.
34:32Zara, tell me.
34:33In the last life,
34:35you always knew
34:36what was coming.
34:36I thought if a blind girl
34:38could build a kingdom
34:39for me,
34:39then all I had to do
34:40was take the credit.
34:41So why did I lose everything?
34:43He started screaming,
34:44slamming his fists
34:45against his own
34:46useless legs.
34:47The sound of it
34:48got swallowed up
34:49by the thunder.
34:49When he finally
34:51ran out of breath,
34:52he looked up at me.
34:53He looked small.
34:54The arrogance was gone.
34:56What was left underneath
34:57wasn't much.
34:58Zara,
34:59like he said,
35:00quiet now.
35:01His voice doing something
35:02approximating humility.
35:04I made a mistake.
35:06Come back.
35:08Come back.
35:10The Luna title,
35:12it's yours.
35:12Truly, this time,
35:14we can rebuild.
35:15Together,
35:16like before.
35:18We can take it all back.
35:19I looked at his soul,
35:21thick, oily green,
35:22bottomless with it.
35:23He wasn't performing.
35:25He was genuinely
35:25drowning in regret.
35:27That almost made it worse.
35:28Lucian,
35:29you still don't understand
35:30what you had.
35:31I was never your Luna
35:32because you became king.
35:34You were only ever king
35:36because I chose
35:37to stand beside you.
35:38I turned my back on him.
35:40Locked toward the warm lights
35:42of the estate.
35:42Lock the gates.
35:44If he sets foot
35:45on this land again,
35:46you have my permission.
35:47I'm permission to treat him
35:48accordingly.
35:49The iron gates slammed shut.
35:51The sound cut through the rain
35:53like a verdict.
35:54He was still screaming my name
35:56when I walked through
35:56the front door.
35:58I didn't look back.
35:59That door was never opening again.
36:01Celeste's day.
36:02The report arrived this morning.
36:04History repeated itself
36:06down to the last detail.
36:07Marcus worked her
36:08until there was nothing
36:09left to go.
36:10And they carried her body
36:11out of his estate.
36:12Someone noted the scent
36:14still on me.
36:15The perfume she'd
36:16snatched from my hands
36:17in that shot.
36:18She was wearing it
36:19when she died.
36:20Lucian heard the news
36:21from his room.
36:22He didn't breathe.
36:23He didn't rage.
36:24Good.
36:25She watched me fall
36:26and ran straight
36:26to another man's bed.
36:28I gave up everything
36:29in this life for her.
36:31And that's how
36:32she repays it?
36:33He beat his fists
36:34against the wheels
36:35of his chair
36:36until his knuckles bled.
36:37I never should have
36:38poisoned Zara.
36:39I never should have
36:40chosen Celeste over Zara.
36:41I was still holding
36:42the report when I heard
36:43the bedroom door.
36:44I crumpled the paper
36:45in my fist.
36:46Kyle walked in.
36:48I turned toward the window.
36:49The sun had gone down.
36:51I was just...
36:52Before I could finish,
36:54he reached out
36:55and took the crumpled note
36:56from my hand.
36:57He smoothed it flat
36:58then lifted it to the light.
37:00Then he lowered it
37:01and looked straight at me.
37:02You're not blind
37:03in the way you let
37:04everyone believe,
37:05are you?
37:07My throat closed.
37:08I couldn't find
37:09a single word.
37:10I looked into his soul.
37:12It was burning.
37:13A sharp,
37:14consuming orange
37:15came hearing.
37:16Don't I deserve the truth?
37:19I marked you.
37:20I made you my mate.
37:22I would have protected you
37:23regardless.
37:24Blind, wolfless,
37:25it didn't matter.
37:26But for a year,
37:27you let me believe
37:28I understood you.
37:30And I didn't.
37:31The blind girl
37:32and the cripple.
37:33The people who had made
37:34an art form of being
37:35something they weren't.
37:37Standing in this room
37:38in the dark.
37:39Every mask we'd ever worn
37:40was gone.
37:41He turned for the door
37:42and I felt something
37:43I hadn't felt
37:44in two lifetimes.
37:46Genuine terror.
37:47I threw myself off the bed
37:48and wrapped my arms
37:49around him for a while.
37:51Held on.
37:52I could feel the anger in him.
37:54But underneath it,
37:55his soul was already shifting.
37:57the orange queen
37:58bleeding toward something else.
38:00The harder I held on,
38:02the faster it faded.
38:03My voice came out small.
38:05I pressed my face
38:06against his back
38:07and just held on.
38:08His soul turned pink.
38:10His pride hadn't moved.
38:12He was still standing there,
38:13every muscle locked against me.
38:15But his heart
38:16had already answered.
38:18I came around to face him,
38:20pressed my cheek
38:21against his chest
38:21and listened.
38:23His heartbeat was fast,
38:24uneven.
38:26His soul was so pink
38:27it was almost blinding.
38:28Kyle.
38:29I steadied my voice
38:31as best I could.
38:32That wasn't the only thing
38:34I lied about.
38:35This was the secret
38:35I'd carried through two lives
38:37without telling a single person.
38:38I see souls.
38:40I can read the truth
38:41inside people.
38:42He went completely still.
38:43And I know what's coming.
38:45The werewolf world
38:47is about to burn.
38:49Thorn Harbor
38:50will be under siege.
38:51I looked up at him.
38:53In my last life,
38:54you died when the city walls fell.
38:56His breathing changed.
38:57I searched his soul
38:58one last time.
39:00Not a flicker of doubt.
39:01Not a trace of fear.
39:03Only gold
39:04appeared in his time.
39:05Shimmering gold.
39:06Do you believe me?
39:07I asked.
39:08He didn't answer with words.
39:10He pulled me into his chest,
39:12both arms
39:13no space between us,
39:14and buried his face
39:15against my neck.
39:17I believe in you.
39:20That's the only thing
39:21in this world
39:22I'm sure of.
39:22Five hours
39:23and that is what it took
39:24to dismantle
39:25Kyle gave me
39:27the Alpha War seal
39:28and put every warrior
39:29in the pack
39:29under my command.
39:30We didn't just
39:31hold Thorn Harbor.
39:32We took the fight
39:33to the Alpha King's fortresses.
39:34Then came the first night
39:36of the great siege.
39:37The boss army
39:38hit the valley
39:38of the Black Sea
39:39and the Black Sea.
39:40A black bird
39:40and wall to wall
39:41as far as the dark
39:42was searched.
39:43Kyle sat in his chair
39:44at the edge
39:45of the fortress wall
39:46watching it come.
39:47Then he stood up.
39:48Not in our bedroom.
39:49Not in the dark
39:50where no one could see.
39:51In front of every soul
39:52on that night field.
39:53He shrugged off
39:54the heavy coat
39:55he'd hidden behind
39:55for seven years
39:56and let it drop.
39:57His bones began
39:58to crack
39:59of the ship
39:59under the moon
40:00and transformed.
40:01A massive silver wolf.
40:03He was huge
40:03larger than any
40:04Alpha in history.
40:05His fur shimmered
40:06like liquid metal
40:07in the dark.
40:08He stood on the edge
40:09of the fortress wall
40:09and he let out a howl
40:11that shook the very cloud.
40:12Every wolf
40:13on that field
40:13ally and enemy alike
40:15dropped their heads
40:16not from orders
40:17from something
40:17older than orders.
40:19Seven years
40:19of buried power
40:20of swallowed rage
40:21of playing the broken man
40:22while the world
40:23underestimated him.
40:24He snapped his head
40:25around before
40:26the echo had died.
40:27That silver gaze
40:28cut straight through
40:29the smoke
40:29through the fire
40:30through everything
40:31between us
40:31and found me.
40:32I felt at the moment
40:33it landed
40:34not just a look
40:36something that went
40:37all the way down
40:37to the bone
40:38like a string
40:39that taught
40:39over two lifetimes
40:40had finally been raised.
40:42Faded Nate Bond
40:43he had kept his wolf
40:45locked away
40:45for seven years.
40:46The bond
40:47had been sealed with him
40:48but now his wolf
40:49was fully awake
40:50and everything
40:51that had been held back
40:52came through at once.
40:53He shifted back
40:54dropped one knee
40:56on the stone
40:56chest he wound
40:57hands braced
40:58against the ground
40:59trembling
40:59when he looked up
41:01at me
41:01it was like
41:02the first time
41:03like he was seeing
41:04something he'd been
41:05reaching toward
41:05without knowing it.
41:07It's you.
41:08His voice was wrecked.
41:09It was always you.
41:12The moon goddess
41:14didn't give you to me
41:15for your gift
41:17she gave you to me
41:18because you're mine.
41:20I felt the truth
41:21of it in my own family
41:22every piece of it
41:23clicking into place
41:24all at once
41:25the jolt
41:25when our fingers
41:26first touched
41:27at the meeting ball
41:27the way his hands
41:29could feel the pain
41:30coming out of my skull
41:30the suffocating dread
41:32every time he left the room
41:33I don't have a wolf
41:35so the bond
41:36had come through
41:36quietly
41:37a whisper
41:38where it should have
41:39been born
41:39but it had always
41:40been there
41:41from the very first
41:42moment he reached out
41:44and touched his knee
41:44our blood had already
41:46made it
41:47take your place
41:49as alpha king
41:50the grand hall
41:51was in ruins around him
41:53dust still settling
41:54from the siege
41:55and Zara
41:56shall be your luna
41:58Kyle didn't hesitate
41:59no
42:00one word
42:01it landed in that hall
42:02like a stone
42:03dropped into stone
42:04I'm issuing two commands
42:06first
42:08we are establishing
42:09a dual kingship
42:12Zara and I
42:13rule together
42:14as equals
42:15the silence cracked
42:17impossible
42:18there has never
42:20there have been
42:20a woman on that throne
42:21Kyle stepped up
42:23onto the platform
42:23he looked out
42:25across the council
42:25every face
42:26every objection
42:27with the kind of calm
42:29that has nothing left
42:30to prove
42:30when Thorn Harbor
42:31was under siege
42:32Zara stood on the
42:34front lines beside me
42:36every wound I took
42:37she felt
42:39every sacrifice I made
42:41she had already
42:42paid a higher price for
42:43he brought his hand
42:44down flat
42:45on the stone table
42:46a crack of it echoed
42:47without her
42:48I'd be in an unmarked
42:50grave on the battlefield
42:51you don't get to erase
42:52what she built
42:53just because she isn't
42:54what you expected
42:58I am the Alpha King
43:00and so is she
43:02Alpha King
43:03he leaned forward
43:04voice dropping
43:05if anyone here
43:06has a problem with that
43:07step forward now
43:08no one moved
43:09I have spent seven years
43:10being underestimated
43:11I have no patience
43:12left for it
43:13not for myself
43:14and not for her
43:15the bond had been a river
43:17with no outlet for years
43:18the night the war ended
43:19the dam broke
43:20he marked me
43:21the moment his teeth
43:22found the back of my neck
43:23something detonated
43:24beneath my skin
43:25not pain
43:26or not only pain
43:27something that felt like
43:28being struck by lightning
43:29from the inside
43:30my bones began to shift
43:32I screamed
43:33Kyle didn't let go
43:34he pulled me harder
43:35against his chest
43:36and held on
43:36his soul blazing gold
43:38in my sight
43:38steady as a thick star
43:40an anchor in the middle
43:41of everything
43:42coming apart
43:42something that had been
43:43waiting under my skin
43:44for 17 years
43:45was finally waking up
43:46it was never missing
43:47it was just too powerful
43:49to soak this one's own
43:50it needed something
43:51equally matched
43:52to call it out
43:52I shifted
43:53white
43:53pure
43:54absolute white
43:55a wolf larger than
43:56any female
43:57in recorded history
43:58her coat caught the moonlight
43:59the way fresh snow
44:00catches it from within
44:02Kyle's silver wolf
44:03circled me
44:03once twice
44:04three times
44:05then he stopped
44:07pressed his massive head
44:08against my neck
44:09and let out a sound
44:11so low and so full
44:12it barely qualified
44:13as a sound at all
44:14the elders hadn't moved
44:16in the old legends
44:17the white wolf
44:18is the living avatar
44:19of the moon goddess
44:20she hadn't walked
44:21the earth in 500 years
44:23I had never been broken
44:24my wolf had never been missing
44:26she was just waiting
44:28for the one person
44:28strong enough
44:29to bring her home
44:30Kyle shifted back
44:31he pulled me into his lap
44:33and held me there
44:34both of us still
44:35catching our breath
44:36the soul
44:37as I looked at it
44:38I had no words
44:40golden pink
44:41woven together
44:42so completely
44:43they'd become
44:44a single color
44:45that didn't exist
44:46anywhere else
44:48I knew
44:48he said into my hair
44:49from the moment
44:50you chose me
44:51at the ball
44:52I didn't know
44:53what you were
44:55but I knew
44:56you were something
44:57the world
44:57hadn't seen before
44:59you were just
45:00waiting for someone
45:01to finally find you
45:02I never let myself
45:04dream this far
45:04in my last life
45:05I was too busy
45:07holding someone else
45:07to ever look up
45:08for myself
45:09now I sat at the
45:10highest seat
45:11in the council hall
45:12Kyle beside me
45:13every outlet
45:14was running
45:15about their heads
45:16the intelligence network
45:17was mine
45:18the land rights
45:19were mine
45:19to grant or revoke
45:20the power
45:21I had spent a lifetime
45:22building for someone else
45:24it was finally
45:25in my own hands
45:25and then they brought
45:27in Lucian
45:28he dragged himself
45:29across the stone floor
45:30on his hands
45:31he reached my boots
45:32and stretched out
45:33one trembling hand
45:34toward the hung of my robes
45:36a guard stepped forward
45:38his sword flashed
45:39the blade stopped
45:40an inch from Lucian's fingers
45:42Lucian didn't even register
45:44he just started
45:45screaming
45:45this isn't right
45:47that seat belongs to me
45:49you were my instrument
45:51Zara
45:52I promised to make you
45:53my Luna
45:54why isn't that enough
45:55for you
45:55get down
45:56help me up there
45:57that's where I'm supposed to be
45:59I looked at him
46:00for a long moment
46:01I remembered the last line
46:03the rebel wolves
46:04had us surrounded
46:05he didn't reach for me
46:06he didn't hesitate
46:07he turned and ran
46:09and when they caught him anyway
46:10he offered me up
46:11to buy himself another day
46:13and at the very end
46:14he was the one
46:15who forced the wolf's van
46:16down my throat
46:17he was the one
46:18who gave Celeste
46:19my title and my burial
46:20he threw my body
46:21to the crows
46:22and now he was
46:23on the floor of my hall
46:24demanding I come down
46:26and handed our back
46:27to him
46:27I looked at his soul
46:28there was nothing left
46:30to hold him
46:32the guards pinned him
46:33to the stone
46:34he thrashed
46:35he tried to bite
46:35he screamed
46:36until his voice cracked
46:37they forced his jaw open
46:39and I poured the wolf's
46:41bane myself
46:41a quick death
46:42would have been mercy
46:43and I had none left
46:45to give him
46:46this was something else
46:47a slow
46:48total erasure
46:49first
46:50the taste would go
46:51then the smell of air
46:52then the light
46:53fading at the edges
46:54dimming inward
46:55then sound
46:56then touch
46:57then nothing at all
46:59a living body
47:00with no world
47:01left inside it
47:01trapped in the dark
47:02he had always carried
47:03with nothing for company
47:05but his own guilt
47:05it took a week
47:07the guard came to me
47:08on a quiet morning
47:09and delivered the news
47:10without ceremony
47:11Lucian was dead
47:12died in total silence
47:14total darkness
47:15without a single sensation
47:17to mark the end
47:18what should we do
47:19with the body?
47:20I didn't look up
47:21for my work
47:21take it outside
47:22the territory
47:23no retts
47:24no marker
47:25leave nothing
47:27I gave his remains
47:28exactly what he gave mine
47:30down to the last detail
47:32the account was closed
47:33the fire had burned down
47:35to embers
47:36the room was almost quiet
47:40Kyle's arms came around
47:41my waist from behind
47:42his breath was warm
47:44and even against my neck
47:48you went to see him today?
47:50I did
47:52I watched a monster
47:53reach the end he earned
47:55I leaned back into him
47:56are you jealous
47:57of a dead man Kyle?
47:59a low sound in his chest
48:01not quite a laugh
48:02he reached up slowly
48:03and found the knot
48:03of the silk blindfold
48:04I still wore in public
48:06worked it loose
48:07let it fall
48:08the moonlight came
48:10through the window
48:10neither of us
48:11spoke for a while
48:12then he took my hand
48:13and guided it to his chest
48:15pressed it flat
48:15right above his heart
48:16Zara tell me what color it is
48:18I laughed
48:19soft surprised by it
48:20I closed my eyes
48:21and turned everything
48:22I had toward him
48:23this man
48:24who gave me his trust
48:25before I deserved it
48:26who stood up in front
48:27of an army
48:28to unmake seven years
48:29of his own
48:29carefully constructed lie
48:31who fought his way
48:32to a throne
48:32he didn't want
48:33just so I could stand
48:34beside him on equal ground
48:36his soul
48:37I don't have the words for it
48:38even now
48:39a pillar of gold
48:40deep and unwavering
48:41and running through
48:42the heart of it
48:43a tide of pink
48:43so rich
48:44and so dark
48:45it looked like
48:45the last light
48:46of a sunset
48:46seen through clear water
48:48the kind of color time
48:49can't bleach
48:50it's the most beautiful
48:51thing I've ever seen
48:53and I've seen
48:54a lot of ugly things
48:55his arms tightened
48:56around me
48:58describe it
48:59I want to hear it
49:00I turned in his arms
49:01found his chest
49:02pressed my lips
49:04to the place
49:04above his heart
49:05and held them there
49:06I don't think
49:07any language
49:07has the right words
49:08I looked up at him
49:09and I have the rest
49:10of my life to try
49:11I don't know
49:12and I have the rest
49:13of my life to try
49:13but I know
49:13but I can't
Commenti