#alpha #rejected #secondchance #newlove #shortdrama #romance #fantasyromance
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00:02To let my mate focus on his position, I stayed behind in the old estate, caring for his ailing
00:06mother. In this 10 years, Kalen returned once a year. He never touched me. He said that if I were
00:13to carry a pup while he was away, there would be no one to look after me, and that would
00:16break his
00:16heart. Every time he left, he cursed himself for his failings, swore on the moon he would come for
00:22me once he had made something of himself. In the 11th winter, heavy snow blocked the roads. Kalen
00:27sent word that he would be delayed. I was about to bring the news to Lady Maren when I heard
00:31her
00:32speaking with my sister-in-law. Mother, you've been faking this illness for over 10 years. How much
00:37longer? What else can be done? Kalen's heart has always belonged to that sworn sister of his. They
00:42bonded in secret, behind the pack's back. Their pups are nearly grown. If we don't keep Elena here,
00:47she'll go to the city and destroy everything. Kalen's rank as alpha of the eastern pack would
00:51be finished. Let it be. Keep quiet. Kalen said once his position is secure, he will make it right with
00:56Elena. My eyes burned. Kalen wasn't struggling. He was alpha of the eastern pack, and he hadn't
01:01been keeping his distance to protect me. He had someone else. I went to the training grounds and
01:06found the low-ranking warrior who had watched me for years. Do you still want me as your mate?
01:12Elena, I will treat you well. Forgive me one month. I march out tonight. This time I'll return
01:17with a deed worth claiming you. I don't need glory. Just come back safe. I watched him leave,
01:25then walked home. The estate should have been dark. Mother, you should have gone to bed by now.
01:32A tall figure stood against the candlelight. A familiar voice cut through the wind and snow.
01:37Elena, I'm home.
01:42A year had passed. Kalen carried himself differently now, steadier, with the quiet authority that comes
01:48with rank. He opened his arms, waiting for me to go to him the way I always had. I didn't.
01:55You haven't eaten, have you? Let me make you something.
01:59What's wrong? A year apart and you're not glad to see me?
02:03Are you angry with me?
02:05Go sit with Mother. I'll call you when the food is ready.
02:07Before I'd learned the truth, I had missed him. Had been a little cross with him, too.
02:11No mate wants to be kept so far away, for so long. But once I understood everything,
02:16I stopped wanting anything. Things became simpler. Better to park quietly than to rage and stay.
02:21I remained silent and cooked in the kitchen. Kalen followed.
02:24Elena, what's happened? Have you heard something?
02:26Out here in the backwoods, we barely see a stranger from one season to the next. What would I have
02:30heard?
02:30Don't worry yourself, Kalen.
02:32Elena, I came back to bring you all to the city. But there's something I need to tell you first.
02:36My chest tightened. I already knew what was coming. After ten years, he had finally run out of patience.
02:42You must be Elena. I'm Sarith. Kalen's sworn sister. And his mate.
02:49These are mine and Kalen's. Go on, call her Auntie Elena.
02:52Auntie Elena.
02:53Elena, let me explain.
02:57Elena, let me explain. I was ambushed by rogue wolves on the road to the city. Sarith saved my life.
03:02I only meant to take her in as a sworn sister. But she had no one, no pack, nowhere to
03:06go.
03:06I wanted to give her a home. It was gratitude, nothing more.
03:09If you're hurt, curse me, strike me, I'll bear it.
03:11I only ask that once you come to the city, you and she can find some people.
03:15Going to the city is a good thing. I'm not upset.
03:19Mother hasn't recovered in all this time. Perhaps the city healers will do what ours couldn't.
03:25Really? You forgive me?
03:26Elena, start packing tonight.
03:28We leave in two days and we'll make it back for Christmas.
03:32Mother doesn't have much. Packing her things won't take long.
03:35I'll sort her medicines for the road. You can all leave at first light.
03:39What do you mean? You're not coming with us?
03:43I met his gaze. My voice stayed level.
03:46Kalen, if we leave for good, I need to settle the land and the estate first.
03:51Leaving it empty still means taxes to the pack. That's wasteful.
03:56Go ahead and take everyone home for Christmas. Once I've handled things here, I'll come to you in the spring.
04:02When I had first come to this estate, we lived in a borrowed den with walls that let the wind
04:06through.
04:07Funding his studies, saving coin, until I had bought this house and these two fields.
04:12It had ended the family's hunger. It had given Kalen a place to become what he was.
04:16Elena, I'm Alpha of the Eastern Pack now. Silver is not the problem.
04:20Give the land to whoever needs it. Save yourself the trouble.
04:23I earned it with my own hands. I'm not ready to let go.
04:28Trust me. Once it's done, I'll come to you. I won't be long.
04:32Kalen hesitated.
04:33Kalen, don't waver. The council's watching you.
04:35You leave her here and they dig into it and she says the wrong thing.
04:39Your seed is gone.
04:40I wasn't slow. I heard exactly what Kareth had just said.
04:44So it wasn't a change of heart that had brought Kalen back.
04:47If the pack council confirmed it, they would report it to the High Alpha.
04:50The High Alpha was a man who mated once and meant it.
04:54If Kalen wanted to keep his rank, the most important thing was keeping me quiet.
04:59It would be a lie to say that didn't hurt.
05:01Thirteen years.
05:02I had given this mating everything.
05:04Kalen was pack-born but useless with his hands.
05:07Lady Maren was old and couldn't help.
05:08His brother was worse than useless.
05:10The whole family ran on my back.
05:11I never complained.
05:12I nursed Lady Maren.
05:14I had believed that kind of devotion would hold a mate for life.
05:17I had overestimated what I was worth to him.
05:19I finally understood what they say.
05:21A man who climbs always drops what carried him.
05:24I held back the burn in my eyes.
05:26Kept it from spilling.
05:27So that's what you're worried about.
05:31I can put it in writing.
05:34Whoever asks, I'll say I'm Kalen's pack-sister, his adopted blood kin.
05:38Nothing more.
05:39Lady Maren and Kareth both stared.
05:41After a long silence, Kalen said, half-believing.
05:46You would really do that for me?
05:48I smiled and nodded.
05:49For you, I would do anything.
05:52But to be safe, there's something you need to destroy first.
05:57Kalen was cautious.
05:59What?
05:59I answered without flinching.
06:00The mating scroll.
06:02Yours and mine.
06:05Out here in the back territories, we hadn't stood on ceremony when we bonded.
06:09A mating scroll.
06:11A shared cup.
06:12That was all it had taken.
06:13No pack record.
06:15No council seal.
06:16So if the scroll was gone, I was no longer Kalen's mate.
06:19I only had to wait for the warrior to come home.
06:22Then I could be claimed properly.
06:24I expected Kalen to want this without hesitation.
06:27Instead, he went quiet.
06:30Elena, you once told me that scroll was the most precious thing you owned.
06:35You've given so much for this pack.
06:37For me, if you burned the last thing you held onto, how much would that cost you?
06:43Let's leave the scroll as it is.
06:45He had seen everything I'd sacrificed.
06:47He had remembered all of it.
06:49And still, year after year, he had left me here while he built a life with someone else.
06:54If he could watch out all of that and stay, then I had no reason left to hold onto one
06:59sheet of parchment.
07:00But I knew him.
07:02He wouldn't simply let me go.
07:05Kalen, you know how much that scroll means to me.
07:09But for your future, I have to let it go.
07:13Once you take me to the city properly, you can make me a new one.
07:18Wouldn't that be enough?
07:20She's right.
07:21Your position can't afford loose threads.
07:25Burn it.
07:28Elena has done this for you.
07:30Make it up to her later.
07:32Elena.
07:34Hiding this from you.
07:35That was wrong.
07:36But trust me.
07:38I will make this right.
07:40Wait for me.
07:41I will come for you myself with the best claiming gifts I can find.
07:44I'll take you as Kalen again.
07:46Properly this time.
07:48In that moment, he looked entirely sincere.
07:50I chose not to believe it.
07:52I decided it was only something I was imagining.
07:56I lit both scrolls myself.
07:58The fire took them.
07:59That absurd mating.
08:00Those wasted years.
08:01And with them, the last of what I had held onto for over a decade.
08:09After Kalen had gone in with Kareth and the children, she dropped the act entirely and sank to her knees
08:14in front of me.
08:18Elena, I failed you.
08:21I hid it from you all these years.
08:25You must hate me.
08:27Her hair had gone fully white.
08:29She was crying without restraint.
08:31I couldn't bring myself to leave her there.
08:33I helped her up.
08:36Mother, I know you love your son too much.
08:39I don't blame you.
08:42The illness was a pretense.
08:44But your body has ought its real troubles.
08:48When you reach the city, listen to the healers.
08:51Elena, how can you be so good?
08:54When I'm gone, who will ever look after me the way you have?
08:59No matter what Kalen does to you, I will always count you as my own daughter.
09:04I will never let anyone mistreat you.
09:08I understood her helplessness.
09:09I had never held it against her.
09:11But I was done trusting her too.
09:12She was still a mother.
09:14No matter what she said, her heart would always tilt toward her son.
09:17If the day came when she had to choose between Kalen and me, she would choose him without a second
09:21thought.
09:22Mother, it's fine.
09:23Whoever Kalen takes as his mate, she'll be half a daughter to you.
09:27You don't owe me anything.
09:31I had barely stepped out of Lady Maren's room when Kareth was waiting in the yard.
09:35Elena, don't take anything Kalen says at face value.
09:39The truth is, he never rescued me.
09:42I had thought that Lady Maren's decade of deception and Kalen's betrayal were already the worst of it.
09:47I was wrong.
09:48There was still more they had kept from me.
09:50Serith had never saved Kalen's life.
09:52It was the other way around.
09:53Kalen had seen her, wanted her, used the blood sister bond as a way in, and destroyed the claiming she
09:58already had.
09:59Calling her his rescuer was Kalen's strategy.
10:01He knew I was soft, that I always repaid what was owed.
10:04He had spoken to Lady Maren first and built the story together, something designed to make me accept it, to
10:10make me give in.
10:10So everything he said about claiming you properly, it's nothing.
10:13Go to the city and you'll be a lesser mate, that's all.
10:17Oh, and his mother.
10:18All that talk about treating you like a daughter, do you believe it?
10:21When it comes down to you or her own grandchildren, who do you think she picks?
10:25Are you done?
10:28The morning they left, I walked the family to the edge of the settlement.
10:31I unclasped the only thing of value I still wore, the Luna Elder's silver clasp, and placed it in Serith's
10:35hand.
10:36That's yours, Elena. Keep it.
10:38I shook my head and pinned it to Kareth's collar myself.
10:42I said,
10:42Everyone in the settlement knows this clasp is the Luna Elder's piece, passed to the maid of the pack's heir.
10:47If I keep wearing it, it draws questions. Better that Serith has it.
10:50Mother, Elena is right. When we're together again, I'll give it back.
10:53Elena, what I give you belongs to you.
10:55In my heart, you are the only true mate this family has had.
10:58When you come to the city, I will get it back for you.
11:01Foster brother, that pendant was my grandmother's.
11:04The only thing she left me.
11:05Could you return it?
11:07Elena, I'm not used to you calling me that.
11:10When there's no one listening, call me what you always have.
11:16Better to be careful.
11:17We can't hand anyone a thread to pull.
11:19Fine.
11:20Once I've claimed you properly, you can go back to it.
11:24Let me keep the pendant for now.
11:26It was your gift to me.
11:28It's what we have between us.
11:29I never understood that.
11:30He used to resent the pendant, said a grown male wearing something like that looked ridiculous.
11:34Now that I was willing to take it back, he had found reasons to keep it.
11:37Foster brother, Christmas is almost here.
11:39I'll be alone, and I'd like something to hold on to.
11:42When I come to the city, I'll make you another.
11:45Kaelin gave it up without warmth, pressing the pendant and a folded stack of silver notes into my hands.
11:50At the last moment, he turned back.
11:52He gripped my hand once.
11:53Stay home and wait.
11:54When spring opens the roads, I'll come for you myself.
11:57There's one more thing I haven't told you yet.
11:59All right.
11:59I watched them go, then walked back inside.
12:02I reached to the top of the cabinet and took down the pack I had already prepared.
12:08I left the silver notes on the table.
12:10Then I turned north and didn't look back.
12:11The warrior I had promised myself to was somewhere in that direction.
12:14I meant to be claimed before Kaelin ever came to collect me.
12:17When that day came, I would be someone else's.
12:20There would be nothing left to untangle.
12:22Nothing left to demand of me.
12:23Winter roads are slow.
12:24I had little silver, and I was too careful with it to hire a cart.
12:27I walked when I could, stopped to take work in whatever town would have me,
12:30and moved on again when I'd saved enough.
12:32By the time the cold began to ease, I was close to the northern border.
12:36Elena, the border war is over.
12:38The northern campaign won.
12:39Once they've processed the captured forces, they'll be heading back through the territory.
12:42You'll see your promised mate before long.
12:44Your mate is a hero of this pack.
12:45Call it a gift from me.
12:46Hire a cart.
12:47Go meet him at the border city.
12:49Hired a cart, and arrived before the soldiers did.
12:52With what little silver I had left,
12:54I found the city watch captain and pressed it into his hand.
12:58Captain, my promised mate's name is Aldrich.
13:01When he arrives, please tell him I'm waiting in the second house east of the city gate.
13:07You're Aldrich's promised mate?
13:11He smiled a little awkwardly.
13:13Keep it.
13:14Just put in a word for me if you ever get the chance.
13:17I had no idea what he meant.
13:19Aldrich was a low-ranking warrior.
13:20What good would a word from him do?
13:22The captain had probably mistaken him for someone else.
13:25Still, silver saved was silver saved.
13:27Waiting wasn't easy.
13:28I knew what Aldrich felt for me.
13:30He had shown it for years.
13:31But I had been mate it before.
13:33I wasn't sure whether he had said yes out of true wanting,
13:36or out of something that would fade.
13:38Then again, I thought it through, and it settled.
13:40If he had changed his mind, I would manage on my own.
13:43I had two hands and enough stubbornness.
13:45I wouldn't starve.
13:46Once I was at peace with that, everything felt lighter.
13:51I started cutting fabric for a claiming dress.
13:53The best material I could find.
13:54Useful if things went well.
13:56A small pleasure for myself if they didn't.
13:58The first time I was claimed, there had been no wedding at all.
14:00The pack had nothing.
14:01No wedding dress.
14:02No feast.
14:03When I'd finally had coin to spare,
14:04the first thing I did was return two full jugs to that neighbor.
14:07She had held my hands and cried,
14:08Elena, a girl like you, why did you stay in that pack?
14:11You've suffered so much.
14:12You're strong and you're lovely.
14:13You could have had an elder son and it wouldn't have been reaching.
14:16Why tie yourself to a scholar who can't lift his own pack and grind your life away?
14:19That's your bias speaking.
14:20I trust him.
14:21He won't fail me.
14:22You are such a fool.
14:24Now I understood.
14:25She was the one who had seen clearly.
14:27The day I slipped away from the settlement,
14:28I had nearly walked into Kaylin's sister-in-law.
14:33It was that neighbor who spotted her first.
14:35She held the woman back, then sent her husband to pass me word.
14:38Move.
14:39Now.
14:40Elena, that pack was never worthy of you.
14:43Go.
14:44Live freely.
14:46Stop letting them keep you caged.
14:49I'll deal with your sister-in-law.
14:50They won't know you're gone for a while.
14:53I never found out what she said to buy me the time, but it had worked.
14:57For an entire month, no one had come looking.
14:59People, though, have a way of undoing themselves.
15:01On the third day, a cart stopped outside my door.
15:04I thought it was Aldrick.
15:06I ran out.
15:07It wasn't.
15:08Kaylin stood there, dust on his shoulders.
15:10Elena.
15:11His voice worn down to gravel.
15:14Kaylin said,
15:15Elena, you have no idea how long I've been looking for you.
15:18He was across the yard in a few strides, his hand locking around my wrist hard enough to grind.
15:23Kaylin said,
15:24Elena, you promised me.
15:25Why did you leave?
15:26Why come all the way out here?
15:27I spent half a month preparing.
15:29I rode to the settlement myself to bring you home, and the house was empty.
15:33I said,
15:33Do you know how frightened I was?
15:35I stopped pulling against his grip.
15:37Alpha Kaylin,
15:38Why waste your concern on me?
15:39The mating scroll is ash.
15:41I'm not your pack anymore.
15:42Where I go,
15:43whether I live or die,
15:45none of that is your matter.
15:46Kaylin's jaw tightened.
15:48Elena,
15:48I know you're hurting,
15:49but this kind of recklessness doesn't suit you.
15:51You told me you would come to the city.
15:53You gave me your word.
15:54How can you break it like this?
15:56Something in me gave up trying to stay composed.
15:59I said,
16:00When we were claimed,
16:01you gave me your word too.
16:02You swore on the moon you would never take another mate.
16:05You broke that one first.
16:06So,
16:07between the two of us,
16:08I'd say we're even.
16:13Kaylin saw that I meant it.
16:14His eyes went red at the edges.
16:16He pulled me close until there was almost no space between us.
16:20Thirteen years.
16:21You think that just
16:22cancels?
16:23Elena,
16:24I know I've wronged you.
16:25Let me make it right.
16:26Come back with me.
16:28I'll give you equal standing.
16:29You won't be beneath Kareth in anything.
16:31I promise.
16:32I couldn't stop a short dry sound from escaping.
16:35Kaylin took it for pride over the title,
16:37and frowned.
16:38Elena,
16:39equal standing is the best I can do right now.
16:41Sarath,
16:42what she did for me,
16:43what she did for you.
16:45Are you still going to use that story?
16:47I cut him off.
16:48Kaylin,
16:49your apology has no effort in it at all.
16:51Kaylin went still.
16:52His eyes shifted.
16:53What do you mean by that?
16:57I watched the change move across his face,
17:00and I took it apart,
17:00piece by piece.
17:02Tarith already told me everything.
17:03There were no rogue wolves.
17:05There was no rescue.
17:06You saw her,
17:07wanted her,
17:08and used the sworn sister bond to get close.
17:11You destroyed the claiming she already had,
17:13and took her for yourself,
17:14calling her your rescuer.
17:15That was cover,
17:16nothing more.
17:16Kaylin's face went pale.
17:18He opened his mouth.
17:19Nothing came out.
17:20I was done wasting time.
17:21I moved to see him out.
17:23He found his voice.
17:24Elena,
17:25listen to me.
17:26Karith is possessive.
17:27She said all of that to drive a wedge between us.
17:29You know how it is.
17:30No mate wants to share.
17:32I cut him off.
17:33I felt nothing in my chest anymore.
17:35It had all gone numb.
17:36You understand that,
17:37which is why you kept me out here for 10 years,
17:40alone,
17:40while your mother faked an illness to hold me in place.
17:43Isn't that right?
17:47I said,
17:48if you care about her so much,
17:49stop chasing me.
17:50You'll hurt me,
17:51and you'll hurt her.
17:52I wrenched my wrist free and stepped back.
17:54The Elena who existed before is gone.
17:56She died the day she found out the truth.
17:58Who I am now has no connection to you,
18:01to Kaylin,
18:01to your pack.
18:03Out of whatever feeling I once had,
18:04I won't say a single word against you.
18:06I'm only asking you to leave.
18:08My promised mate is returning with the army.
18:11I don't want him to misread this.
18:13Kaylin's spine went rigid.
18:14He looked up at me.
18:15He said,
18:16promised mate?
18:17Who?
18:17What's his name?
18:18I said,
18:19a low-ranking warrior.
18:20No one you'd know.
18:22Please go,
18:23Kaylin's expression curdled.
18:24Elena,
18:25have you lost your mind?
18:26You'd pass up an alpha of the Eastern pack
18:29for some common soldier with a border stipend?
18:34He said,
18:35he could be dead by next season.
18:37And even if he's not,
18:38what does he earn?
18:39You'd go back to going hungry.
18:41You're not young anymore.
18:43Do you really want that kind of life again?
18:45I looked at him steadily.
18:47I wasn't afraid of hardship when I chose you.
18:50I'm not afraid of it now.
18:52Don't speak about my promised mate like that.
18:55He may not have your rank,
18:57but what he feels for me is real.
18:59Unlike you.
19:00Kaylin opened his mouth,
19:01then stopped.
19:02A long pause,
19:04then more controlled.
19:05Elena,
19:06you've misread all of this.
19:07I never stopped carrying you.
19:09He seemed to decide that words weren't enough
19:11and cut himself off.
19:12Come back with me.
19:13I'll show you.
19:14Give me the chance.
19:16The border campaign's war alpha,
19:18General Vane.
19:19He and I go back.
19:20I'll speak to him.
19:21As long as that warrior is reasonable,
19:23I'll find him a proper match myself.
19:25I'll cover the claiming gifts.
19:29I had always been slow to anger.
19:32This was one of the few times I wasn't.
19:35Staring at Kaylin,
19:36I struggled to contain my fury as I questioned him,
19:39asking if he had lost his mind.
19:41He didn't put it plainly,
19:43but I understood perfectly.
19:44He intended to use his status as the alpha of the Eastern Pack
19:48to pressure Aldrick into stepping aside.
19:50Aldrick was just a foot soldier,
19:52with no standing to resist an alpha of the Eastern Pack.
19:56In desperation,
19:57I grabbed the sword from Kaylin's side.
19:59I pressed the blade firmly against my own throat,
20:01warning him that if he dared to go near Aldrick,
20:04I would end my life right then and there.
20:09I told Kaylin that my life was not worth much,
20:11but if a pack alpha drove a free woman to her death,
20:13his own fate would not be better.
20:16Kaylin had always thought of me as cautious,
20:18and someone who valued her own life.
20:20He had never imagined I would resort to threatening my own life.
20:24He froze instantly,
20:25his voice dropping low as he urged me to put down the sword,
20:28saying we could talk things through.
20:30I didn't move an inch,
20:32firmly telling him there was nothing to talk about.
20:34If he didn't want me dead,
20:36he had to write down his promise immediately.
20:38The promise was simple.
20:40From that day on,
20:41if anything happened to me or my betrothed,
20:44Aldrick,
20:45he would be held fully responsible.
20:51Kaylin had spent years in pack politics,
20:53and would never willingly leave evidence that could be used against him,
20:56but as he looked at the sword pressed to my throat,
20:59his tone remained steady.
21:00He agreed to write it down,
21:02but said he had come in a hurry and had nothing to write with,
21:05asking me to go inside to find him ink and parchment.
21:08I didn't think ahead,
21:10turning toward the house at once.
21:12But the moment my back was to him,
21:13he moved.
21:15He snatched the sword from my hand,
21:17didn't even glance at me.
21:18He ordered his escort to hold me while he went to find General Vane.
21:22His men reacted quickly,
21:24seizing me before I could respond.
21:26I couldn't even utter a curse.
21:28Just then,
21:29a deep,
21:30calm,
21:31and resonant voice came from beyond the gate.
21:33The voice asked Alpha Kaylin why he was there,
21:36and mentioned that he had heard his name,
21:39wondering if something was wrong.
21:43I didn't recognize that voice,
21:45but moments later,
21:46I heard Kaylin's tone shift to one of deference as he greeted the man,
21:50addressing him as General Vane
21:51and saying what perfect timing his arrival was.
21:54He added that it was nothing urgent,
21:56just a small favor he wanted to ask of General Vane.
21:59Only then did I realize that the man before me was General Vane,
22:02the War Alpha of the Northern Territory.
22:05General Vane smiled and readily agreed to help,
22:08but asked Alpha Kaylin to wait a moment
22:10while he finished a piece of business first.
22:12Kaylin stepped back toward the gate quickly,
22:15respectfully saying he was willing to wait
22:16and telling General Vane to take his time.
22:19General Vane then dismounted from his horse
22:21and pointed directly at my door.
22:23He said that as it happened,
22:25his business was right there.
22:29Kaylin stopped abruptly,
22:31looking stunned.
22:32General Vane looked at him without further explanation,
22:35only stating that he had come to negotiate a claiming.
22:38Kaylin froze completely,
22:40unconsciously stepping in front of the gate.
22:42He tried to persuade General Vane,
22:45saying that his mate bond was well known,
22:47his children were nearly grown,
22:49and such a thing would be inappropriate.
22:52General Vane laughed heartily,
22:54shook his head,
22:54and told Kaylin he had misunderstood.
22:57This claiming was not for himself,
22:59but on behalf of his sworn son,
23:01who had been injured and couldn't come in person.
23:05I was just as confused as Kaylin,
23:08even starting to wonder if General Vane had come to the wrong house.
23:11General Vane himself looked a little uncertain
23:14as he walked past Kaylin into the yard.
23:16His escort,
23:17not wanting to get into trouble,
23:19let me go.
23:21Born in the north,
23:22General Vane was straightforward
23:23and didn't notice anything amiss.
23:25He looked straight at me
23:27and asked if I was Elena.
23:28I nodded slowly.
23:30He immediately looked satisfied,
23:32confirming he had come to the right place.
23:34He told me that his sworn son
23:35was my betrothed,
23:37Aldrick.
23:42Upon hearing General Vane's words,
23:44my thoughts went sideways.
23:46Aldrick was just a low-ranking soldier.
23:48How had he ended up as General Vane's sworn son?
23:51I rubbed the back of my neck
23:53and explained to General Vane
23:54that I thought there must be a mistake.
23:56My betrothed was indeed named Aldrick,
23:59but he could never be General Vane's sworn son.
24:02I even wondered if there might be two people with the same name.
24:06General Vane seemed less confident
24:07as he described his sworn son's features.
24:10Born in the eastern settlement of the southern territory,
24:13with a small mark near the corner of his left eye.
24:15He asked if these features matched my betrothed.
24:18He added that if it would help,
24:20he would have his sworn son carried over for me
24:22to confirm in person.
24:24I stopped him quickly,
24:26telling him there was no need,
24:27that every detail he described matched Aldrick perfectly.
24:30I begged him not to move the injured Aldrick,
24:33saying that since he was hurt,
24:34I would go to see him myself.
24:36With that,
24:37I walked toward the gate,
24:39distracted.
24:40But Kalen,
24:41who had been silent for a long time,
24:43suddenly reached out and grabbed my arm,
24:45stopping me in my tracks.
24:49Kalen stood in front of me,
24:51turning to General Vane
24:52and saying there was something he should know first.
24:54He told General Vane that I was his pack sister,
24:58that he had raised me,
24:59and that he had never heard me mention the name Aldrick once.
25:02He added that if Aldrick and I had made promises to each other
25:05without the family's knowledge,
25:07their bond could not be recognized.
25:10Then he lowered his voice,
25:12leaned close to me,
25:13and warned me not to say anything foolish.
25:15He said that Aldrick was now General Vane's sworn son,
25:19and if General Vane found out I had been mated before,
25:22I would not only lose this claiming,
25:24but also ruin Aldrick's reputation.
25:27Those words hit home.
25:31Aldrick had only just found his footing in the north.
25:33If I cost him everything because of my past,
25:35I would never forgive myself.
25:37I was still trying to figure out how to respond,
25:39when General Vane's expression shifted.
25:42He told Kalen firmly that his approval no longer mattered,
25:45because it was not I who had come to them,
25:48but they who had sought me out.
25:50General Vane then spoke of Aldrick's deeds,
25:53saying that in this campaign,
25:55Aldrick had charged into the thickest of the fighting.
25:58He had taken out the enemy's left flank
26:00and brought back the enemy commander's banner,
26:02earning the first honor of the war.
26:04Yet he had refused all rewards from the High Alpha,
26:07every single coin.
26:09Instead, he used his achievement
26:11to petition the Moon Council for a decree,
26:14a recognized claiming with me.
26:17General Vane finally warned Kalen
26:19that if his family dared to object,
26:21they would be opposing the High Alpha's own ruling.
26:24I stood there for a long time,
26:27never having imagined that Aldrick would fight so fiercely,
26:30for me.
26:34I had certainly never imagined
26:35he would spend everything he had earned,
26:37not on land or rank,
26:38but on a piece of paper that made me his.
26:41In that moment,
26:42the last of what I'd been holding dissolved.
26:55Vane had brought the Moon Council's decree with him.
26:57Whatever Kalen wanted,
26:59there was nothing left to argue.
27:00With the claim already spoken aloud,
27:02he had no choice but to play the part of a foster brother
27:04and see me through the preparations.
27:06He brought me to the city under that pretense,
27:08and the whole pack household set about getting ready.
27:10The estate was bright with it.
27:11Kareth was loudest of all,
27:13running back and forth,
27:14eager to see me gone.
27:15Only Kalen and Lady Maren
27:17moved through the days with their faces set.
27:19When Aldrick was well enough to travel,
27:20he came to the house himself
27:22and asked for me again.
27:24You've gone too far.
27:26Doing this shows that I'm sincere.
27:29I asked my sworn father to speak for me
27:31because I had no other choice.
27:34I was afraid that if I stayed unconscious too long,
27:36someone would take you.
27:37Kalen's expression darkened another shade.
27:39After Aldrick left,
27:41Lady Maren turned on her son.
27:42It was the angriest I had ever seen her.
27:46I was bringing tea in by custom
27:48when I heard the sound of something
27:49shattering inside the room.
27:50Then Lady Maren's voice,
27:52thick with weeping.
27:54I told you,
27:55Elena was worth keeping.
27:57Let her go and someone else would see it.
27:59And they did.
28:01And you didn't listen.
28:02Now look.
28:03Mother, what are you saying?
28:05Sariel is your daughter-in-law too.
28:06She?
28:08When have I ever been sick
28:09and she came to check on me?
28:11Said a single word
28:12and you,
28:13up through the night,
28:15working.
28:16Did she ever sit with you?
28:18Make you anything?
28:19Think back.
28:20When you were up studying in the old estate,
28:22who never left your side?
28:23Who made sure you never went hungry?
28:25Not once.
28:26Kalen,
28:27I don't care what reason you give.
28:29What you did is something a good mate doesn't do.
28:31Do you think I don't know that?
28:33But what can be done?
28:34Elena and Aldrich have the High Alphas decree.
28:36Even if I wanted to fight it,
28:37I can't.
28:38Mother,
28:39we make do.
28:40Sarith gave the pack airs.
28:41That's something.
28:42We both just
28:43live with it.
28:44I had no interest in making trouble for myself.
28:46I started to slip away.
28:48Footsteps came up fast behind me.
28:50Before I could react,
28:51Kareth had swept past me
28:52and pushed through the door.
28:53Kalen,
28:53what does make do mean exactly?
28:55Now that you know what Elena was worth,
28:56I'm the one you're settling for?
28:57Is that what this is?
28:58I'm telling you both,
28:59I don't care.
29:00Once Elena is gone,
29:01I'm the one who runs this household.
29:02That doesn't change.
29:03Don't.
29:03You hit a first mate.
29:04I know everything.
29:05If you want to spend the rest of your life
29:06without that coming out,
29:07you will fall in line.
29:08Both of you.
29:09And you.
29:09You were the one who came up with this plan.
29:11You offered to keep Elena tied to that estate.
29:12Now she slipped the knot
29:13and you want to cry about it?
29:14That's what you earned.
29:15If you don't want your son destroyed,
29:16keep quiet.
29:17Stop using your age to give me orders.
29:18I stood in the hallway and watched.
29:20There was nothing in me left
29:21that felt sorry for any of them.
29:23This was what they had made.
29:24I turned and walked away
29:25without letting the door creak.
29:29Three days later,
29:30I left the pack estate.
29:31I was claimed in a house
29:32the high alpha had given Aldrick.
29:34Aldrick had put every coin of his reward
29:36into the claiming gifts.
29:37His savings ran thin.
29:39I had been satisfied
29:40before the day arrived.
29:42At least this time,
29:43unlike with Kaylin,
29:45I had a dress.
29:46When I first came to that estate,
29:48there had been nothing.
29:49No dress,
29:50no gifts.
29:52Even the shared cup
29:53had been borrowed from next door.
29:54The first time I had real money,
29:56I gave that neighbor back
29:58two full jugs.
30:00She had held my hands and wept.
30:02In the second year,
30:04I went with Aldrick
30:05to the northern border post
30:06where he was stationed.
30:07Contact with the old pack
30:08dwindled to almost nothing.
30:11Only bits reached me through rumor
30:12that the estate was not a peaceful place,
30:15that Kareth had taken hold
30:16of everything inside it,
30:18that nothing moved
30:19without her approval,
30:20that Kaylin had grown worn,
30:22his work had grown careless,
30:24He had been called
30:25before the council more than once.
30:27His rank held,
30:28but there was nowhere left
30:30for him to rise.
30:31Lady Maren's health
30:32had turned real.
30:33She spent her remaining years in bed.
30:36When I heard it,
30:37I felt nothing.
30:39I was sitting quietly,
30:40focused on the new boots
30:41I was making for Aldrick.
30:43He trained hard.
30:44He went through
30:45seven or eight pairs a month.
30:46It wore on my heart
30:48to think of it.
30:48Lena,
30:49the healer said
30:50you're carrying twins.
30:52That's harder on the body.
30:53Stop worrying about my boots.
30:58I'm your mate.
30:59If I don't worry about it,
31:01who will?
31:01I'm thinking of it.
31:02I'm thinking of him.