- 41 minutes ago
The Alpha’s Shadow Luna
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Short filmTranscript
00:02They mock me for chasing him for eight years, but none of them know.
00:06He came to me first.
00:08I'm a pureblood noble werewolf, yet I stayed in the shadows, his secret lover for eight
00:14long years.
00:14I used my clan's power to raise him into the supreme alpha with my own hands, but he never
00:20chose to mark me.
00:24He finally promised to claim me in public, tonight at the King's Mating Ball.
00:29I thought my long, bitter wait had finally borne fruit, and right now, the moment his
00:33fated mate, Vivian, appeared, his wolf ignored me completely.
00:37Then he pulled her into his arms before the whole court.
00:41The lichen king blessed their bond on the spot.
00:45Congratulations!
00:46Cheers to love and forever!
00:48Everyone cheered loudly.
00:49Only I stood frozen in place, as if all my years had been torn away from me.
00:54He kissed her passionately right before all the noble courtiers.
01:01Lady Alara, how did a wolf like you end up without a partner tonight?
01:06Haven't found your fated one yet?
01:09I already have a mate.
01:13Oh, who's the lucky bastard?
01:16And how did you keep him hidden this long?
01:18Steady.
01:20Reliable.
01:21Treats me well.
01:22How did you meet?
01:23You've never breathed a word about him.
01:24Every eye in the hall was on me.
01:26A dry cough from across the room.
01:29It was Caleb.
01:30Leave it alone, princess.
01:32If Alara doesn't want to talk, don't push her.
01:34Cordelia laughed it off.
01:35My mistake.
01:36Mr. Alpha Caleb.
01:37But the moment he spoke, the focus shifted to them.
01:40Their real question is for Alpha Caleb.
01:43Caleb made his name young.
01:44Never took mate.
01:46Now we know.
01:47He was waiting for his fated one, Vivian.
01:50Caleb didn't answer.
01:52Didn't deny it either.
01:53Don't tell me the Alpha's shy.
01:55Laughter rolled through the hall.
01:58Caleb looked down at her.
02:00His eyes softened.
02:01Give us the truth, Alpha.
02:02Have you been in love with Vivian this whole time?
02:04Please, don't tease.
02:07Eight years.
02:08Eight years of him keeping me hidden.
02:13Gang politics is complicated.
02:15My enemies will use you against me.
02:18Baby, you gotta wait.
02:20For eight years, he never once made our relationship public.
02:23And underneath all of it, the thing he never said out loud.
02:25What if his fated one comes back?
02:27I pretended to ignore it.
02:29Long enough to get used to pretending we were strangers in public.
02:32It wasn't until tonight that I understood.
02:34The timing was never going to be right.
02:36It was always going to be her.
02:47What's the hurry?
02:49We want a drink at the mating ceremony.
02:52Enough.
02:53Stop tormenting them.
02:54Caleb leaned in and lifted his glass to Vivian's lips.
02:57His eyes never left her face.
02:59I looked down at my own glass.
03:01Caleb had never shown me that kind of care.
03:04Lady Elota, I hear your family's been entertaining offers.
03:08Anyone catch your eye?
03:09I felt Caleb stare.
03:11Don't say anything stupid.
03:12I didn't look at him.
03:14The mating date is set.
03:15Soon.
03:17So the rumors are true.
03:19I'm not a pup anymore.
03:21My parents set the date.
03:22I agreed.
03:23Who is he?
03:24When's the ceremony?
03:25Everyone was looking at me.
03:27Except Caleb.
03:28Don't rush her.
03:29You're making her shy.
03:30Though if the date's already set, you must have known him a long time.
03:34Must be love.
03:36We met two weeks ago.
03:38He's steady.
03:39He treats me well.
03:41So I said yes.
03:42The hall detonated.
03:43Even the queen's eyebrows were not.
03:46Across the room.
03:47Caleb sat both upright.
03:48The shock on his face was too big to hide.
03:51I'd asked him for his birth moon.
03:53Told him I wanted the Paxier to read our bond.
03:56I wanted poop.
03:58Something to hold on to.
04:00I'd told him I wanted an answer.
04:01Relief crossed his face.
04:03Then something darker.
04:05Even now, with his faded mate at his side,
04:08he still thought I was going to be his shadow.
04:11Congratulations, Allara.
04:13When's the ceremony?
04:15We'd like to send gifts.
04:16Three days from now.
04:17A small gathering at my family's estate.
04:20Though, honestly, I thought...
04:22Thought what?
04:23I thought Allara was waiting for someone.
04:26The way she used to trail after Caleb.
04:28We all thought she'd die unmated before she took anyone else.
04:32The room went still.
04:34Caleb, Allara's getting mated.
04:36You two go back.
04:37Don't you have anything to say?
04:39Caleb didn't even raise his eyes.
04:41That was a long time ago.
04:44Four words.
04:45A sharp pain shot through my chest.
04:47I laughed before I could stop myself.
04:50My eyes were wet.
04:51They didn't know it was never me chasing him.
04:54He came for me first.
04:55I never want another wolf as long as he lived.
04:58Once my position is secure, I will name you as my Luna.
05:03Chosen bond or not.
05:05He said it wouldn't matter.
05:07But we were never public.
05:08So everyone just assumed I was pathetic.
05:12Enough.
05:13Let the past rest.
05:15To Allara, may she find a good mate.
05:19To Alpha Caleb and Vivian, may the moon bless their bond.
05:23Glasses rang against each other.
05:28Caleb pulled Vivian against his side.
05:30His scent wrapped around her.
05:32Claiming her in front of every wolf in the hall.
05:35Vivian.
05:36It's late.
05:37I'm taking you home.
05:39I stood alone.
05:41A rainy night, eight years ago.
05:43Rogues came for him.
05:45I stepped in front of the silver blade without thinking.
05:47The blood wouldn't stop.
05:49His eyes went red.
05:51He told me he'd make me the happiest woman alive.
05:53My hand went to my left shoulder.
05:56His scar didn't hurt anymore.
05:58Just like his promises.
06:00Dawn had barely broken.
06:02I heard the footsteps I knew by heart outside my door.
06:08I know the masquerade upset you.
06:10But you can't throw around lies about taking a mate.
06:12I didn't lie.
06:13It was just a show.
06:16Don't gamble your whole life because you're angry.
06:18Drop the mating story.
06:19It'll stick to both of us.
06:22I don't say things I don't mean.
06:24The date is set.
06:26I know you're hurt.
06:28Give me two more years.
06:30Let me settle things.
06:33I'll name you my Luna.
06:34Fated or not.
06:37I almost laughed.
06:38He'd said the same thing two years ago.
06:41In his head, I had endless two-year blocks to burn.
06:44Now he had a fated mate.
06:45And he still thought I'd wait in the shadows.
06:48Caleb.
06:49I've run out of time.
06:51He stared at me.
06:52There's something I've been meaning to tell you.
06:55The truth is...
06:56Alpha.
06:57Lady Vivian is unwell.
06:58She's asking for you.
06:59He turned and walked out.
07:00I'll check on her.
07:02We'll finish this when I get back.
07:04He couldn't even pretend to choose me for one more minute.
07:07His wolf wouldn't let him.
07:09That was what being fated meant.
07:11Two hours later, Caleb walked through the hall with Vivian on his arm.
07:16Caleb, I'm so sorry to impose.
07:19Don't worry about it.
07:20Stay as long as you need.
07:22He pushed open the door to my chambers.
07:24The room had been stripped bare.
07:26Every trace of me gone.
07:30Quieter than I expected.
07:32A little empty.
07:33There used to be whiskey on his desk.
07:35A silver charm I'd forged for him.
07:38Now there was nothing.
07:40Caleb stood in the middle of the empty chamber.
07:43Something inside him went hollow.
07:45Vivian held it up between two fingers.
07:47Alpha, this pendant is beautiful.
07:49Who was it for?
07:50Caleb didn't speak.
07:52I love it.
07:54Let me wear it at the mating ceremony.
07:56Caleb snapped back.
07:58Took the pendant from her hand.
08:00If you want something, I'll have the best silversmiths make you whatever you want.
08:03Any design.
08:05Vivian's smile froze.
08:07Who is she?
08:08It's Allura.
08:10Isn't it?
08:10Caleb said nothing.
08:12Caleb.
08:12He turned away from her.
08:13Do you know why my family left the Royal Territory?
08:18Because I saw the way you looked at her.
08:20I knew if I stayed, I'd have to watch you choose her over whatever I was.
08:24She stared at him.
08:26She wiped her eyes.
08:27So I ran.
08:29I Alphas came courting every season.
08:31I turned down every one of them.
08:34But I've always only wanted you.
08:36Then the masquerade.
08:37Your wolf found me through the mask.
08:39The king sealed it in front of the court.
08:41I finally had my answer.
08:44You were mine.
08:45The moon said so.
08:46I thought I could finally have you.
08:48The one you care about is me.
08:52Not her.
08:56Isn't that right?
08:59She's at her family's estate.
09:01Waiting for the ceremony.
09:03We agreed on it.
09:04Waiting?
09:06She stood in that hall and told everyone.
09:08She's mating a stranger she met two weeks ago.
09:12Every wolf in the room heard it.
09:14Caleb still thought I was going to marry him.
09:17He thought I was angry that he still hadn't named me his Luna.
09:20Wake up, Caleb.
09:21She doesn't.
09:22Vivian.
09:24What's between me and Alara has nothing to do with you.
09:29If you have other ideas, you can't stay here.
09:32Vivian froze.
09:34I...
09:35I...
09:35I...
09:39I'll have rooms arranged.
09:40Tell the housekeeper if you need anything.
09:42Vivian stood there a long moment.
09:43Then pulled her mouth into a thin smile.
09:46I overstepped.
09:48I'm sorry.
09:49Don't worry.
09:50The moment my mother arrives, I'll be gone.
09:59After that, Caleb stopped sleeping.
10:02Caleb thought back on everything.
10:04His parents found him horrible.
10:05From nothing to Alpha.
10:07I was the one who got him there.
10:09I am pure blood.
10:10Noble.
10:11I made him what he is.
10:13What Vivian had to offer was just the pull in his chest.
10:17Philip couldn't carve his wallet at the front.
10:19He fled.
10:20Every time he was cornered, it was my kin who closed in behind him.
10:25Of course he fell for me.
10:27Because I gave him everything I had.
10:33But it still wasn't enough.
10:35He had to prove something that he wasn't less.
10:37So he kept stalling.
10:39Kept making excuses.
10:41Until his wolf bowed to Vivian on the masquerade floor.
10:45And he let it.
10:47He hadn't brought me honey cakes in years.
10:50Hadn't asked if my scar ached in the cold.
10:52He sent letters to the Blackthorn estate.
10:55Everyone came back unopened.
10:57Then he heard the maids whispering outside the manor walls.
11:00Come on.
11:01The Blackthorn girl is mating today.
11:03Let's go catch some of the luck.
11:04Okay.
11:06Caleb froze.
11:07He shifted into his wool room.
11:09And ran for my estate without the thought.
11:11He tore through the great hall.
11:13And saw me.
11:14A bride in white silk.
11:17Moonstone at my throat.
11:26Alara.
11:27Stop.
11:28My feet paused.
11:29I turned.
11:30Caleb's eyes locked onto mine.
11:33The hall fell into whispers.
11:35The one you're supposed to mate is me.
11:38His eyes were red.
11:39He walked toward me one step.
11:41You've been my chosen mate for eight years.
11:45How can you bond with someone else?
11:47A servant tried to block him.
11:50Caleb shoved him aside without looking.
11:52Alpha.
11:53This is my daughter's mating day.
11:55My father stepped in front of me.
11:57Show some respect.
11:59Respect.
12:00Caleb laughed.
12:02Ugly and raw.
12:03I protected her for eight years.
12:05I waited eight years.
12:07Lord Blackthorn.
12:09This mating mating can-
12:11Every eye in the hall landed on me.
12:13My chest didn't move.
12:14Then Vivian's voice from the doorway.
12:17She came in on a maid's arm, steps quick.
12:20Quarry painted on just right.
12:25Caleb, why are you doing this?
12:28She turned to me, voice soft, every word a blade.
12:32Lady Allura, don't do this to yourself.
12:36Caleb's heart is yours.
12:38Why throw yourself away?
12:41I pushed my father's hand aside.
12:43Walked up to Caleb.
12:46You still think I'm throwing a tantrum.
12:49My hand went to my left shoulder.
12:51Eight years ago, robes in the rain.
12:55I took the silver blade for you.
12:59You held me after.
13:01Said you'd name me your Luna.
13:03Fated or not.
13:05Something cracked across his face.
13:07He tried to speak.
13:08I cut him off.
13:11But I waited eight years.
13:14I got used to being strangers in public.
13:16Got used to being a shadow Luna with no name.
13:19And you.
13:21You let your wolf bow to Vivian in front of the entire court.
13:24Took the king's blessing.
13:26Pulled her against your side where every wolf of kingdom could see.
13:30Did you think about me even once?
13:35I didn't.
13:37Allura.
13:37I never meant to throw you away.
13:40The mating gifts are ready.
13:42I was going to name you my Luna at the full moon.
13:45All of it ready.
13:46He ripped the silver chain from around his neck.
13:49Look.
13:49This was part of it.
13:51My soul is yours.
13:52The moon can see it.
13:53Please.
13:54One more chance.
13:56I'll name you my Luna tonight.
13:58Right now.
13:59I snapped my hand back.
14:01This late promise.
14:01It meant nothing.
14:03The scar doesn't hurt anymore.
14:05Just like what I felt for you.
14:08Eight years burned it out.
14:10I don't want your late promise.
14:12I don't want your rushed gift.
14:15Valerius suddenly appeared.
14:17Standing in front of me.
14:18Alpha.
14:19This is my bonding with Allura.
14:21She's mine now.
14:23He stood next to me.
14:24We matched the way the Whispers had said we would.
14:26She's been my chosen mate for eight years.
14:28You don't get a say.
14:30A say?
14:33If you cared about her, why hide her for eight years?
14:37At the masquerade, you let your wolf bow to Vivian.
14:40You took the king's blessing.
14:41Did you think once about what that did to her?
14:46She took silver for you.
14:47Waited eight years.
14:49And you looked straight through her.
14:51Now she's found better.
14:53And you come here screaming.
14:55What makes you think you get to ask her to turn around?
15:00And you come here screaming.
15:03What makes you think you get to ask her to turn around?
15:07Caleb lost what was left of his control.
15:10Shoved Valerius.
15:15Allura.
15:16Come with me.
15:17I'm the one who can give you a future.
15:19Valerius caught his wrist first.
15:21Twisted.
15:22Enough!
15:24These eight years were a show.
15:26Mine alone.
15:28You hid me.
15:29I let you.
15:30You told me to wait.
15:31I waited.
15:33The show's over.
15:35Nothing left between us.
15:38I took Valerius' arm.
15:40He guided me toward the moon altar.
15:43I could feel Caleb's eyes on me.
15:46Burning.
15:47Broken.
15:48For the first time, he tasted what regret actually felt like.
15:52Vivian rushed up.
15:54Caleb.
15:54Don't be like this.
15:56Allura doesn't deserve you.
15:57You still have me.
15:58Caleb shoved her off.
16:02His eyes didn't leave my back.
16:04I lost her.
16:07Vivian stood there.
16:09Valerius marked me under the moon altar.
16:11At the same hour, Caleb was walking back to his manor on foot.
16:15He pushed open the door and stopped.
16:19Everything I'd ever done for him was still there.
16:28He pushed open the door and stopped.
16:32Everything I'd ever done for him was still there.
16:36A cuff on his nightstand.
16:38I'd been working on it for weeks.
16:40The matching one was already on his wrist.
16:42The leather coat I'd had tailored for him for the Alpha Council last winter.
16:46Still hanging where I'd left it.
16:48Every corner of the room was me.
16:50But I was nowhere in it.
16:51Vivian had followed him back to the manor.
16:53She stood in the middle of his chambers.
16:55Couldn't hold her tongue.
16:56Caleb.
16:57You're an Alpha.
16:59Allara was never your equal.
17:02A noble that high.
17:04You were never going to matter to her house.
17:07And she humiliated you in front of every pack in the city.
17:11I'm your fated mate.
17:12The moon chose us.
17:14It was always supposed to be me.
17:15Caleb took her hand.
17:17Held it a breath.
17:18Let it go.
17:19Vivian.
17:20I never wanted the moon's choice.
17:22I wanted the wolf who took a silver blade for me.
17:24Who waited eight years.
17:26The one I threw away with my own hands.
17:29Vivian went white.
17:30She stumbled out of his chambers.
17:33After she was gone,
17:35Caleb lost whatever was holding him up.
17:37He dropped onto the edge of the bed.
17:40Picked up the cuff.
17:41Every small thing he'd looked through for eight years came back at once.
17:48The year he came home from a border campaign burning with silver fever.
17:52I stayed at his side three nights without sleeping.
17:55Kept his wolf stable while the poison worked out.
17:57His mother's old pack lands came up for dispute.
18:00My family's name is what kept them in his hands.
18:02He never knew that.
18:03I never told him.
18:04The Alpha Council turned on him twice.
18:06Both times.
18:07My kin closed ranks behind him before the vote.
18:10Both times.
18:11He thought he'd won it alone.
18:12And him.
18:13My birthday came around every year.
18:15I hoped he'd come to the feast.
18:17Sit at my side for one night.
18:19Openly.
18:20Every year.
18:21Council business.
18:22Border patrols.
18:24A silver pendant sent by runner.
18:26And nothing else.
18:27Each memory was a blade going in.
18:29Caleb dropped his face into his hands.
18:31His shoulders shook.
18:32He hated his own selfishness.
18:34Hated the stalling.
18:36Hated the eight years he'd spent looking through me.
18:38All of it.
18:39He'd earned.
18:41Life after the bonding was quiet.
18:43In a way I'd forgotten quiet could be.
18:45Valerius was good to me.
18:46In the small things most Alphas never think about.
18:49He knew my scar ached when the weather turned.
18:51He kept a salve within reach before I ever asked.
18:54He knew I liked honey cakes.
18:55So he learned to make them himself.
18:57He spoke my name at council sessions.
18:59In front of every Alpha in the kingdom.
19:01Let me stand at his side without hiding what I was to him.
19:04Three years passed like that.
19:06Caleb didn't let go.
19:07First he came to the Blackthorn Estates.
19:09Stood at the gates.
19:10Waited for a glimpse of me.
19:12My father had given the guards orders.
19:14He never got past the law.
19:15Then.
19:15Eyes bloodshed.
19:16A runner came in one morning.
19:18Said Caleb had stood outside the gates the whole night.
19:20Half of it in the rain.
19:22Still wouldn't leave.
19:23I answered with a nod.
19:24Went back to my book.
19:25I thought he'd give up.
19:26Instead he got worse.
19:29One afternoon Valerius and I were in the library when I heard Caleb's voice through the walls.
19:35Valera.
19:36I know you're in there.
19:38Come out.
19:39Come out just once.
19:41One look.
19:43Valerius' hand paused over the page.
19:45He looked at me.
19:46I shook my head.
19:48Let him do what he wants.
19:50Nothing about us has to move for him.
19:52But Caleb was an alpha.
19:53No one had the nerve to truly stop him.
19:56He forced his way in.
19:58Locked onto me the second he saw me.
20:00Like I was the last rope left.
20:02Valera.
20:03I know I was wrong.
20:06I know now.
20:07He pulled open his collar.
20:08Right over his heart was a rejection skull.
20:10The mark of a faded bond torn out by force.
20:13I did the rejection.
20:15I coughed blood for a week.
20:17My wolf hasn't answered me the same way since.
20:19Some nights I can't even shift.
20:21The bond with her is gone.
20:22Seven severed.
20:24There's no going back.
20:27Allura.
20:28Take me back.
20:30Please take me back.
20:32Valerius stood up.
20:34Put me behind him.
20:36Alpha.
20:37Allura is my Luna.
20:40My mate.
20:41You know better than this.
20:43Better?
20:44Caleb's voice shook.
20:47Eight years of chosen bond.
20:49You don't erase that in three.
20:53Allura.
20:54Look at me.
20:55Please.
20:58I'll do it right this time.
21:00Name you in front of every pack.
21:02Tonight.
21:03Tomorrow.
21:04Whenever you say.
21:05If he'd said this eight years ago, I would have wept.
21:09Caleb.
21:10I'm Valerius' Luna.
21:12That's not changing.
21:14Not this life.
21:15Not the next.
21:16I turned.
21:17Took Valerius' arm.
21:19Walked out of the light room.
21:21Left Caleb's shouting behind me.
21:23Later I heard the rest from Valerius.
21:25Do you know anything about Caleb?
21:27Caleb had done the rejection ritual under the full moon.
21:30In front of his own pack.
21:32The bond with Vivian was cut clean.
21:35Then he went to the king.
21:36Asked him to take back the blessing.
21:39Kindly take back the work, let me.
21:40To let him name me his Luna publicly.
21:42The Lycan king was furious.
21:44A faded pair the crown had blessed.
21:47Thrown back in the moon's face.
21:49The queen called it a disgrace.
21:52The king refused him.
21:53Stripped him instead.
21:55Half his pack was taken.
21:56Look absorbed by older bloodlines.
21:58Who'd been waiting for an excuse.
22:00His alpha rank was lowered two notches in front of the council.
22:03The alphas who used to bow when he walked in stopped acknowledging him in the halls.
22:07His own beta started looking past him.
22:09The alpha who'd been the greatest rising man in the kingdom became a joke.
22:13In the end, the king sent him to the northern wastes.
22:16Rogue territory.
22:16The kind of posting younger sons were sent to die at.
22:23Sometimes Valerius would bring me word of him.
22:26He drank.
22:26He looked more wolf than man.
22:29Saturday on the keep walls at night and howled at the moon.
22:32Whispered my name when he thought no one could hear.
22:34Eight years ago, he'd let go of my hand himself.
22:37Now he was paying for it.
22:38Valerius loved me the way people in storybooks loved each other.
22:41In details.
22:42Not declarations.
22:44In the third year, the king and queen held a court banquet.
22:48Valerius brought me with him.
22:50A familiar figure crossed my sight through the crowd.
22:53Caleb.
22:54Thinner than before.
22:55Cheeks sunk.
22:56Eyes bloodshot.
22:57All the sharp edges worn down to dust.
23:00He was back in the capital to report to the crown.
23:02That was the only way he would have been in that hall.
23:06His eyes found me across the room.
23:10Guilt.
23:10Longing.
23:11Something that wasn't quite given up.
23:13Valerius felt the shift in me.
23:15Slid his arm around my waist.
23:17Put himself between us without making it look like he did.
23:20Caleb stopped mid-step.
23:22Saw Valerius' hand on me.
23:24Saw our fingers threaded together.
23:26He didn't come closer.
23:28Halfway through the banquet, Valerius and I rose to make a round of toasts.
23:32Our path took us past Caleb.
23:34As we passed, his body gave a small shake.
23:37His lips moved.
23:38Nothing came out.
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