- 9 hours ago
Hot Drama 2026
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TVTranscript
00:00You put up with Chase for two years, and now his family is about to get redevelopment money for their
00:04territory.
00:05You walk away with nothing and end the mate bond? Are you crazy?
00:09Compensation isn't divided by wolf headcount. It's based on property and deed.
00:13That money belongs to the writers.
00:15Do you really think people like them would give me a single dollar?
00:19But even then, you still couldn't have chosen Gideon.
00:24He grew up on pack assistants and handouts from neighbors.
00:29The pack council's local office had sent down paperwork saying they were going to redevelop my former mate Chase's territory
00:35and open a new arterial road straight to the main city.
00:38Before long, the walls in the redevelopment zone were spray-painted with fluorescent orange letters, REBUILD.
00:44Back then, we had not ended our mate bond yet.
00:47And from that moment on, the Ryder family's attitude toward me changed completely.
00:52Chase's father, Bill, looked down on my dad for not being successful enough.
00:57His mother, Darlene, looked down on my mom for not being refined enough.
01:01And the way Chase fawned over the neighbor girl, Tiffany, was obvious to the entire pack.
01:07What hurt me most was that the whole family was not happy with the status quo that Chase and I
01:12had been mated for over two years.
01:14Yet I still had not given him a pup.
01:15On the day we ended our mate bond, the Ryder family could barely hide their smiles.
01:21They even sneered at me.
01:24I was stubborn and I could take hardship, but I could not stand being stripped of my dignity.
01:34Every territory around here knows you are lazy, gluttonous, and can't give birth to wolf pigs.
01:39If you want another mate, you'll have to go out of state and find some male who doesn't know you.
01:46The sun was brutal that day.
01:48A few kids were squatting outside the auto shop next to the pack registration office.
01:52And off to the side stood a grown man who looked completely out of place.
01:56He was the small town patrol wolf everyone in the surrounding territories knew.
02:00People called him pretty boy to his face and mutt behind his back.
02:07Dummy, do you want a mate?
02:09Do you dare go home right now, bring me your PAC ID and bloodline papers,
02:13and go into that office with me to register as bonded mates?
02:21That was how Gideon and I got our mate certificate.
02:24You put up with Chase for two years, and now his family is about to get redevelopment money for their
02:30territory.
02:31You walk away with nothing and end the mate bond?
02:34Are you crazy?
02:36Compensation isn't divided by wolf headcount.
02:38It's based on property and deed.
02:40That money belongs to the riders.
02:42Do you really think people like them would give me a single dollar?
02:48But, but even then, you still couldn't have chosen Gideon.
02:53He grew up on PAC assistance and handouts from neighbors.
02:57Because of this, my family fought for two straight days.
03:00Even my brother Marcus and his wife Camilla came back just to tell me I was crazy.
03:05On the third day, Gideon's mother, Maeve, came.
03:11Maeve was in her fifties, thin, dried out, with messy silver-white hair loose behind her head.
03:16She brought along a still-smiling Gideon and introduced herself.
03:20The whole family sat there with dark faces and left the two of them standing by the door.
03:25Maeve looked at the wooden floor, then at the old boots on her own feet and Gideon's,
03:30and did not step farther in.
03:32Two days ago, Gideon and Raven registered as mates.
03:35We should come make a proper visit.
03:37This is a small trochan.
03:39My mother did not even make a move to touch them.
03:41Those things were already the best Gideon's family could produce.
03:44Mrs. Cross, please come sit down.
03:47I brought them in, set out two chairs, and poured two cups of warm water.
03:52Gideon grabbed my hand, then quickly let up again, as if afraid of dirtying me.
03:56The second my family saw him touch me, their expressions grew even uglier.
03:59Maeve's face tightened.
04:01She took a deep breath and pulled a crunkled slip of paper from inside her coat.
04:05It was a wrinkled check.
04:06This is $100,000 for Raven.
04:13What shocked my family was not just that Maeve could produce $100,000.
04:18It was that in this pack, when a male wolf formally took a mate,
04:20his side usually transferred a mate fund into the new mate's name as a form of security.
04:24But a female whose mate bond had already been dissolved almost never received that kind of dignity again.
04:29Mrs. Cross, this money is for me?
04:31It's not as much as the families who give $20,000 or $30,000,
04:34but whatever other new mates get, my son's mate gets too.
04:37It's late today.
04:38If you have time tomorrow, we'll go to the bank and deposit the check into your name.
04:45After they were gone, we stared at that check in silence for a long time.
04:52Back then, Darlene fought us half a month over an $18,800 mate fund.
04:56And now the Cross family, who live off pack assistance, came here with $100,000 to welcome my daughter.
04:59Who was sincere and who was acting?
05:01One look tells you.
05:02Now everyone guards their accounts once a mate bond breaks.
05:05Yet, his mother willingly handed that money to Raven.
05:09The room stayed quiet for a moment.
05:11Then my parents looked at each other, as if they had remembered something.
05:14Maybe some things were meant to circle back all along.
05:18Gideon saved your life once.
05:21That was when I found out Gideon had saved my life when I was four years old.
05:25He had been five years older than me then.
05:27If he had not spotted me slipping into the flooded pit at the old quarry,
05:31and dragged me out, I would have died.
05:35To make sure the whole town knew Chase was not even as good as a fool,
05:39I scheduled our mating ceremony for the weekend, and even hired the town garage band.
05:45By coincidence, my former mate was also holding his ceremony that same day.
05:50Maybe it was to get under my skin, but not only did they give Tiffany a $100,000 mate fund,
05:56they also rented a procession of 10 luxury sports cars.
05:59My mother did the math afterward, not counting the mate fund.
06:02They must have spent at least another $300,000 on that ceremony.
06:05The compensation money had not even arrived yet, and they could already spend that much,
06:09which meant only one thing.
06:11They had simply thought spending it on me was not worth it.
06:13That day, Chase's line of 10 sports cars met Gideon's old pickup on the road.
06:17Too hot?
06:18Our car has AC.
06:20Want to come sit inside?
06:21I was already annoyed and about to tell him to get lost.
06:24No matter how good your car is, it's still rented.
06:27Ours is ours.
06:32For all his slow mind, he had not lost that exchange.
06:35What does a stupid mutt know?
06:38As the wheels passed, dust flew up in huge clouds.
06:41Gideon pulled off his denim jacket and held it in front of me,
06:44covering my mouth and nose with the sleeve.
06:46When the dust finally cleared, he dug a bottle of ice water out of the cooler at his feet,
06:50twisted it open, and handed it to me.
06:53There's shade ahead.
06:54When we get home, I'll cut up the watermelon chilling in the ice chest.
06:59Mom grew it.
07:00It's sweet.
07:01I want the whole thing.
07:03It's all yours.
07:05Mom said everything in the house belongs to you now.
07:07I'm not allowed to fight you for it.
07:10The ride ended up feeling strangely easy.
07:16By the end of the day, the whole area knew both Chase and I had remated.
07:21Some called me stupid, saying I had thrown away a family
07:24on the verge of getting redevelopment compensation just to mate with a fool.
07:28But even more people said Chase was heartless.
07:31We did not have many guests.
07:35The PAC assistant's office sent over a few boxes of household goods
07:38and a $10,000 resettlement check for a low-tier wolf household.
07:43That night, Maeve handed every cent to me.
07:49The house was old, but spotless, and the things inside were all new.
07:52Maeve had even arranged for one electrical line to be run in.
07:55We had LED lights and even the only appliance in the house, an electric fan.
07:58At night, the sounds of summer insects filled the air outside,
08:00and from far away, patrol wolves sometimes howled.
08:03Gideon held me and kept smiling to himself, rubbing his nose against my hair.
08:06His embrace was steady, and he smelled faintly of soap, far better than Chase ever had.
08:10You really are my mate now?
08:11Yes. You mated me today, so from now on, you help me carry the bills.
08:16Any work I can't do, you do, and when I say something, you listen.
08:18Deal?
08:19Deal.
08:20Then kiss me. He carefully kissed my cheek.
08:23When I did not get mad, he leaned in and kissed me again, glanced at him.
08:27That's it? You still have to hold me.
08:29I am holding you.
08:30He tightened his arms very seriously.
08:33But that was not what I meant.
08:35Damn it. How was I supposed to teach a fool wolf how to mate?
08:38There had always been one sore spot in my life.
08:40For two years, Chase and I had not had a pup.
08:42The neighboring territories loved gossiping about it.
08:44Some spread rumors that I'd slept with too many males before the bond,
08:47and the moon goddess cursed me to be barren.
08:49Bill and Darlene especially never forgot to make it sound like the problem was mine.
08:53My port cycles were normal.
08:54Acted like being a male wolf put him above all rules.
08:57He and already gave his black market restresses, and refused to have his seed line tested.
09:00No matter how I looked at it, I did not think the problem was me.
09:02Gideon had not been born like this.
09:03He had become slow after the shock of his father's death.
09:05I wanted a pup.
09:06I wanted the whole pack to know the truth.
09:07I was not the one who could not conceive.
09:08Chase was.
09:09Gideon did not understand how to mate with a partner,
09:11so I had to swallow my shame and cling to him myself.
09:13We tossed and turned in that bedroom all night long.
09:16The next morning, I sat on the front steps in a daze.
09:20Maeve had just come back from hanging laundry in the yard.
09:22She took one look at me and asked what was wrong,
09:24then whether Gideon had bullied me.
09:26Mom, do you think Gideon doesn't even want me as his mate?
09:29He likes you too much, if anything.
09:31He's been so excited he can't sleep.
09:32He's been chopping up old pallet wood in the backyard in the middle of the night.
09:35Then why won't he mate with me?
09:37Why won't he let me get pregnant with a pup?
09:39The instant I looked up, I caught the flash of alarm in Maeve's eyes.
09:44He, he's slow.
09:46He doesn't understand.
09:48Give him some time.
09:48I'll talk to him.
09:50I knew something was off.
09:51Maeve clearly knew more than she was saying.
09:53Did Gideon have some kind of physical problem?
09:55But that did not line up with what I had seen.
09:57He had every normal response.
09:59His male instincts were stronger than most, not weaker.
10:01The only strange thing was this.
10:03Every time my hand went near his belt,
10:05he would recoil all the way to the back of the bed
10:07and shut his eyes like I was holding a silver blade.
10:09If I moved any closer,
10:10he would flatten himself against the edge of the mattress
10:12like he might bolt at any second.
10:13The weather was hot already,
10:15and he got so nervous,
10:16he would not even let me hold him.
10:20By Ashford Custom,
10:22a new mate was supposed to make the first breakfast the next morning.
10:25Maeve, however, let me do nothing.
10:26She made breakfast herself and called us both to eat.
10:28She poured herself only half a bowl of thin oatmeal,
10:30wolfed it down,
10:31then hurried off with some other she-wolves
10:33to day labor at a farm outside town.
10:35Gideon could work too,
10:36but people called him stupid
10:37and refused to hire him for anything real.
10:38He mostly wandered around and took odd jobs when he could.
10:40In exchange for a few dollars,
10:41a soda or a bag of convenience store snacks,
10:43Maeve was diligent.
10:44There was not much way to make money around here,
10:46so she turned the backyard into a tiny growing space
10:48using old wooden boxes as planters.
10:49There was also a stack of salvage junk in the garage,
10:52their corner,
10:52and she had still carried it all the way family's house.
10:55I made my way to the kitchen
10:56and saw a bag of fresh oats.
10:58But when I opened the storage canister,
11:00tears nearly spilled down my face.
11:01There was still half a canister of old oats in there,
11:04gray, filthy, full of bugs and mold.
11:06Now I saw the truth.
11:07She had saved the fresh oats for me
11:08and cooked herself porridge from the rotten ones.
11:10At noon,
11:11Gideon came home with a takeout container of food for me.
11:13Someone must have given it to him
11:14after he helped with some job.
11:15I did not eat it.
11:16Instead, I took the food and a bottle of water
11:18and went to find Maeve at the farm.
11:19I heard the other she-wolves before I even got close.
11:24Your raven sure has big standards.
11:26I heard she asked the Ryder family
11:27for an $88,000 mate fund.
11:29I heard that too.
11:30She went into the Ryder house and still did nothing.
11:33Couldn't even give them a pup.
11:34Maeve, she only mated your Gideon
11:35because Chase dumped her
11:36and she had nowhere else to go.
11:38You've got a lot of suffering ahead.
11:40If she won't call you mom,
11:41don't take it to heart.
11:42It's not like you can give her money.
11:44As long as she agreed to mate a full wolf,
11:47you and your son just have to swallow whatever comes.
11:50By rights, she should have made you that first breakfast.
11:53But of course she didn't.
11:55Not surprising, she used to be a Luna.
11:56Those women sounded like they were comforting Maeve,
11:58but really they were stepping on her.
12:00And yes, I had not made that first breakfast.
12:02Embarrassed, I stopped where I was.
12:03My raven does everything well.
12:05I have no complaints.
12:06It's the Ryder family ruining her name on purpose.
12:09Maeve's voice came out haury, but steady.
12:11No blame, only defense.
12:13A good she-wolf doesn't stay in a rotten den.
12:15Their family wasn't worthy of her.
12:18Hearing her defend me made my eyes burn.
12:21Right.
12:21The Cross family sure is doing well now.
12:24I did not let her finish.
12:25I ran forward and raised my voice.
12:28Mom!
12:29I brought you lunch.
12:32Mom!
12:33The second I shouted, everyone nearby turned to look.
12:35The women who had just been picking at Maeve all went stiff.
12:37Maeve herself froze and stared at me.
12:39By the time I reached her, her eyes were red.
12:42She rubbed them quickly and came towards me.
12:44Careful, Raven.
12:44There are holes in the ground.
12:46Don't trip.
12:46The water bottle she had brought that morning was already empty.
12:49Gideon often forgot to bring her more, so she just forced herself to endure until
12:52night.
12:53I handed her the bottle and the food.
12:54She drank half the bottle in one breath.
12:56Then, before opening the container, she looked up at me.
12:59What about you?
13:00Have you eaten lunch?
13:01Mom, don't worry about me.
13:03I won't starve.
13:04Something in those words hit her hard.
13:06Maeve wiped her eyes with her sleeve and sat down crying quietly while she ate the whole
13:11lunch.
13:11I watched her hurry right back to work the second she finished, and one thought lodged
13:15itself in my chest.
13:16This family had to stand on its feet first.
13:18On the way home, I found Gideon hauling something for someone again.
13:22I called him over.
13:23Come on, let's go home.
13:25There's plenty of work waiting there.
13:26Gideon came toward me with that half-slow smile, draped an arm over my shoulder, rubbed
13:30his head against mine, then secretly dug a mini chocolate bar out of his pocket.
13:34Raven, someone gave it to me.
13:36For you.
13:36I had just taken it when someone laughed nearby.
13:39I looked over.
13:40Chase and Tiffany were driving slowly past in a used pickup.
13:45Chase looked at the chocolate in my hand and sneered.
13:48When you were in the Ryder house, would you even have cared about something like that?
13:51Look at you now.
13:53A piece of chocolate is a treasure.
13:54I'd rather sleep on Gideon's drafty floor than go back to you.
13:57Take your chocolate money and spend it at the pack clinic getting your seed line checked.
14:00I knew it.
14:01You're as crazy as he is.
14:02No wonder you both ended up this poor.
14:03Sure, the Ryder family isn't poor.
14:05Bills just pay themselves.
14:06Kitchens clean themselves.
14:08Yards maintain themselves.
14:09All you have to do is lie there and wait to be served.
14:11I did not mind work.
14:12I did not mind suffering.
14:14What I could not stand was being treated like unpaid household help with no one acting
14:17like I had ever done a thing.
14:19If I had just gotten a job at one of the restaurants in town, it would have been better than
14:21being
14:22trapped in the Ryder house.
14:23But Darlene refused to let me work.
14:25She said some she-wolves had left for jobs in the city and never returned to their mates.
14:29You act like you did so much.
14:30Gideon shifted me behind him with-
14:32Raven doesn't have to work.
14:33I work.
14:34Tiffany had not said a word up to then.
14:36I caught the irritation in his face.
14:38Gideon was nearly a head taller than Chase.
14:40If not for the fact that everyone called him the Fool Patrol mutt, plenty of young she-wolves
14:43would have been after him.
14:44Come on, Gideon.
14:44He and I exchanged a smile and walked home hand in hand.
14:49I wanted nothing more than to leave Ashford.
14:51Now I found I did not want to go at all.
14:53The moment I got home, I called Marcus and Camilla and asked what kind of business I could
14:56start from the house, preferably with low upfront costs.
14:58Marcus and Camilla used to do wholesale clothing on the West Coast.
15:02Later, they returned to this state and opened a studio.
15:05Camilla said,
15:05If you want to sell merchandise, we've got accounts and sources.
15:08If you want to build a brand, we've got factories and buyers.
15:10And if you don't want the hassle, just ship goods for us.
15:12Marcus and I won't let you work for free.
15:14I asked,
15:16Can you do menswear and older women's clothing?
15:18Our pattern people are good.
15:19If you've got a design, we can make samples.
15:20If you can sell it, we can make it.
15:22By the time I hung up, my nose was burning and my eyes were hot.
15:25Gideon came in carrying an iced watermelon.
15:27The second he saw my red eyes, he dropped it and wrapped me in his arms.
15:31Raven meant home?
15:32Raven sunsail out with Raven.
15:34He did not know how to comfort anyone, which just made me cry harder.
15:38Maeve got home around dusk.
15:40She walked in covered in mud, heading straight toward the kitchen.
15:43You must all be hungry.
15:45I'll start dinner.
15:46Yet she still smiled as she went in, until she saw the table already full of food.
15:53Mom, we were waiting for you.
15:55It's hot, so I made iced sweet tea and oatmeal cookies.
15:59Come sit down.
15:59In Ashford, people always kept sweet tea in summer.
16:01It took hours to make properly.
16:03You made this ahead of time?
16:05Maeve's voice trembled.
16:06She was trying not to cry in front of us.
16:09I threw out the bad oats and baked new cookies.
16:11Gideon helped a lot.
16:12He's actually very capable.
16:14Give him more things to do.
16:15He can do them.
16:16He's just a little slow.
16:18He needs to be taught.
16:19I did not tell her that the cookies were made with newly bought oats.
16:21I knew she would have mourned the old moldy food.
16:23While we were all eating,
16:28I wanted to start selling clothes online.
16:31If that is what you truly desire.
16:33You could make money or lose it.
16:35Raven, I gave that money to you so it's yours.
16:38Do whatever you want with it.
16:40If you need help, tell me and Gideon.
16:42We're not much, but if we don't know how to do something, you teach us.
16:45I listen to Raven.
16:46Raven is the best.
16:47Raven is the smartest.
16:48Listening to them trust me so completely, I realized I had not eaten a peaceful meal
16:52like that in a very long time.
16:56Gideon's old rooms were tiny, but the yard was broad.
16:59Five days later, my father borrowed a pickup and trailer, and my whole family came over
17:03to help me build a filming shed in the backyard.
17:05Everyone in my family had some practical skill.
17:08So aside from buying materials, we barely had to spend anything.
17:11My dad built the wood frame.
17:13Marcus handled the electrical.
17:15Camila chose the backdrop setup.
17:16My mother and I cooked.
17:18Maeve and Gideon worked as helpers.
17:20A few days later, the work shed and yard were finished.
17:23The whole thing had cost us less than $10,000.
17:26Plenty of people from the neighborhood came over to watch.
17:29Bill and Darlene were among them.
17:30Raven's whole family has lost their minds.
17:32She made a relief case fool wolf, and now her family's out here sinking money into the
17:36cross house.
17:40Hey, Ryder family.
17:41Didn't you say your area's redevelopment compensation is coming soon?
17:44When's the payout?
17:44Soon.
17:46I heard by the end of the year, probably 50-something thousand.
17:51Then it's straight to the city for a condo and a new car.
17:54Raven could have stayed in the Ryder house and instead picked the hardest road available.
17:59Well, she's stupid.
18:01Who else can she blame?
18:04Let them talk.
18:06People like that can ruin any blessing.
18:11Well, if it isn't Bill and Darlene, back from cards?
18:15Look right.
18:16Good day.
18:17Bye.
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