- 7 weeks ago
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00:00He was my fated mate, and the butcher of my entire pack. He forced me to destroy his child. He
00:05made me wait upon the woman he truly cherished. I endured every humiliation and silence, counting down the days until
00:12the poison in my body finally claimed my life. And yet, when he learned the truth, his hair turned white
00:17in a single night, and he fell to his knees before me, begging for forgiveness. Too late. Kieran.mywolf's soul,
00:25had already scattered.
00:27I was the daughter of the alpha of the blood moon pack. To bring an end to the endless bloodshed
00:32between our two packs, I had gone willingly to the alpha known across the north as the warlord of the
00:37north, Kieran, my fated mate. On the night of our mating right beneath the full moon, that savage alpha did
00:44more than mark me. He lost himself completely, taking and taking as though he meant to tear me apart for
00:50three whole days until I collapsed from exhaustion.
00:53My human form no longer able to endure it. I had once been foolish enough to believe Kieran loved me,
00:59or at the very least that he had yielded to the pull of the mating bond. The moon goddess had
01:03woven between us. But later, it was that same Kieran who personally led.
01:08The wolf host of the black river pack to breach our territory. He forced me to remain in wolf form,
01:14and pinned me beneath his foot so that I had no choice but to watch.
01:17My father, our revered alpha, was torn apart by the frenzied pack until his body lay in pieces.
01:23My brother, heir to our bloodline, had his throat ripped out by Kieran's own jaws.
01:28Those black river brutes even, disgraced my mother, before leaving her to collapse in a pool of blood.
01:35Then Kieran shifted into his human form, and looked down at me from above.
01:39In those molten gold wolf eyes, there was not the slightest trace of feeling.
01:43Alara, did you truly think that a wretched mating bond would be enough to win my heart?
01:47Do you have any idea how many of my people your blood moon pack slaughtered?
01:52And you thought sending me one woman would wipe out a hatred written in blood?
01:57In the end, Kieran devoured every pack in his path, and rose as the supreme wolf king.
02:02At his side stood his cherished chosen mate, Bella.
02:09As for me, I was imprisoned in the slave pens at the edge of the territory.
02:13My name was stripped from me.
02:15I survived like some lowly rogue, clinging to life without dignity.
02:19Each time I tried to kill myself, he would dig up the bones of one of my kin for the
02:23wolf's graveyard,
02:24and grind them to dust before my eyes.
02:26Without my command, you are not allowed to die.
02:29Your life belongs to me.
02:31So I stopped fighting.
02:32After all, there were only three days left until the wolf's bane draft I had swallowed years ago.
02:38To save him finally took effect and killed me.
02:40Today was the birthday feast of the new Luna, Bella.
02:44For once, Kieran had given orders that I was to be allowed out of the gloomy old stone keep.
02:50Dragging my heavy shackles behind me, I made my way step by step into the dazzling pack house.
02:55My eyes reddened as I looked towards the woman seated high above, wearing the moonstone crown.
03:00That crown had once been my mother's most treasured possession.
03:03It was the symbol of every blood moon Luna who had come before her.
03:07Impudent slave, how dare you stand before the alpha king and Luna without kneeling?
03:11A broad-shouldered beta guard drove a brutal kick into the back of my knee.
03:14I hit the stone floor with a sickening crack.
03:17Pain shot through me so sharply that my vision blurred.
03:20I did not resist.
03:21Obediently, I pressed my forehead to the ground and performed the bow reserved for the very lowest of wolf slaves.
03:28Kieran sat high upon a throne draped in fur and did not tell me to rise.
03:32His voice cut through the noise of the hall and came crashing down upon me, cold and expressionless.
03:39Ilara, you are half an hour late.
03:42Was that a deliberate slight against Bella?
03:48I would never dare.
03:49I knocked my forehead hard against the floor again until blood began to beat at my brow.
03:54I offered no excuse.
03:55My legs had been injured during earlier torments and had never properly healed.
04:00I only lowered my head further.
04:02I did not explain that one of my legs had once been badly mangled in an iron trap
04:06and that every step from the slave pens to this hall had left a trail of blood behind me.
04:10A flicker of mockery crossed Kieran's face.
04:13You have at last learnt obedience like a well-trained dog.
04:17The last time I had failed to obey, he had thrown me into the fighting pit
04:22and made me battle several maddened bears, bleeding away nearly half the blood in my body.
04:27And when I was on the brink of death, he had calmly ordered a healer to keep me alive by
04:32force with rare herbs.
04:34Do get up, sister.
04:36A honeyed voice drifted down.
04:38Bella descended gracefully from the dais and bent to help me to my feet herself.
04:42She wore a perfect smile.
04:44Her words sounded warm enough, yet every syllable drove like a blade into the rawest part of my heart.
04:49You were once the noble daughter of an alpha, even if your pack has fallen,
04:54surely you needn't truly demean yourself like a common servant.
04:57She took my hand, then suddenly went still.
05:00Her gaze had fixed upon the necklace at my throat.
05:03It was an old wolf-found bracelet, weathered with age, and simple in its make.
05:07A flash of greed lit her eyes, followed by admiration.
05:11Alpha.
05:11She said, turning to Kieran with a soft, coaxing smile.
05:15I like this necklace very much.
05:17Did I.T. has such a strange charm about it.
05:19May I have it as my birthday gift?
05:25Instinctively, I looked at Kieran.
05:27He was lazily turning his wine cup in one hand, utterly unmoved,
05:31as though it were nothing more than a worthless trinket.
05:33But that necklace had once been Kieran's pledge to me.
05:37Every wolf-fong on it had been taken by his own hand, from vicious beasts he had hunted himself.
05:42The healer had treated them afterwards, and even now they carried that strange fragrance which never seemed to fade.
05:48It was said that, if one wore such wolf-fangs for long enough,
05:51they could soothe an agitated wolf-soul, ease pain, and even prolong life.
05:56I had been frail since childhood.
05:58My wolf-soul was unstable, and I was forever ill.
06:01When he first gave it to me, he had stood beneath the moon and sworn,
06:05with all the solemnity of a bow, that he wanted me to live safely and well all my life,
06:09free from sickness and suffering.
06:11Now, everything had changed beyond recognition.
06:14If the Luna likes it, how could I refuse?
06:18My hand trembled as I removed the wolf-fong bracelet, from my wrist,
06:22where I had worn it for ten years, and placed it in Bella's hand.
06:26As my fingertips brushed over the smooth warm fangs,
06:29it felt as though a blade were twisting in my heart.
06:31I lowered my gaze and said nothing, though from somewhere above I thought.
06:36I heard the sharp crack of something striking stone, as if a wine cup had been knocked over.
06:41Bella toyed with the bracelet for a moment, smiled in satisfaction,
06:45and casually fastened it round her own pale wrist.
06:48Oh, that reminds me.
06:49It was as though some delightful thought had just occurred to her,
06:52though there was nothing but malice glittering in her eyes.
06:55I seem to remember that Alera was once one of the finest dancers among the wolves.
07:00Why not take this chance to perform for everyone?
07:05The hall fell silent for half a beat.
07:08Then laughter broke out everywhere.
07:10I stood where I was, numb, enduring the malicious, eager stares cast at me from every corner of the feast.
07:16Among them were commanders of the Black River Pack, men who had slaughtered my people.
07:20There were also the Blood Moon Traders, who had secretly joined hands with the enemy,
07:25and opened the gates to welcome the man.
07:27I wanted to refuse, but refusal had long since ceased to be a choice I possessed.
07:32One drunken wolf commander suddenly lurched to his feet,
07:35a bowl of freshly ladled broth in his hand, still boiling from the bronze cauldron.
07:40Without warning, he flung it straight at me.
07:42The scalding liquid splashed over my arm and shoulder.
07:45At once the skin blistered and peeled away, angry red and raw.
07:49What are you standing there for? You're the daughter of a defeated alpha.
07:52Do you still think you can put on airs?
07:54You're lucky we left you alive at all. Don't be ungrateful.
07:58Pain hit me with savage force.
08:01Yet I felt less like a living creature than a puppet already hollowed out.
08:05It was as though my soul had gone elsewhere, leaving my body behind.
08:09I did not even cry out.
08:11Quietly, I rose onto my toes.
08:13Before all of them, I turned myself into a dancing girl for their amusement.
08:17Wolfkind had always been wild and unrestrained by nature.
08:21Before long, the drunken brutes were no longer satisfied.
08:25They began shouting and whistling.
08:27Take it off.
08:28Strip that filthy rag off.
08:30Let's see whether the once noble princess is still as supple as she used to be.
08:34In terror, I looked towards the high seat.
08:37Kieran's gaze rested on me from afar, cold and unreadable.
08:41He did nothing.
08:42That silence was permission.
08:44Whatever warmth was left in my heart died then.
08:46I bit my lip and, with shaking hands, began to untie my sash.
08:51The hot broth had caused the cloth to stick to my burned flesh.
08:55When I pulled it away, it tore the skin with it, leaving raw patches streaked with blood.
09:00Scarlet spread across the ruined fabric of my dance clothes.
09:03One layer.
09:04Then another.
09:07And in this great hall, once filled with some of the happiest memories of my life.
09:12Once the place where my father had held counsel, I stripped away the last of my dignity.
09:17In the end I could no longer stop the tears.
09:19Only after the feast had ended and the crowd dispersed was I finally allowed to stop.
09:24I collapsed onto the floor, naked, my body covered in nothing but wounds and blood.
09:29Kieran came towards me reeking of wine.
09:31He crouched before me and brushed the tears from my face.
09:34With icy fingertips, wiping away one that had not yet dried.
09:38The gesture might have looked gentle to anyone watching, but there was no mercy at all in his voice.
09:43Alara, are you trying to win my pity?
09:46Where is your wolf?
09:47Why doesn't it come out and bite me?
09:49It's tired.
09:50But the moment the words left my lips, the old sickness inside me flared up again.
09:55The wolf's pain poison that had lurked for years began its work once more.
09:59A violent cough tore through me.
10:01Then another.
10:02Blood burst from my mouth in a sudden spray, and it felt as though I were coughing up my very
10:07lungs and entrails.
10:08Kieran turned aside at once, as though he had seen something revolting.
10:12The mockery on his face deepened.
10:14I've watched you put on this sickly act for ten years.
10:18Haven't you tired of it yet?
10:20I used to think he simply despised weakness, but he hated women like me, frail by nature and always in
10:26need of protection.
10:27But over the years I had seen with my own eyes, how meticulously he cared for Bella.
10:32If Bella frowned even slightly, the entire team of healers would already be kneeling outside her door, waiting to be
10:39summoned.
10:39The poison gnawed at my insides.
10:42My whole body shook, and cold sweat poured from my brow.
10:45Just before darkness swallowed me, I thought I saw a flash of panic in Kieran's eyes.
10:50He seized me by the hair, forcing my head up, and through clenched teeth he said,
10:54Elera, I will not let you die so easily.
10:58You will live, and pay for your sins.
11:00You will pay for the crimes your father committed.
11:05But Kieran, I cannot atone any longer.
11:08In two more days, once the poison reaches my heart, I will die.
11:12When I woke the following day, I found myself lying in a soft bed.
11:16The burns on my body had already been carefully treated.
11:19Clean white bandages wrapped my wounds, carrying the faint fragrance of herbs.
11:23Through the haze in my mind, I slowly realized that this was not the cold old stone keep.
11:27This was, the alpha's chamber.
11:29Everything around me was heartbreakingly familiar.
11:32Beyond the great floor to ceiling windows lay the forest I knew so well,
11:36the very place where my father had once taken me hunting.
11:43You're awake.
11:44Kieran approached without expression, seized my chin, and poured a tube of bitter medicine into my mouth.
11:50His grip was hard enough to make my eyes sting with tears when I choked.
11:53Elera, don't look at me like that.
11:55Kieran gave a cold laugh.
11:57Even if your hands are clean, as long as that man's blood runs through your veins, you are not innocent.
12:04On the day my pack fell, he gave the order to kill every wolf who carried the blood moon royal
12:08line.
12:09Even the pup growing in my womb, his own flesh and blood, was not spared.
12:13He ordered the healer to force that child for me.
12:16Only I was left alive.
12:18I could never understand it.
12:20Was it love or hate?
12:23It must have been hate.
12:28That was why, afterwards, he made me soak night after night in baths filled with silver.
12:33He wanted to strip me of any chance of bearing children ever again.
12:36He would not allow me to give him an heir.
12:39He found my bloodline unclean.
12:41Numbly.
12:42I wiped the medicine from the corner of my mouth.
12:45I had just opened my lips to beg him to send me back to the old stone keep when a
12:49jubilant voice rang from outside.
12:51Alpha!
12:52The luna is with child!
12:55Kieran froze, then turned sharply, his voice breaking with excitement.
13:00Is it true?
13:01Bella is pregnant?
13:02I stared at him blankly.
13:04For the first time, I saw that kind of wild joy on his face.
13:08The joy of a man about to become a father.
13:10I sat there on the bed, dazed, watching him.
13:13Watching a look I had never once received from him light up his features.
13:17Perhaps the poison had begun to flare again.
13:20Because my hand rose instinctively to my chest.
13:23It hurt.
13:24So much.
13:26I had thought that when the poison finally took me.
13:29It would not matter if I died quietly and alone in the old stone keep.
13:35But Kieran would not let me have even that.
13:38He turned back to me.
13:39And at the sight of my pain, something grim and satisfied flickered in his eyes.
13:43Now that you're awake, stop lying there pretending to be half dead.
13:47From today onwards, you will attend Bella and care for her during the pregnancy.
13:52You are a slave.
13:54Serving the future alpha heir is an honor you should be grateful for.
13:57He had always known exactly where to strike to hurt me most.
14:02He wanted me to stand there and watch another woman carry his child, and our own baby, an unborn little
14:08wolf.
14:09Still lay buried beneath a cairn field beyond a ridge.
14:12Nameless and forgotten.
14:14Bella smiled at me with practiced gentleness.
14:18You were once the pack princess.
14:20Since Alpha has sent you to attend me, I cannot very well have you scrubbing floors.
14:25You may clear the weeds from the garden instead.
14:28I knelt on the ground and looked at the garden, thick with thorny brambles.
14:33The other maids rolled their eyes at me openly, their voices full of contempt.
14:38She ought to be grateful she was allowed to live it all.
14:41Only our Luna is kind enough to show her mercy.
14:44A princess?
14:45She isn't fit to stand beside even the lowest rogue alpha cast her aside long ago.
14:51The brambles were faintly poisonous.
14:54And as my skin brushed against them, a rash slowly spread over my arms.
14:58I let out a rough breath.
15:00Then all at once I felt something warm trickling from my nose.
15:04A drop of bright blood fell onto the flower petals below.
15:08When I reached up and touched my face, my fingertips came away scarlet.
15:12Ah!
15:14Blood!
15:16Bella had just stepped out and caught sight of me.
15:19My face smeared in blood like something monstrous.
15:22She shrieked on the spot and staggered backwards as though overcome with fright.
15:26What happened?
15:27Kieran rushed over at once and caught Bella in his arms.
15:31The moment he saw me covered in blood, looking like some vengeful spirit.
15:35He strode over without a word and struck me across the face.
15:38The blow was so hard it sent me sprawling to the ground.
15:42Clutching my chest, I began coughing violently.
15:46Each breath bringing up flecks of blood.
15:48Bella cannot bear the smell of blood right now.
15:51Did you do this on purpose to upset her?
15:53His gaze was sharp as ice.
15:55Because your child is dead, is that it?
15:58So now you want revenge on someone else's?
16:01Elada, have you forgotten what happens when you disobey me?
16:04How could I ever forget?
16:06Fighting the itching beneath my skin, the suffocating pressure in my chest,
16:10and the agony in my lungs that felt like a thousand insects eating me alive.
16:14I forced myself upright and crawled forwards before bowing low in submission.
16:19It was my fault.
16:21It was my fault.
16:22Please, show mercy.
16:25Alpha.
16:26Enduring the pain, I knelt there and lowered my head,
16:29bearing my neck in surrender.
16:31I have nothing left.
16:32Please, please, do not torment me any further.
16:36Kiran crouched down and tilted up my chin.
16:39A faint smile touched his lips, cruel and amused.
16:43Who told you that you have nothing left?
16:46Isn't there still one buried beneath the cairn field beyond the ridge?
16:52I clutched desperately at his boots, my eyes burning red.
16:56Please, Kiran.
16:57I'm begging you.
16:59Don't do this.
17:00You can't.
17:02I could not even remember how long it had been since I had last called him by name.
17:06Kiran lowered his gaze to me.
17:09Something unreadable shifting in his eyes.
17:12I could not make sense of it.
17:14I only thought he was hesitating, so I kept knocking my head against the ground and begging.
17:20Again.
17:21And again.
17:22And again.
17:23Until the skin split open and blood stained the earth beneath me.
17:28Blood ran from my nose.
17:30Blood spilled from my mouth when I coughed.
17:32Even my tears had become streaked with red.
17:36Only then did Kiran seem to realize that over the past two days,
17:39I had been bleeding far too much.
17:42Frowning, he turned to the others and asked.
17:45What heavy work was she doing in the courtyard to end up like this?
17:49One of them immediately answered.
17:52Alpha the Luna showed Miss Alara kindness.
17:54She was only asked to do light work, just clearing weeds.
17:58At once Kiran let go of me and gave a series of cold laughs.
18:01Alara.
18:02So, this is another performance, is it?
18:05You've had this wretched illness for years.
18:07Since it clearly won't kill you, you may as well endure it properly.
18:11I watched him step over me and walk back inside without so much as a backward glance.
18:16Very softly, I let out a breath.
18:19Then I curled in on myself and lay motionless until the night air turned cold.
18:23Lamplight glowed from inside the room.
18:26And Bella's sweet voice drifted faintly through the door.
18:29Honey, no.
18:31I'm pregnant.
18:32Oh stop, if you want me that badly, you must promise to be gentle.
18:37Their shadows moved behind the curtains, and I watched them in silence.
18:41Suddenly, I thought of that night with Kiran.
18:44There had been no vows.
18:46No blessings.
18:47Only raw possession.
18:49The wind seemed to pass straight through the hollow space inside my chest.
18:53Dawn was almost here.
18:55This was the final day.
18:57Kiran, I am going to die.
18:59The bloodline you loathe so much will soon be wiped from this world completely.
19:04Congratulations.
19:07The door was suddenly flung open.
19:10Alpha sent you here to attend Bella, and this is how you idle away your time.
19:14Someone had just come with a message.
19:16Kiran was apparently about to inspect the territory.
19:20And I was ordered to get inside at once and wait on the luna.
19:24When I carried the water in, Bella looked radiant.
19:27Her cheeks flushed with health.
19:29The moment we were alone, the look she gave me lost all pretense.
19:33It was naked provocation.
19:35Our eyes met.
19:37Silently, I shaped two words with my lips.
19:40Traitor.
19:41Bella was not offended in the slightest.
19:44She merely smiled and took in my wretched state from head to toe.
19:48Alara, you're exactly the same as ever.
19:51The moment you touch these poisonous brambles, your skin flares up.
19:55She had once been my closest friend.
19:58Her father had served as my father's bait a second.
20:01And yet when the pack fell, it was their family who opened the gates first.
20:06Bella lifted the wolf bone bracelet again and showed it off before my eyes.
20:11It doesn't feel very pleasant, does it?
20:13Having poison eat its way into your heart?
20:15You probably still don't know why, ten years ago, after you saved Kieran in the dark forest,
20:21he became so distant when he returned.
20:24Because he thought it was me who saved him.
20:27I told him I had sucked the poison from his wound with my own mouth.
20:31Bella finished speaking and waited, clearly hoping to savor the shock and pain on my face.
20:37But my expression did not change in the slightest.
20:41What stood between Kieran and me was a sea of blood.
20:44What could one act of saving his life possibly outweigh?
20:47A bitter smile touched my lips.
20:50If I'd known, I should have left him to die in the hands of those rogues.
20:54A cold laugh sounded behind me.
20:57I turned instinctively.
20:59Kieran's hand was already around my throat, his gaze glacial.
21:03Elara, do you hate me that much?
21:05Do you think I truly cannot bear to kill you?
21:08That hand, the same hand that had once caressed every inch of my body,
21:12closed hard around my neck.
21:14I could not speak.
21:15I could barely breathe.
21:18But from the dead stillness in my eyes, Kieran understood.
21:21If he had the nerve, then he should go on and strangle me to death.
21:29Kieran's brow tightened, and he flung me aside with brutal force.
21:33Death is too easy for you, Elara.
21:35I want you alive.
21:37I want you to suffer for the rest of your life.
21:39Then he brought me that medicine again.
21:42I took the bowl and, without waiting to be told,
21:45drank it down in front of him in a single swallow.
21:47Something dark and unreadable passed through Kieran's eyes.
21:50Elara, so long as you remain this obedient, I might consider.
21:54He paused, then turned his head slightly.
21:57I might consider allowing a headstone for that dead pup.
22:00My lashes trembled.
22:02That child had been his as well.
22:04And yet even a headstone was something he would grant only reluctantly.
22:08Today you will kneel in the courtyard and reflect on your conduct.
22:11That is your punishment for frightening Bella.
22:14Around mid-afternoon, a low growl suddenly echoed from outside.
22:18At Bella's birthday feast the day before,
22:20someone had given her an untrained Black Panther as a pet.
22:23Wild beasts loved the smell of blood.
22:26My heart dropped.
22:27I had only just looked up when a sleek dark shape launched straight at me.
22:31By the time Bella came running over in a show of alarm,
22:34pretending she meant to stop it,
22:35several chunks of flesh had already been torn from my body.
22:38She called the beast back and put on a guilty expression.
22:41Kieran only just began teaching me how to tame it.
22:45I'm still not used to the methods yet.
22:48That's why it hurt Alara.
22:50I feel dreadful.
22:52Luna, why should you apologize to a servant?
22:54Someone said at once,
22:56even if the beast had devoured her whole,
22:58Alpha would never blame you.
22:59My mind was beginning to blur.
23:01The world before me was washed in blood red.
23:04I could see nothing clearly,
23:06hear nothing properly.
23:07And suddenly I thought of my father,
23:10of how he had once become a great white wolf to protect his people and fought until his final breath.
23:15Alara?
23:16Ellie?
23:17Ellie?
23:18Someone was calling my childhood name again and again beside my ear,
23:21the voice low and strained.
23:23It had been so very long since I had heard that name.
23:26In the blur,
23:27I saw a tall figure.
23:29I grabbed his sleeve with a blood-soaked hand and cried.
23:33Through tears,
23:34the voice fell silent.
23:36When awareness finally returned,
23:38that familiar bitter taste was in my mouth again.
23:40I opened my eyes and found Kieran's face close to mine.
23:43He had been feeding me the medicine himself,
23:46mouth to mouth.
23:47The moment I realized it,
23:49I turned my face away in revulsion.
23:51Kieran froze.
23:52His fingers tightened round the medicine bowl.
23:55Alara,
23:56since you're awake,
23:57drink it yourself.
23:58Bracing myself upright,
24:00I did exactly as he said and drained the bowl to the last drop.
24:03In the very next moment,
24:04I vomited it all back up,
24:06along with black blood.
24:08Kieran's expression changed at once.
24:10He stared at me,
24:11confusion in his eyes,
24:13then panic,
24:14and then anger.
24:15Alara,
24:15what new trick is this?
24:17Outside,
24:18night had already fallen.
24:20I knew my wolf's soul was about to scatter.
24:22So I said,
24:24Kieran,
24:24I'm dying.
24:26I won't allow it.
24:27Kieran looked as though he meant to threaten me again with the bones of my family.
24:31But suddenly the words would not come.
24:33Because he saw the blood pouring from all seven orifices of my face, staining the entire bed.
24:39He saw,
24:40too,
24:40the black veins creeping beneath my collar,
24:42the sign that the wolf's vein poison had sunk into the marrow of my bones.
24:46His shaking gaze returned to my face,
24:48and then he realized that my eyes could no longer focus.
24:52My wolf was dead.
24:54In that instant,
24:55he felt it.
24:56The thread that had bound our souls together,
24:58the mating bond itself,
25:00snapped cleanly in two.
25:03Kieran clutched at his chest and let out a howl like a wounded beast.
25:07The agony of having half his soul torn away made him stagger backwards.
25:11He could barely keep his footing before dropping to one knee.
25:14He could deny it all he liked.
25:16He could bury it beneath hatred for as long as he wished.
25:19But the breaking of the mating bond could not be hidden.
25:22It meant only one thing.
25:24The other half of his soul was dying.
25:27Ilara!
25:27Ilara!
25:29Ignoring the pain,
25:30he threw himself back to the bedside like a madman and slapped my face over and over.
25:34Wake up!
25:35Do you hear me?
25:36You are not allowed to sleep.
25:38Where is your wolf?
25:39Call it out.
25:40Make it heal you.
25:41You're an alpha's daughter.
25:43Where is your healing gift?
25:44He frantically released the full force of his alpha scent,
25:47trying to force it into me,
25:49trying to wake the sleeping wolf soul within my body.
25:51But that fierce, overbearing power poured into me and vanished like a stone sinking into the sea,
25:56receiving not the slightest response.
25:59My body had become a vessel with a hole torn through it.
26:02No life could remain inside it now.
26:04What lay there was only an empty shell.
26:06Alpha, if this woman is dying, then let her die.
26:09Why make such a spectacle of it?
26:11At the doorway, the housekeeper who served Bella,
26:14having hidden in the shadows and watched long enough,
26:16could not hold her tongue any longer.
26:18She wrinkled her nose in disgust at the blood soaking the bed.
26:21You should remember that the Luna is with child.
26:24She cannot bear the sight of blood.
26:26If this disturbs the unborn heir.
26:28Shut up!
26:29Kieran spun round, his eyes red as blood itself,
26:32the unmistakable sign of a wolf on the brink of frenzy.
26:35Elera was my name.
26:37It meant moonlight.
26:38And yet my whole life had known nothing but darkness.
26:41With a single backhanded strike,
26:43Kieran sent a visible wave of force crashing into the housekeeper.
26:47She was a werewolf too,
26:48yet she was flung away like a rag doll and smashed hard against the wall.
26:52The crack of breaking ribs rang out with dreadful clarity,
26:55and she collapsed at once, unconscious.
26:58The attendants outside dropped to their knees in terror, trembling violently.
27:03Bella, who had only just arrived,
27:05saw it happen and gave a shrill scream.
27:08One hand clutched her stomach as she crumpled to the floor.
27:11But Kieran paid no attention to anyone.
27:14He did not even spare Bella, the woman he had always doted on, a single glance.
27:19He turned back and seized my hand, which was already growing cold,
27:22holding it with the helpless desperation of a lost child.
27:25Elera, if you wake up, I'll grant you anything.
27:29I won't torment you again.
27:32I'll give you your freedom, alright?
27:34I won't kill you.
27:36I won't take revenge anymore.
27:38His voice was thick with tears, his words stumbling over one another in panic.
27:43Didn't you want that wolf fang bracelet?
27:45It was our token.
27:47I'll give it back to you.
27:48I'll give you everything.
27:50In a frenzy, he dragged the bracelet from inside his robes,
27:54the one he had taken back from Bella.
27:56His hands shook so badly as he tried to fasten it around my neck
27:59that he failed again and again to catch the clasp.
28:01Damn it.
28:02Damn it.
28:03At last, he managed it.
28:05The faint, familiar fragrance drifted to me,
28:08the scent he had once sought out specially to ease my pain.
28:11But it was all too late.
28:13Just then, the captain of the guard came in,
28:16pale-faced and stiff with fear.
28:17Alpha, there is a rogue seer at the gates asking to see you.
28:21He says he sensed the presence of an ancient blood curse.
28:24He says he knows how she might be saved.
28:27Kieran looked as though he had seized hold of the last thing keeping him from drowning.
28:31He snapped up his coat and roared.
28:33Bring him in.
28:34Now, if she dies, every one of you will be buried with her.
28:39The seer wore a tattered cloak and carried the smell of herbs and damp earth about him.
28:44Leaning on a staff, he made his way slowly into the Alpha's chamber.
28:48When he saw the blood-soaked figure on the bed, he showed no surprise at all.
28:52He did not even step closer to take my pulse.
28:55He merely stood three paces away, looked once, and sighed.
28:59So it is exactly as I thought.
29:02By then Kieran no longer cared who the man was.
29:04He strode forwards, grabbed the seer by the collar, and snarled.
29:09You can save her, can't you?
29:11Then do it.
29:12The seer looked calmly at the frenzied wolf king and spoke in an even voice.
29:16Alpha, she is in this state because the poison inside her has turned back upon her.
29:22She saved someone by taking into herself the liquid silver poison that was meant for another.
29:28Kieran's face froze.
29:30His grip loosened.
29:31What do you mean?
29:32The seer pushed his hand away and pointed to the black veins spreading across my chest.
29:37These markings do not appear in a day or two.
29:40Ten years ago, at the edge of the dark forest, was someone struck by the hunter's specially prepared liquid silver
29:49poison?
29:49Kieran's pupils contracted violently.
29:52That memory was the nightmare.
29:54He had never escaped.
29:56Ten years ago, young and reckless, he had stumbled into a hunter's trap.
30:00Poisoned and close to death, he had been left with one foot already beyond the threshold.
30:05There is no cure for that poison.
30:07The seer continued.
30:08The only way to survive is to use the flesh and blood of the one dearest to you as the
30:16vessel.
30:17And by means of a forbidden dark rite called a blood oath, transfer the poison into another body.
30:24This girl was struck by that very curse.
30:27All these years, she has been feeding the poison that once lived in your body with her own life force
30:33and her wolf soul.
30:35In truth, she need not have suffered quite so much.
30:39She might even have lived a few years longer.
30:42But.
30:43The seer let his gaze drift round the room.
30:46Looking at the rich tonics that had not yet been cleared away, he gave a mirthless laugh.
30:52Have you often been making her take powerful strengthening tonics?
30:56And for punishment, have you even made her soak in silver baths?
31:00The color drained from Kieran's face in an instant.
31:02He staggered backwards as though struck by lightning.
31:05Colliding with the cabinet behind him, the seer gave a weary sigh.
31:10Those rich medicines are the finest catalyst the poison could ask for.
31:14And the silver baths only hastened the collapse of her wolf soul.
31:19You could say that with your own hands, little by little, you pushed her towards death.
31:25Every bowl of medicine you forced down her throat was another step towards killing her.
31:30Kieran stood there listening, his head bowed, his whole body shaking.
31:34No wonder.
31:35No wonder she had so often gone pale over the years, clutching at her chest and whispering that it hurt.
31:41And more than once, he had called her weak.
31:44More than once, he had sneered that she was putting on an act.
31:48He had forced bowl after bowl of those self-important tonics down her throat, and made her soak in silver
31:53baths as punishment.
31:54All the while, she had been enduring agony as though 10,000 insects were chewing through her heart.
32:00All the while, she had been trading her life for his.
32:03By the time he came back to himself, his nails had already cut deep into his palms, blood running freely.
32:09With his head still lowered, Kieran spoke in a voice so hoarse it scarcely sounded human, as though each word
32:15had been dragged from the bottom of his throat.
32:17Are you saying, that the person who saved me in the dark forest, was her?
32:22Of course.
32:23The seer gave a contemptuous laugh and turned a scornful glance towards Bella, who was trembling in the doorway.
32:28That woman called Bella was hiding up a tree, frightened enough to wet herself.
32:33By the time this girl carried you out of the poisoned mist, that one had only just found the courage
32:38to climb down and steal the credit.
32:41Kieran spun round at once.
32:42His gaze slashed across the room like that of a maddened beast and landed on Bella.
32:47Bella had gone completely white.
32:49She was shaking so hard she could scarcely stay upright.
32:52No.
32:53No, that's not true.
32:55Honey.
32:57Please, let me explain.
32:59A blur shot through the room.
33:01No one saw him move.
33:03In the next instant, Kieran's hand was locked round Bella's throat, lifting her clear off the ground.
33:08Her legs kicked wildly in the air.
33:11Both hands clawed desperately at his iron grip, but it was useless.
33:15You lied to me for 10 years.
33:16His voice was terrifyingly calm, and for that reason all the more dreadful.
33:21You stole everything that should have belonged to Alara.
33:23The credit was hers.
33:25The token was hers.
33:26The honor was hers.
33:27And she...
33:29His voice shook.
33:30She suffered in the slave pens in my place, while I tormented her until living became worse than death.
33:35Bella struggled frantically, her face swelling dark with lack of air.
33:39With immense difficulty, she forced out a few broken words.
33:47She tried to use the child in her belly as her final shield, but Kieran's fingers did not loosen in
33:53the slightest.
33:54If anything, they tightened further.
33:56There was nothing in his eyes now but pure destruction.
33:59My child?
34:00A shattered laugh escaped him, and tears slid down his face.
34:04My child.
34:05The one who was truly mine.
34:07The child I should have had with my fated mate, is already dead.
34:12I killed it with my own hands.
34:14It lies buried beneath the cairn field beyond the ridge.
34:17And this thing in your belly dares to call itself my child.
34:20His gaze flickered to the woman lying on the bed, bloodied and lifeless.
34:23And the pain in his chest became so sharp he could scarcely breathe.
34:27If Alara cannot live, then all of you can die with her.
34:30There came a sharp crack.
34:32Bella's neck snapped.
34:33Her head lulled at a grotesque angle.
34:36Kieran flung her aside with one careless movement.
34:38As though he were throwing away rubbish.
34:41The luna he had once cherished like a treasure hit the floor like a broken doll.
34:45The hall fell into a deathly silence.
34:47Every attendant and guard had dropped to their knees.
34:50Not one of them daring to breathe too loudly.
34:53Kieran did not even glance at Bella's corpse.
34:55He turned, then all at once his knees gave way beneath him, and he fell before the seer.
35:00The wolf king, who had once seemed above all others, was now humbled into the dust.
35:05Save her.
35:06He begged.
35:07Please.
35:08Save her.
35:11The seer shook his head, pity in his eyes.
35:14It is too late.
35:16The mating bond has already broken.
35:18Her wolf soul has scattered.
35:20Her body is ruined.
35:22Kieran seemed to lose his mind, with a savage movement.
35:26He drove his own claws into his chest.
35:29Blood burst forth.
35:30Without even flinching, he dug out blood from over his own heart.
35:34Golden alpha blood dripped onto the stone floor.
35:38Take my life, instead.
35:40He stared at the seer, his gaze steady and absolute.
35:43The ancient blood oath can be reversed, can't it?
35:46If poison could be transferred before, then life force can be transferred now.
35:50The seer looked at the mad wolf king, looked at the terrible wound yawning in his chest, and at last
35:55let out a long sigh.
35:59It can be attempted, but this is forbidden, even among forbidden odds.
36:05You must understand the price.
36:07You will lose all the power of an alpha.
36:10Your wolf soul will shatter.
36:13You will become a broken man.
36:15Perhaps even die on the spot.
36:17And even if she wakes, she may remember happiness.
36:20Kieran did not hesitate for so much as a heartbeat.
36:24Do it.
36:25The seer drew an intricate blood circle, in the center of the alpha's chamber.
36:29Kieran gathered me into his arms and sat at the heart of it.
36:33As the chant began, a red light flooded the room.
36:36Kieran poured all that he was into me.
36:38His life force.
36:39The very source of his alpha power.
36:42All of it passed through his blood into my body without end.
36:45The color drained visibly from his face.
36:47His black hair turned white strand by strand.
36:50At my ear he whispered, his voice growing weaker and weaker, yet softer than it had ever been.
36:55Ellie, I'm sorry.
36:58If I were given another chance, I would know you at once in the dark forest.
37:03I would never lead an army to destroy your pack.
37:05I would come with gifts and ask for your hand properly.
37:09I would never let you suffer at all.
37:11I would place the finest things in the world before you.
37:16Live on.
37:17Live for our child too.
37:20Live well.
37:22I did not know how much time had passed.
37:24But at some point I felt warmth, deep and powerful, entering my body, mending my ruined organs, awakening every sleeping
37:31part of me.
37:32It was the life force I had lost so long ago.
37:36And at the same time, I could feel another soul fading fast.
37:41That warmth was him, burning himself away.
37:46I tried desperately to open my eyes.
37:49I tried to reach for him.
37:51I wanted to tell him to stop.
37:56By the time I finally forced my eyes open, the light had already faded.
38:01And all I saw was Kieran collapsed beside the bed.
38:05His hair was completely white.
38:07His skin had lost all luster and was lined with age.
38:11The man who had once stood tall and untouchable.
38:14The wolf king before whom all others bowed.
38:17Now lay there like an old man at the end of his days.
38:20Utterly still.
38:21He was dead.
38:23He had traded his life for mine.
38:25And the broken mating bond.
38:28Restored for a moment by the forbidden right.
38:31Had rejoined only to lead into emptiness.
38:34I gathered his cold body into my arms.
38:37And in that vast hollow hall I let out a long.
38:40Desolate howl.
38:49It was the cry of a lone wolf who had lost her mate.
38:53The most hopeless sound in the world.
38:56Afterwards.
38:57I did not take command of the pack.
38:59When Kieran died.
39:00The Black River pack descended into chaos.
39:03But I did not care.
39:05I dismissed every servant.
39:10Then I burned that splendid.
39:13Filthy palace to the ground.
39:15Taking Kieran's remains with me.
39:17I returned to the old blood moon lands.
39:19I buried him beside our unborn child beneath the great oak.
39:23Where we had first met ten years before.
39:26Once.
39:27It had been the happiest place we knew.
39:30On the gravestone I wrote none of his titles.
39:33Not wolf king.
39:35Not conqueror.
39:37Only a single line.
39:39Here lies Kieran.
39:40My mate.
39:41My love.
39:42My regret.
39:44Alone.
39:45With the recovered wolf fawn bracelet at my throat.
39:48I turned my steps towards the vast snows of the north.
39:53They say there is an ancient legend in the far north.
39:57That if one can find the moon goddess's lost tear.
40:00One may open the gate of time and turn the years backwards.
40:03I do not know whether it is true.
40:07Perhaps it is nothing more than an empty hope offered to those left behind.
40:11But I have a long life ahead of me in which to search.
40:14So long as I do not die.
40:17This long atonement and this long search.
40:21Will never end.
40:23Through the wind and snow.
40:25A solitary silver wolf walked on.
40:28Step by step into the heart of the storm.
40:36Step by step into the storm.
40:36Step by step into the storm.
40:36Step by step into the storm.
40:40Step by step into the storm.
40:40Step by step into the storm.
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