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00:00You want him to think you're dead?
00:01Perform a soul-severing ritual on me.
00:04You want him to think you're dead?
00:06Yes.
00:10The full moon glared down at the birthing altar.
00:13A contraction ripped through me so hard my spine arched off the stone.
00:17Dominic squeezed my hand.
00:19Almost there, Selina.
00:21My mate, my alpha, bound to me by the moon goddess herself.
00:24The pack priest walked in carrying a silver tray.
00:27I offered my arm for the pain relief.
00:29The needle pierced my skin.
00:31But it wasn't medicine.
00:32The pungent scent hit my nose.
00:34Wolfsbane.
00:35I looked at Dominic.
00:36He wasn't surprised.
00:37He was checking his watch.
00:39Vivian's water just broke.
00:41Delay her for two hours.
00:43Our true heir needs to be born first.
00:45He turned and walked away.
00:46Didn't look back.
00:47I tried to scream.
00:49I wanted my wolf to tear free and lunge after him.
00:52But the wolfsbane was already working.
00:54My wolf was dragged under.
00:55My voice died in my throat.
00:57And my pup halfway into the world stopped moving.
00:59Frozen inside me by her own father's command.
01:02Two pack guards dragged me down into the dungeon beneath the temple.
01:06A place for rogues, war prisoners, and wolves sentenced to death.
01:10Now it held the alpha's fated mate and his unborn child.
01:14A single rune lamp flickered on the wall.
01:17Straw on the floor.
01:18No bed.
01:19I slid down the freezing stone wall, hands clutching my belly.
01:22She was still kicking, faint, frantic.
01:26Mummy's here.
01:27Mummy's here.
01:28Three months ago, Dominic's older brother, Marcus, died in a territorial dispute.
01:40His mate Vivienne was carrying a boy.
01:42A pure-blood alpha heir.
01:44The only pup you could inherit.
01:46Mine was a girl.
01:47Girls couldn't inherit.
01:49The moment the ultrasound confirmed it, the entire Blackwood pack abandoned us both.
01:54Heels clicked down the corridor.
01:56Cassandra Blackwood.
01:57Dominic's sister.
01:58The pack beta.
02:04She stood outside the iron bars, twirling a silver dagger.
02:07The blade dragged along the bars, metal screeching.
02:10Selene, don't blame my brother.
02:13Vivienne is carrying Marcus's post-morious son.
02:16A pure-blood alpha heir.
02:17The only pup in our generation who can inherit the alpha title.
02:21It doesn't matter how early you give birth.
02:24You're carrying a girl.
02:25Girls can't inherit.
02:27You know that.
02:28A contraction slammed into me.
02:29The wolf's bane pushed the labor down.
02:31My body fought back.
02:33Two forces tore me apart from the inside.
02:36Get the priest.
02:37The baby is coming.
02:39Please.
02:40The wolf's bane will last another three hours.
02:44Vivienne has already been taken to the birthing altar.
02:47You'll stay here and wait.
02:49If she starts howling, gag her.
02:52Don't let the noise reach upstairs.
02:54Don't scare Vivienne.
03:01I looked down.
03:03My dress was soaked in blood.
03:04All I could see was Dominic's face.
03:06When he turned away, his eyes held no guilt.
03:08Just cold calculation.
03:10I dragged myself to the cell door.
03:11Then I punched the cell door hard.
03:13Again and again.
03:14Until my skin split open.
03:16Somebody!
03:17Help!
03:17I'm in labor!
03:18Save my baby!
03:20Shut up.
03:20If it dies, that's its fate.
03:22A girl with no inheritance rights.
03:24Her death won't affect the pack.
03:27My blood-stained hands slid off the cell door.
03:30I collapsed into a pool of my own blood.
03:33This wasn't fate.
03:34Someone was murdering my child.
03:36Just as my vision began to blur,
03:38the heavy door crashed open.
03:40She saw Dr. Holden, the pack doctor.
03:43The moment he saw me, all the colors drained from his face.
03:46Luna?
03:47What are you doing here?
03:49Dominic said you were resting in the Moonstone Lounge.
03:51Fully dilated.
03:52Water broke.
03:53You're losing too much blood.
03:55The Wolf of Spain is still suppressing your healing.
03:58Guards!
03:59The Luna is hemorrhaging!
04:01Only echoes answered.
04:03No one came.
04:04He tried his comm stone.
04:05Nothing.
04:06The dungeon's warding runes blocked all signals.
04:09Gritting his teeth, he scooped me up and ran.
04:11An aging beta carrying a bleeding woman up three flights of stone stairs.
04:15Every jolt sending agony through my pelvis.
04:18He burst onto the ground floor.
04:20Ran for the medical wing.
04:21Kicked open the door.
04:22And froze.
04:24He kicked open the door.
04:26And froze.
04:27Everything was gone.
04:28Stripped bare.
04:29Every Moonstone crystal, runestone, potion, gone.
04:32How?
04:33I checked inventory this afternoon.
04:36Cassandra strolled down the hall.
04:38Two Omega attendants followed behind her.
04:40We move to the third floor.
04:42Vivian's C-section is high risk.
04:44She needs the best resources.
04:46Her gaze drifted to me, drenched in blood, half dead in Dr. Holden's arms.
04:50She smiled.
04:51I knew that smile.
04:52Six months ago, she'd worn it downtown, linking her arm through mine.
04:56Selina, you're the best Luna I've ever met.
04:59You're more like a real sister to me.
05:01The antique Moonstone necklace I gave her still rested against her collarbone.
05:05It glowed softly in the dim hallway and made her smile look monstrous.
05:09Dr. Holden laid me on a bare stone cot.
05:12He tore open every cabinet and drawer.
05:14Empty.
05:15Not a single herb.
05:16I'm sorry, Luna.
05:18I have nothing.
05:20Relax.
05:20Once Vivian is done, the supplies will be returned.
05:23What's the rush?
05:25Her gaze dropped to my belly.
05:27Besides, you were nothing but a breeding machine from the beginning.
05:32And you couldn't even produce the right product.
05:35Dr. Holden stepped in front of me.
05:36This is murder, Cassandra.
05:38Two lives.
05:39Her smile vanished.
05:41Mothers and pups die in childbirth every day.
05:43Dystedia, hemorrhage, healing failure, perfectly natural causes of death.
05:48No one will say a damn thing.
05:49And this is Blackwood family business.
05:52You're a contract beta doctor.
05:54Know your place.
05:55She snapped at the guards.
05:57Drag him to the third floor.
05:58Vivian needs him.
05:59I'll handle her.
06:01Two guards grabbed Dr. Holden.
06:02He thrashed against them, screaming over his shoulder.
06:05Luna!
06:06Press your stomach!
06:07Shard the wolf hard!
06:08Fight the wolf on!
06:09The baby still has a heartbeat!
06:11You can still save her!
06:13Cassandra slammed the door, then pulled out a comm.
06:16Stone, Dominic's face appeared in the holographic screen.
06:19Behind him, the birthing altar blazed with light.
06:22Priests moved in and out.
06:23Nurses swarmed around Vivian.
06:25Dominic?
06:26Selina looks like she's about to deliver.
06:29Want to see?
06:30Dominic's eyes shifted to me.
06:32One glance, like I was trashed by the roadside.
06:34Again.
06:35Stop messing around, Selina.
06:37Vivian isn't doing well.
06:39The baby's heart rate dropped twice.
06:41Cassandra moved the stone closer, making sure the screen clearly showed my dying form.
06:45But look, she's bleeding a lot.
06:47Doesn't she look like she's dying?
06:48Tell her to wait.
06:49Once Vivian is done, I'll send a priest down.
06:52Cassandra pocketed the stone.
06:53You heard him?
06:54Vivian is the priority.
06:56Marcus' son is the priority.
06:57You were nothing.
06:59I closed my eyes, stopped looking at her.
07:01My hand crept behind my back, fingers finding the tiny raised bump on my left hip.
07:06It looked like a mole.
07:07It wasn't.
07:08A blood seal rune.
07:09My father had carved it into my skin on my wedding day with his own alpha blood.
07:13His voice echoed in my head.
07:14Selina, the waters in the Blackwood family may run deeper than you know.
07:18If the day ever comes when you need help, bite your finger and let one drop of blood
07:22fall on this rune.
07:23No matter where you are, someone will reach you within 30 minutes.
07:26I had laughed and pushed his hand away.
07:28Dad, you're being dramatic.
07:30Dominic treats me so well.
07:32I'm his mate.
07:33The moon goddess chose him for me.
07:36How could he ever hurt me?
07:37My father had been silent for a long time.
07:40Then he only said one thing.
07:41The moon goddess binds the souls, Selina.
07:44But she doesn't bind the heart.
07:46I was such a fool.
07:47Blood welled on my fingertip.
07:49I let it fall on the rune.
07:5330 minutes.
07:54I looked at the blood pooling beneath me.
07:56My baby's heartbeat was still there.
07:58Hold on.
07:59Please hold on.
08:00The wolf's bane suppression broke.
08:01Every contraction that had been held back for hours hit at once.
08:04Like a damn collapsing wave.
08:06After wave.
08:07Faster.
08:08Harder.
08:08I screamed.
08:09The sound ricocheted off stone walls.
08:11An omega attendant rushed in, checked me, and went white.
08:15Fully dilated.
08:16The head's crowning.
08:17Hemorrhage.
08:17We need moonstone crystals.
08:18Healing rooms.
08:19Anything.
08:19Cassandra didn't even step into the room.
08:21Then let them die.
08:23It's just a girl.
08:25Completely useless.
08:27Alive.
08:28She's a waste of space.
08:30Dead.
08:31Changes nothing.
08:32She turned and walked away.
08:34The attendant tried.
08:35But I had no blood left.
08:36No strength.
08:37No wolf.
08:37My muscles wouldn't obey me.
08:39The baby was stuck in the birth canal.
08:41I could feel her heartbeat getting weaker.
08:43Slower fading.
08:44My vision went black.
08:45I am sorry, baby.
08:46Mommy tried.
08:47A deafening wolf howl tore through the night.
08:50The entire Blackwood Territory shook.
08:52The protective wards fled violently across the walls.
08:55Then shattered.
08:56A booming blast rocked the building.
08:59Centuries of Blackwood enchantments.
09:00Destroyed in seconds.
09:02Moonlight flooded the room.
09:04In that silver light stood a massive man in tactical combat gear.
09:10He ripped off his helmet.
09:12Battle scarred face.
09:13Cold silver eyes.
09:14Eyes that had witnessed countless massacres and never flinched.
09:18But the moment they found me, they turned bloodshot.
09:20Garrett.
09:21My father's head better.
09:23The man who caught me every time I fell learning to walk.
09:25Who shifted into wolf form and slept beside my bed when I was afraid of the dark.
09:30Who stood at the very back of my wedding, silent, jaw locked, eyes red.
09:34Because he already knew.
09:35He crossed the room in one stride and dropped to one knee.
09:38The stone floor cracked under the impact.
09:40Princess.
09:41Princess.
09:43I am late.
09:44Behind him stood 12 heavily armored warriors.
09:47Silver eyes.
09:48Weapons drawn.
09:48The elite shadow fangard.
09:50Blackwood guards lay unconscious in the hall.
09:52The Omega attendants screamed.
09:54This is Blackwood territory!
09:56Who are you?
09:57How did you get in?
09:58Garrett didn't look at her.
09:59He was already lifting me off the cot.
10:01One arm beneath my knees.
10:02The other cradling my head.
10:03As gently as if I were made of glass.
10:05Blackwood?
10:08Soon, there won't be a Blackwood.
10:10The shadow fang warriors moved with terrifying efficiency.
10:14From the moment the captain picked me up to the second, I was loaded into an armored pack ambulance waiting
10:18just outside the borders.
10:20Barely four minutes had passed.
10:22Four minutes I had bled in that dungeon for hours, begging for help and no one came.
10:26Shadow fang shattered the territory's defenses and extracted me in four minutes.
10:30Inside the medical transport, emergency moonstone arrays flared to life, bathing my body in pure silver light.
10:37Blood pressure critically low.
10:38Blood loss exceeds the lethal threshold by three times.
10:41Fetal distress is severe.
10:42Heart rate is under 60 and dropping.
10:45We must perform an emergency C-section right now, but her vitals can't handle surgery.
10:49Do it!
10:50The captain's roar rattled the walls of the ambulance.
10:53Every medic flinched.
10:54He gripped my hand, his knuckles white, veins bulging up his forearms.
10:58I'll take full responsibility.
11:00Cut her open!
11:01I squeezed his fingers back, using the absolute last shred of my strength.
11:06Garrett.
11:08Garrett, save the baby.
11:11Save the baby first.
11:13Garrett, my father's head beater.
11:15The man who had guarded me since the day I was born.
11:17When I was learning to walk and fell, he was the one who picked me up.
11:20When I was terrified of the dark, he shifted into his wolf form and slept beside my bed the entire
11:24night.
11:25On the day I got married, he stood at the very back of the crowd, completely silent, his eyes red.
11:30Now he was kneeling beside my stretcher, his combat armor stained with blackwood blood, his silver eyes completely bloodshot.
11:36Princess, don't speak.
11:38Save your strength.
11:39His voice trembled, but he gritted out every word like a blood oath.
11:43The Alpha is on his way.
11:44He'll be here soon.
11:46You and the pup will be fine.
11:47I swear it on my life.
11:49Before he could finish, the moonstone array above the operating table violently flickered.
11:53The vital sign monitors erupted into a shrill, piercing, uninterrupted scream.
11:59Cardiac arrest.
12:02The Luna's heart has stopped.
12:04Push the moonlight essence.
12:05Start the recitation, Ronin.
12:07Fetal heart rate is plummeting.
12:0970, 50, 30.
12:11Scalpel, now.
12:12The medics shoved Garrett out of the way.
12:14He stumbled back into the corner of the ambulance, clenching his fists so hard his claws tore through his own
12:20palms,
12:20blood dripping onto the metal floor.
12:22The surgeon sliced open my abdomen with a rune-carbed scalpel.
12:25Silver energy flooded the incision, forcibly cauterizing the bleeding.
12:29They were draining the absolute limits of their healing stones just to keep my soul tethered to my body.
12:33Essence injected.
12:35Heartbeat is faint but back.
12:37Where's the pup?
12:38Found her!
12:39Extract!
12:40Pull her out!
12:41The umbilical cape is wrapped around her neck.
12:43Damn it!
12:43The wolfsbane choked off her oxygen in the womb for too long.
12:46She's out!
12:47She's out!
12:47They pulled a baby from my womb, but she didn't cry.
12:51In the final second, before the darkness swallowed me entirely, I forced my eyes open.
12:56My vision was a massive blur of blinding silver light.
12:59But I saw it.
13:00Through the haze, the doctor held a tiny blood-covered infant in his hands.
13:04She wasn't moving.
13:05She wasn't breathing.
13:07She didn't cry.
13:07The voices faded, faded into an abyss of static.
13:11The last thing I heard was Garrett, a battle-hardened warrior in his 40s, covered in 37 scars, a man
13:17who had ripped the throats out of hundreds of rogues, collapsing into the corner of the ambulance, and silently weeping.
13:22I woke up to the harsh smell of medical bleach, mixed with the crisp, ozone scent of moonstone
13:28crystals.
13:28The princess is awake!
13:30Someone shouted in relief.
13:32Several faces crowded my vision.
13:34Familiar faces.
13:36My father's personal elite guards.
13:38Uncles who had watched me grow up.
13:40Garrett stood closest to the bed.
13:42His jaw was clenched so tight a muscle ticked in his cheek.
13:45His eyes rimmed with red.
13:46Seeing me open my eyes, his lips parted, but no words came out.
13:50He just gave me one stiff, trembling nod.
13:53Where is she?
13:55A figure standing at the foot of my bed slowly turned around.
13:58My father.
13:59My father, the current alpha of the Shadowfang Pack, the absolute ruler of the oldest, most
14:04lethal werewolf bloodline on the North American continent.
14:07In the entire werewolf world, his name alone made other alphas bow their heads in submission.
14:12He was 54, his posture as straight as a spear.
14:16I had never seen him slouch.
14:17But right now, his hair was completely white.
14:20Overnight, he had gone totally gray.
14:22He walked over and sat on the edge of my bed.
14:24He took my hand in his.
14:26His hands were massive, calloused, scarred from decades of war.
14:29These hands had snapped the necks of his enemies and signed treaties that dictated the
14:33fates of millions of wolves.
14:34Right now, they were shaking.
14:36Selena.
14:37He choked on my name.
14:38He bowed his head.
14:39In my entire life, I had never seen this man bow his head.
14:42Not when facing the interrogations of the Seven Alpha Council.
14:46Not when executing traitors with his bare hands.
14:49Not even when he stood before my mother's grave for an entire night.
14:53But now, looking at me, he bowed his head.
14:55She's gone, isn't she?
14:58I looked at him, and I knew the answer.
15:01My father nodded.
15:03I felt a single, scalding tear fell from his face onto the back of my hand.
15:08The hemorrhage, placental abtruction, the wolf bait in her bloodstream.
15:12She was deprived of oxygen for too long.
15:14The doctors did everything.
15:16The moonlight essence, the healing stones, the ancient bloodline resurrection rituals.
15:21We couldn't bring her back.
15:22The room fell dead silent.
15:24The only sound was the low, steady hum of the medical crystals.
15:27I closed my eyes.
15:29That tiny life that had lived inside me for nine months.
15:32The pup that kicked my ribs.
15:33The pup that made me run to the bathroom three times a night.
15:36The little wolf who would instantly calm down the second I rubbed my belly and whispered,
15:41Mommy's here, gone.
15:43Where is Dominic?
15:44My father lifted his head and wiped his face.
15:46Who?
15:47At the Blackwood Pack.
15:48By Vivian's side.
15:49She gave birth.
15:50A boy.
15:51Pure blood alpha lineage.
15:53The entire Blackwood Pack is throwing a massive celebration for their new heir.
15:57They held the moonlight recognition ceremony.
15:59The old alpha hosted it himself, right before he died.
16:02Not a single person thought of you.
16:04Not a single person asked if you were dead or alive.
16:07I laughed.
16:08My chest heaved as a broken, hysterical laugh tore out of my throat.
16:12The mate bond was still pulsing faintly in my chest.
16:16I could feel Dominic's heartbeat.
16:18Steady, joyful, untroubled.
16:20He was smiling.
16:22He was celebrating.
16:23His fated mate had nearly bled to death in a dungeon and his daughter was a corpse.
16:27And he was celebrating.
16:29Good.
16:30That's good.
16:31My father tightened his grip on my hand.
16:33Selina, come home with me.
16:36Blackwood Pack doesn't deserve you.
16:41Dad, I need you to do something for me.
16:44Anything.
16:46Perform a soul-severing ritual on me.
16:48My father froze the soul-severing ritual.
16:51One of the darkest, most ancient forbidden arts of the Shadowfang bloodline.
16:55It artificially severed a mate bond, forcing the other party to experience the exact physical sensation of their mate dying.
17:01The stopping of the heart.
17:02The shredding of the soul.
17:04The permanent snapping of the bond.
17:05To the person on the receiving end, it felt exactly like their mate had perished.
17:10You want him to think you're dead?
17:12Yes.
17:12The soul-severing ritual took place on the obsidian altar, deep within the Shadowfang's ancestral lands.
17:18Midnight.
17:19A new moon.
17:20Pitch black.
17:21It was the only time we could deceive the moon goddess's gaze.
17:24I lay on the cold stone, surrounded by four of our oldest priests.
17:29Their chanting was deep, guttural, vibrating with the ancient, lost tongue of the first wolves.
17:34My chest sounded violent.
17:35It was demonic heart-nut, eating inside me, clear across a thousand miles.
17:40The high priest pressed his palm against my sternum.
17:43The runes flared blinding white.
17:45And then, an invisible silver spike was viciously ripped out of my heart.
17:49The mate bond is a tether woven into the soul.
17:52Severing it felt like two deeply intertwined trees being violently ripped apart by their roots.
17:56I clamped my teeth together, refusing to scream.
17:59In my mind's eye, I saw glowing golden threads.
18:02The physical manifestation of our bonds snapping one by one, turning into ash.
18:06When the final thread broke.
18:07My chest went completely hollow.
18:09A terrifying, absolute emptiness.
18:12Like someone had reached into my ribcage and carved out my heart.
18:15Leaving nothing but a gaping void.
18:17The ritual was complete.
18:18From this second onward, in Dominic's mind and soul, I was dead.
18:23Meanwhile, a thousand miles away, in the heart of Blackwood Territory,
18:27Dominic stood proudly at the main altar, accepting the congratulatory toasts from his pack members.
18:32Without warning, it felt as if an invisible claw had just plunged into his chest and ripped it open.
18:37The bond snapped.
18:39The bond snapped.
18:39He crashed to his knees.
18:40His hands desperately clawed at his own chest, his nails digging so deep into his own flesh that blood poured
18:46out over his shirt.
18:47A primal, guttural roar of pure agony exploded from his throat.
18:52Cassandra shoved through the panicked crowd.
18:55Brother, what's wrong?
18:57Dominic convulsed on the marble floor, his claws scraping sickeningly against the stone.
19:02Selena, she's dead.
19:04The bond just broke.
19:06She's dead.
19:07Cassandra's face drained of color for a split second, but only a second.
19:11Brother, calm down.
19:12She was always going to...
19:14Get the fuck away from me!
19:16Dominic backhanded her so hard she went backward, crashing violently into the altar pillars.
19:20He scrambled to his feet, stumbling and sprinting wildly out of the temple.
19:25The dungeon was empty.
19:27There was nothing left but a massive coagulated pool of blood and a soaked pile of straw,
19:32and the rapidly fading scent of Selene lingering in the damp air.
19:35Dominic stood frozen in the center of the blood pool.
19:38He stood there for a very, very long time.
19:40Long enough for Cassandra to finally creep into the room and gingerly touch his arm.
19:46Brother.
19:49You locked her in here?
19:51I just told her to wait.
19:54Wait for what?
19:56Wait to die?
19:58Those were two lives!
20:00My mate!
20:01My pup!
20:02Cassandra took a step back.
20:03But she was having a girl!
20:05She was useless to the pack!
20:08The sharp crack of flesh meeting flesh echoed through the dungeon.
20:11Cassandra's head whipped to the side, a bright red handprint instantly welling up on her cheek.
20:16She clutched her face, staring at Dominic in total disbelief.
20:20Dominic glared at her.
20:21If I had been by her side, she wouldn't have died!
20:24If you hadn't taken all the medical supplies, she wouldn't have died!
20:29If I hadn't ordered them to inject her with wolf faith...
20:32He couldn't finish the sentence.
20:34Because the subject of that sentence was pre-Sindwen, from start to finish, he made every single decision.
20:40Cassandra was just the executioner.
20:42The person who murdered Selene and their child was him.
20:44I spent the next few weeks recovering in the Shadowfang estate.
20:47My body healed agonizingly slowly.
20:49The Wolfsbane residue severely crippled my cellular regeneration, and the pack doctor estimated it would take three months to completely
20:56purge it from my system.
20:57But I wasn't in a hurry.
20:59I had all the time in the world.
21:00My father ate with me and walked with me every day, treating me exactly like he did when I was
21:05a little girl.
21:05He never brought up the Blackwoods.
21:07But I knew his intelligence network never stopped spinning.
21:11Shadowfang's eyes and ears were buried in every major pack in North America.
21:15That was the terrifying power of an ancient bloodline.
21:18Every meeting, every decision.
21:20Every hushed conversation the Blackwoods had was transcribed and placed on my desk.
21:24Dominic had brought my corpse, a flawlessly forged illusion, created by the soul-severing ritual back to the Blackwood Manor.
21:31He didn't place the casket in the main hall.
21:34It was shoved into a side morning room.
21:36I saw Vivienne and her son had already moved into the Alpha's master suite.
21:40They were surrounded by wet nurses, guards, and priests around the clock.
21:45Elder Blackwood had issued his final decree before his stroke.
21:48Keep the funeral brief and simple.
21:51Do not bring bad luck to the newborn heir.
21:54Find a random day to bury her coffin in the family cemetery.
21:57She was a Luna, so make the grave look decent.
22:00He dressed it up in polite words, but the translation was clear.
22:05Dispose of the dead woman, quickly.
22:07The living heir is the only future this pack has.
22:11Dominic didn't argue.
22:12He sat in the morning room, guarding the casket.
22:15Three days and three nights.
22:16No food, no water.
22:18Cassandra tried to talk to him,
22:21but he threw her out.
22:23Vivienne eventually walked in, cradling the baby.
22:27Dominic, my condolences.
22:30Selina is with the Moon Goddess now.
22:33She wouldn't want to see you like this.
22:36Do you know what she was thinking about?
22:38Dominic slowly lifted his head and stared at her.
22:41Right before she died.
22:44She was wondering why her Alpha wasn't with her.
22:48Why everyone was waiting for your baby to be born,
22:51and no one gave a single damn if she lived or died.
22:54Dominic, what is that supposed to mean?
22:57I practically died on that table too?
22:59Yes.
23:00You went through a lot.
23:01Dominic interrupted, his voice dead.
23:03But she died.
23:05Two corpses.
23:10Just because the pup in her stummy didn't have a dick,
23:13they deserved to die?
23:14As she turned to leave,
23:15she threw one last sentence over her shoulder.
23:18Don't forget Dominic.
23:19My son is the one continuing the Blackwood bloodline now.
23:23Dead people are useless.
23:26Vivienne and her...
23:27The absolute decimation of the Blackwood pack
23:28began in the second week.
23:30First, their territorial alliances collapsed.
23:33The Silvercrest pack.
23:35Allies with the Blackwoods for three generations
23:37abruptly terminated their treaties.
23:40When Dominic sent I envoised to negotiate,
23:43the gates were slammed in their faces.
23:45An anonymous dossier was submitted to the Seven Alpha Council.
23:49It detailed the Blackwood pack's use of wolfsbane on their Luna,
23:52her illegal imprisonment,
23:54and the deliberate denial of medical care during labor.
23:57Every single accusation was a heavy felony under pack law.
24:00The council dispatched inquisitors
24:02to occupy Blackwood territory for a month.
24:05Panic swept through their subordinate packs,
24:08and one by one they defected,
24:10seeking asylum with rival Alpha families.
24:13Next, their resources were completely severed.
24:16The Blackwoods had monopolized the Moonstone mines for generations.
24:19Suddenly, the neighboring pack upstream dammed the mystical rivers.
24:24Without the spiritual water nourishing the land,
24:27the Moonstone yield plummeted to zero.
24:30Moonstone crystals were the Blackwood pack's entire economy.
24:33When production halted, their trade routes snapped,
24:36and their finances instantly went bankrupt.
24:39In less than a month, the Blackwoods devolved from a top-three powerhouse
24:43on the East Coast into an isolated, quarantined, bankrupt, starving pack.
24:50Elder Blackwood was so enraged that his inner wolf went rogue.
24:53During a forced shift, his blood vessels ruptured.
24:56He suffered a massive stroke and collapsed.
24:59This time, there was no saving him.
25:01Save the pack, the air, the bloodline.
25:05And then he died.
25:11Almost no one attended his funeral.
25:14Those who did only showed up to sneer.
25:17Dominic stood by the coffin like a stone statue, completely expressionless.
25:21When the last guest left, he turned to Vivienne.
25:24Take the kid and leave the Blackwood territory.
25:27Vivienne shrieked.
25:28What did you just say?
25:30I'll give you a safe house outside our borders
25:33and enough cash to live comfortably for the rest of your lives.
25:36Get out.
25:37I'm your sister-in-law!
25:39This boy carries Marcus's blood!
25:41The elder named him the sole heir!
25:43Heir to what?
25:44Dominic chuckled.
25:45A dark mocking sound.
25:46A pack that's being liquidated by the council?
25:49A territory that's about to be butchered and divided among our rivals?
25:53Vivienne glared at him, then let out a sharp, cold laugh.
25:57Don't bullshit me, Dominic.
25:59You're not doing this out of guilt for Selina.
26:01Selina, you're just terrified.
26:03Terrified of what?
26:04Of those black wolves that stormed the dungeon that night.
26:08You're terrified of whatever monster spack was backing you, Selina.
26:11You know they're coming back.
26:13You're kicking me out so you can wash your hands of us and save your own skin.
26:17She adjusted the baby in her arms and sneered as she walked to the door.
26:21She paused to spit out one final insult.
26:24You weren't so scared when you ordered the prices to inject wolf bark into her veins.
26:28Dominic stood alone in the empty morning hall.
26:31He didn't say a word, because she was absolutely right.
26:34I sat in the study of the Shadowfang estate, flipping through the latest intelligence reports.
26:40My father walked in holding a cup of tea.
26:42The council has ruled to strip the black hoods of two-thirds of their territory.
26:47The core sector they have left won't survive six months.
26:51I closed the file, faster than I predicted.
26:55My father sat down, staying quiet for a moment.
26:59Selina, is it enough?
27:01I looked up.
27:02I don't pity him.
27:03My father clarified.
27:04I just don't want you trapped in this darkness.
27:06Vengeance is a double-edged blade.
27:08Hold it too long and it'll slice your own hands.
27:10I stood up and walked to the window.
27:12Beyond the glass stretched the vast, jagged mountains of the Shadowfang ancestral lands.
27:16The moonlight spilled over the pine forests, turning the world into an ocean of silver.
27:20I stepped out of the darkness the second my daughter died.
27:24Right now, I'm just collecting a debt.
27:27My father looked at me, his eyes full of complex sorrow.
27:30You've changed.
27:31You used to smile so much.
27:33Now, even your smiles look hollow.
27:36I didn't turn around.
27:37Some people take a lifetime to grow up.
27:39Some people just need one betrayal.
27:42My father didn't argue.
27:43He set the teacup down and quietly left the room.
27:46My phone buzzed.
27:47Arshawuzi, it was Dominic.
27:49More accurately, it was him calling the old comms and frequency, Dead Selene.
27:54Shadowfang's Texem Witches had kept the line open and routed it to my secure device.
27:58I didn't say a word.
28:00His raspy, broken voice bled through the speaker.
28:03Selina, I know you can't hear me.
28:07But I don't know who else to talk to anymore.
28:09He sounded like he had been swallowing glass.
28:11The background was dead silent.
28:12He was probably sitting in the morning hall again.
28:14The pack is finished.
28:15The territory is gone.
28:16Our allies ran and the council report drops next week.
28:18They're probably going to strip my alpha title.
28:20My father is dead.
28:22Vivienne left.
28:23Cass hates me.
28:24It's just me left.
28:25I'm the only one left in the whole territory.
28:28A long, suffocating silence.
28:31I keep thinking, if I hadn't let them inject you with wolf vein that night, would you still
28:36be alive?
28:36If I had just left you half of the moonstone crystals, would your wolf have healed you?
28:39If I wasn't so damn greedy, wanting the perfect air, wanting the alpha seat, wanting absolute
28:43control over everything, would you still be here?
28:47Would you still be rubbing your belly, laughing and telling she was kicking again?
28:52Another silence.
28:53Then, a microscopic, muffled sob.
28:57But there are no ifs.
28:58You're dead.
29:00Our pup is dead.
29:01And I did it.
29:03I could live a thousand lifetimes and never pay off this debt.
29:07The line clicked dead.
29:09I sat in the moonlight, gripping the foam.
29:12Outside, the wind tore through the pine trees, rustling the branches.
29:16After a very long time, I put the phone down on the desk.
29:20The black screen reflected my face.
29:22Totally blank.
29:23Not a single tear.
29:25Three months later, my body was entirely healed.
29:28The wolf bay was purged from my veins.
29:30My cellular regeneration was operating at maximum capacity.
29:33And my wolf had finally woken up.
29:35She was quieter than before.
29:37But vastly more lethal.
29:39My father was waiting for me in the study.
29:41On the mahogany desk lay a single document.
29:44The official transfer of the Shadowfang Alpha title.
29:47Are you ready?
29:48I'm ready.
29:49He nodded, sliding the papers towards me.
29:52Sign this, and you are the next Alpha of the Shadowfang Pack.
29:56The apex predator of the seven ancient bloodlines of North America.
30:00Are you absolutely certain?
30:02Once you walk this path, there is no turning back.
30:04I picked up the pen and signed my name without a fraction of hesitation.
30:07The second the ink dried, a terrifying surge of raw power exploded from the floorboards,
30:12rocketing up my spine and flooding every cell in my body.
30:15The Shadowfang bloodline was acknowledging me.
30:17The earth of our ancestral lands was answering me.
30:19Outside the window, massive, thousand-year-old pine trees violently trembled in unison,
30:24emitting a low, groaning hum, as if bowing to their new Alpha.
30:27My father looked at me, his eyes slightly red, but he smiled.
30:31You look just like your mother.
30:32From that day on, I officially took over the Shadowfang Empire.
30:35To the outside world, I was the new Alpha, operating under the alias Silver.
30:39No one knew Silver was Selina.
30:41No one knew the discarded, murdered Luna of the Blackwood Pack
30:44was actually the reigning queen of North America's deadliest werewolf syndicate.
30:49I stopped paying attention to the Blackie's collapse.
30:51I didn't need to anymore.
30:54Dominic had liquidated the last scraps of their territory and formally disbanded the Pact.
31:00A dynasty that had ruled for five generations completely ceased to exist in three months.
31:08He lived alone in the crumbling Blackwood Manor.
31:11The council allowed him to keep the house as a final sliver of mercy for a former Alpha.
31:17He only did two things every day.
31:20Drink.
31:21And sit in front of my gravestone.
31:24Sometimes he talked.
31:25Sometimes he just stared.
31:29Garrett's intelligence reports noted that he had lost nearly 30 pounds.
31:33His hair was mostly white and his mental state was completely shattered.
31:38The backlash of the severed mate bond was slowly rotting him from the inside out.
31:43Insomnia.
31:44Auditory hallucinations.
31:46The inability to shift into his wolf form.
31:49Uncontrollable violent outbursts.
31:51He took symptoms of an Alpha whose mate had been ripped from his soul.
31:55A mild case could survive for a few years.
31:57A severe case wouldn't last a year.
32:00Dominic was the most severe case possible.
32:02Because our bond didn't break through natural death.
32:05It was violently amputated by a dark magic.
32:08The room was infinitely deeper.
32:10The rot was infinitely faster.
32:12Princess.
32:13Should we intervene?
32:15At this rate of decay, he has six months.
32:18Max.
32:19No intervention.
32:22This is his debt to pay.
32:25Month six.
32:26A freezing late autumn night.
32:28I had just finished signing off on the day's operations and stood by the study window,
32:33staring out at the mountain ridges.
32:36Princess.
32:39He went to your grave again.
32:41He goes every day.
32:44Tonight is different.
32:47He brought a silver dagger.
32:49A silver dagger.
32:50To Ewolf, that wasn't a weapon.
32:53It was an execution tool.
32:54If silver pierced the heart, the healing factor was instantly neutralized.
32:59Death was absolute.
33:01It was the only foolproof method of suicide for our kind.
33:05What is he doing?
33:07Sitting in front of the headstone.
33:09Holding the blade.
33:10He hasn't moved yet.
33:11It looks like he's hesitating.
33:15Or waiting for something.
33:16I looked up at the sky.
33:18Tonight was a full moon.
33:20Exactly nine months ago, under a full moon,
33:22I lay on the birthing altar while he casually ordered them to pump wolf's bane into my veins.
33:28Nine months.
33:29The exact time it took to carry a child to term.
33:33Get the car ready.
33:37Princess?
33:38I'm going to see him.
33:40One last time.
33:42And then, this is completely finished.
33:44The cemetery at midnight.
33:46The Blackwood family graveyard was situated on a sloping hill at the edge of the Old Territory.
33:52Surrounded by pines, the moonlight bled through the branches, scattering silver shards across the grass.
33:59I stood deep in the shadows, watching Dominic.
34:02He was sitting in front of my gravestone.
34:05He was so emaciated, he barely looked human.
34:08His cheekbones jutted sharply against his gaunt face.
34:11His eye sockets were sunken hollows.
34:13He wasn't even forty, but he looked like an old man.
34:17He gripped the silver dagger, the blade glinting with a lethal, icy white glare.
34:21The doctor says my wolf is dying.
34:25The bond rot has hit the terminal stage.
34:32I can't shift anymore.
34:35My healing is gone.
34:38I'm no better than a human now.
34:40No.
34:41I'm worse than a human.
34:45Humans don't have nightmares every single night, of their mate screaming their name in a pool of blood.
34:50He raised the dagger, staring at his own pathetic reflection in the polished silver.
34:55I thought about a lot of ways to die.
34:58But a wolf should die by silver.
35:00The most dignified thing I'll ever do is die like a werewolf.
35:03He pressed the tip against his chest, right over his heart.
35:08Savine, I'm coming.
35:10Let me be a dog in my next life.
35:13You can kick me, you can curse me.
35:15Just please, don't let me.
35:17He squeezed his eyes shut, his hands shaking as he prepared to thrust the blade.
35:22I kicked a pebble.
35:23The sharp clack echoed loudly in the dead silent graveyard.
35:26Dominic's eyes snapped open.
35:28The tip of the blade had just pierced his skin.
35:30A thin line of blood trickling down his shirt.
35:33Who's there?
35:34He scrambled up, turning toward the sound.
35:36The moonlight shifted, illuminating my face.
35:39He saw me.
35:40The silver dagger slipped from his trembling fingers, burying itself into the dirt.
35:45You.
35:46His lips quivered uncontrollably.
35:49He looked like a man whose sanity had just snapped.
35:52It's me.
35:54I'm not dead.
35:56Surprised?
35:57He stood absolutely paralyzed, bolted to the earth, his eyes flooded with tears.
36:02He lunged forward, trying to pull me into his arms.
36:05Garrett instantly stepped in front of me, planting a massive hand on Dominic's chest and giving him a slight shove.
36:11Dominic staggered backward like a dead leaf, nearly tripping over his own feet.
36:15Six months ago.
36:16He was an alpha now.
36:17He couldn't even withstand a casual push from a beater.
36:27He tried to sidestep Garrett, but three more Shadowfang guards instantly materialized from the tree line, boxing him in.
36:34Only then did he realize who I had brought.
36:36I killed four warriors in pitch black tactical armor, all with silver irises, all wearing the Shadowfang crest on their
36:42chests.
36:43His expression shifted from hysterical joy to confusion to a slow, creeping, terrifying realization.
36:48Who are they?
36:50My men.
36:51Dominic stared at me.
36:52He looked at me from head to toe, and my own eyes were faintly glowing silver in the dark, the
36:56absolute mark of an awakened ancient bloodline alpha.
36:58I looked nothing like the submissive, fragile Omega wife he remembered.
37:00Who the hell are you?
37:01He choked out, his whole body shaking.
37:03Let me reintroduce myself.
37:04I stared down at him, my tone as polite and detached as if I were speaking to a stranger.
37:09Celine Ashfield, direct bloodline heir to the Shadowfang pack, current reigning alpha queen.
37:14The apex predator of the seven ancient bloodlines.
37:16Dominic whispered, his mind breaking, as if responding to my presence.
37:20The moonlight suddenly intensified.
37:27Blazing down on us.
37:29Behind me, my four elite guards simultaneously.
37:34They dropped to one knee, lowering their heads in absolute submission.
37:37Dominic stumbled backward.
37:41One step, two steps, until his spine slammed against my gravestone.
37:45Impossible.
37:45You said you were rogue, an orphan.
37:47No pack, no f-
37:54Family.
37:54I lied.
37:55My father forbade me from marrying you.
37:57He said a black lip wasn't worthy of wiping dirt off the shadow.
38:03No fox boots.
38:05I didn't listen.
38:06I threw a tantrum and forced his hand.
38:07Looking back, every single word he said was right.
38:13No fox boots.
38:15No fox boots.
38:16No, no, no.
38:19So everything that happened to the Blackwoods over the past six months, the territory lost,
38:23the allies betraying us, the council sanctions?
38:25My father orchestrated it.
38:26I simply chose not to stop him.
38:28Or-
38:29Why didn't you tell me who you were?
38:31His voice suddenly skyrocketed, cracking like tearing fabric.
38:34If you had told me you were the Shadowfang heir-
38:37I would what?
38:38I cut him off smoothly.
38:39You would have treated me better?
38:41You wouldn't have pumped wolf bean into my veins?
38:44You wouldn't have locked me in a dungeon to bleed out?
38:47Think very carefully before you answer that, Dominic.
38:50From the very beginning, all you wanted was an easily manipulated, powerless mate with zero backing.
38:56Someone you could sacrifice whenever it became convenient.
38:59If you had known I was the Shadowfane heir, you would have been too terrified to even look in my
39:03direction.
39:05You probably would have found a way to magically sever the bond before I even got pregnant,
39:09just so you could trade me out for a more obedient Luna.
39:12He couldn't say a word.
39:14Because it was the absolute truth.
39:16He knew it.
39:17I knew it.
39:18The silence stretched on for an eternity, long enough for the moon to drift from the treetops to the dead
39:23center of the sky.
39:24Finally, Dominic laughed.
39:26A very quiet, hollow laugh.
39:28The sound of a man completely accepting his own destruction.
39:31So from start to finish, I was just the loser.
39:34This was never about winning or losing.
39:36It's about the two lives you owe, and you can't afford to pay.
39:39He looked at me.
39:40His eyes slowly shifted from agonizing torment to a strange, vacant peace.
39:44The kind of peace a man only finds when he has absolutely nothing left to lose.
39:50Can I ask you one last question?
39:52Ask.
39:55Did you, even for a single second, actually love me?
40:00The moonlight was quiet.
40:02The pine forest was quiet.
40:03I looked at his skeletal, decaying face.
40:06I couldn't even recognize the man he used to be.
40:08I thought back to the library on campus, years ago.
40:11You read a lot, huh?
40:12He had helped me pick up my dropped books, flashing a bright, warm smile.
40:16You read a lot, huh?
40:17He had laughed.
40:19The sunlight hitting his face had felt so safe, so clean.
40:23I loved you.
40:25Tears finally spilled over Dominic's eyelids, tracking down his hollow cheeks.
40:31That's enough.
40:32I turned around and started walking away.
40:35After three steps, I stopped.
40:36I didn't look back.
40:38Garrett, confiscate his silver dagger.
40:41Yes, Alpha.
40:42I kept walking into the dark.
40:44I didn't stop again, behind me.
40:46Dominic's voice drifted through the freezing wind, so faint it sounded like a ghost.
40:50I'm sorry, Selene.
40:51I didn't turn my head.
40:53Three months later, Dominic died alone on the floor of the Blackwood Manor.
40:57It was the mate Bond rot.
40:58Garrett had taken his dagger, but he couldn't confiscate the festering wound carved into Dominic's soul.
41:04The severed Bond was a bleeding gash that could never be closed, devouring his life force day by day.
41:10First, his wolf died completely.
41:12A werewolf without a wolf was just a hollow shell, like a tree stripped of its roots.
41:17Then, his immune system collapsed, his senses deteriorated, and his muscles atrophied.
41:23Finally, total organ failure.
41:25According to the last few rogue Amegas who had squatted in the manor, it was a full moon the night
41:30he died.
41:30The moonlight spilled through the skylight, painting the floorboard silver.
41:34He lay on the exact spot in the morning hall where my fake casket had once been placed.
41:39He was clutching something in his hand.
41:40A red hair tie, mine when I was pregnant.
41:44My hair was always in my face, so I constantly tied it back with a dark red ribbon.
41:49The night I went into labour, it must have slipped off and fallen into the bloody straw in the dungeon.
41:54I don't know when he went back to dig it out of the filth, but he had held onto it
41:58ever since.
41:59He held it until his last breath.
42:01The Amegas said he died very quietly.
42:03No thrashing, no expressions of pain.
42:05The corners of his mouth were even slightly turned up, like he was smiling.
42:08Or like he had finally, finally been allowed to exhale.
42:12It was when the news reached Shadowfang.
42:14I was in the middle of signing a massive territorial integration treaty.
42:19On Sea Ink dried, Shadowfang would officially annex the resource networks of the three remaining ancient packs on the east
42:25coast, cementing us as the absolute supreme power on the council.
42:28Garret knocked and stepped into the office.
42:31He stood silently in front of my desk, hesitating.
42:35I didn't look up from the paperwork.
42:37Speak.
42:38Dominic Blackwood was confirmed dead this morning.
42:41Mate bond backlash.
42:43Organ failure.
42:44My pen paused for a fraction of a second.
42:47Understood.
42:47I closed the file and handed it to my assistant.
42:50Dispatch this treaty today.
42:51I want the signatures of the other two Alphas on my desk before next week.
42:55The assistant bowed and quickly left the room.
42:58Garrett and I were the only ones left.
43:00He stood there in silence for a long time.
43:04Alpha Queen, there's one more thing.
43:05Spit it out.
43:07While clearing out his belongings, the scavengers found a letter.
43:11It was explicitly addressed to you.
43:13He pulled a weathered envelope from his jacket and placed it on the edge of my desk.
43:17The envelope was incredibly frayed and worn around the edges, like it had been picked up, squeezed, and put back
43:23down thousands of times.
43:24Only one word was written on it.
43:27Selene.
43:28I stared at the envelope.
43:29I didn't move a muscle.
43:31Leave it there.
43:32Garrett nodded, turning to walk out.
43:34At the door, he paused.
43:36Alpha Queen.
43:38What?
43:39When he passed, he was holding your hair tie.
43:42I picked up the next dossier and flipped it open.
43:46I said, I understand.
43:48Garrett quietly closed the door.
43:50The room fell dead silent.
43:52When outside the window, the jagged peaks of the Shadowfang Mountains rolled endlessly into the horizon.
43:58The pine forests swayed in the wind like a silent, violent ocean.
44:02The moonstone chandelier overhead cast a soft silver glow over my desk, over the envelope for Selene.
44:09I stared at my name for a long, long time.
44:12Then, I casually tossed it into the roaring fireplace.
44:15I watched the paper curl, turn black, and dissolve into a wisp of white smoke.
44:21Time kept moving forward.
44:23Under my rule, Shadowfang grew terrifyingly powerful.
44:27The territorial alliances held strong.
44:29Our council seats doubled.
44:31And the influence of the ancient bloodlines suffocated.
44:34Every corner of North America.
44:36My father formally retired.
44:38He spent his days planting trees in the mountains behind the estate.
44:42Training hunting eagles and occasionally shifting into his massive wolf form to take slow.
44:46Lazy walks through the pines.
44:48He lived like a completely normal, peaceful old man.
44:52But sometimes, during dinner, he would abruptly go quiet.
44:55He would just stare at me, for a long time.
44:58The moon is very bright tonight.
45:00I knew exactly what he was trying to say.
45:03It was a full moon.
45:05If my daughter had lived, she would be one year old.
45:08Then two.
45:09Then three.
45:10She would be walking.
45:12She would be calling me mommy.
45:15And on nights with a full moon, she would feel her inner wolf stirring for the very first time.
45:20She would run up to me, grabbing my fingers.
45:24Vibrating with excitement.
45:26Mommy! Mommy!
45:28My wolf is moving!
45:30I never let myself think about those things.
45:33I absolutely forbade myself from going there.
45:37But the body remembers.
45:38Every single full moon, my inner wolf would let out a low, mournful whimper.
45:43Deep inside my chest.
45:46A mother wolf crying for the pup she failed to protect.
45:49That kind of pain isn't cured by time.
45:51It was exactly like my father said.
45:53Some wounds are forever.
45:57Outside my window, the moon hung heavy and bright.
46:01The forest was dead silent.
46:04The moonlight washed over my hands.
46:07Over my left ring finger.
46:08It was completely bare.
46:10Once, I had worn the lunar ring of the blackwood pack there.
46:15A silver band encrusted with moonstone.
46:18Dominic had personally slid it onto my finger during our mate binding ceremony.
46:24On the night of the soul-severing ritual, the ring had shattered entirely on its own.
46:30I had gathered the shards and tossed them into the sacred lake of the Shadowfang ancestral lands.
46:35They sank to the bottom, never to be recovered.
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