- 17 minutes ago
Caged Lunas No More, No One Left
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Short filmTranscript
00:02my husband's mother luna vivian ran away with me she slipped into my room that night undid my stays
00:09and pressed coal coins against my inner thigh her lips grazed my ear we leave tonight keep these on
00:16your body it all started because my husband's father alpha dominic brought home a mother and
00:23daughter the older woman was his mate the younger one the daughter just so happened to be my
00:29husband's mate so that same night vivian cracked into my room pack your things we leave tonight
00:38by the next morning the pack house stands hollow my husband's father comes home today he brings
00:46two strangers with him their scents are unfamiliar sharp i stand behind luna vivian eyes lowered my
00:53husband grayson stands across from me but his gaze locks onto the younger girl i'll rip her throat
00:59out i'll not now shut it
01:06she paces and rages beneath my skin her fury so violent i have to clench my fists to keep my
01:11hands from shaking vivian this is siona she is my mate from today forward she will serve as the new
01:19luna of black moore pack welcome you must be exhausted from the journey the smile is flawless
01:25gracious warm but i notice her scent gives away nothing not a single fluctuation she is burying
01:33her emotions so deep even a wolf can't sniff them out it's time to let elena go and accept her
01:42something slams into my chest
01:46i won't allow this but i am invisible
01:51alpha dominic wants to replace his luna his son wants to replace his mate right here in the black
01:58moore estate how wonderful both the alpha and the future alpha have found their fated mates a true
02:03blessing from the moon goddess this will strengthen the black moore bloodline immensely marcus have the
02:09kitchen prepare a feast tonight and open that bottle of chateau margay we've been saving the one
02:14from 20 years ago elena don't just stand there go to the vault pull out those jewels and gowns that
02:20arrived last month the cartidia and necklace the doggyasture and let selena and mia each pick a few
02:26pieces i turn toward the vault when i pass grayson he doesn't look at me every atom of his attention
02:35is fixed on mia his scent floods my senses as i walk by pine leather and want raw blazing want
02:41mia's
02:42cheeks are flushed pink her lashes trembling her gaze pulling him in like gravity he wants her she wants
02:48him right back so what does that make me nothing apparently and he's nothing either why won't you
02:55leave him i couldn't care less about this pathetic excuse for a mate go find a real one asterisk sage
03:03paces inside me agitated i open the vault's heavy iron door and step inside my entire value in this pack
03:09has been reduced to one thing keeping the pack house running smoothly and eventually becoming a quiet
03:14obedient luna elena stop thinking like that your worth doesn't come from him walk out of here or
03:21better yet go back out there and show them what what happens when they cross us i move deeper into
03:29the vault my fingers trailing over velvet lined jewelry cases and couture gowns sheathed and garment
03:33bags these things are worth more than my birth pack's entire treasury vivian wants the best
03:40i open a case and lift out a cartier necklace dripping with rubies the stones catch the dim
03:45light and throw it back in my eyes like tiny sparks of pain i carry it out of the vault
03:49the way you carry
03:50a piece of hot iron the welcome banquet fills the estate's great hall every high-ranking member of
03:56the pack is there glasses clinking laughter rising but their reactions aren't uniform vivian glides between
04:02them personally filling glasses and passing dishes her smile never dimming for a single second
04:07she looks genuinely happy
04:12i hand the jewelry and gowns off to an omega attendant and slip back to my seat without a word
04:17the steak and roasted vegetables on my plate go untouched selena's husband was a plaque warrior
04:22killed during a rogue siege he was one of my most trusted brothers and mia a young she-wolf with
04:27no
04:27one left in this world having grayson accept her as his mate is the greatest honor blackmore can offer
04:34grayson nods along gazing at mia with something that looks dangerously like tenderness and
04:38protectiveness all tangled together the burn in my chest surges again
04:46my stomach turns inside out
04:50good i can't stand his scent for one more second
04:56later that night i hear footsteps soft ones they stop outside my door my pulse spikes
05:03who's there it's me vivian
05:10i freeze for a second then cross the room and pull the door open
05:14she stands in the corridor moonlight carves her features into something sharp and cold her eyes
05:20glinting like the edge of a blade for a split second i catch a flash of silver deep in her
05:25pupils
05:25her wolf she's stronger than we thought much stronger vivian slips inside and shuts the door
05:31my heart hammers vivian she spins around closes the distance between us in two quick strides and seizes my
05:39wrist her grip is iron shocking and human the kind of strength that doesn't belong to an ordinary she-wolf
05:46elena pack your things we're leaving tonight
05:52my brain whites out leave where would we even go away from here somewhere they don't exist
06:00why because there is no why this pack has been rotten to its core for years today isn't the first
06:06time
06:06and it won't be the last how long are you planning to wait until mia carries his pup
06:12until she gives him an heir you get shoved into the farthest corner of this estate or worse thrown
06:18out of the pack entirely like a stray nobody wants
06:23she's right and you know it
06:26yeah
06:26what exactly am i still hoping for vivian releases my wrist and moves to my vanity
06:31she yanks open the drawers and sweeps everything into a black travel bag she's clearly prepared in advance
06:36diamond studs pearl necklace platinum bracelet all of it in one clean motion
06:41stop standing there like a statue your asset documents the ones from your birth pack where are
06:46they get them everything valuable everything portable leave nothing behind especially the
06:51property deeds company shares and bank account information
06:58i snap awake cross to the bed in three quick strides and pull a locked document case from the hidden
07:03compartment in my nightstand
07:06inside is every financial record i brought from my birth pack vivian takes the case that apartment
07:12building on the south side of town the storefront on main street good liquid assets easy to convert
07:20what about the rest locked in the pack's communal vault foolish
07:24girl why would you keep your own assets in someone else's vault
07:29never mind too late for that now
07:34she hands me the jewelry stuff travel bag
07:38go pack your clothes then grab anything else in this room that's worth money
07:41the silver candlesticks she produces a ring of keys and a stack of plastic cards
07:47viviana are though keys to every vault in this pack house
07:50authorization cards for every bank account passcodes for every asset under the blackmore name
07:58i've managed this pack's finances for 20 years
08:01i know where every dollar is a hundred times better than dominic ever will
08:08tonight all of it comes with us they'll they'll track us werewolf senses i have sent blockers
08:18by the time they notice we'll be hundreds of miles away
08:27the people i've spent 20 years cultivating weren't cultivated for nothing
08:31dominic thinks leading a pack and barking orders on the battlefield makes him powerful
08:35i'm going to teach him that managing the finances and the inner workings of a plaque
08:40is a hell of a lot harder than howling at the moon
08:44this opens the north wing vault the alliance dividends from his last alpha summit are in there
08:48the safe in the east wing basement holds generations of blackmore family antiques and paintings
08:53she pauses and one corner of her mouth curves upward there's a hidden room
09:01i spent three years building it in secret gold bars cash hard currency take all of it
09:11scared are we vivian watches me i meet vivian's gaze and shake my head scared when grayson looked at
09:21that girl i felt the mate bond burn a hole straight through my chest let it burn burn it all
09:32good girl remember this a she-wolf can only count on two things the money in her own hands
09:39and another she-wolf in the same hell alphas they crown themselves kings let them sit on their
09:46crumpling thrones we leave and we live better than any of them ever did those two betas you brought
09:52with you can you trust them rain and grace we grew up together in my birth pack they're the only
09:57people
09:58i trust completely get them in here they need to know what's happening tonight if we pull this off
10:03they come with us free for good if we don't dominic throws every last one of us into the dungeons
10:10or worse let them choose for themselves
10:17i'm gonna empty this pack house then i'm gonna run will you come with me not a heartbeat of
10:23hesitation in perfect unison they tilt their heads bearing the sides of their necks in the wolf's
10:28oath of loyalty we go where you go elena good move fast we have two hours
10:39the night presses in thick and dark the entire pack house is sunk in post banquet stupor
10:45the ghosts of whiskey and red wine still linger in the hallways seeping from under closed doors
10:50the four of us me vivian rain and grace become shadows
10:56we move through that sleeping house like thieves in our own home because that's exactly what we are
11:01carrying loading stripping the place room by room two hours later vivian and grace return from their
11:08final run behind them come two more shoe wolves silent broad-shouldered vivian's people cultivated
11:14in secret over the years each one hauls a pair of heavy luggage cases like they weigh nothing done
11:21thomas has the vehicles waiting on the old back road two suvs in a cargo van the other pack members
11:26loyal to me have each received 50 000 in severance they've already scattered by sunrise this estate
11:33will be a hollow shell i stare at her and something close to us swells in my chest this woman
11:38who has
11:38played the role of gossel luna for 20 years inside these walls how many secrets has she buried how many
11:44moves has she been calculating while the rest of us saw nothing but a polite smile let's go vivian
11:50pulls a spray bottle from her coat pocket and miss each of us quick efficient passes a bitter herbal
11:55smell blooms in the air scent foster it'll mask our trail for at least 12 hours then the six of
12:01us
12:01pick up our bags and slip through the dark corridors silent his breath toward the back door of the estate
12:10the old service road behind the estate is pitch black thomas stands beside three vehicles two black
12:16suvs and a dark cargo van the van is already packed to the ceiling with boxes and duffel bags
12:21he steps forward when he sees us his voice barely above a whisper luna elena everything's ready
12:29vivian nods and hands him a heavy backpack thomas thank you for everything all these years don't
12:40after everything you've done for me and my family i'd fight for you i'd die for you you know that
12:45we pile into the middle suv vivian and i take the back seat rain and grace squeeze into the third
12:52row
12:52the interior smells of leather cold metal and road dust vivian lowers her window a few inches and
12:58speaks to thomas her words quick and clipped take the southern route
13:03drive the van to savannah there's a contact waiting for you once you've offloaded everything take your
13:10family and leave the country don't come back new passports and ids are in the glove compartment on the
13:16passenger side thank you luna you take care of yourselves up front the driver another of vivian's
13:24turns the ignition the suv rolls forward without a sound sliding into the darkness
13:30i twist around to look through the rear window the silhouette of the pack house shrinks in the
13:35moonlight that gothic stone manor that has held three years of my life and everything i once
13:39believed would be my forever now it's just a shape getting smaller i turn back my palms are freezing
13:45vivian's hand finds mine and closes around it don't look back our new life starts now
13:51i nod and lean my head against her shoulder deep inside the black mure pack house a raging thirst
13:58drags dominic out of his drunken sleep
14:03vivian
14:06he reaches through the mind link for vivian nothing dread hits him like a fist to the sternum
14:13he bolts out of bed barefoot and sprints down the corridor to the luna's quarters
14:17the door is wide open vanity cleared walk-in closet stripped bare he inhales hard trying to
14:24catch a scent trail but all that remains is a bitter unfamiliar smell herbal chemical wrong silence
14:32vivian he tears through the house to the east wing elena's room same thing empty cold the bed is made
14:40the closet gutted the nightstand drawers pulled out and left hanging panic claws up his throat he takes
14:47the stairs three at a time racing for the underground vault the keypad lock is accessed the vault door
14:53hangs open cash gold bars antiques property deeds bank authorization cards every last thing that
15:01generations of black murs accumulated gone only now standing in this hollow ransacked room does it
15:08finally hit him that woman that quiet obedient luna who smiled and served for 20 years and his son's
15:15silent little wife never raised her voice they have taken everything every last cent of the black
15:21mure pack's wealth and they have vanished
15:25a howl rips out of his throat savage loud enough to crack the pre-dawn silence for miles his eyes
15:32blaze
15:32crimson his nails split through skin lengthening into claws that gouge the steel doorframe she's dead
15:38they're both dead none of us sleep that night the suv hurtles down back roads for hours and by the
15:44time the sky begins to lighten thin gray line along the eastern horizon we pull into a derelict gas
15:49station in the middle of nowhere parked beside the rusted pumps is an unremarkable gray van a wiry
15:54man in a baseball cap leans against it an unlit cigarette tucked between his fingers we climb out of the
16:00suv and with the two she-wolves helping begin transferring everything from the suv's trunk into
16:07the van i have to compact safe that weighs a ton my arms scream
16:14by the time the first real light touches the sky the transfer is complete the two she-wolves approach
16:19vivian no words they just pull her into a tight embrace hold on for a long moment then let go
16:26without a sound they get back into the now empty suv and drive off in the opposite direction
16:30each heading toward her own extraction point
16:35vivian hands the original driver a thick envelope
16:40the man in the baseball cap takes the wheel and steers us onto a back road with no street lights
16:44heading south vivian where are we going ashford a small town deep in the blue ridge mountains
16:53i bought a house there years ago with private funds for my birth pack registered under a false name
16:59no one knows it exists elena i was sent to blackmore pack when i was about your age
17:04my mating was a bargaining chip my father traded me for blackmore's alliance
17:09your mating was your birth packs attempt to climb the social ladder by tying themselves to alpha blood
17:14we're the same you and i i endured it for 20 years watched him bring home one she-wolf after
17:21another
17:23raised pups he fathered with other women as if they were my own
17:27stood by while he drained my personal assets to cover pack debts he'd created i told myself just hold
17:33on wait until grayson grows up finds his mate takes over as alpha then i'll have survived it but i
17:40didn't
17:40expect grayson to turn out exactly like his father the way he looked at mia i recognized it instantly
17:46that was the same look dominic gave his first mistress 20 years ago this pack is beyond saving
17:52if you keep enduring your today becomes my yesterday and my today becomes your tomorrow
17:58i refuse to accept this why should she-wilves always be the ones to endure why do alphas get to
18:04do
18:05whatever they want if they won't give us a way out we'll carve one through bone and blood
18:11i look at the silver threads in vivian's hair and everything clicks into place this isn't impulse
18:17this isn't panic she has spent half a lifetime swallowing her rage and she's bet every ounce
18:22of it on this one final play for freedom
18:27viviana i'm with you wherever you go she smiles a real one from now on don't call me luna
18:35and don't call me mother-in-law i have my own name viviana you can call me viv my nose
18:42stings i
18:43nod viv this is our foundation it took me years to quietly convert blackmore's tangible assets into
18:52these a dozen property deeds and commercial real estate certificates scattered across the country two
18:58of them in canada what we have is this digital assets and offshore accounts all registered under
19:05shell companies legally there's no connection to blackmore pack whatsoever once we reach ashford and
19:10switch to our new identities no one will find us she slides out one more sheet and hands it to
19:14me
19:15a formally printed document the header bold and unmistakable mate rejection declaration
19:23not alpha dominic rejecting her her rejecting him what follows makes my blood run cold she's listed
19:31dominic's offenses one by one 20 years worth violation of the mate bond countless affairs with other she
19:38wolves embezzlement of pack funds bribery at alliance summits collusion with rogue factions for
19:44illegal trade any single one of them is enough for the werewolf council to strip him of his alpha title
19:49permanently i've had a hundred copies made and distributed to different people in different
19:54locations if we're left in peace none of them will ever reach the council's desk but if dominic
20:00sends anyone after us then blackmore pack can wait for the council to order its dissolution
20:06she's a strategist a general now we sever our ties to blackmore pack once we take this step
20:15there's no going back are you ready more than ready viv the van crawls south along empty back roads for
20:25three days and three nights we barely stop except for gas and bathroom breaks meals or whatever has
20:30been stashed in the vehicle the occasional bag of chips or gas station sandwich picked up at desolate
20:35rest stops along the way the driver is a man of few words when it's time to eat he reaches
20:40into the
20:41bag on the passenger seat and passes back a handful of protein bars and water bottles in the beginning
20:46i are wound tight as springs i keep twisting around to check the rear window scanning for headlights
20:51tailing us vivian though vivian could be sitting in a first-class lounge she spends most of the ride
20:57leaned back with her eyes closed when she does open them she uses the time to teach me things she's
21:01kept hidden for decades how to identify useful herbs growing along the roadside how to mix a field
21:06expedient scent blocker how to navigate by landmarks and find water in the wild on the morning of the
21:11fourth day interstates coming up ahead too many cameras on the highway not our kind of road vivian
21:19nods and hands him a thick envelope pull over at that abandoned rest area up ahead we'll switch vehicles
21:25thank you for everything says nothing more and does as she asks we unloaded a rest stop that looks like
21:31it's been abandoned for years cracked concrete it's pushing nothing but pine forests stretching in
21:37every direction just the four of us and a pile of luggage in an empty parking lot viv what now
21:45wait about an hour passes an engine growls in the distance a battered black pickup truck
21:51emerges from a narrow forest track a lean man in a worn leather jacket climbs out and walks straight to
21:56vivian mrs v vehicles ready just like you asked
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